Name: Linear MCP Server by timottowitz
Author: timottowitz

LABSCO SUMMARY

Issues and projects are covered; comments and labels are not yet.

Use the API-key path — the README marks the OAuth alternative as not implemented, so a personal key is the working route. Bulk issue updates are listed as implemented but still in testing, and comment threads, label management, complex search filters and pagination are all listed as in development. If your workflow leans on any of those, try them before you build around this.

What it is

A Linear MCP server you build from source and launch locally. It talks to Linear's API on behalf of your client and covers issues, projects and teams.

What you get

Create issues with the full field set — title, description, team, project — and update or delete them, one at a time or in bulk
Search issues with filtering, and associate them with a project
Create parent/child relationships between issues
Create a project together with its issues, and read project information back
Read team information, including workflow states and labels

Requirements

Build it yourself: clone the repo, npm install, npm run build. The package is linear-mcp, version 1.0.0, and the client launches it as node /path/to/linear-mcp/build/index.js. Authentication is a Linear personal API key — Settings, then "Security & access", then "Personal API keys" — passed to the server as LINEAR_API_KEY.

Setup effort

Build from source — git clone https://github.com/timottowitz/linear-mcp.git

See installation options

USE CASES

01

Filing a batch of issues after a planning session

Create issues with team, project and description already filled in, in bulk rather than one call each.

02

Standing up a new project with its first issues

Create the project and the issues that belong to it in one pass, then read the project back to confirm.

03

Checking a team's workflow before filing

Read the team's states and labels so a new issue lands in the right column.

BEFORE YOU INSTALL

What to know first

Requires

node on PATH
LINEAR_API_KEY in your environment

Where it runs

The documented client runs the server on your machine.

INSTALLATION

Connect your client

You clone and build this one yourself.

Server setup

TERMINAL

git clone https://github.com/timottowitz/linear-mcp.git
cd linear-mcp
npm install
npm run build

MCP Clients

Cline

CLINE · JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "<YOUR_PATH_TO_LINEAR_MCP>/build/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "<YOUR_LINEAR_API_KEY>"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

Linear MCP Server by timottowitz