diff --git a/hive-forge/src/verbs/labels.rs b/hive-forge/src/verbs/labels.rs
index e3566d19..25b9c6c3 100644
--- a/hive-forge/src/verbs/labels.rs
+++ b/hive-forge/src/verbs/labels.rs
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ pub(crate) fn resolve_ids(all: &[Label], names: &[String]) -> Result<Vec<i64>> {
         let available: Vec<&str> = all.iter().filter_map(|l| l.name.as_deref()).collect();
         bail!(
             "unresolved label name(s): {} — available labels: {}",
-            unresolved.join(", "),
+            crate::verbs::with_suggestions(&unresolved, &available),
             if available.is_empty() {
                 "(none)".to_owned()
             } else {
diff --git a/hive-forge/src/verbs/milestone.rs b/hive-forge/src/verbs/milestone.rs
index ed1966c2..200007e0 100644
--- a/hive-forge/src/verbs/milestone.rs
+++ b/hive-forge/src/verbs/milestone.rs
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ pub(crate) fn ensure_filters_resolve(all: &[Milestone], values: &[String]) -> Re
         let available: Vec<&str> = all.iter().filter_map(|m| m.title.as_deref()).collect();
         bail!(
             "unresolved milestone(s): {} — available milestones: {}",
-            unresolved.join(", "),
+            crate::verbs::with_suggestions(&unresolved, &available),
             if available.is_empty() {
                 "(none)".to_owned()
             } else {
diff --git a/hive-forge/src/verbs/mod.rs b/hive-forge/src/verbs/mod.rs
index e86ed8ab..5a12797b 100644
--- a/hive-forge/src/verbs/mod.rs
+++ b/hive-forge/src/verbs/mod.rs
@@ -172,6 +172,61 @@ pub(crate) fn pct_encode(s: &str) -> String {
     out
 }
 
+/// Render an unresolved-name list with a `did you mean` where one fits.
+///
+/// A filter value that doesn't resolve is a **near-miss far more often
+/// than an invention** (`area/opps` for `area/ops`), and an error that
+/// only lists all 18 available names makes the reader do the diff by eye
+/// — on the one occasion they already know they mistyped something.
+pub(crate) fn with_suggestions(unresolved: &[&str], available: &[&str]) -> String {
+    unresolved
+        .iter()
+        .map(|u| match nearest(u, available) {
+            Some(s) => format!("{u} (did you mean \"{s}\"?)"),
+            None => (*u).to_owned(),
+        })
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        .join(", ")
+}
+
+/// Closest candidate to `needle`, when one is close enough to be worth
+/// suggesting.
+///
+/// Thresholded rather than always returning the minimum: **a wrong
+/// suggestion is worse than none**, because it invites a second failed
+/// attempt at a name that was never there. The bound scales with the
+/// needle (a third of its length, capped at 3) so a short name doesn't
+/// match half the repo and a long one still tolerates a typo or two.
+fn nearest<'a>(needle: &str, candidates: &[&'a str]) -> Option<&'a str> {
+    let limit = (needle.chars().count() / 3).clamp(1, 3);
+    candidates
+        .iter()
+        .map(|c| (edit_distance(needle, c), *c))
+        .filter(|(d, _)| *d <= limit)
+        // Tie-break on the shorter candidate, then alphabetically, so the
+        // suggestion is stable rather than dependent on the order the
+        // forge happened to return its labels in.
+        .min_by_key(|(d, c)| (*d, c.len(), *c))
+        .map(|(_, c)| c)
+}
+
+/// Levenshtein distance, two-row DP. Small enough not to justify a
+/// workspace dependency for the one place it is used.
+fn edit_distance(a: &str, b: &str) -> usize {
+    let b: Vec<char> = b.chars().collect();
+    let mut prev: Vec<usize> = (0..=b.len()).collect();
+    let mut cur = vec![0_usize; b.len() + 1];
+    for (i, ca) in a.chars().enumerate() {
+        cur[0] = i + 1;
+        for (j, cb) in b.iter().enumerate() {
+            let cost = usize::from(ca != *cb);
+            cur[j + 1] = (prev[j] + cost).min(prev[j + 1] + 1).min(cur[j] + 1);
+        }
+        std::mem::swap(&mut prev, &mut cur);
+    }
+    prev[b.len()]
+}
+
 /// One reviewer's latest verdict on a PR, plus forgejo's `stale` /
 /// `dismissed` bits.
 ///
@@ -303,4 +358,48 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(pct_encode("x&y"), "x%26y");
         assert_eq!(pct_encode("a/b"), "a%2Fb");
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn nearest_finds_the_one_character_typo() {
+        let all = ["area/ops", "area/broker", "type/bug"];
+        assert_eq!(super::nearest("area/opps", &all), Some("area/ops"));
+        assert_eq!(super::nearest("type/bugs", &all), Some("type/bug"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn nearest_suggests_nothing_for_an_invention() {
+        // The important half: a wrong suggestion invites a second failed
+        // attempt at a name that was never there, so far-away input must
+        // fall back to "here is everything".
+        let all = ["area/ops", "area/broker", "type/bug"];
+        assert_eq!(super::nearest("frontend", &all), None);
+        assert_eq!(super::nearest("", &all), None);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn nearest_is_stable_when_two_candidates_tie() {
+        // Both are distance 1 from "v3"; the answer must not depend on
+        // the order the forge returned them in.
+        let forward = ["v1", "v2"];
+        let reversed = ["v2", "v1"];
+        assert_eq!(
+            super::nearest("v3", &forward),
+            super::nearest("v3", &reversed)
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn with_suggestions_annotates_only_the_near_misses() {
+        let all = ["area/ops", "type/bug"];
+        let rendered = super::with_suggestions(&["area/opps", "frontend"], &all);
+        assert!(
+            rendered.contains(r#"area/opps (did you mean "area/ops"?)"#),
+            "{rendered}"
+        );
+        assert!(rendered.contains("frontend"), "{rendered}");
+        assert!(
+            !rendered.contains(r"frontend (did you mean"),
+            "invented name must not get a suggestion: {rendered}"
+        );
+    }
 }