name: linear-operator description: Operate Linear effectively for issue tracking, project management, and team coordination. Provides workflows for common operations using Linear MCP tools and references official documentation.

Linear Operator

Efficiently manage Linear issues, projects, and teams using MCP tools and Linear documentation.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

Creating, updating, or searching for Linear issues
Managing projects and tracking progress
Organizing work with labels, cycles, and statuses
Coordinating team activities
Setting up workflows and automations
Need to reference Linear documentation for detailed guidance

Core Concepts

Workspace - Top-level container for teams (one per company recommended) Team - Organizes different work functions within a workspace Issue - Core unit of work (belongs to a single team) Project - Cross-team or team-specific initiative (can span multiple teams) Cycle - Time-boxed sprint/iteration for planning work Status - Workflow state (Backlog, Todo, In Progress, Done, etc.) Label - Organizational tag for issues and projects

Quick Start Workflows

Create an Issue

1. Identify target team (use list_teams if needed)
2. Use create_issue with:
   - title (required)
   - team (required)
   - description (optional, supports Markdown)
   - assignee (optional)
   - labels (optional)
   - state (optional, defaults to Backlog)
   - priority (optional, only if explicitly needed)
3. Save issue ID for future operations

Search for Issues

1. Use list_issues with filters:
   - team (filter by team)
   - assignee (use "me" for your issues)
   - state (filter by status)
   - label (filter by label)
   - query (search title/description)
2. Review results and get full details with get_issue if needed

Update Issue Status

1. Get issue details with get_issue
2. Use update_issue with:
   - id (issue ID)
   - state (new status name or ID)
3. Verify update completed

Create a Project

1. Use create_project with:
   - name (required)
   - team (required)
   - description (optional, Markdown)
   - lead (optional)
   - startDate/targetDate (optional, ISO format)
   - state (optional)
2. Save project ID
3. Link issues to project using update_issue

Issue Operations

Creating Effective Issues

Minimum viable issue:

Clear, actionable title
Team assignment
Description with context (what, why, acceptance criteria)

Enhanced issue:

Assignee (user ID, name, email, or "me")
Labels for categorization
Priority (0=None, 1=Urgent, 2=High, 3=Normal, 4=Low)
Due date (ISO format)
Parent issue (for sub-issues)
Project assignment
Cycle assignment

Best practices:

Keep titles concise and actionable
Use Markdown for descriptions (code blocks, lists, links)
Add labels for easy filtering
Set priority only when explicitly needed
Link related issues using parentId for hierarchy

Searching and Filtering

Common search patterns:

# My open issues
list_issues(assignee="me", state="open")

# Team's active work
list_issues(team="team-name", state="In Progress")

# Issues by label
list_issues(label="bug", state="open")

# Recent updates
list_issues(updatedAt="-P7D")  # Last 7 days

Pagination:

Use limit (max 250) and after/before cursors
Default orderBy is updatedAt (DESC)
Can order by createdAt or updatedAt

Updating Issues

Common updates:

Change status: update_issue(id="...", state="In Progress")
Assign: update_issue(id="...", assignee="me")
Add labels: update_issue(id="...", labels=["bug", "urgent"])
Move to project: update_issue(id="...", project="project-id")
Set estimate: update_issue(id="...", estimate=3)

State management:

Get available states: list_issue_statuses(team="team-name")
States have types: Backlog, Unstarted, Started, Completed, Canceled
Use state name, ID, or type when updating

Issue Hierarchy

Parent-child relationships:

Create sub-issue: create_issue(title="...", team="...", parentId="parent-id")
View sub-issues: get_issue(id="parent-id") includes sub-issues
Update parent: update_issue(id="...", parentId="new-parent-id")

Sub-issue operations (see [[references/sub-issues.md]]):

Add sub-issue to parent
Remove sub-issue
Reprioritize sub-issues

Comments

Add comment:

create_comment(issueId="...", body="Comment text in Markdown")

Reply to comment:

create_comment(issueId="...", body="Reply text", parentId="comment-id")

View comments:

list_comments(issueId="...")

