Linear CLI

Website: https://linear.app CLI Tool: linear-cli Authentication: Linear API key

Description

Linear CLI is a command-line interface for Linear, the modern issue tracking and project management tool. Manage issues, projects, teams, and workflows from the terminal. Essential for developers who prefer CLI workflows and automation with Linear's project management features.

Commands

Authentication

linear-cli auth login
linear-cli auth

Authenticate with Linear API key.

Status

linear-cli auth status

Check authentication status.

Issues

List Issues

linear-cli issue list
linear-cli issue list --team TEAM
linear-cli issue list --assignee @me
linear-cli issue list --state backlog
linear-cli issue list --state started
linear-cli issue list --state completed

List issues with filters.

View Issue

linear-cli issue view <issue-id>
linear-cli issue view ENG-123
linear-cli issue view <issue-id> --web

View issue details or open in browser.

Create Issue

linear-cli issue create
linear-cli issue create --title "Bug fix" --description "Details"
linear-cli issue create -t "Title" -d "Description" --team TEAM
linear-cli issue create --priority urgent
linear-cli issue create --assignee user@example.com

Create new issue interactively or with flags.

Update Issue

linear-cli issue update <issue-id>
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --state started
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --assignee user@example.com
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --priority high
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --title "New title"

Update issue properties.

Close Issue

linear-cli issue close <issue-id>
linear-cli issue close ENG-123
linear-cli issue close ENG-123 --comment "Fixed in PR #456"

Close or complete issue.

Comment on Issue

linear-cli issue comment <issue-id> "Comment text"
linear-cli issue comment ENG-123 "Added fix"

Add comment to issue.

Assign Issue

linear-cli issue assign <issue-id> <email>
linear-cli issue assign ENG-123 user@example.com
linear-cli issue assign ENG-123 @me

Assign issue to user.

Projects

List Projects

linear-cli project list
linear-cli project list --team TEAM
linear-cli project list --state active

List projects.

View Project

linear-cli project view <project-id>
linear-cli project view <project-key>

View project details.

Create Project

linear-cli project create
linear-cli project create --name "Q1 Goals"
linear-cli project create --name "Project" --team TEAM

Create new project.

Teams

List Teams

linear-cli team list
linear-cli teams

List all teams.

View Team

linear-cli team view <team-key>
linear-cli team view ENG

View team details.

Labels

List Labels

linear-cli label list
linear-cli label list --team TEAM

List labels.

Create Label

linear-cli label create --name "bug" --color "#ff0000"
linear-cli label create --name "feature" --team TEAM

Create new label.

Workflow States

List States

linear-cli state list
linear-cli state list --team TEAM

List workflow states.

Cycles

List Cycles

linear-cli cycle list
linear-cli cycle list --team TEAM
linear-cli cycle list --state active

List sprint cycles.

View Cycle

linear-cli cycle view <cycle-id>

View cycle details.

Search

Search Issues

linear-cli search "search term"
linear-cli search "bug in auth"
linear-cli search "priority:urgent assignee:@me"

Search across issues.

Configuration

Set Default Team

linear-cli config set team TEAM
linear-cli config set team ENG

Set default team for commands.

Get Config

linear-cli config get <key>
linear-cli config list

View configuration.

Examples

Daily Workflow

# Check your assigned issues
linear-cli issue list --assignee @me --state started

# View specific issue
linear-cli issue view ENG-123

# Update issue status
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --state in-progress

# Add comment
linear-cli issue comment ENG-123 "Working on this now"

# Complete issue
linear-cli issue close ENG-123

Creating Issues

# Interactive creation
linear-cli issue create

# With all details
linear-cli issue create \
  --title "Fix login bug" \
  --description "Users can't log in with OAuth" \
  --team ENG \
  --priority urgent \
  --assignee user@example.com \
  --label bug

# Quick bug report
linear-cli issue create \
  -t "API timeout on /users endpoint" \
  -d "Getting 504 errors" \
  --priority high \
  --label bug

