fix(feedback): submit feedback when the repo has no feedback label

`openspec feedback` passed `--label feedback` unconditionally, but the
repository does not define that label. gh resolves label names before
creating the issue, so it failed with "could not add label: 'feedback' not
found" on every invocation and the command exited non-zero, discarding the
feedback the user had just composed.

Retry once without the label when — and only when — gh reports that it
could not add the label, and tell the user the label was not applied. Every
other failure keeps its existing behavior: print gh's error and exit with
gh's exit code. If the label is created later, the first attempt succeeds
again and the retry never runs.

The cli-feedback spec gains a scenario for the unlabeled path; its
error-handling and fallback scenarios are unchanged.

Closes #1091

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: clay-good

.changeset/feedback-missing-label-retry.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@fission-ai/openspec': patch
+---
+
+Fix `openspec feedback` failing when the repository does not define the `feedback` label. The command now retries without the label and notes that it was not applied, instead of exiting with an error and discarding the feedback.

openspec/specs/cli-feedback/spec.md

@@ -16,6 +16,15 @@ The system SHALL provide an `openspec feedback` command that creates a GitHub Is
 - **AND** the issue has the `feedback` label
 - **AND** the system displays the created issue URL
 
+#### Scenario: Repository does not define the feedback label
+
+- **WHEN** user executes `openspec feedback "Great tool!"`
+- **AND** the repository does not define the `feedback` label, so `gh` refuses to create the issue
+- **THEN** the system retries `gh issue create` without the label
+- **AND** the issue is created in the openspec repository without the `feedback` label
+- **AND** the system displays the created issue URL
+- **AND** the system notes that the label was not applied
+
 #### Scenario: Safe command execution
 
 - **WHEN** submitting feedback via `gh` CLI

src/commands/feedback.ts

@@ -119,41 +119,89 @@ function displayFormattedFeedback(title: string, body: string): void {
 }
 
 /**
- * Submit feedback via gh CLI
+ * Check whether gh refused the issue because the repository does not define
+ * the label. gh resolves label names before creating the issue, so this
+ * failure means no issue was created.
+ */
+function isMissingLabelError(error: any): boolean {
+  const output = `${error?.stderr ?? ''}${error?.message ?? ''}`;
+
+  return /could not add label/i.test(output);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Report a gh CLI failure and exit, preserving gh's exit code
+ */
+function reportGhFailure(error: any): void {
+  // Display the error output from gh CLI
+  if (error.stderr) {
+    console.error(error.stderr.toString());
+  } else if (error.message) {
+    console.error(error.message);
+  }
+
+  // Exit with the same code as gh CLI
+  process.exit(error.status ?? 1);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create the feedback issue via gh CLI
  * Uses execFileSync to prevent shell injection vulnerabilities
  */
+function createIssue(title: string, body: string, labels: string[]): string {
+  const args = [
+    'issue',
+    'create',
+    '--repo',
+    'Fission-AI/OpenSpec',
+    '--title',
+    title,
+    '--body',
+    body,
+  ];
+
+  for (const label of labels) {
+    args.push('--label', label);
+  }
+
+  const result = execFileSync('gh', args, { encoding: 'utf-8', stdio: 'pipe' });
+
+  return result.trim();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Submit feedback via gh CLI
+ */
 function submitViaGhCli(title: string, body: string): void {
-  try {
-    const result = execFileSync(
-      'gh',
-      [
-        'issue',
-        'create',
-        '--repo',
-        'Fission-AI/OpenSpec',
-        '--title',
-        title,
-        '--body',
-        body,
-        '--label',
-        'feedback',
-      ],
-      { encoding: 'utf-8', stdio: 'pipe' }
-    );
+  let issueUrl: string;
+  let labelApplied = true;
 
-    const issueUrl = result.trim();
-    console.log(`\n✓ Feedback submitted successfully!`);
-    console.log(`Issue URL: ${issueUrl}\n`);
+  try {
+    issueUrl = createIssue(title, body, ['feedback']);
   } catch (error: any) {
-    // Display the error output from gh CLI
-    if (error.stderr) {
-      console.error(error.stderr.toString());
-    } else if (error.message) {
-      console.error(error.message);
+    if (!isMissingLabelError(error)) {
+      reportGhFailure(error);
+      return;
     }
 