Project Management

Overview

Projects are units of work with clear outcomes or completion dates:

Comprised of issues and documents
Can span multiple teams
Have milestones, progress graphs, dependencies
Track progress with live predictions
Support updates with health indicators

Key features:

Milestones - Divide work into stages
Project Graph - Progress tracking and completion predictions
Documents - Specs, PRDs, updates within Linear
Updates - Health indicators and structured reporting
Dependencies - Visualize blocking relationships
Templates - Reusable project structures
Labels - Flexible categorization
Priority - Urgency levels
Notifications - Personal and Slack channel alerts

Creating Projects

Basic project:

create_project(
  name="Q1 Feature Launch",
  team="team-id",
  description="Launch new features for Q1",
  summary="Brief summary for project cards"
)

Full project with all properties:

create_project(
  name="Q1 Feature Launch",
  team="team-id",
  description="## Goals\n\n- Goal 1\n- Goal 2",
  summary="Launch new features",
  lead="user-id",
  startDate="2025-01-01",  # Supports flexible timeframes
  targetDate="2025-03-31",
  state="planned",
  labels=["strategic", "q1"],
  priority=2  # 0=None, 1=Urgent, 2=High, 3=Medium, 4=Low
)

Timeframes: Projects support flexible timeframes for dates:

Year: "2025"
Half-year: "H1 2025"
Quarter: "Q1 2025"
Month: "January 2025"
Precise day: "2025-01-15"

Use broader timeframes early, narrow as certainty increases.

Managing Projects

List projects:

# All projects
list_projects()

# Team projects
list_projects(team="team-name")

# By member
list_projects(member="me")

# Recent updates
list_projects(updatedAt="-P7D")

# By state
list_projects(state="started")

# Search by name
list_projects(query="mobile redesign")

Get project details:

# By ID
get_project(query="project-id")

# By name
get_project(query="Mobile App Redesign")

Update project:

update_project(
  id="project-id",
  name="New name",
  state="in_progress",
  targetDate="2025-04-15",
  lead="new-lead-id",
  labels=["q1", "strategic"]
)

Project States

Status categories:

Backlog - Not yet started
Planned - Scoped, not in progress
In Progress - Active work (generates graph)
Completed - Successfully finished
Canceled - Discontinued

Custom statuses: Settings > Projects > Statuses

Multiple statuses per category
Custom names, descriptions, colors

Multi-Team Projects

Span multiple teams:

Add teams when creating or from project details
Project view creates tabs for each team
Toggle between all issues or team-specific
Unified progress tracking
Single project lead

Use for:

Product launches (Engineering, Design, Marketing)
Platform migrations (Frontend, Backend, Data)
Company-wide initiatives

Project Milestones

Divide work into stages:

# Create milestone (from project view)
Cmd/Ctrl I → Click + beside "Milestones"

# Add issue to milestone
Shift M (on issue)

Milestone features:

Name, description, target date
Completion percentage tracking
Timeline visualization
Convert large milestones to projects
Filter/group issues by milestone

Progress indicators:

Yellow diamond: Current focus
Gray: Not started
Filled: In progress
Complete: All issues done

See [[references/project-management.md#project-milestones]] for detailed guide.

Project Graph

Automatic progress tracking:

Shows scope, velocity, progress over time
Live predictions for completion date
Optimistic/pessimistic estimates (±40%)
Updates hourly

Access: Open project sidebar (Cmd/Ctrl I)

Graph lines:

Gray: Project scope (shows scope creep)
Blue: Started issues
Purple (solid): Completed issues
Purple (dotted): Predicted completion
Red vertical: Target date

Predictions based on:

Weekly velocity (recent weeks weighted more)
Remaining issue points
In-progress issues (counted as 1/4 complete)

See [[references/project-management.md#project-graph]] for details.

