lb-basic-usage

name	lb-basic-usage
description	Use lb as the primary task tracker in Linear-backed repos. Use when claiming work, creating dependencies/subissues, updating status, closing work, or avoiding ephemeral built-in todo tools.

lb Basic Usage

Use lb as the source of truth for task tracking in this repo.

Core loop

1. Run lb sync.
2. Run lb ready.
3. Open the ticket with lb show <id>.
4. Claim it with lb update <id> --status in_progress.
5. Do the work.
6. Close with lb close <id> --reason "...".

Dependencies and decomposition

• Create dependent work with --blocks and --blocked-by.
• Create subissues with --parent.
• Link discovered work with --discovered-from.
• Use lb dep tree <id> to verify order. On parent issues, check the Children (execution order) section.

Multiline descriptions

Avoid literal escaped \n in issue descriptions. For long text, prefer temp files plus @file, for example lb create "Title" -d @body.md or lb update <id> -d @body.md. --description-file and --description-stdin also work when they fit better. lb auto-heals likely accidental \n sequences by default and warns loudly. Use --no-auto-format-escaped-newlines only when you intentionally need literal \n stored.

Use the same pattern for other long body-like flags:

• lb close <id> --reason @reason.md

Editing long ticket bodies

• Use lb show <id> --body to fetch only the normalized body text.
• Use lb update <id> --replace "old" --with "new" for small exact edits.
• Use lb update <id> --replace @old.md --with @new.md for large chunks.
• Each --replace must pair with the next --with.
• lb still rewrites and queues the full updated body, but this saves agent tokens and keeps edits aligned with the shown text surface.

Visibility rules

• lb is Nik's personal tracking tool, not a team-facing system.
• Never include lb ticket IDs in commit messages, documentation, PR text, release notes, user-facing copy, or other team-facing artifacts.
• Summarize work in plain language when writing for humans outside your own lb workflow.

Useful commands

lb list, lb ready, lb blocked, lb show <id>, lb create, lb update, lb close, lb dep add.