# Categories and tags > Give every pull request and issue one category, and mark items with tags. A category also decides what the notifications about its items do in the inbox. Source: https://hush-gh.com/docs/categories Every pull request and issue has exactly one **category**: where it lives. It can also have any number of **tags**: what else is true about it. Set them up in **Settings → Categories & tags**. A notification has the category and the tags of its PR or issue. Hush does not place notifications by themselves. - Categories show on rows, as filter chips on the [Pull requests and Issues tabs](https://hush-gh.com/docs/pull-requests-and-issues#categories-and-tags), and in [feeds](https://hush-gh.com/docs/feeds). - A category can also change the inbox: send the notification threads of its items to Needs you, FYI, or Muted, turn pushes on or off, and move new threads to Done or Snoozed. See [Inbox settings](#inbox-settings). - Tags only mark items. They do not change the inbox. ## How Hush places an item Hush checks the categories **from top to bottom**: 1. A category that you chose for the item (right-click → **Category**). **Hush decides** removes your choice. 2. The first category whose rule matches. 3. Jev's choice among the categories that have a description, when it is sure enough. See [smart decisions](https://hush-gh.com/docs/settings#smartdecisions). 4. Otherwise **Other** (id `other`). It is always last, and you cannot delete it. An item gets every tag whose rule matches, plus the tags that you turn on by hand (right-click → **Tags**). A tag that you turn off by hand stays off. Each tag's rule is checked on its own. Hush checks the rules on the PR or issue only, never on a notification. A category or tags that you choose for a PR or issue apply to its notifications too. Hush starts with presets that you can change or delete: [categories](https://hush-gh.com/docs/settings#categories) (Incidents, Bugs, Dependencies, Features, Docs, Questions, Maintenance, Other) and [tags](https://hush-gh.com/docs/settings#tags) (Blocked, Needs decision, Security, Breaking change, Quick, Large). Most presets first look for GitHub's usual labels, such as `bug`, `enhancement`, `documentation`, and `dependencies`. When no label matches, Jev reads the item. Dependabot and Renovate PRs go to Dependencies, which does not push. ## Make a category In **Settings → Categories & tags**: - **Add category** adds an empty category. Give it a name and a color, and a rule, a description for Jev, or both. - Or right-click a thread in the inbox and choose **Make a category…**: the new category has the thread's repository and type as its rule, and its threads go to FYI. Change what you want, and choose **Save**. - Move a category up or down with its buttons. Order matters: the first rule that matches wins. - **Defaults** puts back the preset categories or tags. Nothing changes until you choose **Save**. You can have up to 20 categories and 20 tags. ## Rules A category's or a tag's rule is a [query](https://hush-gh.com/docs/query-language), such as `repo:acme/website type:pr`. All of its conditions must match, and `OR` matches either side. An empty rule never matches: the category then gets items only from Jev or by hand. | Query word | Matches | | ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | `repo:acme/*` | The repository. `*` matches anything. | | `author:dependabot*` | Who opened the PR or issue. | | `author:bots` / `-author:bots` | The author is a bot, or a person. | | `from:alice` | Who did the newest activity: a comment or a review. | | `label:bug` | Has this label (the exact name, any case). | | `type:pr` | What it is: pr or issue. | | `source:"Involves you"` | Which [source](https://hush-gh.com/docs/pull-requests-and-issues#sources) found it. | | `size:<50` | Lines changed in a pull request. | | `about:"database migrations"` | What it is about, in your words. Jev decides. | Rules cannot use `category:` and `tag:`. They also cannot use `event:`, `needs:`, and `in:`, because these words are about notifications, and rules look only at the PR or issue. Every word and value is in the [query language](https://hush-gh.com/docs/query-language) reference. Jev reads each item once, when