Project Documents

Create documents inside projects:

Specs, PRDs, meeting notes, updates
Markdown editor (same as issues)
Inline comments (Cmd Opt M)
Collaborative editing
Version history
Document templates

Access: Project Overview > Resources > Create Document

See [[references/project-management.md#project-documents]] for comprehensive guide.

Project Updates

Structured health updates:

Health indicator: On track, At risk, Off track
Rich text description
Auto-generated progress report
Post to Slack channels

Create update:

Project Overview > Click "Update" or pencil icon
Select health indicator
Write description
Review auto-generated progress

Update reminders:

Configure in Workspace Settings
Frequency: Daily, weekly, biweekly, custom
Project-level overrides
Staleness indicators for overdue updates

See [[references/project-management.md#initiative-and-project-updates]] for detailed workflows.

Project Dependencies

Visualize blocking relationships:

End → Start dependency type
Create from timeline (drag between projects)
Or contextual menu > Dependencies
Blue line: Not violated
Red line: Violated (dates conflict)

Timeline interactions:

Click line: Jump to project or remove dependency
Drag project: Bump dependent projects
Hold Cmd/Ctrl: Keep chain in place
Hold Shift: Move all together

See [[references/project-management.md#project-dependencies]].

Project Templates

Reusable project structures:

Predefined issues and milestones
Project properties (lead, members, status)
Associated initiatives
Team assignments

Create templates: Settings > Templates (workspace or team)

Use template: "New Project" > Select template beside team

See [[references/project-management.md#project-templates]].

Project Labels

Categorize projects at scale:

More flexible than Initiatives
Filter and group projects
Filter issues by project's label
Insights integration

Create labels: Settings > Projects > Labels Apply labels: update_project(id="...", labels=[...])

See [[references/project-management.md#project-labels-and-organization]].

Project Priority

Set urgency levels:

Keyboard: P then P
0=None, 1=Urgent, 2=High, 3=Medium, 4=Low
Manual ordering within groups
No priority items sorted last

Project Notifications

Personal notifications:

Bell icon on project page
Settings > Account > Notifications
New issues, comments, status changes, updates

Slack channel notifications:

Bell icon > Select Slack channel
Per-project override
Best practice: #p-project-name channels

See [[references/project-management.md#project-notifications]] for configuration.

Initiatives

Overview

Initiatives group projects by company objective:

Manually curated lists
Align organization on goals
Track progress towards objectives
Workspace-level visibility

Initiatives vs Projects:

Initiatives: High-level goals, multiple projects
Projects: Clear outcomes, issues and documents

Initiatives vs Project Views:

Initiatives: Manual curation, goal alignment, health tracking
Project Views: Automatic filtering, no goal required

Creating Initiatives

Navigate to Initiatives page in sidebar:

Required: Name only
Optional:
- Owner (defaults to creator)
- Target date
- Summary/description
- Associated projects
- Sub-initiatives (Enterprise)

Properties:

Status: Planned, Active, Completed
Owner
Target Date
Teams, Projects, Sub-initiatives
Description (document)
Resources (links)
Latest Update

Initiative Health

Health indicators:

Based on latest Initiative update
On track (green), At risk (yellow), Off track (red)

Active Projects rollup:

Shows constituent project health
Color-coded by latest project updates
Identify projects needing attention

Sub-initiatives (Enterprise)

Hierarchical organization:

Nest up to 5 levels deep
Parent includes all sub-initiative projects
Create from workspace Initiative views or Overview page
Hold Option/Alt and drag to nest

Use for:

Company-wide objectives across departments
Large strategic goals with phases
Grouping by quarter, theme, ownership

See [[references/project-management.md#initiatives]] for comprehensive guide.

