linear-cli

README

Linear CLI

Why Linear CLI?

The economics of code have changed. A decade ago, a line of production code cost $15-50 to write. Today, AI coding assistants generate code for pennies. This explosion in code generation creates a new bottleneck: coordination.

Agentic coding works brilliantly for individual developers. But scaling it to teams—where multiple agents, human developers, and product managers collaborate—remains unsolved.

Linear CLI bridges this gap:

• For agentic coding: Agents read and update Linear issues as they work, maintaining shared state across your entire team
• For agentic product management: AI assistants can search, triage, and analyze your backlog alongside human PMs
• For hybrid teams: Human and AI contributors work from the same source of truth

Linear becomes the coordination layer—tracking what's planned, what's in progress, and what's done—while agents and humans focus on building.

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Quickstart

Get started in 3 steps:

# 1. Authenticate
linear auth login

# 2. Initialize your project (select default team)
linear init

# 3. Install Claude Code skills (optional but recommended)
linear skills install --all

You're ready! Try:

linear issues list
linear issues create "My first issue" --team YOUR-TEAM

See Authentication for OAuth setup details.

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A token-efficient command-line interface for Linear.

Why this tool? Human-readable identifiers ("TEST-123" not UUIDs), smart caching, and ASCII output—90% fewer tokens than alternatives.

Installation

Homebrew (Recommended)

brew tap joa23/linear-cli https://github.com/joa23/linear-cli
brew install linear-cli

Manual Download

macOS:

# Apple Silicon
curl -L https://github.com/joa23/linear-cli/releases/latest/download/linear-darwin-arm64.tar.gz | tar -xz
chmod +x linear

# Intel
curl -L https://github.com/joa23/linear-cli/releases/latest/download/linear-darwin-amd64.tar.gz | tar -xz
chmod +x linear

Linux:

curl -L https://github.com/joa23/linear-cli/releases/latest/download/linear-linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar -xz
chmod +x linear

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/joa23/linear-cli.git
cd linear-cli
make build

Authentication

linear auth login

You'll be prompted to choose an authentication mode:

Personal Use - Authenticate as yourself

• Your actions appear under your Linear account
• For personal task management

Agent/App - Authenticate as an agent

• Agent appears as a separate entity in Linear
• Requires admin approval to install
• Agent can be @mentioned and assigned issues
• For automation, bots, and integrations

OAuth Setup

Personal Mode Setup

During login, you'll be prompted for:

1. OAuth callback port (default: 37412)

   • Press Enter to use default, or specify a custom port
   • The wizard shows you the callback URL to configure

2. Create an OAuth app in Linear:

   • Go to Linear → Settings → API → OAuth Applications → New
   • Set callback URL: http://localhost:YOUR_PORT/oauth-callback
   • Copy the Client ID and Secret

3. Enter credentials when prompted

Credentials (including port) are saved to ~/.config/linear/config.yaml.

Agent Mode Setup

For agent/automation use (bots, CI/CD, integrations):

1. Create an OAuth app in Linear:

   • Go to Linear → Settings → API → OAuth Applications → New
   • Name: linear-cli-agent (or your preferred name)
   • Callback URL: http://localhost:3000/oauth-callback
   • Actor: Application (not User)
   • Click "Create"

2. Save your credentials:

   • Client ID: Copy and save this (you'll need it for login)
   • Client Secret: Copy and save this immediately (shown only once)
   • Store these securely - you'll need them to authenticate

3. Authenticate:

   linear auth login
   # Select "Agent/App" mode
   # Enter port: 3000
   # Enter Client ID and Secret when prompted
   

4. Admin approval required:

   • After authentication, a Linear admin must approve the app installation
   • Go to Linear → Settings → Installed Applications
   • Approve the pending installation

Once approved, the agent can be @mentioned and assigned issues like any team member.

Other Auth Commands

linear auth status   # Check login status
linear auth logout   # Remove credentials

CLI Commands

Issues

# Basic operations
linear issues list                           # List your assigned issues
linear issues get ENG-123                    # Get issue details

# Pagination - offset-based for easy navigation
linear issues list                           # First 10 issues (default)
linear issues list --start 10 --limit 10     # Items 11-20
linear issues list --start 20 --limit 5      # Items 21-25

# Sorting
linear issues list --sort priority           # Sort by priority (highest first)
linear issues list --sort created            # Sort by creation date
linear issues list --sort updated --direction asc  # Oldest updated first

# Combine pagination and sorting
linear issues list --start 20 --limit 10 --sort created --direction asc

# Create with full context
linear issues create "Implement OAuth2 login" \
  --team ENG \
  --project "Q1 Auth Revamp" \
  --state "In Progress" \
  --priority 2 \
  --assignee me \
  --estimate 5 \
  --cycle current \
  --labels "backend,security"

