Linear MCP Server

Note: This is a custom implementation. For the official Cline Linear MCP server, see cline/linear-mcp .

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides tools for interacting with Linear’s API, enabling AI agents to manage issues, projects, and teams programmatically through the Linear platform.

Features

Issue Management
- Create new issues with customizable properties (title, description, team, assignee, priority, labels)
- List issues with flexible filtering options (team, assignee, status)
- Update existing issues (title, description, status, assignee, priority)
Team Management
- List all teams in the workspace
- Access team details including ID, name, key, and description
Project Management
- List all projects with optional team filtering
- View project details including name, description, state, and associated teams

Prerequisites

Node.js (v16 or higher)
A Linear account with API access
Linear API key with appropriate permissions

Quick Start

Get your Linear API key from Linear’s Developer Settings
Run with your API key:


LINEAR_API_KEY=your-api-key npx @ibraheem4/linear-mcp

Or set it in your environment:


export LINEAR_API_KEY=your-api-key
npx @ibraheem4/linear-mcp

Development Setup

Clone the repository:


git clone [repository-url]
cd linear-mcp

Install dependencies:


npm install

Build the project:


npm run build

Running with Inspector

For local development and debugging, you can use the MCP Inspector:

Install supergateway:


npm install -g supergateway

Use the included run.sh script:


chmod +x run.sh
LINEAR_API_KEY=your-api-key ./run.sh

Access the Inspector:
- Open localhost:1337 in your browser
- The Inspector connects via Server-Sent Events (SSE)
- Test and debug tool calls through the Inspector interface

Configuration

Configure the MCP server in your settings file based on your client:

For Claude Desktop

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


{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/linear-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "alwaysAllow": []
    }
  }
}

For VS Code Extension (Cline)

Location: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json


{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/linear-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "alwaysAllow": []
    }
  }
}

For Cursor (cursor.sh )

For Cursor, the server must be run with the full path:


node /Users/ibraheem/Projects/linear-mcp/build/index.js

Available Tools

create_issue

Creates a new issue in Linear.


{
  title: string;          // Required: Issue title
  description?: string;   // Optional: Issue description (markdown supported)
  teamId: string;        // Required: Team ID
  assigneeId?: string;   // Optional: Assignee user ID
  priority?: number;     // Optional: Priority (0-4)
  labels?: string[];     // Optional: Label IDs to apply
}

list_issues

Lists issues with optional filters.


{
  teamId?: string;      // Optional: Filter by team ID
  assigneeId?: string;  // Optional: Filter by assignee ID
  status?: string;      // Optional: Filter by status
  first?: number;       // Optional: Number of issues to return (default: 50)
}

update_issue

Updates an existing issue.


{
  issueId: string;       // Required: Issue ID
  title?: string;        // Optional: New title
  description?: string;  // Optional: New description
  status?: string;      // Optional: New status
  assigneeId?: string;  // Optional: New assignee ID
  priority?: number;    // Optional: New priority (0-4)
}

list_teams

Lists all teams in the workspace. No parameters required.

list_projects

Lists all projects with optional filtering.


{
  teamId?: string;     // Optional: Filter by team ID
  first?: number;      // Optional: Number of projects to return (default: 50)
}

get_issue

Gets detailed information about a specific issue.


{
  issueId: string; // Required: Issue ID
}

Development

For development with auto-rebuild:


npm run watch

Error Handling

The server includes comprehensive error handling for:

Invalid API keys
Missing required parameters
Linear API errors
Invalid tool requests

All errors are properly formatted and returned with descriptive messages.

Technical Details

Built with:

TypeScript
Linear SDK (@linear/sdk v37.0.0)
MCP SDK (@modelcontextprotocol/sdk v0.6.0)

The server uses stdio for communication and implements the Model Context Protocol for seamless integration with AI agents.

License

MIT