linear

This MCP server exposes an interface to Linear's issue tracking system through a standardized Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. It leverages Linear's official SDK to perform common operations such as creating and updating issues, retrieving projects and project updates, adding comments, and performing advanced searches with Linear's filtering capabilities. The server supports self-assignment with the 'me' keyword, label management, parent/child relationships, and health status tracking for project updates. You can interact with it via the MCP tooling described in the available tools section, enabling you to manage Linear data within a consistent MCP-enabled environment.

To get started, configure the MCP server in your environment (for example in your editor or Claude/Cline settings) with the Node-based server entry point and your Linear API key. Once the server is running, you can invoke tools such as create_issue, update_issue, get_issue, and search_issues to perform operations against Linear. The tools are designed to validate inputs, transform data safely, and handle errors in line with MCP expectations, including rate limit considerations and robust authentication using the provided API token.

Prerequisites

• Bun runtime (v1.0.0 or higher) or Node.js environment compatible with the project
• Linear account with API access
• Access to the repository containing the Linear MCP server code

Installation steps

1. Install prerequisites

• If using Bun:
  • Install Bun from https://bun.sh
  • Verify bun version: bun --version
• If using Node.js directly, ensure Node.js is installed (version compatible with the project)

2. Clone the repository

git clone [repository-url]
cd linear-mcp

3. Install dependencies and build (examples shown for Bun; adapt if using Node.js/npm)

• Bun:

bun install
bun run build

• Node/npm (alternative):

npm install
npm run build

4. Configure the MCP server Edit the MCP configuration to include the linear server entry point and your Linear API key as shown in the README snippet:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/linear-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "your_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

5. Run the MCP server

• If running directly via Bun/Node, start the dev server as configured in your project (example: bun run dev or node build/index.js).

6. Restart tooling integrating with MCP (e.g., Cline or Claude Desktop) to pick up the new MCP server.

Tips and notes:

• Ensure LINEAR_API_KEY is kept secure and not checked into version control.
• The server relies on Linear's SDK for all operations; ensure your API key has the necessary permissions for the actions you intend to perform.
• The MCP tooling supports self-assign using the 'me' keyword; the server caches user IDs for efficiency.
• If you enable project updates with health status, ensure valid health values are used ('onTrack', 'atRisk', 'offTrack').
• When performing advanced searches, you can leverage Linear's rich filtering capabilities; refer to the USAGE.md for detailed query examples.
• If you encounter rate limiting, the MCP SDK includes rate limit handling—consider implementing backoff strategies in your client integration.