Linear

Linear

Use scripts/linear from this skill directory. It is a small, dependency-free wrapper around Linear's public GraphQL API, not an MCP server. Use command-specific --help rather than copying the full command reference into a response.

Setup

1. Inspect the available command and relevant noun: scripts/linear --help and scripts/linear issue --help.
2. For a live request, set exactly one credential in the process environment. Use LINEAR_API_KEY for a personal key or LINEAR_ACCESS_TOKEN for OAuth. Never print, persist, or place either in a command transcript.
3. Begin with bounded discovery. Reads default to --limit 10; the maximum is 100.
4. Output is always JSON: compact with --json, indented without it. --dry-run makes no network request and previews the operation.

Command Map

Choose the Smallest Read

raw is an escape hatch, not a replacement for normal commands. Keep its query narrow and use the official GraphQL documentation to confirm field names and permissions.

State Changes

Confirm the target, scope, and rollback path before acting. Read-only discovery may proceed without confirmation.

For issue create, issue update, issue move, issue comment, issue archive, issue unarchive, project update, and raw GraphQL mutations:

1. Identify the issue/team/project/state using a read command.
2. State the exact intended change and recovery path to the user.
3. Run the same command with --dry-run --json; this has no credentials or network requirement.
4. After confirmation, rerun it with --confirm --json.
5. Report the returned identifier and outcome without exposing credentials.

The --team filters for issue, project, and cycle lists require an exact team key. issue create resolves a team key or exact name before creation, resolves issue identifiers before comments, updates, or archiving, resolves a project by UUID or exact name, an assignee by exact name or email, labels within the issue's team, and a destination workflow state only within that issue's team. project update resolves the project by UUID or exact name and the status by name or type. It does not guess IDs, workflow states, labels, or project statuses. Load references/domain-and-workflows.md for safe mutation recipes and Linear workflow semantics.

Errors And Recovery

• Missing credentials: export one supported environment variable only for the command session, or use --dry-run to inspect the request.
• GraphQL error: the CLI writes Linear's first useful error message to stderr and exits nonzero, including when the HTTP status is 200. Check permissions, exact identifiers, and documented field availability.
• Team ambiguity: use team list to choose an exact key/name; do not retry by guessing an ID.
• State lookup failure: list the team's states first with state list --team, then use that exact name. The error also lists the available states for the issue's team.
• Label lookup failure: the error lists the available labels in the issue's team. Use that exact name.
• Project status lookup failure: the error lists the available statuses. Use an exact name or type (for example planned, started, paused, completed, canceled).
• Project description rejection: Linear's projectUpdate rejects descriptions longer than 255 characters. Keep project descriptions at 255 characters or fewer.
• Limit failure: choose a value from 1 through 100. The CLI deliberately does not paginate automatically.
• Rate limit or transport failure: wait and retry the same bounded read. Follow Linear's rate limiting guidance rather than adding a retry loop.

References

Verification

Run the offline tests and repository validator after changes:

python3 -m unittest linear/tests/test_linear.py
ruby scripts/validate-skills.rb

When Not To Use

Use Linear's native MCP or agent-session/webhook API when the task is to embed a live agent inside Linear rather than operate Linear from a terminal.