What is Linear

The Linear MCP Server is a deprecated Model Context Protocol server that allows integration with Linear’s issue tracking system through the Linear API. It facilitates interaction between Language Learning Models (LLMs) and Linear issues, enabling users to manage their tasks more effectively.

Use cases

This server can be used for various tasks such as creating new issues, updating existing issues, searching for issues using flexible filters, retrieving issues assigned to users, and adding comments to issues. It is particularly useful for teams looking to automate their issue tracking and enhance collaboration through LLMs.

How to use

To use the Linear MCP Server, you can install it either automatically via the Smithery CLI or manually by configuring the appropriate settings in Claude Desktop. After setting up, you can interact with the server using various prompts to manage issues, create reports, and track progress of tasks in Linear.

Key features

Key features of the Linear MCP Server include the ability to create and update issues, perform searches with complex filtering options, retrieve user-assigned issues, and add comments. It also supports markdown for descriptions and comments, enhancing the clarity of communications within the issue tracking process.

Where to use

The Linear MCP Server can be used in environments where Linear’s issue tracking is employed, primarily by development and project management teams. It is especially beneficial for organizations that want to integrate their workflow management with language models to enhance productivity and streamline operations.

Linear MCP Server

IMPORTANT NOTE: This MCP Server is now deprecated and is no longer being maintained. I recommend you use the official Linear remote MCP server here: https://linear.app/changelog/2025-05-01-mcp (https://mcp.linear.app/sse)

A Model Context Protocol server for the Linear API.

This server provides integration with Linear’s issue tracking system through MCP, allowing LLMs to interact with Linear issues.

Installation

Automatic Installation

To install the Linear MCP server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx @smithery/cli install linear-mcp-server --client claude

Manual Installation

1. Create or get a Linear API key for your team: https://linear.app/YOUR-TEAM/settings/api

2. Add server config to Claude Desktop:

   • MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "linear-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "your_linear_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Components

Tools

1. linear_create_issue: Create a new Linear issues

   • Required inputs:
     • title (string): Issue title
     • teamId (string): Team ID to create issue in
   • Optional inputs:
     • description (string): Issue description (markdown supported)
     • priority (number, 0-4): Priority level (1=urgent, 4=low)
     • status (string): Initial status name

2. linear_update_issue: Update existing issues

   • Required inputs:
     • id (string): Issue ID to update
   • Optional inputs:
     • title (string): New title
     • description (string): New description
     • priority (number, 0-4): New priority
     • status (string): New status name

3. linear_search_issues: Search issues with flexible filtering

   • Optional inputs:
     • query (string): Text to search in title/description
     • teamId (string): Filter by team
     • status (string): Filter by status
     • assigneeId (string): Filter by assignee
     • labels (string[]): Filter by labels
     • priority (number): Filter by priority
     • limit (number, default: 10): Max results

4. linear_get_user_issues: Get issues assigned to a user

   • Optional inputs:
     • userId (string): User ID (omit for authenticated user)
     • includeArchived (boolean): Include archived issues
     • limit (number, default: 50): Max results

5. linear_add_comment: Add comments to issues

   • Required inputs:
     • issueId (string): Issue ID to comment on
     • body (string): Comment text (markdown supported)
   • Optional inputs:
     • createAsUser (string): Custom username
     • displayIconUrl (string): Custom avatar URL

Resources

• linear-issue:///{issueId} - View individual issue details
• linear-team:///{teamId}/issues - View team issues
• linear-user:///{userId}/assigned - View user’s assigned issues
• linear-organization: - View organization info
• linear-viewer: - View current user context

Usage examples

Some example prompts you can use with Claude Desktop to interact with Linear:

1. “Show me all my high-priority issues” → execute the search_issues tool and/or linear-user:///{userId}/assigned to find issues assigned to you with priority 1

2. “Based on what I’ve told you about this bug already, make a bug report for the authentication system” → use create_issue to create a new high-priority issue with appropriate details and status tracking

3. “Find all in progress frontend tasks” → use search_issues to locate frontend-related issues with in progress task

4. “Give me a summary of recent updates on the issues for mobile app development” → use search_issues to identify the relevant issue(s), then linear-issue:///{issueId} fetch the issue details and show recent activity and comments

5. “What’s the current workload for the mobile team?” → combine linear-team:///{teamId}/issues and search_issues to analyze issue distribution and priorities across the mobile team

Development

1. Install dependencies:

npm install

1. Configure Linear API key in .env:

LINEAR_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

1. Build the server:

npm run build

For development with auto-rebuild:

npm run watch

License

This MCP server is licensed under the MIT License. This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute the software, subject to the terms and conditions of the MIT License. For more details, please see the LICENSE file in the project repository.