Team Coordination

Working with Teams

List all teams:

list_teams()

Get team details:

get_team(query="team-name-or-id-or-key")

Find team members:

Use list_users() to see all workspace users
Use get_user(query="name-or-email-or-id") for specific user

Cycles (Sprints)

List cycles:

# Current cycle
list_cycles(teamId="team-id", type="current")

# Next cycle
list_cycles(teamId="team-id", type="next")

# All cycles
list_cycles(teamId="team-id")

Assign issue to cycle:

update_issue(id="...", cycle="cycle-id-or-number")

Cycle planning workflow:

List current/next cycle
Search backlog issues
Assign selected issues to cycle
Issues auto-move from Backlog to active status (if configured)

Organization

Labels

List labels:

# Workspace labels
list_issue_labels()

# Team labels
list_issue_labels(team="team-name")

# Find specific label
list_issue_labels(name="bug")

Create label:

create_issue_label(
  name="technical-debt",
  color="#FF6900",
  description="Issues related to technical debt"
)

Label hierarchy:

Create label group: create_issue_label(name="Type", isGroup=true)
Add child label: create_issue_label(name="Bug", parentId="group-id")

Apply labels:

update_issue(id="...", labels=["bug", "urgent"])

Status Workflows

List available statuses:

list_issue_statuses(team="team-name")

Status categories:

Backlog - Unscheduled work
Unstarted - Scheduled but not started (e.g., "Todo")
Started - Work in progress (e.g., "In Progress", "In Review")
Completed - Finished successfully
Canceled - Abandoned work

Update status:

# By state name
update_issue(id="...", state="In Progress")

# By state type
update_issue(id="...", state="started")

# By state ID
update_issue(id="...", state="state-id")

Triage

Overview

Triage is a special inbox for managing incoming issues:

Issues created by integrations (Slack, Sentry, support tools)
Issues created by workspace members outside the team
Review, update, and prioritize before entering workflow

Enable: Team Settings > Triage (toggle on)

Access: G then T (or O then T for specific team)

Triage Actions

Action	Shortcut	Description
Accept	`1`	Move to default status, optional comment
Mark as duplicate	`2` or `MM`	Merge into existing issue, transfer attachments
Decline	`3`	Set to Canceled status, optional explanation
Snooze	`H`	Hide until time/activity, hidden from others by default

Ask for information: Comment and keep in Triage or snooze

Triage Rules (Enterprise)

Automated actions based on filters:

Configure in Team Settings > Triage
Update team, status, assignee, label, project, priority
Execute sequentially
Moving teams triggers new team's rules

Example use:

Route to correct team by label
Auto-assign by customer
Set priority by customer tier
Combine with Asks fields for scalable intake

Triage Responsibility (Business/Enterprise)

Define first responders:

Select specific members
Receive notifications or auto-assignment
Connect PagerDuty/OpsGenie/Rootly/Incident.io schedules
Visible when creating issues

Product Intelligence (Business/Enterprise)

AI-powered assistance:

Suggest assignee, label
Surface related issues or duplicates
Based on historical behavior analysis

See [[references/triage-and-views.md#triage]] for comprehensive guide.

Views

User Views

See issues assigned to team members:

Open user profile: O then U
Click avatar or name in activity
Filter and scan assigned issues

Group by assignee:

Most views support assignee grouping
Example: Project work distribution
1. Group by Assignee
2. Filter Started + Unstarted
3. See remaining work per person

Cycle sidebar (Cmd/Ctrl I):

View cycle distribution
Issue/estimate count per user
Percentage completion
Hover to filter to user's issues

Label Views

View all issues under a label:

Click label from board/list/issue
Keyboard: O then L
Command menu: "open label"

Favorite label views: Star icon for quick access

Cross-team label aggregation:

Create "All teams" view
Filter by specific label
Ensure label names match across teams
See all issues with that label workspace-wide

Attached Views

Project issue views:

Click new view icon next to "Issues" tab
Filter subset of project issues
Name and save view
Appears as tab, visible to all with access

Example project views:

Current User (personalized)
Bugs (filter label)
Standup (filter "In Progress")
Blocked (filter blocking relationships)

Project views on workspace page:

Create filtered project views
Auto-include matching projects
No manual curation
Example: "In Progress", "My Projects", "This Quarter"

See [[references/triage-and-views.md]] for comprehensive views guide.