-    // Exit with the same code as gh CLI
-    process.exit(error.status ?? 1);
+    // The repository does not define the 'feedback' label. Nothing was
+    // created, so retry unlabeled rather than dropping the feedback.
+    try {
+      issueUrl = createIssue(title, body, []);
+      labelApplied = false;
+    } catch (retryError: any) {
+      reportGhFailure(retryError);
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.log(`\n✓ Feedback submitted successfully!`);
+  console.log(`Issue URL: ${issueUrl}\n`);
+
+  if (!labelApplied) {
+    console.log(
+      "Note: created without the 'feedback' label because the repository does not define it.\n"
+    );
   }
 }
 

test/commands/feedback.test.ts

@@ -327,17 +327,110 @@ describe('FeedbackCommand', () => {
         throw error;
       });
 
-      try {
-        await feedbackCommand.execute('Test');
-      } catch (error: any) {
-        // Should exit with the same code as gh CLI
-        expect(error.message).toBe('process.exit(1)');
-      }
+      await expect(feedbackCommand.execute('Test')).rejects.toThrow(
+        'process.exit(1)'
+      );
 
       // Should display the error from gh CLI
       expect(consoleErrorSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
         expect.stringContaining('Network connectivity issue')
       );
+
+      // A non-label failure must NOT be retried
+      expect(mockExecFileSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    it('should retry without the label when the repo does not define it', async () => {
+      const issueUrl = 'https://github.com/Fission-AI/OpenSpec/issues/129';
+
+      mockExecSync.mockImplementation((cmd: string, options?: any) => {
+        if (cmd === 'which gh' || cmd === 'where gh') {
+          return Buffer.from('/usr/local/bin/gh');
+        }
+        if (cmd === 'gh auth status') {
+          return Buffer.from('Logged in');
+        }
+        return '';
+      });
+
+      // gh resolves label names before creating the issue, so a repo without
+      // the label fails with no issue created
+      mockExecFileSync.mockImplementation((_cmd: string, args: string[]) => {
+        if (args.includes('--label')) {
+          const error: any = new Error('gh failed');
+          error.status = 1;
+          error.stderr = Buffer.from("could not add label: 'feedback' not found");
+          throw error;
+        }
+        return `${issueUrl}\n`;
+      });
+
+      await feedbackCommand.execute('Test');
+
+      expect(mockExecFileSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+
+      // First attempt asks for the label
+      expect(mockExecFileSync).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+        1,
+        'gh',
+        expect.arrayContaining(['--label', 'feedback']),
+        expect.any(Object)
+      );
+
+      // Retry drops it
+      expect(mockExecFileSync).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+        2,
+        'gh',
+        expect.not.arrayContaining(['--label']),
+        expect.any(Object)
+      );
+
+      // The feedback still lands as an issue, and the user is told the label
+      // was not applied
+      expect(consoleLogSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('Feedback submitted successfully')
+      );
+      expect(consoleLogSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining(issueUrl)
+      );
+      expect(consoleLogSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining("without the 'feedback' label")
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should preserve gh exit code when the unlabeled retry also fails', async () => {
+      mockExecSync.mockImplementation((cmd: string, options?: any) => {
+        if (cmd === 'which gh' || cmd === 'where gh') {
+          return Buffer.from('/usr/local/bin/gh');
+        }
+        if (cmd === 'gh auth status') {
+          return Buffer.from('Logged in');
+        }
+        return '';
+      });
+
+      mockExecFileSync.mockImplementation((_cmd: string, args: string[]) => {
+        const error: any = new Error('gh failed');
+
+        if (args.includes('--label')) {
+          error.status = 1;
+          error.stderr = Buffer.from("could not add label: 'feedback' not found");
+        } else {
+          error.status = 4;
+          error.stderr = Buffer.from('Error: issues are disabled');
+        }
+
+        throw error;
+      });
+
+      await expect(feedbackCommand.execute('Test')).rejects.toThrow(
+        'process.exit(4)'
+      );
+
+      expect(mockExecFileSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(consoleErrorSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('issues are disabled')
+      );
     });
 
     it('should handle quotes in title and body without escaping (no shell injection)', async () => {