Linear Claude Skill

When to Use This Skill

Manage Linear issues, projects, and teams

Use this skill when working with manage linear issues, projects, and teams.

# Linear

Tools and workflows for managing issues, projects, and teams in Linear.

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⚠️ Tool Availability (READ FIRST)

**This skill supports multiple tool backends. Use whichever is available:**

1. **MCP Tools (mcp__linear)** - Use if available in your tool set

2. **Linear CLI (`linear` command)** - Always available via Bash

3. **Helper Scripts** - For complex operations

**If MCP tools are NOT available**, use the Linear CLI via Bash:

# View an issue
linear issues view ENG-123

# Create an issue
linear issues create --title "Issue title" --description "Description"

# Update issue status (get state IDs first)
linear issues update ENG-123 -s "STATE_ID"

# Add a comment
linear issues comment add ENG-123 -m "Comment text"

# List issues
linear issues list

**Do NOT report "MCP tools not available" as a blocker** - use CLI instead.

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When to Use This Skill

Manage Linear issues, projects, and teams

Use this skill when working with manage linear issues, projects, and teams.

🔐 Security: Varlock Integration

**CRITICAL**: Never expose API keys in terminal output or Claude's context.

Safe Commands (Always Use)

# Validate LINEAR_API_KEY is set (masked output)
varlock load 2>&1 | grep LINEAR

# Run commands with secrets injected
varlock run -- npx tsx scripts/query.ts "query { viewer { name } }"

# Check schema (safe - no values)
cat .env.schema | grep LINEAR

Unsafe Commands (NEVER Use)

# ❌ NEVER - exposes key to Claude's context
linear config show
echo $LINEAR_API_KEY
printenv | grep LINEAR
cat .env

Setup for New Projects

1. Create `.env.schema` with `@sensitive` annotation:

```bash

# @type=string(startsWith=lin_api_) @required @sensitive

LINEAR_API_KEY=

```

2. Add `LINEAR_API_KEY` to `.env` (never commit this file)

3. Configure MCP to use environment variable:

```json

{

"mcpServers": {

"linear": {

"env": { "LINEAR_API_KEY": "${LINEAR_API_KEY}" }

}

}

}

```

4. Use `varlock load` to validate before operations

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Quick Start (First-Time Users)

1. Check Your Setup

Run the setup check to verify your configuration:

npx tsx ~/.claude/skills/linear/scripts/setup.ts

This will check:

- LINEAR_API_KEY is set and valid

- @linear/sdk is installed

- Linear CLI availability (optional)

- MCP configuration (optional)

2. Get API Key (If Needed)

If setup reports a missing API key:

1. Open [Linear](https://linear.app) in your browser

2. Go to **Settings** (gear icon) -> **Security & access** -> **Personal API keys**

3. Click **Create key** and copy the key (starts with `lin_api_`)

4. Add to your environment:

# Option A: Add to shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc)
export LINEAR_API_KEY="lin_api_your_key_here"

# Option B: Add to Claude Code environment
echo 'LINEAR_API_KEY=lin_api_your_key_here' >> ~/.claude/.env

# Then reload your shell or restart Claude Code

3. Test Connection

Verify everything works:

npx tsx ~/.claude/skills/linear/scripts/query.ts "query { viewer { name } }"

You should see your name from Linear.

4. Common Operations

# Create issue in a project
npx tsx scripts/linear-ops.ts create-issue "Project" "Title" "Description"

# Update issue status
npx tsx scripts/linear-ops.ts status Done ENG-123 ENG-124

# Create sub-issue
npx tsx scripts/linear-ops.ts create-sub-issue ENG-100 "Sub-task" "Details"

# Update project status
npx tsx scripts/linear-ops.ts project-status "Phase 1" completed

# Show all commands
npx tsx scripts/linear-ops.ts help

See [Project Management Commands](#project-management-commands) for full reference.

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When to Use This Skill

Manage Linear issues, projects, and teams

Use this skill when working with manage linear issues, projects, and teams.

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