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Tags User Guide

Tags help you organize, categorize, and discover artifacts in your SkillMeat collection. Whether you're managing a personal library or sharing artifacts across teams, tags make it easy to find what you need quickly.

What Are Tags?

Tags are flexible labels you attach to artifacts to organize them by any category that matters to you:

  • Technology: python, typescript, rust, javascript
  • Purpose: automation, documentation, testing, data-processing
  • Status: stable, experimental, deprecated, beta
  • Team/Domain: frontend, backend, devops, design
  • Feature Area: authentication, api, ui, database
  • Complexity: beginner, intermediate, advanced

Each artifact can have multiple tags, and you can create as many tags as you need.

Finding and Creating Tags

Viewing All Tags

  1. Click the Tags button in the collections toolbar
  2. You'll see all available tags with a count of how many artifacts use each tag
  3. Tags are sorted alphabetically and show color indicators if defined

Creating New Tags

Via Artifact Edit

The easiest way to create tags is while editing an artifact:

  1. Open an artifact and click Edit
  2. Find the Tags field
  3. Start typing a tag name (e.g., python)
  4. If the tag exists, it will appear in suggestions - click to select it
  5. If the tag is new, press Enter to create it
  6. The new tag is created and immediately applied

Via Tag Manager

To create tags separately without assigning them to an artifact:

  1. Navigate to Settings → Tags in the sidebar
  2. Click Create Tag at the top of the page
  3. An inline form appears with:
  4. Name: Human-readable name (e.g., "Python Automation")
  5. Color: Click the color swatch to choose a color (auto-assigned if omitted)
  6. Slug: Auto-generated from the name (read-only)
  7. Click the checkmark to save, or press Enter

Tag Name Guidelines: - Use title case or descriptive names: "Data Processing", "UI Components" - Keep names concise (1-3 words) - Slug must be lowercase with hyphens, no spaces

Adding Tags to Artifacts

Single Tag Addition

  1. Open an artifact details drawer
  2. Scroll to the Tags section
  3. Click the + icon or tag field
  4. Type a tag name and press Enter
  5. Tag is applied immediately (no manual save needed)

Batch Tagging

To add the same tags to multiple artifacts:

  1. Select artifacts using checkboxes
  2. Click Update Tags in the actions toolbar
  3. Choose Add Tags mode
  4. Enter tags separated by commas: python, automation, backend
  5. Click Apply to All

Tag Suggestions

As you type, the tag field shows suggestions:

  • Existing tags that match your input
  • Tag usage count to see how many artifacts use each tag
  • Color indicator if tag has a custom color

Press the Down Arrow key to navigate suggestions, or Escape to dismiss them.

Removing Tags from Artifacts

From Artifact Details

  1. Open an artifact
  2. Find the Tags section
  3. Click the X on any tag to remove it
  4. Tag is removed immediately

Batch Removal

  1. Select multiple artifacts
  2. Click Update Tags in toolbar
  3. Choose Remove Tags mode
  4. Select tags to remove
  5. Click Apply

Filtering by Tags

Using the Tag Filter

  1. Click the Tags button in the toolbar (or press t)
  2. A filter panel appears with all available tags
  3. Check/uncheck tags to filter:
  4. Checked tags show artifacts that have any of the selected tags
  5. If you select "Python" and "Testing", you see artifacts tagged with either or both
  6. The URL updates to reflect your filter: ?tags=python,testing

Tag Filter + Text Search

Combine tag filters with text search for powerful discovery:

  • Tags: Select by category (e.g., "Python", "Backend")
  • Search: Type keywords (e.g., "api", "automation")
  • Results show only artifacts matching both filters

Saving Tag Filters

Tag filters are automatically saved in your browser's URL. Share a link to send someone your exact filtered view:

https://skillmeat.example.com/collection?tags=python,automation,testing

Organizing with Tag Colors

Setting Tag Colors

  1. Navigate to Settings → Tags in the sidebar
  2. Click the color swatch next to any tag
  3. Use the native color picker to choose a new color
  4. The color is saved automatically

Color Best Practices

Use colors to group related tag categories:

  • Blue (#3776ab): Technology/Language tags
  • Green (#27ae60): Status tags (stable, production)
  • Orange (#e67e22): Work-in-progress tags (beta, experimental)
  • Red (#e74c3c): Deprecated/warning tags
  • Purple (#9b59b6): Team/domain tags
  • Gray (#95a5a6): Meta tags

When multiple tags are visible on an artifact, the colors make it easy to understand the artifact's role at a glance.

Editing and Deleting Tags

Editing Tag Properties

  1. Navigate to Settings → Tags in the sidebar
  2. Click a tag's name to edit it inline
  3. Press Enter or click away to save, Escape to cancel
  4. Click the color swatch to change the tag's color

Note: The slug is auto-generated from the name and cannot be edited directly.

Deleting Tags

  1. Navigate to Settings → Tags in the sidebar
  2. Click the trash icon next to a tag
  3. A confirmation dialog shows the tag name and how many artifacts use it
  4. Click Delete Tag to confirm

Warning: Deleting a tag removes it from all artifacts. This action cannot be undone.

Common Tag Patterns

Technology Stacks

Create tags for each technology you work with:

Frontend: react, typescript, vue, tailwind, ui
Backend: python, fastapi, nodejs, rust, database
DevOps: docker, kubernetes, terraform, ci-cd

Project/Team Organization

Organize by team or project:

Team: frontend, backend, devops, design, qa
Project: project-alpha, project-beta, internal-tools

Status and Lifecycle

Track artifact maturity:

stable, beta, experimental, deprecated, archived
production, staging, development, testing

Feature/Capability Tags

Mark by what the artifact does:

authentication, api-gateway, data-processing, monitoring
automation, testing, documentation, template

Keyboard Shortcuts

In the tags field:

Key Action
Enter Add the typed tag
Backspace Remove the last tag (when field is empty)
Arrow Up/Down Navigate suggestions
Escape Close suggestions
Tab Move to next field

In the tag filter:

Key Action
t Toggle tag filter panel
Ctrl+Click Select multiple tags
Shift+Click Select range of tags

Tag Limits and Constraints

  • Tag name: 1-100 characters
  • Tag slug: 1-100 characters, lowercase with hyphens only (^[a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*$)
  • Tags per artifact: No limit, but typically 3-7 tags per artifact works best
  • Total tags: Create as many tags as you need
  • Color format: Hex color code (6 digits after #), e.g., #3776ab

Tips and Best Practices

Use Consistent Naming

Create a tag naming convention and stick with it:

  • Choose between singular and plural (python or pythons?)
  • Use kebab-case for multi-word tags (data-processing, not data_processing)
  • Use lowercase for consistency

Keep Tags Focused

Avoid creating too many similar tags:

  • Bad: automation, auto, automate, automated
  • Good: automation (add more specific tags if needed: data-automation, workflow-automation)

Combine Tags Meaningfully

Use multiple tags to create "tag combinations":

  • "python" + "automation" = Python scripts for automation
  • "react" + "ui-components" = React component library
  • "testing" + "e2e" = End-to-end testing artifacts

Avoid Over-Tagging

More tags aren't always better. A good artifact typically has 3-7 tags:

  • Too few (0-1): Hard to discover
  • Good (3-7): Easy to categorize and filter
  • Too many (8+): Creates confusion and reduces filter effectiveness

Archive, Don't Delete

Instead of deleting old tags, mark them with a status tag:

  • Use deprecated tag to mark outdated artifacts
  • Keep the tag and artifacts for historical reference
  • Filter them out when needed with NOT deprecated

Troubleshooting

Tag Won't Save

Problem: I typed a tag and pressed Enter, but it didn't appear.

Solutions: - Check that you pressed Enter (not just clicked elsewhere) - Check that the tag name is 1-100 characters - Check browser console (F12) for error messages

Tag Slug Invalid

Problem: Getting "Slug cannot contain..." error when creating a tag.

Solutions: - Slug must be lowercase: my-tag not My-Tag - Slug must use hyphens for spaces: my-tag not my tag - Slug cannot start/end with hyphens: my-tag not -my-tag- - Slug cannot have consecutive hyphens: my-tag not my--tag

Can't Find Tag in Suggestions

Problem: I know a tag exists, but it's not showing up when I type.

Solutions: - Tags only show if they match your typed text (case-insensitive) - Try typing a different part of the tag name - Check the tag spelling in Tag Management - Refresh the page to reload the tag list

Tag Filter Not Working

Problem: I selected tags to filter, but nothing changed.

Solutions: - Make sure at least one tag is checked - Uncheck other filters (like Status or Type) that might conflict - Check that at least one artifact has the selected tag - Clear browser cache and reload

See Also