diff --git a/.github/labels.yml b/.github/labels.yml
index 5d14504..01fff98 100644
--- a/.github/labels.yml
+++ b/.github/labels.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# https://raw.githubusercontent.com/EndBug/labels/main/labels.yml
+
 - name: "bug"
   color: "d73a4a"
   description: "Something isn't working"
@@ -46,14 +48,14 @@
 - name: "stale"
   color: "777777"
   description: "Issue is stale and subject to automatic closing"
-  from_name: "Stale"
+  aliases: ["Stale"]
 
 - name: "stale closed"
   color: "444444"
   description: "Issue was closed automatically due to inactivity"
-  from_name: "stale-closed"
+  aliases: ["stale-closed"]
 
 - name: "won't fix"
   color: "ffffff"
   description: "This will not be worked on"
-  from_name: wontfix
\ No newline at end of file
+  aliases: ["wontfix"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/labels.yml b/.github/workflows/labels.yml
index 8bdad11..ede07bb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/labels.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/labels.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-name: Synchronize labels
-
+name: Sync labels
 on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  workflow_call:
   push:
     branches:
       - 'main'
@@ -8,16 +9,24 @@ on:
       - '.github/labels.yml'
       - '.github/workflows/labels.yml'
 
+permissions:
+  issues: write
+
 jobs:
-  labeler:
+  labels:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
     steps:
-      -
-        name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-      -
-        name: Run Labeler
-        uses: crazy-max/ghaction-github-labeler@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          yaml-file: .github/labels.yml
+          sparse-checkout: .github/labels.yml
+
+      - uses: EndBug/label-sync@v2
+        with:
+          config-file: |
+            https://raw.githubusercontent.com/biocommons/.github/main/.github/labels.yml
+            .github/labels.yml
+
+          delete-other-labels: false
+          dry-run: true
+          #token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/archive/notes b/archive/notes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb97a42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/archive/notes
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+D=$(ls -1d */.git | cut -d/ -f1 | egrep -v 'biocommons.example|seqrepo-rs')
+git-all () { for d in $D; do (set -x; git -C $d "$@"); done }
+
+for d in $D; do \cp -a biocommons.example/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE $d/.github/; done
+for d in $D; do \cp -a biocommons.example/.github/workflows/labels.yml $d/.github/workflows/; done
+
+git-all add .github/labels.yml .github/workflows/labels.yml
+git-all com -m "add standardized github labels and update action" .github/labels.yml .github/workflows/labels.yml
+git-all push
+https://axolo.co/blog/p/part-3-github-pull-request-template