Hush first sees it, and again when its title, description, or labels change. A new comment does not change its category or tags. After you change categories or tags, choose **Re-evaluate items** to ask Jev again about the items you have now. Rules without `about:` apply at once. ## Inbox settings Each category has three settings for the notification threads of its PRs and issues in the inbox: | Setting | JSON | Does | | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **In the inbox** | `"inbox"`: `"auto"`, `"action"`, `"fyi"`, or `"muted"` | **Hush decides** (the default), **Always Needs you**, **Always FYI**, or **Muted**. | | **Push** | `"push"`: `"inherit"`, `"on"`, or `"off"` | **Use the notification settings** (the default), **Always push** (also FYI), or **Never push**. | | **New threads** | `"triage"`: `"done"`, or `"snooze"` with `"snoozeHours"` | **Keep in the inbox** (the default), **Move to Done**, or **Snooze** for 1 to 720 hours (24 by default). | **New threads** acts when a thread has new activity or when the category starts to match. If you bring a thread back to the inbox yourself, it stays there until its next activity. A thread that a category moved to Done says “Category: Website”. A category never sends a thread to GitHub: Muted by a category stays in Hush. **Mute** in the inbox unsubscribes you on GitHub too. ## Inbox rules from before Inbox rules are gone; categories do their work now. Hush changed your rules into categories for you: - Each enabled rule is a category at the top of the list, in the same order, with the same name and color gray. A rule with no name is “Rule 1”, “Rule 2”… - Its conditions are the category's rule, and its effects are the category's inbox settings. - A rule with no conditions (it matched every thread) puts its effects on **Other**. - Rules that were off are gone. A settings file with `rules` imports the same way. ## Examples As queries, with what the category does in the inbox: | When | Then | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------ | | `repo:acme/website` | FYI | | `author:dependabot*` | Muted | | `type:issue repo:sveltejs/*` | Needs you, always push | | `from:github-actions` | Move to Done | | `repo:acme/nightly` | Snooze 12 hours, no push | The same categories in [settings.json](https://hush-gh.com/docs/settings#categories): ```json settings { "categories": [ { "id": "website", "name": "Website", "color": "blue", "rule": "repo:acme/website", "description": "", "inbox": "fyi" }, { "id": "dependabot", "name": "Dependabot", "color": "gray", "rule": "author:dependabot*", "description": "", "inbox": "muted" }, { "id": "svelte", "name": "Svelte issues", "color": "orange", "rule": "type:issue repo:sveltejs/*", "description": "", "inbox": "action", "push": "on" }, { "id": "bot-comments", "name": "Bot comments", "color": "gray", "rule": "from:github-actions", "description": "", "triage": "done" }, { "id": "nightly", "name": "Nightly", "color": "teal", "rule": "repo:acme/nightly", "description": "", "push": "off", "triage": "snooze", "snoozeHours": 12 }, { "id": "other", "name": "Other", "color": "gray", "rule": "", "description": "" } ] } ``` A change to `categories` replaces the whole list, so keep `other`. Tags have only `id`, `name`, `color`, and `rule`: ```json settings { "tags": [ { "id": "quick", "name": "Quick", "color": "green", "rule": "type:pr size:<50" }, { "id": "migrations", "name": "Migrations", "color": "violet", "rule": "about:\"database migrations or schema changes\"" } ] } ``` ## Feeds Each category and each tag can have an [Atom feed](https://hush-gh.com/docs/feeds) of its open pull requests and issues. Choose the feed button next to it in **Settings → Categories & tags**. ## Tips - Put narrow categories above wide ones. A wide rule at the top (such as `repo:acme/*`) catches everything below it. - To filter notifications by `in:`, `needs:`, or `event:`, use the inbox [Filter box](https://hush-gh.com/docs/inbox#filter) or a [notification view](https://hush-gh.com/docs/views). They can also use `category:` and `tag:`. - To hear about something without seeing it in Needs you, use **Always FYI** with **Always push**. - Give a category a description, and leave its rule empty, to let Jev fill it.