Linear CLI

A CLI to manage Linear issues from the command line, with git and jj integration.

Prerequisites

The linear command must be available on PATH. To check:

linear --version

If not installed, follow the instructions at:\ https://github.com/schpet/linear-cli?tab=readme-ov-file#install

Available Commands

linear issue        # Manage issues (list, view, create, start, update, delete, comment)
linear team         # Manage teams (list, members, create, delete, autolinks)
linear project      # Manage projects (list, view, create)
linear initiative   # Manage initiatives (list, view, create, archive, unarchive, update, delete, add-project, remove-project)
linear label        # Manage labels (list, create, delete)
linear milestone    # Manage project milestones
linear config       # Configure the CLI for the current repo
linear auth         # Manage authentication (token, whoami)
linear schema       # Print the GraphQL schema (SDL or JSON)

Initiative Management

# List initiatives (default: active only)
linear initiative list
linear initiative list --all-statuses
linear initiative list --status planned

# View initiative details
linear initiative view <id-or-slug>

# Create initiative
linear initiative create --name "Q1 Goals" --status active
linear initiative create -i  # Interactive mode

# Archive/unarchive
linear initiative archive <id>
linear initiative unarchive <id>

# Link projects to initiatives
linear initiative add-project <initiative> <project>
linear initiative remove-project <initiative> <project>

Label Management

# List labels (shows ID, name, color, team)
linear label list
linear label list --team DEV
linear label list --workspace  # Workspace-level only

# Create label
linear label create --name "Bug" --color "#EB5757"
linear label create --name "Feature" --team DEV

# Delete label (by ID or name)
linear label delete <id>
linear label delete "Bug" --team DEV

Project Management

# List projects
linear project list

# View project
linear project view <id>

# Create project
linear project create --name "New Feature" --team DEV
linear project create --name "Q1 Work" --team DEV --initiative "Q1 Goals"
linear project create -i  # Interactive mode

Bulk Operations

# Delete multiple issues
linear issue delete --bulk DEV-123 DEV-124 DEV-125

# Delete from file (one ID per line)
linear issue delete --bulk-file issues.txt

# Delete from stdin
echo -e "DEV-123\nDEV-124" | linear issue delete --bulk-stdin

# Archive multiple initiatives
linear initiative archive --bulk <id1> <id2>

Adding Labels to Issues

# Add label to issue
linear issue update DEV-123 --label "Bug"

# Add multiple labels
linear issue update DEV-123 --label "Bug" --label "High Priority"

Discovering Options

To see available subcommands and flags, run --help on any command:

linear --help
linear issue --help
linear issue list --help
linear issue create --help

Each command has detailed help output describing all available flags and options.

Using the Linear GraphQL API Directly

Prefer the CLI for all supported operations. Direct API calls via curl are slower and should only be used as a fallback for advanced queries not covered by the CLI. For complex queries involving multiple calls, write and execute a script.

To make direct API calls, use linear schema and linear auth token:

1. Check the schema for available types and fields

Write the schema to a tempfile, then search it:

# Write schema to a tempfile (cross-platform)
linear schema -o "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/linear-schema.graphql"

# Search for specific types or fields
grep -i "cycle" "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/linear-schema.graphql"
grep -A 30 "^type Issue " "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/linear-schema.graphql"

# View filter options
grep -A 50 "^input IssueFilter" "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/linear-schema.graphql"

2. Get the auth token

linear auth token

3. Make a curl request

curl -s -X POST https://api.linear.app/graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: $(linear auth token)" \
  -d '{"query": "{ issues(filter: { team: { key: { eq: \"CLI\" } } }, first: 5) { nodes { identifier title state { name } } } }"}'

Example queries

# Get issues assigned to current user
curl -s -X POST https://api.linear.app/graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: $(linear auth token)" \
  -d '{"query": "{ viewer { assignedIssues(first: 10) { nodes { identifier title state { name } } } } }"}'