Linear GRAPHQL Skill

Linear GraphQL Skill

Use this skill to run Linear GraphQL API operations through uxc.

Reuse the uxc skill guidance for discovery, schema inspection, auth lifecycle, and error recovery.

Prerequisites

• uxc is installed and available in PATH.
• Network access to https://api.linear.app/graphql.
• Linear API key or OAuth credentials available.

Authentication

Linear supports two authentication methods:

Option 1: Personal API Key (Recommended for development)

1. Get your API key from Linear: https://linear.app/settings/api

2. Set credential with custom Authorization header:

   uxc auth credential set linear-graphql \
     --auth-type api_key \
     --header "Authorization:{{secret}}" \
     --secret "lin_api_XXX"
   

   Or use environment variable:

   export LINEAR_API_KEY="lin_api_XXX"
   uxc auth credential set linear-graphql \
     --auth-type api_key \
     --header "Authorization:{{secret}}" \
     --secret-env LINEAR_API_KEY
   

3. Bind endpoint:

   uxc auth binding add \
     --id linear-graphql \
     --host api.linear.app \
     --path-prefix /graphql \
     --scheme https \
     --credential linear-graphql \
     --priority 100
   

Important (Personal API Key only): Linear API keys require Authorization: lin_api_XXX format (no Bearer prefix). The --header "Authorization:{{secret}}" configuration above is required for API key auth. For OAuth access tokens, use standard Authorization: Bearer <token> semantics (handled by the OAuth credential flow in uxc).

Credential/binding IDs in this skill use linear-graphql by convention; IDs are local aliases and can be changed if needed.

Option 2: OAuth 2.0 (For production/user-delegated access)

1. Create an OAuth app in Linear: https://linear.app/settings/api

2. Start OAuth login:

   uxc auth oauth start linear-graphql \
     --endpoint https://api.linear.app/graphql \
     --redirect-uri http://127.0.0.1:8788/callback \
     --scope read \
     --scope write
   

   After approval, complete it with:

   uxc auth oauth complete linear-graphql \
     --session-id <session_id> \
     --authorization-response 'http://127.0.0.1:8788/callback?code=...&state=...'
   

3. Bind endpoint:

   uxc auth binding add \
     --id linear-graphql \
     --host api.linear.app \
     --path-prefix /graphql \
     --scheme https \
     --credential linear-graphql \
     --priority 100
   

Core Workflow

1. Use fixed link command by default:

   • command -v linear-graphql-cli
   • If the command exists, confirm it is the expected uxc link for this skill before using it.
   • If a command conflict is detected and cannot be safely reused, stop and ask skill maintainers for guidance instead of dynamically renaming the command.
   • If missing, create it: uxc link linear-graphql-cli https://api.linear.app/graphql
   • linear-graphql-cli -h

2. Discover operations:

   • linear-graphql-cli -h
   • Returns hundreds of GraphQL operations

3. Inspect specific operation:

   • linear-graphql-cli query/issues -h
   • linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate -h

4. Execute queries:

   # Query issues (simple)
   linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":10}'
   
   # Query issues with explicit selection set for useful fields
   linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":10,"_select":"nodes { identifier title url state { name } assignee { name } }"}'
   
   # Query teams
   linear-graphql-cli query/teams '{"first":10}'
   
   # Create issue (requires write scope)
   linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate '{
     "input": {
       "teamId": "TEAM_ID",
       "title": "New Issue Title",
       "description": "Issue description"
     }
   }'
   

Available Operations

Queries

• query/issues - List and filter issues
• query/issue - Get single issue
• query/teams - List teams
• query/team - Get single team
• query/projects - List projects
• query/workflowStates - List workflow states

Mutations

• mutation/issueCreate - Create new issue
• mutation/issueUpdate - Update issue
• mutation/issueArchive - Archive issue
• mutation/commentCreate - Add comment

Usage Examples

List recent issues

linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":20,"_select":"nodes { identifier title url state { name } assignee { name } }"}'

Get issue by ID

linear-graphql-cli query/issue id=ISSUE_ID

List teams

linear-graphql-cli query/teams

Create issue

linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate '{"input":{"teamId":"YOUR_TEAM_ID","title":"Fix bug"}}'

Troubleshooting

Authentication Errors

Error: "Bearer token" prefix rejected

• Linear API does not accept Authorization: Bearer lin_api_XXX
• Ensure credential uses --auth-type api_key --header "Authorization:{{secret}}"
• Do not use --auth-type bearer

Error: "Credential not found"

• Check credential exists: uxc auth credential list
• Verify binding: uxc auth binding list
• Create binding if missing (see Authentication section)

OAuth login spans multiple agent turns

• Prefer uxc auth oauth start ... and uxc auth oauth complete ...
• Use uxc auth oauth login ... --flow authorization_code only when one process can wait for the pasted callback URL

Error: "No binding matched"

• Check binding exists: uxc auth binding match api.linear.app/graphql
• If missing, create binding with uxc auth binding add (see Authentication section)

For detailed authentication troubleshooting, see uxc skill's references/auth-configuration.md.

Common Issues

Daemon issues after credential changes

• Restart daemon: uxc daemon restart
• Check status: uxc daemon status

Environment variable not found

• Ensure variable is exported in daemon's environment
• Or use --secret for literal values (less secure)
• Or use --secret-op for 1Password (most secure)

Guardrails

• Keep automation on JSON output envelope; do not use --text.
• Parse stable fields first: ok, kind, data, error.
• Prefer positional JSON for non-string and typed arguments (for example: linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":10}' and linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate '{"input":{"teamId":"TEAM_ID","title":"Test"}}').
• Use reserved GraphQL argument _select (string) when you need explicit return fields, e.g. {"_select":"nodes { identifier title }"}.
• Use linear-graphql-cli as the default command path.
• linear-graphql-cli <operation> ... is equivalent to uxc https://api.linear.app/graphql <operation> ....
• Prefer read operations first (query/), then write operations (mutation/).
• For write operations, always confirm user intent before execution.
• If auth fails, check credential with uxc auth credential info linear-graphql.

References

• Linear API Documentation: https://developers.linear.app
• GraphQL Schema: https://studio.apollographql.com/public/Linear-API
• Invocation patterns: references/usage-patterns.md