Issue Management

# List backlog items
linear-cli issue list --state backlog --team ENG

# List high priority issues
linear-cli issue list --priority high

# List issues by label
linear-cli issue list --label bug

# Search for issues
linear-cli search "authentication"

# Bulk update (via script)
for issue in $(linear-cli issue list --label old-bug --format json | jq -r '.[].id'); do
  linear-cli issue update $issue --state backlog
done

Project Planning

# List active projects
linear-cli project list --state active

# Create new project
linear-cli project create \
  --name "Q1 2024 Goals" \
  --description "Quarterly objectives" \
  --team ENG

# View project progress
linear-cli project view PROJ-123

# Create issues for project
linear-cli issue create \
  --title "Setup CI/CD" \
  --project PROJ-123 \
  --team ENG

Team Management

# List all teams
linear-cli team list

# View team issues
linear-cli issue list --team ENG

# View team workflow
linear-cli state list --team ENG

# List team members
linear-cli team view ENG

Sprint/Cycle Management

# List active cycles
linear-cli cycle list --state active

# View current cycle
linear-cli cycle view current

# List issues in cycle
linear-cli issue list --cycle current

# Add issue to cycle
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --cycle current

Automation Scripts

# Daily standup report
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== My Issues ==="
linear-cli issue list --assignee @me --state started

echo ""
echo "=== Completed Yesterday ==="
linear-cli issue list --assignee @me --state completed --updated 1d

# Create issue from git commit
#!/bin/bash
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
if [[ $BRANCH == bug/* ]]; then
  TITLE=$(echo $BRANCH | cut -d'/' -f2-)
  linear-cli issue create \
    --title "$TITLE" \
    --label bug \
    --team ENG
fi

# Auto-close issues from PR
#!/bin/bash
# In git hook or CI
ISSUE_IDS=$(git log -1 --pretty=%B | grep -oE "ENG-[0-9]+")
for ISSUE in $ISSUE_IDS; do
  linear-cli issue close $ISSUE --comment "Closed via PR"
done

Labels and Organization

# Create label set
linear-cli label create --name "bug" --color "#d73a4a"
linear-cli label create --name "feature" --color "#0075ca"
linear-cli label create --name "enhancement" --color "#a2eeef"

# Add labels to issue
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --add-label bug
linear-cli issue update ENG-123 --add-label urgent

# List issues by label
linear-cli issue list --label bug --state backlog

Reporting

# Count issues by state
echo "Backlog: $(linear-cli issue list --state backlog | wc -l)"
echo "In Progress: $(linear-cli issue list --state started | wc -l)"
echo "Completed: $(linear-cli issue list --state completed | wc -l)"

# List overdue issues
linear-cli issue list --state started --sort due-date

# Team velocity report
linear-cli cycle view current --format json | jq '.completedIssues'

Notes

Authentication: Requires Linear API key from Settings → API
Issue IDs: Format is TEAM-NUMBER (e.g., ENG-123)
Teams: Each workspace has multiple teams with unique keys
States: Configurable workflow states (backlog, started, completed, etc.)
Priorities: None, low, medium, high, urgent
Labels: Customizable tags for categorization
Projects: Long-term initiatives that group issues
Cycles: Sprint periods (usually 1-2 weeks)
Assignees: Issues can be assigned to team members
Subscribers: Users who get notified of updates
Parent Issues: Issues can have sub-issues
Relations: Issues can be related or blocked by others
Estimates: Story points for planning
Due Dates: Optional deadlines for issues
SLA: Service level agreements for support teams
Templates: Reusable issue templates
Integrations: GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Figma
API: Full GraphQL API available
Webhooks: Real-time event notifications
Output Formats: Default, JSON, table
Filtering: Powerful query language for searches
Sorting: By priority, date, state, etc.
Pagination: For large result sets
Config File: ~/.linear/config.json
Environment: LINEAR_API_KEY for CI/CD
Best Practices:
Use clear, descriptive issue titles
Add labels for easy filtering
Assign issues to track ownership
Update status regularly
Link to PRs and commits
Use projects for epics
Set priorities appropriately
Add context in descriptions
Comment with progress updates
Close issues when done

linear-cli