# Create sub-issue with dependencies
linear issues create "Add Google OAuth provider" \
  --team ENG \
  --parent ENG-100 \
  --blocked-by ENG-99 \
  --depends-on ENG-98,ENG-97

# Update multiple fields at once
linear issues update ENG-123 \
  --state Done \
  --assignee alice \
  --priority 1 \
  --labels "urgent,hotfix"

# Manage dependencies
linear issues update ENG-102 --blocked-by ENG-101
linear issues update ENG-103 --depends-on ENG-100,ENG-101

Dependencies

Visualize and manage issue dependencies:

# ASCII dependency tree for single issue
linear deps ENG-100

# All dependencies for a team
linear deps --team ENG

Output:

DEPENDENCY GRAPH: ENG-100
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
ENG-100 User Authentication Epic
├─ ENG-101 [In Progress] Login flow
│  ├─ ENG-103 [Todo] OAuth integration
│  │     → blocks: ENG-105, ENG-106
│  └─ ENG-104 [Todo] Session management
│        → blocks: ENG-107
├─ ENG-102 [Blocked] Logout flow
│     ← blocked by: ENG-101
└─ ENG-105 [Blocked] Token refresh
      ← blocked by: ENG-103
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
6 issues, 5 dependencies, 0 cycles

⚠ Circular dependency detected:
  ENG-201 → ENG-202 → ENG-201

Comments & Reactions

linear issues comment ENG-123 --body "Fixed!"
linear issues comments ENG-123               # List comments
linear issues reply ENG-123 <id> --body "Thanks!"
linear issues react ENG-123 👍               # Add reaction

Projects

linear projects list
linear projects list --mine                  # Your projects only
linear projects get PROJECT-ID
linear projects create "Q1 Release" --team ENG
linear projects update PROJECT-ID --state completed

Cycles

linear cycles list --team ENG
linear cycles list --team ENG --active
linear cycles get CYCLE-ID
linear cycles analyze --team ENG --count 10  # Velocity analytics

Teams

linear teams list
linear teams get ENG
linear teams labels ENG                      # Team labels
linear teams states ENG                      # Workflow states

Users

linear users list
linear users list --team ENG
linear users get USER-ID
linear users me                              # Current user

Claude Code Skills

Install productivity skills for agentic workflows:

linear skills list              # Show available skills
linear skills install --all     # Install all skills
linear skills install prd       # Install specific skill

Available skills:

• /prd - Create agent-friendly tickets with success criteria
• /triage - Analyze and prioritize backlog
• /cycle-plan - Plan cycles using velocity data
• /retro - Generate sprint retrospective analysis
• /deps - Analyze dependency chains

Output Format

Token-efficient ASCII:

ISSUE TEST-123
════════════════════════════════════════
Fix authentication bug
────────────────────────────────────────
State:     In Progress
Assignee:  Sarah Chen
Priority:  P1 (Urgent)
────────────────────────────────────────

Paginated results show Next: cursor=xxx when more pages are available.

Cycle Analytics

Analyze team performance:

linear cycles analyze --team ENG --count 10

Output includes:

• Velocity: Average points completed per cycle
• Completion Rate: Percentage of scoped work completed
• Scope Creep: Work added mid-cycle
• Recommendations: Data-driven scope suggestions

Configuration

All configuration is stored in ~/.config/linear/:

~/.config/linear/
├── config.yaml    # OAuth credentials
└── token          # Access token

Troubleshooting

"cannot be opened" on macOS

Right-click → Open → Click "Open" in security dialog.

Re-authenticating Agent Mode (Already Installed App)

If you've previously installed the app in agent mode and need to re-authenticate, you'll see "This app is already installed" with no authorize button. To fix this:

1. Go to Linear → Settings → Installed Applications
2. Find your OAuth app (match the Client ID you're using)
3. Click "Manage" → then click "Revoke Access"
4. Run linear auth login again and select agent mode
5. Click "Install" when the authorization screen appears

This generates a new authorization token while keeping the app installed.

Authentication Issues

ls -la ~/.config/linear/   # Check config exists
linear auth login          # Re-authenticate

Development

make build    # Build bin/linear
make test     # Run tests
make clean    # Clean build artifacts

Project Structure

cmd/
  linear/              # CLI entry point
internal/
  cli/                 # CLI commands (Cobra)
  config/              # Configuration
  format/              # ASCII formatting
  linear/              # Linear GraphQL client
  oauth/               # OAuth2 flow
  service/             # Business logic
  skills/              # Claude Code skills
  token/               # Token storage

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.