Documentation Reference

Search Linear Docs

Find relevant documentation:

search_documentation(query="cycles workflow")

Common topics:

"getting started" - Onboarding guides
"issue management" - Issue workflows
"projects" - Project management
"cycles" - Sprint planning
"integrations" - GitHub, GitLab, etc.
"automation" - Workflow automations
"keyboard shortcuts" - Efficiency tips

Fetch Specific Documentation

Use WebFetch for detailed Linear documentation:

WebFetch(
  url="https://linear.app/docs/[topic]",
  prompt="Extract key information about [topic]"
)

Useful doc pages:

/docs - Main documentation index
/docs/issues - Issue management
/docs/projects - Project management
/docs/cycles - Cycle/sprint planning
/docs/keyboard-shortcuts - Keyboard shortcuts

Common Patterns

Triage Workflow

List untriaged issues: list_issues(state="Triage")
Review each issue
Update with proper labels, priority, assignment: update_issue(...)
Move to appropriate status: update_issue(state="Backlog" or "Todo")

Sprint Planning

Review cycle: list_cycles(type="next")
Search backlog: list_issues(state="Backlog", team="...")
Assign issues to cycle: update_issue(cycle="cycle-id")
Set priorities and estimates
Assign owners

Bug Triage

List bugs: list_issues(label="bug", state="Triage")
For each bug:
- Assess severity → Set priority
- Assign owner
- Add to current cycle (urgent) or backlog
Update status appropriately

Weekly Review

Check my issues: list_issues(assignee="me", state=["Todo", "In Progress"])
Review in-progress work
Update statuses
Comment on blockers
Plan next week's work

Advanced Operations

Bulk Operations

When updating multiple issues:

List target issues
Iterate with update_issue for each
Verify changes completed

Custom Views

While MCP tools don't directly support views, replicate them with:

Filtered list_issues calls
Saved filter combinations
Regular queries for common views

Integration with Git

For GitHub/GitLab integration:

Copy git branch name from issue (use Linear UI or API)
Include issue ID in PR/MR title or description
Linear auto-links and updates issue status based on PR/MR events

See [[references/git-integration.md]] for detailed workflow automation.

Advanced Features

Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

Automatic deadline management (Business/Enterprise):

Settings > Workspace > SLAs
Create rules: Priority → SLA duration
Example: Urgent = 24hr, High = 1 week

Key features:

Rule-based automation
Business day calculation
Visual indicators (fire icon colors)
Breach notifications
Performance tracking

See [[references/advanced-features.md#service-level-agreements-slas]] for complete guide.

Estimates

Size and effort tracking:

Team Settings > General > Estimates
Choose scale: Fibonacci, Linear, T-Shirt, Exponential

Keyboard shortcut: Shift + E

Use for:

Sprint/cycle planning
Velocity tracking
Effort calculation
Team capacity planning

Due Dates

Time-sensitive work tracking:

Keyboard: Shift + D
Filter: F → Due Date → Overdue/1 week/Custom

Visual indicators:

Red: Overdue
Orange: Due within 1 week
Gray: Future due date

Cannot combine: Due date OR SLA, not both

Priority

Urgency levels:

Urgent (1) - Immediate notifications
High (2)
Medium (3)
Low (4)
No priority (default)

Keyboard shortcut: P

Urgent priority triggers immediate notifications to assignee.

Issue Relations

Connection types:

Related: M then R (or reference #ISSUE-123)
Blocking: M then X
Blocked by: M then B
Duplicate: M then M

Use for:

Dependencies
Related work
Blocker tracking
Duplicate management

See [[references/advanced-features.md#issue-relations]] for detailed patterns.

