lisa-linear-write-issue

name	lisa-linear-write-issue
description	Creates or updates a Linear work item — Project (Epic), Issue (Story), or sub-Issue (Sub-task) — following organizational best practices. Polymorphic: dispatches internally on issue_type to save_project (Epic) or save_issue (Story / Sub-task). Enforces description quality (three audiences), Gherkin acceptance criteria, project-as-parent for Stories, parentId for Sub-tasks, explicit relationship discovery (blocks / is blocked by / relates to / duplicates), labels, components-as-labels, project milestones for fix versions, native priority and estimate fields, and Validation Journey. Rejects thin items — use this skill any time a Linear work item is created or significantly edited.
allowed-tools	["Bash","Skill"]

Write Linear Work Item: $ARGUMENTS

Create or update a Linear work item — Project (for Epics), Issue (for Stories), or sub-Issue (for Sub-tasks) — with all required relationships, metadata, and quality gates. Every section below is mandatory. Thin items are rejected.

Repository name for scoped comments: basename $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel).

Configuration

This skill reads configuration from .lisa.config.json (with .lisa.config.local.json overriding per key). Required keys:

• linear.workspace — Linear workspace slug
• linear.teamKey — Linear team key (e.g. ENG); the team owns the destination items

If either is missing, stop and report — never invent values.

Polymorphic dispatch

Linear's data model maps Epic / Story / Sub-task to different entity types. This skill dispatches on issue_type:

issue_type	Linear entity	MCP write tool	Parent field
Epic	Project	lisa-linear-access operation: save-project	(none — Projects are top-level within a team)
Story / Task / Improvement	Issue	lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue	projectId (the Epic Project)
Sub-task	sub-Issue	lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue	parentId (the Story Issue)
Bug	Issue	lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue	projectId if part of an Epic; else top-level
Spike	Issue	lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue	projectId if part of an Epic; else top-level

The build lifecycle uses native workflow states (Ready, In Progress, In Review, Blocked, On Dev, On Stg, Done), resolved per role from linear.workflow — see "Why Linear uses states, not labels" in config-resolution. A new leaf work unit is created in the configured ready state only on explicit build_ready: true; omitted or false leaves it in the team's default backlog state, and a container is never put in ready at all (see the Build-ready control input below).

Phase 1 — Resolve Intent

Determine from $ARGUMENTS and context whether this is a CREATE or UPDATE:

• CREATE: no existing identifier provided.
• UPDATE: identifier provided (<TEAM>-<n> for Issue, project slug + short-id for Project) — call /linear-read-issue <ref> first to load the full current state. Never overwrite without reading.

Resolve the team ID for linear.teamKey via lisa-linear-access operation: list-teams({query: <teamKey>}). Cache it.

Phase 2 — Gather Required Inputs

Required fields (stop and ask if missing — never invent values):

Field	Required For	Notes
team_key	CREATE	From linear.teamKey config; required for both Project and Issue creation
issue_type	CREATE	One of: Epic, Story, Task, Bug, Spike, Sub-task, Improvement
Summary	CREATE, UPDATE	One line, imperative voice, under 100 chars
Description	CREATE, UPDATE	Multi-section markdown — see Phase 3
Project parent (for Story / Task / Bug / Spike / Improvement when part of an Epic)	non-Epic, non-Sub-task in Epic context	Linear Project ID — the Epic
Sub-task parent	Sub-task	Linear Issue ID — the Story
Priority	CREATE	Native Linear priority: 0=No priority, 1=Urgent, 2=High, 3=Medium, 4=Low
Acceptance criteria	Story, Task, Bug, Sub-task, Improvement	Gherkin — see Phase 3
Validation Journey	Runtime-behavior changes	Delegate to /linear-add-journey
Target backend environment	Runtime-behavior changes	For every work type, use an exact deploy.branches key when an environment is known. Human: bare key or Confirmed: <env>. Automation: Inferred: <env> — evidence: <title|body|reproduction|hostname>, Assumption: <env> — remote default branch <branch> for a unique reverse-map, or Assumption: remote default branch <branch> otherwise. Human confirmation replaces an automated annotation with the bare key or Confirmed: <env>.
Sign-in account / credentials	Items that touch authenticated surfaces	Name the account (or source — 1Password item, env var, seeded fixture) and role; recorded in description. Omit when sign-in is not required.
Single-repo scope	Bug, Task, Sub-task	These types MUST cover one repo only. If the work crosses repos, split it before creating. Epic / Spike / Story may span repos.
Source Requirement	PRD-sourced Issues (prd_source provided)	## Source Requirement with PRD link + verbatim requirement quote(s) — see Phase 3; enforced at every level, sub-issues included.

Optional but recommended: assignee, estimate (story points), labels, project milestone (fix-version equivalent), cycle.

Phase 3 — Description Quality

Linear descriptions are markdown (NOT Jira wiki markup — no h2. headings, use ## instead). The description MUST address three audiences. Reject and rewrite if any are missing.

## Source Requirement
[Required whenever the Issue originates from a PRD (the caller passes
 `prd_source`). Answers "why was this done?" — cite the PRD and quote the
 requirement(s) VERBATIM, never paraphrased:
 - **PRD**: <PRD title + link> §"<section heading>"
 - **Requirement (R3)**: "<verbatim requirement text from the PRD>"
 One Requirement line per satisfied requirement. Derived / cross-cutting
 work that traces to no single requirement uses the supporting form:
 "Derived work supporting R3, R7 — no single PRD section." Close with:
 "This Issue exists to satisfy the quoted requirement. If implementation
 scope drifts from the quoted text, the PRD is the authority — raise the
 conflict rather than silently reinterpreting it." Omit the section only
 for ad-hoc Issues with no PRD lineage.]

## Context / Business Value
[Why this matters. Stakeholder-facing. Concrete user impact or business outcome.
 Link to the originating Slack thread, Notion doc, incident, or customer report.]

## Technical Approach
[Developer-facing. Integration points, impacted modules, data model implications,
 relevant tradeoffs. Not a full design doc — a pointer for someone picking it up.]

## Acceptance Criteria
1. Given <precondition>
   When <action>
   Then <observable outcome>
2. Given <precondition>
   When <action>
   Then 


[Explicit list of what this item does NOT cover. Forces scope discipline.]


[ALWAYS required on a leaf — the SECTION is unconditional, only its
 VALUE is conditional. It is where  is
 persisted, so omitting it records nothing rather than recording "no".
 When the item changes runtime behavior, use an exact
  key. A human-confirmed value is a bare key or
 . An automated evidence write is
 ; an automated
 generic default is .
 Without a unique reverse-map use .
 Human confirmation replaces the automated annotation with a bare key or
 . ALWAYS render this section — it is where
  is persisted, and an absent section reads as
 , not exempt. Work that changes no runtime behavior declares the
 exemption in place of an environment: `None — no runtime behavior change:
 doc-onlyconfig-onlytype-only`). A Project/container declares
 . Visible prose, not an HTML
 comment, for the same reason the Branch Plan provenance line is: a marker that
 survives in only one representation cannot be a vendor-neutral discriminator,
 and every tracker this contract binds stores its body in some rich-text or
 structured form that need not preserve HTML comments. A declaration a reader
 can see is one every backend can store. See the  rule.]


[GENERATED, never hand-authored. Render only when the item has a Target
 Backend Environment; omit entirely when 
 (doc-only / config-only / type-only) or for a Project/container — absence is
 correct there. Derive per the  rule: resolve the
 environment, map it forward through  ,
 and prove the branch exists on the remote. Do not accept caller-supplied
 branches; recompute them. Exactly three lines:
   Branch from: 
   PR into: 
   Derived from: Target Backend Environment  via .lisa.config.json deploy.branches
 Both fields name the same branch by construction. A missing, ambiguous, or
 non-unique mapping, or a branch absent from the remote, STOPS the write —
 never default to  or the remote default to keep the write alive.]


[Include this section ONLY if the work touches authenticated surfaces.
 Specify: the account/role to sign in as, where to get the credentials
 (1Password item name, env var, seeded fixture), and any MFA/SSO notes.
 Omit the section entirely when sign-in is not required.]


[Required for Bug / Task / Sub-task. Name the single repo this item covers.
 If the work spans repos, this issue type is wrong — split into per-repo
 Tasks/Sub-tasks under a parent Story or Epic.]


[Delegate to /linear-add-journey if the item changes runtime behavior.
 Skip only for doc-only, config-only, or type-only items. Cross-work-item
 evidence pointers use ;
 they never replace this item's local S14 marker.]

Rules:

• PRD-sourced Issues (caller passed prd_source) MUST carry the Source Requirement section with verbatim quotes — paraphrases are rejected (validator gate S16). This applies at every level, sub-issues included: a leaf claimed in isolation must explain its own "why".
• Every acceptance criterion uses Given/When/Then. No vague "should work" language.
• Every criterion is independently verifiable (UI, API, data, or performance check).
• If the item is a Bug, include reproduction steps, expected vs. actual behavior, and environment.
• If the item is a Spike, include the question being answered and the definition of done (decision doc, prototype, or findings).
• If sign-in is required, the implementer must be able to sign in from the description alone — never assume they will guess the account or hunt for credentials.

Phase 4 — Relationship Discovery (Mandatory)

Before creating or updating, find candidate relationships. Do NOT skip — this is the step agents most often omit.

4a. Project Parent (Epic-equivalent)

If the item is not an Epic and not a top-level Bug/Spike, it MUST have a parent context:

• Story / Task / Improvement → must have a projectId (the Epic Project) set.
• Sub-task → must have a parentId (the Story Issue) set.

If the parent is explicitly provided, use it. Otherwise:

1. Search active Projects in the team:

   lisa-linear-access operation: list-projects({team: <teamKey>, state: ["backlog", "planned", "started"]})
   

   Match on keywords from the summary and description.
2. If no matching Project exists, stop and ask the human to create or pick one. Do NOT orphan the item.

4b. Related Items

Relationship discovery is mandatory on every create and every update — never declare "no related work" without doing both searches below and recording their outcomes on the item.

Search 1: local git history (catches PRs / commits that touched the same area but were never linked):

git log --all --oneline --grep="<keyword>"
git log --all --oneline -- <path-or-glob>
git log --since=90.days --oneline -- <path-or-glob>

If the git search surfaces a PR or commit that relates to this work, capture the PR URL — it becomes a remote link (Phase 4c) and may also point to a sibling item worth linking.

Search 2: Linear MCP (catches open and recently-closed items):

# Open items in the same Project
lisa-linear-access operation: list-issues({project: <projectId>, state_type: ["unstarted", "started"]})

# Open items with overlapping keywords (workspace-wide)
lisa-linear-access operation: list-issues({query: "<keyword>", state_type: ["unstarted", "started"]})

# Items with shared labels
lisa-linear-access operation: list-issues({label: "<label>", updatedAt: ">-30d"})

# Recently closed items in the same Project
lisa-linear-access operation: list-issues({project: <projectId>, state_type: ["completed", "canceled"], updatedAt: ">-30d"})

Record the outcome. Add a ## Relationship Search subsection (or a comment if updating) listing the queries you ran and what they returned. If the searches yielded nothing, write that explicitly — "Searched git history for <keywords> and Linear for project=X, label=Y; no related work found." An item with zero relations and no documented search is rejected.

For each candidate, classify the relationship:

Relation Type	When to Use
blocks	This item must ship before the linked item can proceed
blocked_by	The linked item must ship before this one can proceed
relates_to	Shared context, no ordering constraint
duplicates	This item already exists — close one as duplicate

Linear native relations are set on the Issue via save_issue's relations field (or via a paired save_issue_relation call if available in the MCP). For Project-level (Epic) relationships, capture them in the description under ## Related Projects since Linear doesn't model relations between Projects natively.

4c. Remote Links

Identify and attach (Linear stores attachments / links on the Issue or in description body):

• GitHub PRs, branches, or commits related to this work
• Confluence pages (design docs, RFCs, runbooks)
• Dashboards (Grafana, Datadog, Sentry issue)
• Incident items (PagerDuty, Statuspage)
• Source artifacts from the originating PRD / parent Project: classify and inherit per the rules in lisa-tracker-source-artifacts (invoke that skill if you haven't loaded the rules in this session). Enumerate the parent Project's links and inherit the ones whose domain matches this item's scope (UI → ui-design + ux-flow; backend → data; infra → ops; always inherit reference). Never assume a developer will walk up to the Project to find design context — attach it here.

If the item was generated from a PRD (by lisa-notion-to-tracker or similar) and the parent Project has no source artifacts, surface that as a smell and ask whether artifacts were missed during extraction before proceeding.

4d. Source Precedence (must appear on the item)

Source precedence rules and cross-axis conflict handling are defined in lisa-tracker-source-artifacts §3 and §4. When an item carries both design artifacts and a description, record the precedence explicitly in the description (under Technical Approach or a dedicated ## Source Precedence subsection) so the implementer doesn't silently reconcile conflicts. Cross-axis conflicts go under ## Open Questions as BLOCKER items.

For UI-touching items, include the existing-component reuse expectation per lisa-tracker-source-artifacts §7.

4e. Live Product Walkthrough Findings (UI-touching items)

If the item modifies an existing user-facing surface, a lisa-product-walkthrough should already have been run upstream. Inherit its findings under a ## Current Product subsection in the description so the implementer sees what's shipped today before changing it. If the upstream skill skipped the walkthrough but this item clearly modifies an existing surface, invoke lisa-product-walkthrough here before proceeding.

Phase 5 — Set Metadata

Before create/update, verify each field is populated where applicable:

• Workflow state: set the resolved ready state (linear.workflow.ready, default Ready) on a new leaf work unit (Bug / Task / Sub-task / Improvement with no child work) per leaf-only-lifecycle, only on explicit build_ready: true (see the Build-ready control input below). A container (Epic Project / Story with sub-issues / Spike) is never put in the build-ready state.
• Labels: taxonomy only — type:<Kind>, repo:<name>, component:<name>, and the prd-intake-feedback sentinel. Lifecycle is not a label on Linear; do not add status:* labels.
• Native priority field: 0–4 per Linear's scale; explicit, not "unset".
• Native estimate: per Linear's team-configured estimate scale (often 0–8 Fibonacci); skip for Epic / Spike.
• ProjectMilestone: when the team uses dated milestones, set the milestone on the Project (Epic) or on the Issue (when an Issue belongs to a milestone).
• Cycle: only if actively in a cycle.
• Assignee: leave unset if unknown rather than auto-assigning.

For Bug / Task / Sub-task, ensure the summary is prefixed with [<repo-name>].

Build-ready control input (build_ready)

build_ready is a write-control input governed by the ready-role-filing rule — cite that slug for the full contract; do not restate its per-vendor normalization table here. It decides whether a leaf work unit is created in the resolved ready workflow state. It never overrides leaf-only-lifecycle — a container is never stamped build-ready regardless of build_ready. "Not build-ready" is not a special state: the Issue is simply left in the team's default backlog/unstarted state, which a human can promote later. This mirrors lisa-jira-write-ticket, because Linear is a state-driven tracker like JIRA, not a label-driven one like GitHub.

• Omitted → not build-ready: the leaf is left in the team's default backlog state. Ready is an explicit claim, never a vendor default. This is a breaking change — Linear previously created a leaf directly in the ready state on omission, so a caller that relied on that must now pass build_ready: true.
• build_ready: false → create the leaf without the ready state, leaving it in the team's default backlog state so it waits for a human to review and promote it into the queue.
• build_ready: true → transition the leaf to the resolved ready state (.linear.workflow.ready) so lisa-intake / lisa-linear-build-intake auto-picks it up. Best-effort: if the state cannot be resolved or the transition is rejected, do not fail the write — leave the Issue in its default state and record the reason.

A filing with neither is an incomplete handoff. A leaf that is not build-ready must carry an explicit human_gate: "<why a human must judge this first>"; nothing in the ready lane means nothing ever claims it. When human_gate is supplied, stamp the hold on the Issue so it is auditable — a visible line plus the verbatim marker:

Held for a human product call: <reason>.
<!-- [lisa-human-gate] reason=<short-slug> -->

If a leaf arrives with build_ready omitted or false and no human_gate, do not create it: report the incomplete handoff and name both ways to resolve it (build_ready: true, or a human_gate reason). Containers are exempt — their state rolls up from children, so they need neither.

Phase 5.5 — Validate (Pre-write Gate)

Before any write, invoke lisa-linear-validate-issue with the full proposed spec assembled from Phases 2 / 3 / 4 / 5. Pass it as a YAML block per the lisa-linear-validate-issue schema, including runtime_behavior_change, authenticated_surface, and artifacts_attached flags so the right gates run.

The validator is the single source of truth for what makes a valid Linear work item. The same gates are used by lisa-linear-to-tracker dry-run, by lisa-linear-verify post-write, and here. Do not re-implement gate logic in this skill.

If the validator reports FAIL:

• Surface the failure list and the per-gate remediation to the user.
• Do NOT proceed to Phase 6. Fix the spec (or stop and ask the human) and re-run validation.
• Never call lisa-linear-access operation: save-project or lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue while the validator's verdict is FAIL.

If the validator reports PASS, continue to Phase 6.

Phase 6 — Create or Update

CREATE — Epic (Project)

1. Resolve any required Project labels (prd-ticketed, etc.) via lisa-linear-access operation: list-project-labels (create via lisa-linear-access operation: create-project-label if missing).
2. Call lisa-linear-access operation: save-project with: name (summary), description (markdown), teamIds: [<teamId>], labelIds, priority (Linear Project priority is also 0–4), state (default backlog), milestones if dated.
3. Capture the returned Project ID and slug — Phase 4 children need these.
4. If the Project is the parent for downstream Stories, record the ID for lisa-linear-to-tracker Phase 4 to use.

CREATE — Story / Task / Bug / Spike / Improvement (Issue with projectId)

1. Resolve any required Issue labels (type:<Kind>, repo:<name>, component:<name>, prd-intake-feedback only if this is a sentinel issue) via lisa-linear-access operation: list-issue-labels (create via lisa-linear-access operation: create-issue-label if missing). Separately resolve the ready state id via lisa-linear-access operation: list-workflow-states, and set it as stateId only for a leaf work unit and only when build_ready is not false — omit it for a container, and for a build_ready: false leaf which then waits in the default backlog state for a human to promote it.
2. Call lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue with: team (teamId), title (summary), description (markdown), projectId (the Epic Project), priority (0–4), estimate, labelIds, assignee if known.
3. Capture the returned identifier (e.g. ENG-123) — Phase 4 sub-tasks need it as parentId.
4. Add relationships from Phase 4b via save_issue (relations field) or paired relation calls.
5. If the item changes runtime behavior, invoke lisa-linear-add-journey to append the Validation Journey section.

CREATE — Sub-task (Issue with parentId)

1. Resolve labels as above.
2. Call lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue with: team (teamId), title ([<repo>] <summary> prefix is mandatory), description (markdown), parentId (the Story Issue ID), projectId (inherit from parent), priority, estimate, labelIds.
3. Capture identifier.
4. Add relationships via Phase 4b.

UPDATE

1. Call lisa-linear-access operation: save-project or lisa-linear-access operation: save-issue with only the fields being changed. Do NOT resend fields that weren't in the change set — Linear treats the call as a full overwrite of the listed fields.
2. Preserve description sections you are not editing — re-read via /linear-read-issue first, including any existing canonical managed ## Lisa Usage section unless the caller intentionally supplied an updated canonical section. Use the shared lisa-usage-accounting serializer/merge path rather than freehand edits to ledger rows.

Phase 7 — Verify

Call the lisa-linear-verify skill on the resulting item. lisa-linear-verify fetches the live item and runs lisa-linear-validate-issue against it — same gates as Phase 5.5, but applied to what Linear actually stored. If it reports failures, fix them before returning. Do not report success on an item that fails verify.

Phase 8 — Announce

Post a creation comment via lisa-linear-access operation: save-comment (on the Issue, or on a sentinel issue under the Project for Epic-level announcements) with:

• [<repo>] prefix if the item is repo-scoped
• Who the item is assigned to (if known)
• The relationships that were set (blocks, blocked_by, relates_to) with Linear identifiers
• Any remote PRs attached

Skip this step only on UPDATE when no material change was made.

Rules

• Never create a non-Epic, non-top-level item without a parent context (Project for Stories, parentId for Sub-tasks).
• Never skip relationship discovery — both the git history search AND the Linear MCP search must run, and their outcomes must be recorded on the item. "None found" is acceptable only when it's documented.
• Never create a Bug, Task, or Sub-task that spans multiple repos. Split it before creating.
• Never include a runtime-behavior item without a target backend environment, and never include an authenticated-surface item without sign-in credentials in the description.
• Never invent custom field values. If the team requires a field you don't have, stop and ask.
• Never overwrite a description without reading the current version first.
• Preserve an existing canonical ## Lisa Usage section on update; never append a second usage section or silently drop ledger rows.
• All Linear writes go through this skill so best practices are enforced uniformly. Downstream skills (e.g. lisa-linear-create) should delegate here rather than calling the MCP write tools directly.
• The gate logic (what makes a valid item) lives in lisa-linear-validate-issue, NOT in this skill. This skill calls the validator at Phase 5.5 (pre-write) and Phase 7 (via lisa-linear-verify post-write). When a gate needs to change, change it in lisa-linear-validate-issue — every caller picks it up automatically.
• This skill is the destination of the lisa-tracker-write shim when tracker = "linear". Vendor-neutral callers (notion-to-tracker, confluence-to-tracker, linear-to-tracker, github-to-tracker) MUST go through lisa-tracker-write, not call this skill directly.