linear-claude-skill MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

Encodes Linear's data model: Teams → Projects → Cycles → Issues → SubIssues
Ready-made GraphQL query snippets for the most common reports
Priority, state, and label conventions that the agent applies consistently
Works alongside the official Linear MCP for writes
Markdown-only skill — no runtime dependencies to install

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

linear-claude-skill.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear-claude-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear-claude-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear-claude-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear-claude-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "linear-claude-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "linear-claude-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill",
          "~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add linear-claude-skill -- git clone https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill ~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use linear-claude-skill

How to run a weekly Linear cycle review with Claude

👤 Engineering managers and tech leads on a Linear team ⏱ ~15 min beginner

When to use: Friday afternoon, you need to know what shipped this cycle, what slipped, and what to roll over.

Prerequisites

Linear API key or Linear MCP installed — linear.app/settings/api — create a personal API key
Skill cloned — git clone https://github.com/wrsmith108/linear-claude-skill ~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill

Flow

Ask Claude to pull the current cycle

Show me every issue in the current cycle for team ENG — grouped by state, with the assignee.✓ Copied

→ Table: Backlog / In Progress / In Review / Done with issue IDs
Diagnose slips

Which issues are still In Progress or In Review with 2 days left? Who owns them?✓ Copied

→ Per-issue one-liner with risk call-out
Roll over and write the recap

Roll incomplete issues into the next cycle and draft a Slack recap of what actually shipped.✓ Copied

→ Confirmation of the rollover + paste-ready recap

Outcome: A clean cycle close-out in 10 minutes instead of an hour.

Pitfalls

Claude rolls over issues you meant to cancel — Tell it 'list first, confirm, then mutate' — keep a human checkpoint before writes

Combine with: github · slack

Triage the bug inbox with prioritization rationale

👤 On-call engineers, tech leads ⏱ ~25 min intermediate

When to use: Monday morning, the Bugs project has 40 untriaged items and you need to cut the list.

Flow

List untriaged bugs

Find all issues in project 'Bugs' with no priority and no assignee, created in the last 14 days.✓ Copied

→ Ranked table with titles
Suggest priority + owner

For each, suggest priority (Urgent/High/Medium/Low) and the most-likely team based on the file paths or labels mentioned.✓ Copied

→ Reasoned suggestions, not blanket Medium
Apply the decisions

Apply those priorities and assign to the suggested teams. Confirm before each write.✓ Copied

→ Per-issue confirmation

Outcome: A fully triaged bug inbox with traceable reasoning per issue.

Pitfalls

Mass-assigning to one person who happens to show up in the last few commits — Limit assignments to team-level, not individual — cheaper to fix later

Combine with: github

Generate a project status update from Linear

👤 PMs and TPMs running multi-cycle projects ⏱ ~15 min beginner

When to use: Before a status review meeting or async update to stakeholders.

Flow

Gather project state

Summarize project 'Mobile v2.0': issue counts by state, % complete, and what's changed since last Monday.✓ Copied

→ Numeric snapshot + delta
Call out risks

List the top 3 risks — issues blocked, overdue, or with no owner.✓ Copied

→ Ranked risks with why
Draft the update

Write a 5-bullet status update: progress, shipped this week, next week, risks, asks.✓ Copied

→ Paste-ready paragraph or bullets

Outcome: A crisp stakeholder update you didn't have to write yourself.

Pitfalls

Updates become uniformly 'on track' — Force Claude to pick actual risks from stale issues; don't let it round to green

Combine with: github

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

linear-claude-skill + github

Mirror GitHub issue activity into Linear for tracking

For every issue closed in octocat/api this week, mark the matching Linear issue as Done and leave a comment linking to the PR.✓ Copied

linear-claude-skill + sentry

Auto-file Linear bugs from Sentry alerts with proper priority

For every Sentry issue marked 'unresolved' with >100 events today, create a Linear bug in the BACKEND team at High priority.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
cycle-reporting	team, cycle selector	You need a snapshot of a cycle	N Linear API calls (read-only)
issue-triage	filter (project, state, labels)	Weekly bug or backlog grooming	Read-only until user confirms writes
issue-creation	title, description, team, priority, labels	Filing structured issues from meeting notes or Sentry/GitHub events	1 write per issue
project-status	project id	Before stakeholder updates	Read-only

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: Linear API: 1500 requests / hour on personal keys
Tokens per call: 200–2000 tokens per report step
Monetary: Free — Linear Free and Standard plans both support API access
Tip: Batch GraphQL fields in one query — saves both rate limit and token budget

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Minimum scopes: read

Credential storage: Linear API key in env var (LINEAR_API_KEY). Never paste into the prompt.

Data egress: api.linear.app only

Never grant: admin (org-wide write)

Issues, projects, and cycles may contain confidential roadmap info — think twice before pasting into external tools.

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Skill doesn't activate

Ensure SKILL.md exists at ~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code.

Verify: ls ~/.claude/skills/linear-claude-skill/

401 from Linear API

Regenerate the API key in linear.app/settings/api; make sure LINEAR_API_KEY is exported in the shell Claude Code runs in.

Verify: echo $LINEAR_API_KEY | head -c 6

Rate limit hit during a big report

Ask Claude to paginate with fewer fields; or split the report by team.

Alternatives

linear-claude-skill vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
Linear MCP (official)	You want a JSON-RPC tool surface rather than a prompt skill	MCP gives real tools; skill gives better defaults and reporting prose
Jira skill	Your team uses Jira instead of Linear	Different data model entirely

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills