About Linear MCP Server
Linear MCP Server is an MCP server that connects Linear's issue tracker to LLMs, letting them read and modify Linear issues. The project is deprecated and no longer maintained; the README recommends Linear's official remote MCP server instead.
Key features
- 01Create issues with priority and status
- 02Update issue title, description, priority and status
- 03Search issues by team, status, assignee and labels
- 04Retrieve issues assigned to a user
- 05Add markdown comments to issues
Use cases
- 01Create bug reports from an AI assistant conversation
- 02Review issue distribution and priorities for a team
- 03Summarize recent updates and comments on issues
MCP support
This project is an MCP server that exposes Linear issue tools and resources to MCP clients, such as linear_create_issue, linear_search_issues and linear-issue:/// resources.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project READMELinear 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
-
Create or get a Linear API key for your team: https://linear.app/YOUR-TEAM/settings/api
-
Add server config to Claude Desktop:
- MacOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- MacOS:
{
"mcpServers": {
"linear": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"linear-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"LINEAR_API_KEY": "your_linear_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}
Components
Tools
-
linear_create_issue: Create a new Linear issues- Required inputs:
title(string): Issue titleteamId(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
- Required inputs:
-
linear_update_issue: Update existing issues- Required inputs:
id(string): Issue ID to update
- Optional inputs:
title(string): New titledescription(string): New descriptionpriority(number, 0-4): New prioritystatus(string): New status name
- Required inputs:
-
linear_search_issues: Search issues with flexible filtering- Optional inputs:
query(string): Text to search in title/descriptionteamId(string): Filter by teamstatus(string): Filter by statusassigneeId(string): Filter by assigneelabels(string[]): Filter by labelspriority(number): Filter by prioritylimit(number, default: 10): Max results
- Optional inputs:
-
linear_get_user_issues: Get issues assigned to a user- Optional inputs:
userId(string): User ID (omit for authenticated user)includeArchived(boolean): Include archived issueslimit(number, default: 50): Max results
- Optional inputs:
-
linear_add_comment: Add comments to issues- Required inputs:
issueId(string): Issue ID to comment onbody(string): Comment text (markdown supported)
- Optional inputs:
createAsUser(string): Custom usernamedisplayIconUrl(string): Custom avatar URL
- Required inputs:
Resources
linear-issue:///{issueId}- View individual issue detailslinear-team:///{teamId}/issues- View team issueslinear-user:///{userId}/assigned- View user's assigned issueslinear-organization:- View organization infolinear-viewer:- View current user context
Usage examples
Some example prompts you can use with Claude Desktop to interact with Linear:
-
"Show me all my high-priority issues" → execute the
search_issuestool and/orlinear-user:///{userId}/assignedto find issues assigned to you with priority 1 -
"Based on what I've told you about this bug already, make a bug report for the authentication system" → use
create_issueto create a new high-priority issue with appropriate details and status tracking -
"Find all in progress frontend tasks" → use
search_issuesto locate frontend-related issues with in progress task -
"Give me a summary of recent updates on the issues for mobile app development" → use
search_issuesto identify the relevant issue(s), thenlinear-issue:///{issueId}fetch the issue details and show recent activity and comments -
"What's the current workload for the mobile team?" → combine
linear-team:///{teamId}/issuesandsearch_issuesto analyze issue distribution and priorities across the mobile team
Development
- Install dependencies:
npm install
- Configure Linear API key in
.env:
LINEAR_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
- 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.
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.