> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://invoca-5bd45748-mintlify-6c3474a6.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# UI labels
> Wording rules shared by every short label in the interface — buttons, fields, options, tabs, and menu items.
**No source exists for this page, and none has been offered.** Unlike
[Voice and tone](/invoca-design-system/content/voice-and-tone) and [Error messages](/invoca-design-system/content/error-messages),
this is not a transcription. It is a synthesis of labeling rules that were authored
independently, per component, on [Button](/invoca-design-system/components/actions/button),
[FieldLabel](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/field-label), [Checkbox](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/checkbox),
[Radio](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/radio), [Switch](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/switch), and
[Select](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/select) — stated once here as shared principles instead of
staying duplicated six times. Treat every constraint below as **Proposed**.
## What counts as a UI label
Short, standalone text that names a control, an option, or a section — as distinct from a
sentence a reader reads fluently ([Voice and tone](/invoca-design-system/content/voice-and-tone),
[Error messages](/invoca-design-system/content/error-messages)) or a formatted value
([Numbers](/invoca-design-system/content/numbers), [Dates and times](/invoca-design-system/content/dates-and-times)). A button's text,
a field's label, a checkbox's option text, a tab's name, and a table's column header are all
UI labels in this sense, even though they live on very different components.
## The one decision every label makes: verb, or noun
Every component page written so far lands on one of exactly two grammatical shapes for a
label, and which one applies follows directly from what the control *does*:
| The control… | Label is a… | Example | Established on |
| ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Performs an action | **Verb-first imperative phrase** | "Save Changes," "Delete Campaign" | [TITAN-BTN-03](/invoca-design-system/components/actions/button#constraints) |
| Represents a persistent thing, state, or setting | **Noun phrase** — never a question, never an instruction to act | "Email notifications," "Dark mode," "Routing" | [Checkbox](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/checkbox#content), [Switch](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/switch#constraints), [Radio](/invoca-design-system/components/forms/radio#content), [Tabs](/invoca-design-system/components/navigation/tabs#content) |
**This table is a synthesis**, citable in one place because six different component pages
independently converged on this split — see
[Open issues](/invoca-design-system/content/ui-labels/open-issues) for its sign-off status.
## Rules that already apply everywhere
These were each established on a specific component page and restated here as the general
form, cited back to where they were established rather than re-argued:
| Rule | Established on |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Prefer the specific word over a generic one ("Delete campaign," not "OK") | [Button](/invoca-design-system/components/actions/button#content) |
| Use the reader's word for the thing, never the underlying library's internal name | [TITAN-DIV-10](/invoca-design-system/foundations/divergences#titan-div-10) |
| No terminal punctuation on any label | [TITAN-CASE-04](/invoca-design-system/content/capitalization-and-punctuation#constraints) |
| Casing follows the per-content-type model — it is not one global rule | [Capitalization and punctuation](/invoca-design-system/content/capitalization-and-punctuation#casing-by-content-type) |
| Plain language over jargon or internal acronyms | [TITAN-VOICE-01/02](/invoca-design-system/content/voice-and-tone#constraints) |
## Constraints
| ID | Constraint | Rationale |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **TITAN-UILABEL-01** | A label naming an action is a verb-first imperative phrase. | Established directly on [Button](/invoca-design-system/components/actions/button#constraints); restated here as the general form. |
| **TITAN-UILABEL-02** | A label naming a persistent thing, state, or setting is a noun phrase — never a question, never an instruction to act. | Synthesized from independently-arrived-at rules on Checkbox, Radio, Switch, and Tabs — see the table above. |
| **TITAN-UILABEL-03** | A label uses the reader's word for the thing it names, never the underlying library's or framework's internal name. | [TITAN-DIV-10](/invoca-design-system/foundations/divergences#titan-div-10) — "Table," not `DataGrid`. |
| **TITAN-UILABEL-04** | The specific word is preferred over a generic placeholder ("OK," "Submit," "Item") wherever the specific one is knowable at authoring time. | A generic label forces the reader to look elsewhere on the screen to learn what pressing it actually does. |
## Gaps in the current rules
Divergences, open decisions, and undocumented gaps for UI labels.
## Why it works this way
**The verb/noun split mirrors what the reader needs to predict.** A control that performs an
action needs its label to answer "what happens if I press this" — a verb answers that
directly. A control that represents a state needs its label to answer "what is this," so the
reader can recognize it — a noun answers that instead. Labeling an action with a noun ("Save"
becomes "Confirmation") or a state with a question ("Dark mode" becomes "Enable dark mode?")
answers the wrong question for what the reader is actually trying to do at that control.