Creating Issues via Email

Team email intake:

Team Settings > General > Create by email
Enable → Get unique email address

Template-specific emails:

Each template can have its own email
Properties pre-applied
Ideal for intake forms

Limitations: 25MB attachments, sender not notified of updates

See [[references/issue-workflows.md#creating-issues-via-email]] for setup.

Creating Issues via URL

URL parameters for automation:

https://linear.new?title=Bug:+&label=bug&priority=high&assignee=me

Supported parameters:

title, description, status, priority, assignee
estimate, cycle, label, project
links (attachments)

Use cases:

Bookmarklets
Documentation links
Integration buttons
Automation scripts

See [[references/issue-workflows.md#creating-issues-via-url]] for all parameters.

Recurring Issues

Automated repeating tasks:

Issue composer: ··· menu → "Make recurring..."
Or convert existing: Cmd/Ctrl + K → "Convert into recurring issue"

Cadence options:

Daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly
Custom intervals
Business days or calendar days

Management:

Team Settings > Recurring issues

Issue Documents

Rich content within issues:

Issue view → ··· menu → "Add Document"

Features:

Collaborative editing
Inline comments
Version history
Document templates
Slash commands (/)

Use for: Specs, requirements, research, meeting notes

Comments and Threads

Threaded discussions:

Hover comment → Arrow icon → Reply to thread

Features:

Resolved threads
AI discussion summaries (Business/Enterprise)
Emoji reactions
File attachments (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A)

AI summaries: Auto-generated for 19+ comments or 100+ words

Team Management

Create and manage teams:

Settings > Teams > "Add team"
Copy settings from existing team
Make private (Business/Enterprise)

Team features:

Custom workflows per team
Team-specific labels
Team-level templates
Separate cycle planning
Sub-teams (Business/Enterprise)

See [[references/team-management.md]] for comprehensive team guide.

Troubleshooting

Issue Not Found

Verify issue ID format (e.g., "TEAM-123")
Check if issue is archived
Ensure you have access to the team

Cannot Update Issue

Verify issue ID is correct
Check team permissions
Ensure state/label names are valid

Search Returns No Results

Broaden search criteria
Check spelling of team names, labels, states
Verify date format (ISO 8601) for date filters
Use query parameter for text search in title/description

Labels Not Working

Verify label names (case-sensitive)
Check if labels exist in workspace/team
Create labels first with create_issue_label if needed

References

Load these on-demand for detailed guidance:

[[references/issue-workflows.md]] - Advanced issue management patterns
[[references/project-management.md]] - Comprehensive project operations (projects, milestones, initiatives, documents, updates, dependencies, labels, templates, priority, notifications, archiving)
[[references/triage-and-views.md]] - Triage management, user views, label views, attached views
[[references/git-integration.md]] - GitHub/GitLab workflow automation
[[references/api-patterns.md]] - MCP tool usage patterns and tips
[[references/team-management.md]] - Team creation, configuration, and management
[[references/advanced-features.md]] - SLAs, estimates, due dates, priority, relations
[[assets/issue-template.md]] - Template for well-structured issues
[[assets/project-template.md]] - Template for project creation
[[assets/common-queries.md]] - Common search and filter patterns

Tool Reference

Issue Operations:

list_issues - Search and filter issues
get_issue - Get detailed issue info
create_issue - Create new issue
update_issue - Update existing issue
list_comments - Get issue comments
create_comment - Add comment to issue

Project Operations:

list_projects - Search and filter projects
get_project - Get detailed project info
create_project - Create new project
update_project - Update existing project

Team Operations:

list_teams - List all teams
get_team - Get team details
list_users - List workspace users
get_user - Get user details

Organization:

list_issue_labels - List available labels
create_issue_label - Create new label
list_issue_statuses - List team statuses
list_cycles - List team cycles

Documentation:

search_documentation - Search Linear docs
WebFetch - Fetch specific doc pages from linear.app/docs

Use this skill to operate Linear efficiently with MCP tools and official documentation.