diff --git a/R/class_mermaid.R b/R/class_mermaid.R
index 636ade79..cf864481 100644
--- a/R/class_mermaid.R
+++ b/R/class_mermaid.R
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ mermaid_init <- function(
   network,
   label = NULL,
   label_break = "<br>",
+  label_width = 60L,
   show_legend = TRUE,
   show_color = TRUE
 ) {
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ mermaid_init <- function(
     network = network,
     label = label,
     label_break = label_break,
+    label_width = label_width,
     show_legend = show_legend,
     show_color = show_color
   )
@@ -18,6 +20,7 @@ mermaid_new <- function(
   network = NULL,
   label = NULL,
   label_break = NULL,
+  label_width = NULL,
   show_legend = NULL,
   show_color = NULL
 ) {
@@ -25,6 +28,7 @@ mermaid_new <- function(
     network = network,
     label = label,
     label_break = label_break,
+    label_width = label_width,
     show_legend = show_legend,
     show_color = show_color
   )
@@ -43,13 +47,15 @@ mermaid_class <- R6::R6Class(
       network = NULL,
       label = NULL,
       label_break = NULL,
+      label_width = NULL,
       show_legend = NULL,
       show_color = NULL
     ) {
       super$initialize(
         network = network,
         label = label,
-        label_break = label_break
+        label_break = label_break,
+        label_width = label_width
       )
       self$show_legend <- show_legend
       self$show_color <- show_color
diff --git a/R/tar_mermaid.R b/R/tar_mermaid.R
index b3339691..6639db2b 100644
--- a/R/tar_mermaid.R
+++ b/R/tar_mermaid.R
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #'   list(
 #'     tar_target(y1, 1 + 1),
 #'     tar_target(y2, 1 + 1),
-#'     tar_target(z, y1 + y2)
+#'     tar_target(z, y1 + y2, description = "sum of two other sums")
 #'   )
 #' })
 #' # Copy the text into a mermaid.js online editor
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ tar_mermaid <- function(
   allow = NULL,
   exclude = ".Random.seed",
   outdated = TRUE,
-  label = NULL,
+  label = targets::tar_config_get("label"),
+  label_width = targets::tar_config_get("label_width"),
   legend = TRUE,
   color = TRUE,
   reporter = targets::tar_config_get("reporter_outdated"),
@@ -60,7 +61,10 @@ tar_mermaid <- function(
   force(envir)
   tar_assert_lgl(targets_only, "targets_only must be logical.")
   tar_assert_lgl(outdated, "outdated in tar_mermaid() must be logical.")
-  tar_assert_in(label, c("time", "size", "branches"))
+  tar_assert_in(label, c("description", "time", "size", "branches"))
+  tar_assert_dbl(label_width)
+  tar_assert_scalar(label_width)
+  tar_assert_none_na(label_width)
   tar_assert_lgl(legend)
   tar_assert_lgl(color)
   tar_assert_scalar(legend)
@@ -81,6 +85,7 @@ tar_mermaid <- function(
     exclude_quosure = rlang::enquo(exclude),
     outdated = outdated,
     label = label,
+    label_width = label_width,
     legend = legend,
     color = color,
     reporter = reporter,
@@ -108,6 +113,7 @@ tar_mermaid_inner <- function(
   exclude_quosure,
   outdated,
   label,
+  label_width,
   legend,
   color,
   reporter,
@@ -130,6 +136,7 @@ tar_mermaid_inner <- function(
   visual <- mermaid_init(
     network = network,
     label = label,
+    label_width = label_width,
     show_legend = legend,
     show_color = color
   )
diff --git a/man/tar_mermaid.Rd b/man/tar_mermaid.Rd
index a7100ad5..a3654669 100644
--- a/man/tar_mermaid.Rd
+++ b/man/tar_mermaid.Rd
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ tar_mermaid(
   allow = NULL,
   exclude = ".Random.seed",
   outdated = TRUE,
-  label = NULL,
+  label = targets::tar_config_get("label"),
+  label_width = targets::tar_config_get("label_width"),
   legend = TRUE,
   color = TRUE,
   reporter = targets::tar_config_get("reporter_outdated"),
@@ -70,11 +71,15 @@ and setting \code{outdated} to \code{FALSE} is a nice way to speed up the graph
 if you only want to see dependency relationships and pipeline progress.}
 
 \item{label}{Character vector of one or more aesthetics to add to the
-vertex labels. Can contain \code{"time"} to show total runtime, \code{"size"}
+vertex labels. Can contain \code{"description"} to show each
+target's custom description, \code{"time"} to show total runtime, \code{"size"}
 to show total storage size, or \code{"branches"} to show the number of
 branches in each pattern. You can choose multiple aesthetics
-at once, e.g. \code{label = c("time", "branches")}. All are disabled
-by default because they clutter the graph.}
+at once, e.g. \code{label = c("description", "time")}.
+Only the description is enabled by default}
+
+\item{label_width}{Positive numeric of length 1, maximum width
+(in number of characters) of the node labels.}
 
 \item{legend}{Logical of length 1, whether to display the legend.}
 
@@ -210,7 +215,7 @@ tar_script({
   list(
     tar_target(y1, 1 + 1),
     tar_target(y2, 1 + 1),
-    tar_target(z, y1 + y2)
+    tar_target(z, y1 + y2, description = "sum of two other sums")
   )
 })
 # Copy the text into a mermaid.js online editor
diff --git a/man/tar_visnetwork.Rd b/man/tar_visnetwork.Rd
index fbf90e96..21ce69c2 100644
--- a/man/tar_visnetwork.Rd
+++ b/man/tar_visnetwork.Rd
@@ -74,11 +74,12 @@ and setting \code{outdated} to \code{FALSE} is a nice way to speed up the graph
 if you only want to see dependency relationships and pipeline progress.}
 
 \item{label}{Character vector of one or more aesthetics to add to the
-vertex labels. Can contain \code{"time"} to show total runtime, \code{"size"}
+vertex labels. Can contain \code{"description"} to show each
+target's custom description, \code{"time"} to show total runtime, \code{"size"}
 to show total storage size, or \code{"branches"} to show the number of
 branches in each pattern. You can choose multiple aesthetics
-at once, e.g. \code{label = c("time", "branches")}. All are disabled
-by default because they clutter the graph.}
+at once, e.g. \code{label = c("description", "time")}.
+Only the description is enabled by default}
 
 \item{label_width}{Positive numeric of length 1, maximum width
 (in number of characters) of the node labels.}