diff --git a/R/get_org_attributes.R b/R/get_org_attributes.R
index 7b55a79..554a2ba 100644
--- a/R/get_org_attributes.R
+++ b/R/get_org_attributes.R
@@ -35,13 +35,20 @@ filter_for_non_empty_milestones <- function(milestones) {
   return(non_empty_milestones)
 }
 
+filter_for_ghqc_milestones <- function(owner, repo, milestones) {
+  labels <- sapply(milestones, function(x) gh::gh("GET /repos/:owner/:repo/milestones/:milestone_number/labels", owner = owner, repo = repo, milestone_number = x$number))
+  milestones[sapply(labels, function(x) "ghqc" %in% sapply(x, function(y) y$name))]
+}
+
 #' @importFrom log4r warn error info debug
 get_open_milestone_objects <- function(owner, repo) {
   debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieving open Milestone(s) in organization {owner}, repo {repo}..."))
 
   milestones <- gh::gh("GET /repos/:owner/:repo/milestones", .api_url = .le$github_api_url, owner = owner, repo = repo, state = "open", .limit = Inf)
-  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(milestones)} open Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
-  non_empty_milestones <- filter_for_non_empty_milestones(milestones)
+  debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(milestones)} open Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
+  ghqc_milestones <- filter_for_ghqc_milestones(owner, repo, milestones)
+  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(ghqc_milestones)} open ghqc Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
+  non_empty_milestones <- filter_for_non_empty_milestones(ghqc_milestones)
 }
 
 #' @importFrom log4r warn error info debug
@@ -49,8 +56,10 @@ get_closed_milestone_objects <- function(owner, repo) {
   debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieving closed Milestone(s) in organization {owner}, repo {repo}..."))
 
   milestones <- gh::gh("GET /repos/:owner/:repo/milestones", .api_url = .le$github_api_url, owner = owner, repo = repo, state = "closed", .limit = Inf)
-  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(milestones)} closed Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
-  non_empty_milestones <- filter_for_non_empty_milestones(milestones)
+  debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(milestones)} closed Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
+  ghqc_milestones <- filter_for_ghqc_milestones(owner, repo, milestones)
+  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(ghqc_milestones)} closed ghqc Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
+  non_empty_milestones <- filter_for_non_empty_milestones(ghqc_milestones)
 }
 
 #' @importFrom log4r warn error info debug
@@ -86,8 +95,10 @@ list_milestones <- function(org, repo) {
   debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieving Milestone(s) in organization {org}, repo {repo}..."))
   milestones <- get_all_milestone_objects(org, repo)
   info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(milestones)} total Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
-  non_empty_milestones <- filter_for_non_empty_milestones(milestones)
-  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(non_empty_milestones)} non-empty Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
+  ghqc_milestones <- filter_for_ghqc_milestones(org, repo, milestones)
+  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(ghqc_milestones)} ghqc Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
+  non_empty_milestones <- filter_for_non_empty_milestones(ghqc_milestones)
+  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(non_empty_milestones)} non-empty ghqc Milestone(s) in repo {repo}"))
   res <- purrr::map_chr(non_empty_milestones, "title")
   return(res)
 }
@@ -314,13 +325,18 @@ get_all_issues_in_repo <- function(owner, repo) {
     page <- page + 1
   }
 
-  issues <- c(open_issues, closed_issues)
+  issues <- get_only_ghqc_issues(c(open_issues, closed_issues))
   num_issues <- length(issues)
   info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {num_issues} Issue(s) from repo: {repo}"))
   return(issues)
 
 }
 
+get_only_ghqc_issues <- function(issues) {
+  labels <- sapply(issues, function(x) x$labels)
+  issues[sapply(labels, function(x) "ghqc" %in% sapply(x, function(y) y$name))]
+}
+
 # sort by open/closed
 #' @importFrom log4r warn error info debug
 get_all_issues_in_milestone <- function(owner, repo, milestone_name) {
@@ -379,8 +395,8 @@ get_all_issues_in_milestone <- function(owner, repo, milestone_name) {
     page <- page + 1
   }
 
-  issues <- c(open_issues, closed_issues)
-  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(issues)} Issue(s) from Milestone: {milestone_name}"))
+  issues <- get_only_ghqc_issues(c(open_issues, closed_issues))
+  info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Retrieved {length(issues)} ghqc Issue(s) from Milestone: {milestone_name}"))
   return(issues)
 }
 
diff --git a/R/multi_issue.R b/R/multi_issue.R
index 4b21a0c..2c09e04 100644
--- a/R/multi_issue.R
+++ b/R/multi_issue.R
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ create_issue <- function(file, issue_params) {
   issue <- do.call(gh::gh, c("POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues", issue_params))
   debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Created Issue {issue_params$title}"))
 
+  debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Adding 'ghqc' label to {issue_params$title}"))
+  label_params <- list(owner = issue_params$owner,
+                       repo = issue_params$repo,
+                       issue_number = issue$number,
+                       labels = array("ghqc"))
+  label <- do.call(gh::gh, c("POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}/labels", label_params))
+  debug(.le$logger, glue::glue("Label 'ghqc' added to {issue_params$title}"))
+
   # return the issue number
   list(number = issue$number, assignees = issue_params$assignees)
 } # create_issue
@@ -71,11 +79,31 @@ create_issues <- function(data) {
   info(.le$logger, glue::glue("Created checklist(s) for file(s): {file_names}"))
 } # create_issues
 
+ghqc_label_exists <- function(data) {
+  labels <- do.call(gh::gh, c("GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/labels",
+                              list(owner = data$owner,
+                                   repo = data$repo
+                                   )))
+  "ghqc" %in% sapply(labels, function(x) x$name)
+}
+
+create_ghqc_label <- function(data) {
+  issue_params <- list(
+    owner = data$owner,
+    repo = data$repo,
+    name = "ghqc",
+    color = "FFCB05",
+    description = "Issue created by the ghqc package"
+  )
+  do.call(gh::gh, c("POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/labels", issue_params))
+}
+
 
 # test with "test_yamls/checklist.yaml"
 #' @importFrom log4r warn error info debug
 create_checklists <- function(yaml_path) {
   data <- read_and_validate_yaml(yaml_path)
+  if (!ghqc_label_exists(data)) labels <- create_ghqc_label(data)
   create_issues(data)
 }