| name | linear-lifecycle |
| description | Use when working with Linear issues, issue tracking, or project management. Uses the Linear CLI for zero-context issue management as a CLI alternative to MCP. |
Linear Lifecycle Management with Linear CLI
Table of Contents
Overview
Core principle: Use the Linear CLI for all Linear operations instead of loading the 20k token Linear MCP. CLI returns structured output for parsing without context overhead.
Tool: linear-cli - Linear CLI with ~1000 token footprint vs 13k+ for MCP. Install via brew install schpet/tap/linear.
Context savings: 100% at session start. No MCP loaded, just bash commands. See advanced.md for the full comparison table.
Setup
One-time install: Use /linear-setup to install the Linear CLI and authenticate (required for this skill to work).
Authentication: Run linear auth login after creating an API key at linear.app/settings/account/security. See troubleshooting.md for auth issues.
Get your token: Linear Settings > Security & Access > Personal API keys
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Starting work on a Linear issue (need issue details)
- Creating new issues from bugs or features discovered
- Updating issue status during development
- Adding comments or progress updates
- Searching for issues across teams/projects
Don't use when:
- Issue tracking not needed for current work
- Working on non-Linear projects
Token Check
IMPORTANT: Always verify auth on first Linear operation in a skill invocation:
linear issue list
If the command fails with an auth error, prompt the user to run linear auth login and provide their API token.
Quick Reference
| Operation | Command Pattern |
|---|
| List recent issues | linear issue list |
| Get issue details | linear issue view ABC-123 |
| Create issue | linear issue create -t "Title" -d "Desc" --team TEAM_KEY |
| Update status | linear issue update ABC-123 -s "In Progress" |
| Add comment | linear issue comment add ABC-123 "Comment text" |
| List teams | linear team list |
Key rules for issue creation:
- Use
--team TEAM_KEY (e.g. BET, ENG)
- Use
-t for title, -d for description
- Use
-s for state changes on update
Reference Files
Detailed walkthroughs, troubleshooting, and advanced usage are in reference files that load on demand:
