linear-create

name	linear-create
description	Creates Linear Projects (Epic-equivalent), Issues (Story / Task / Bug / Spike), and sub-Issues (Sub-task) from code files or descriptions. Analyzes the input, determines the appropriate hierarchy, and creates items with comprehensive quality requirements including test-first development and Validation Journey. The Linear counterpart of lisa:jira-create — delegates every write to lisa:linear-write-issue.
allowed-tools	["Read","Glob","LS","Skill","mcp__linear-server__list_teams","mcp__linear-server__list_projects","mcp__linear-server__list_issue_labels","mcp__linear-server__list_project_labels"]

Create Linear Work Items from $ARGUMENTS

Analyze the provided file(s) and plan a Linear hierarchy. This skill plans structure only — every individual write is delegated to lisa:linear-write-issue. Do not call mcp__linear-server__save_project or mcp__linear-server__save_issue from this skill; those write tools are intentionally not in allowed-tools.

This skill is the destination of the lisa:tracker-create shim when tracker = "linear".

Configuration

Reads linear.workspace, linear.teamKey from .lisa.config.json (with .local override).

Process

1. Analyze: Read $ARGUMENTS to understand scope.
2. Extract source artifacts: invoke lisa:tracker-source-artifacts, then enumerate every external URL, embed, attachment, or example payload in the input and classify each by domain. Build the artifacts map (one entry per artifact: url, title, domain, source page, classification reason). See "Source Artifacts" below.
3. Walk the live product (when applicable): if the work touches existing user-facing surfaces, invoke lisa:product-walkthrough to capture current behavior, design-vs-product divergence, and reuse candidates. Skip when the work is purely backend or affects a screen that does not yet exist.
4. Determine structure:
   • Project (Epic) needed if: multiple features, major changes, >3 related files
   • Direct Issues if: bug fix, single file, minor change
5. Plan hierarchy:

   Project (Epic) → Issue (Story) → sub-Issue (Sub-task)
   

   Mapping per Linear best practices: Epic → Linear Project, Story → Issue with projectId, Sub-task → Issue with parentId. See config-resolution.md "Linear destination semantics".
6. Delegate every write to lisa:linear-write-issue in dependency order (Project first, then Issues with projectId set, then sub-Issues with parentId). Pass artifacts (filtered by domain per lisa:tracker-source-artifacts inheritance rules) and walkthrough findings (under ## Current Product).
7. Run the artifact preservation gate (lisa:tracker-source-artifacts §8): after all writes complete, build the preservation matrix and verify every extracted artifact is reachable from the created items. Fail loudly if anything was dropped.

Mandatory for Every Code Issue

• Test-First: Write tests before implementation
• Quality Gates: All tests / checks must pass, no SonarCloud violations
• Documentation: Check existing, update / create new, remove obsolete
• Cleanup: Remove temporary code, scripts, dev configs

Validation Journey

Items that change runtime behavior should include a ## Validation Journey section. This section is consumed by lisa:linear-journey to automate verification.

When to Include

• API endpoint changes (new, modified, or removed routes)
• Database schema changes (migrations, new columns, index changes)
• Background job / queue processing changes
• Library / utility function changes that affect exports
• Security fixes (authentication, authorization, input validation)
• Performance-critical changes requiring measurement

When to Skip

• Documentation-only changes
• Config-only changes (env vars, CI/CD, feature flags with no code)
• Type-definition-only changes

How to Write

Design the journey based on the change type. Place [EVIDENCE: name] markers at key verification points.

## Validation Journey

### Prerequisites
- Local dev server running
- Database accessible
- Required environment variables set

### Steps
1. Verify the current state before changes
2. Apply the change (run migration, deploy, etc.)
3. Verify the expected new state [EVIDENCE: state-after-change]
4. Test error/edge cases [EVIDENCE: error-handling]
5. Verify rollback or cleanup if applicable [EVIDENCE: rollback-check]

### Assertions
- Describe what must be true after verification
- Each assertion is verified against the captured evidence

Source Artifacts

If $ARGUMENTS includes (or references) any external artifact — PRD, design doc, Figma URL, Lovable prototype, Loom walkthrough, screenshot, example payload — those references MUST be preserved as attachments / remote links on the created items. Silent artifact loss is the single most common quality failure in this pipeline.

Invoke lisa:tracker-source-artifacts for the canonical rules: domains, per-tool classification, source precedence, conflict handling under ## Open Questions, inheritance from Project → Issue → sub-Issue, and the existing-component reuse expectation. Do not restate the rules here — invoke the skill so any rule change propagates uniformly.

When delegating actual writes to lisa:linear-write-issue, pass the extracted artifact list so its Phase 4c (Remote Links) step can attach them.

Live Product Walkthrough

When the work touches existing user-facing surfaces, invoke lisa:product-walkthrough before drafting items. The walkthrough findings (current behavior, design-vs-product divergence, reuse candidates, behavioral surprises) become inputs to the item plan and surface under ## Current Product on the resulting items. Skip only when the work is purely backend or affects a screen that does not yet exist.

Item Requirements

Each item must clearly communicate to:

• Coding Assistants: Implementation requirements
• Developers: Technical approach
• Stakeholders: Business value

Default team: from linear.teamKey config (override via arguments).

Delegation to linear-write-issue

Mandatory. Every item created by this skill MUST go through lisa:linear-write-issue. This skill never calls mcp__linear-server__save_* itself — those tools are intentionally excluded from allowed-tools so the gate cannot be bypassed.

lisa:linear-write-issue enforces:

• 3-audience description (Context / Technical Approach / Acceptance Criteria)
• Gherkin acceptance criteria
• Project parent for Stories; parentId for Sub-tasks
• Explicit relationship discovery (blocks / blocked_by / relates_to / duplicates)
• Remote links / attachments
• Single-repo scope check for Bug / Task / Sub-task
• Sign-in account and target environment recorded in description
• Post-create verification

Invocation order

Items must be created in parent-before-child order so each child can be passed its parent ID:

1. Invoke lisa:linear-write-issue for the Epic (Project). Capture the returned Project ID.
2. For each Story, invoke lisa:linear-write-issue with the Project ID as parent_project_id. Capture each Issue identifier.
3. For each Sub-task, invoke lisa:linear-write-issue with the Story Issue ID as parent_issue_id.

What to pass to each invocation

For every delegated write, pass:

• The summary, issue type, team key, and priority you decided
• The 3-section description body you drafted (Context / Technical Approach / Acceptance Criteria)
• Gherkin acceptance criteria
• Parent ID (Project for Stories; Story for Sub-tasks)
• The artifact list extracted in "Source Artifacts", filtered by domain per the inheritance rules
• For items that change runtime behavior: the Validation Journey draft (or instruct it to call lisa:linear-add-journey after create)

What this skill is responsible for

This skill owns:

• Deciding the shape of the hierarchy (what's a Project vs. Issue vs. sub-Issue)
• Drafting the description body and acceptance criteria from the input
• Extracting and classifying source artifacts
• Threading parent IDs through subsequent writes
• Running the Phase 5.5-style preservation check after all writes complete

It does not own the actual Linear write — that's lisa:linear-write-issue's job.