Unicode in shell script to github API

I am trying to create labels using github api, but pass in emojis to the label name. Any ideas on how I can do this properly?

source config.txt

labels2=(
    "Sleep $zzz_unicode:FFFFFF"
)

# Read repository names from file
while IFS= read -r repo; do
    REPO_USER=$(echo "$repo" | cut -f1 -d /)
    REPO_NAME=$(echo "$repo" | cut -f2 -d /)

    echo "-----------------------------------------[$REPO_USER/$REPO_NAME]---------------------------------"

    # Iterate over labels
    for label in "${labels2[@]}"; do
        label_name=$(echo "$label" | cut -d ":" -f 1)
        label_color=$(echo "$label" | cut -d ":" -f 2)


        data="{\"name\":\"$label_name $emoji\",\"color\":\"$label_color\"}"
        response=$(curl -s -w "%{http_code}" -u "$token:x-oauth-basic" --request POST --data "$data" "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO_USER/$REPO_NAME/labels")
        response_code=$(echo "$response" | tail -n1)
        response_body=$(echo "$response" | sed '$d')
        if [[ $response_code -eq 201 ]]; then
            echo "Label '$label_name $emoji' created successfully in repository '$REPO_USER/$REPO_NAME'"
        else
            echo "Failed to create label '$label_name $emoji' in repository '$REPO_USER/$REPO_NAME'. Response: $response_body"
        fi
    done

done < repo_names.txt

Tried using github unicode, as well as the actual emoji in label creation:

"Bug 🐛:FF0000"

"Sleep $zzz_unicode:FFFFFF"

I created a label manually on a repo: Bug 🐛 with color FF0000. I can run a script to return all labels for that repo:

Fetching labels for Repo...
[
  {
    "id": someID,
    "node_id": "some_nodeID",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/repo/labels/test%20%F0%9F%90%9B",
    "name": "test 🐛",
    "color": "ff0000",
    "default": false,
    "description": ""
  }
]

But if I try using my script above to create the label for me using github API with the emoji in the label itself during creation: "Bug 🐛:FF0000" It creates label asBug ??

If I try creation with unicode: "Sleep $zzz_unicode:FFFFFF" it creates label as Sleep Note that sleep is just a test - zzz is github zzz emoji 💤 but should work the same.

Solution

Github requires that you use their naming convention when submitting a request. Here is an example of my lables I wanted to implement:

labels=(
    "Bug :bug::FF0000"           # 🐛
    "Feature :sparkles::00FF00"          # ✨
    "Documentation :books::0000FF" # 📚
)

And then just ensuring you are extracting label components properly when making your request.

label_name=$(echo "$label" | cut -d ":" -f 1)
label_emoji=$(echo "$label" | grep -oP ':[^:]+:')
label_color=$(echo "$label" | grep -oP '::\K.*$')

Here is an overview:

for label in "${labels[@]}"; do
        # Extract label components
        label_name=$(echo "$label" | cut -d ":" -f 1)
        label_emoji=$(echo "$label" | grep -oP ':[^:]+:')
        label_color=$(echo "$label" | grep -oP '::\K.*$')

        # Construct the label text with emoji shortcode
        label_text="\"name\":\"$label_name $label_emoji\""
        label_color="\"color\":\"$label_color\""

        # Print label text and color
        echo "{ $label_text, $label_color }"

        # Ensure proper color format (remove leading '#')
        label_color=$(echo "$label_color" | sed 's/^#//')

        # Prepare data for the POST request
        data="{ $label_text, $label_color }"  # Ensure proper color format

        # Send POST request to create label
        response=$(curl -s -w "%{http_code}" -u "$token:x-oauth-basic" --request POST --data "$data" "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO_USER/$REPO_NAME/labels")
        response_code=$(echo "$response" | tail -n1)
        response_body=$(echo "$response" | sed '$d')
        if [[ $response_code -eq 201 ]]; then
            echo "Label '$label_name $label_emoji' created successfully in repository '$REPO_USER/$REPO_NAME'"
        else
            echo "Failed to create label '$label_name $label_emoji' in repository '$REPO_USER/$REPO_NAME'. Response: $response_body"
        fi
    done
    ```