Label styles compared

The five styles at a glance

Codes: PRJ-042

Codes pair a short prefix, a unique number and a plain name. They are the formal identity of a project — what goes in contracts, tickets and status reports.

Anatomy: PREFIX (team or type, 2-5 chars) + number (zero-padded, shared counter) + plain name for humans.

Use when: the label must be unique across the whole org, referenced in writing, or live for years. Avoid when: you need something URL-safe (the space and mixed case need slugifying) — generate the slug variant too.

Slugs: website-redesign-042

Slugs are the machine-readable form: lowercase, hyphen-separated, no spaces or special characters. They survive every file system, URL bar, git branch and command line without quoting.

Use when: naming folders, repos, branches, URLs, S3 buckets, or anything a script will touch. Rule: one separator only — hyphens are the most portable choice.

Tags: #WebsiteRedesign

Tags are the social form: a hash plus a compact PascalCase or camelCase name with no spaces. They group conversations across chat, docs and social platforms.

Use when: you want all mentions of a project findable in one search — Slack, Notion, X, LinkedIn. Avoid when: the audience is formal or the tag could collide with an existing public hashtag (check first).

Badges: [CORE] Website Redesign

Badges put a category in brackets up front, so scanning a list instantly shows what kind of thing each item is. They are made for boards, backlogs and dashboards.

Use when: projects share a list with other item types, or you triage visually. Keep the badge vocabulary small (under ~10 categories) or the brackets stop meaning anything.

Codenames: Amber Falcon

Codenames are two-word adjective + noun pairs: memorable, pronounceable, and they reveal nothing about the actual project, which is the point for unannounced work.

Use when: the project is confidential, or the team wants an identity with personality. Avoid when: talking to clients or the public — pair every codename with a descriptive label for external use. And check the codename is not already a product, band or meme you do not want associated.

Mixing styles: the complete kit

Serious projects usually need two or three styles at once: a code for the tracker, a slug for the repo, a tag for chat. Generate the set together so they stay consistent: