Agent Skills: Linear CLI

Linear CLI

Interacts with Linear for issue tracking and project management using the linear command.

Scope

• Use for Linear issue/project/teams management via the CLI or GraphQL (linear gql).
• Prefer built-in commands over raw GraphQL unless functionality is missing.
• Keep defaults in sync with the user's config; do not hard-code team IDs/outputs.

Install & Setup

• Install: npm install -g @0xbigboss/linear-cli
• Auth: linear auth set or set LINEAR_API_KEY
• Defaults: linear config set default_team_id TEAM_KEY, linear config set default_output json|table, linear config set default_state_filter completed,canceled
• Inspect or reset defaults: linear config show, linear config unset default_output
• Config path: ~/.config/linear/config.json (override with --config PATH or LINEAR_CONFIG)

Prerequisites

• CLI installed and on PATH
• Valid Linear API key available
• Team defaults set or provided per command (team key/UUID)

Hygiene

• Branches: Name as {TICKET}-{short-name} (e.g., ENG-123-fix-auth); prefer git worktrees for parallel work
• Commits: Use conventional commits; ticket ID in body or trailer, not subject
• Assignment: Assign yourself when starting work (linear issue update ENG-123 --assignee me --yes)
• Sub-issues: Set parent to associate related work (requires UUID: linear issue update ENG-123 --parent PARENT_UUID --yes)
• Scope creep: Create separate issues for discovered work; link with blocks relation (linear issue link ENG-123 --blocks ENG-456 --yes)
• Cycles/projects: Ask user preference when creating issues

Quick Recipes

List my issues

linear issues list --team TEAM_KEY --assignee me --human-time

Search issues

linear search "keyword" --team TEAM_KEY --limit 10

Create an issue

linear issue create --team TEAM_KEY --title "Fix bug" --yes
# Returns identifier (e.g., ENG-123)

View issue details

linear issue view ENG-123

Get issue as JSON for processing

linear issue view ENG-123 --json

Get issue with full context (for agents/analysis)

linear issue view ENG-123 --fields identifier,title,state,assignee,priority,url,description,parent,sub_issues,comments --json

List all teams

linear teams list

Verify authentication

linear auth test

List projects

linear projects list --limit 10

View or change CLI defaults

linear config show
linear config set default_output json
linear config unset default_state_filter

Add a comment to an issue

linear issue comment ENG-123 --body "Comment text here" --yes

# Or from a file/stdin
cat notes.md | linear issue comment ENG-123 --body-file - --yes

Create and manage a project

# Create project (team UUID required)
linear project create --team TEAM_UUID --name "My Project" --state planned --yes

# Update project state
linear project update PROJECT_ID --state started --yes

# Add issue to project
linear project add-issue PROJECT_ID ISSUE_UUID --yes

Command Reference

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | linear issues list | List issues with filters | | linear search "keyword" | Search issues by text | | linear issue view ID | View single issue | | linear issue create | Create new issue | | linear issue update ID | Update issue (assign, state, priority, parent*) | | linear issue link ID | Link issues (blocks, related, duplicate) | | linear issue comment ID | Add comment to issue | | linear issue delete ID | Archive an issue | | linear projects list | List projects | | linear project view ID | View project details | | linear project create | Create new project | | linear project update ID | Update project (state, name, dates) | | linear project delete ID | Archive a project | | linear project add-issue | Add issue to project | | linear project remove-issue | Remove issue from project | | linear teams list | List available teams | | linear me | Show current user | | linear gql | Run raw GraphQL | | linear help CMD | Command-specific help |

*--parent requires UUIDs, not identifiers. See Finding IDs.

Common Flags

• --team ID\|KEY - Specify team (required for most commands)
• --json - Output as JSON
• --yes - Confirm mutations without prompt
• --human-time - Show relative timestamps
• --fields LIST - Select specific fields
• --help - Show command help

Workflow: Creating and Linking Issues

Note: --parent requires UUIDs. Get UUID with linear issue view ID --json | jq -r '.issue.id'

Progress:
- [ ] List teams to get TEAM_KEY: `linear teams list`
- [ ] Create parent issue: `linear issue create --team KEY --title "Epic" --yes`
- [ ] Create child issue: `linear issue create --team KEY --title "Task" --yes`
- [ ] Get parent UUID: `linear issue view PARENT_ID --json | jq -r '.issue.id'`
- [ ] Set parent (UUID required): `linear issue update CHILD_ID --parent PARENT_UUID --yes`
- [ ] Create another issue to link: `linear issue create --team KEY --title "Blocked" --yes`
- [ ] Link blocking issue: `linear issue link ISSUE_ID --blocks OTHER_ID --yes`
- [ ] Verify: `linear issue view ISSUE_ID --json`

Common Gotchas

| Problem | Cause | Solution | |---------|-------|----------| | Empty results | No team specified | Add --team TEAM_KEY | | 401 Unauthorized | Invalid/missing API key | Run linear auth test | | Mutation does nothing | Missing confirmation | Add --yes flag | | Can't find issue | Wrong ID or missing access | issue view accepts identifier or UUID; verify spelling and permissions | | --parent fails | Using identifier | --parent flag requires UUID, not identifier |

ID format summary: Most commands accept identifiers (ENG-123). Exception: --parent requires UUIDs.

Advanced Operations

For operations not covered by built-in commands, use linear gql with GraphQL:

• Add attachments - See graphql-recipes.md → "Attach URL to Issue"
• Upload files - See graphql-recipes.md → "Upload File"

Note: Adding comments is now available via linear issue comment. Setting parent is available via issue update --parent, but requires UUIDs. Use linear issue view ID --json to get UUIDs.

Finding IDs

Important: issue update --parent requires UUIDs.

# Get issue UUID from identifier
linear issue view ENG-123 --json | jq -r '.issue.id'

# Current user UUID
linear me --json | jq -r '.viewer.id'

# All teams with UUIDs
linear teams list --json

# Issue full details including UUID
linear issue view ENG-123 --json

Or in Linear app: Cmd/Ctrl+K → "Copy model UUID"

JSON Output Structures

Commands with --json return nested structures. Use these jq paths:

| Command | Root path | Items path | |---------|-----------|------------| | issue view ID | .issue | N/A (single object) | | issue view ID --fields ... | . | N/A (flat object of selected fields) | | issues list | .issues | .issues.nodes[] | | project view ID | .project | N/A (single object) | | projects list | .projects | .projects.nodes[] | | teams list | .teams | .teams.nodes[] | | me | .viewer | N/A (single object) | | search | .issues | .issues.nodes[] |

Null handling: Many fields can be null (name, description, dates, assignee). Use null-safe filters.

jq Patterns

# List all projects (correct path)
linear projects list --json | jq '.projects.nodes[]'

# Filter projects by name (null-safe)
linear projects list --json | jq '.projects.nodes[] | select(.name) | select(.name | ascii_downcase | contains("keyword"))'

# Get project names as array
linear projects list --json | jq '[.projects.nodes[].name]'

# Filter issues by title
linear issues list --team TEAM --json | jq '.issues.nodes[] | select(.title | ascii_downcase | contains("bug"))'

# Extract specific fields
linear issues list --team TEAM --json | jq '.issues.nodes[] | {id: .identifier, title, state: .state.name}'

# Get issue UUID from identifier
linear issue view ENG-123 --json | jq -r '.issue.id'

Common mistakes:

• .[] on root - use .projects.nodes[] or .issues.nodes[]
• test("pattern"; "i") on null - filter nulls first with select(.field)
• Escaping != in shells - use select(.field) instead of select(.field != null)

Reference Files

• graphql-recipes.md - GraphQL mutations for attachments, relations, comments, file uploads
• troubleshooting.md - Common errors and debugging steps

External Links

• Linear API Docs
• Schema Explorer