TL;DR

Linear is a Productivity MCP server that lets Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf and any MCP-compatible AI agent issue tracking — projects, issues, cycles. Install in 1 minute with mcpizy install linear.

Linear

Install verified 7 tools

Productivity

Last updated September 23, 2026 · By MCPizy team

Issue tracking — projects, issues, cycles

Official homepage

Install Linear

Via MCPizy CLI (recommended):

mcpizy install linear

Or run directly:

claude mcp add --transport http linear https://mcp.linear.app/mcp

Tools exposed

7 tools available

list_issues

List issues with team, status, and assignee filters

Inputs

teamIdstringoptional
statestringoptional

get_issue

Fetch the full details of an issue

Inputs

idstringrequired

save_issue

Create or update an issue

Inputs

titlestringrequired
teamIdstringrequired

list_projects

List projects in the workspace

list_teams

List all teams in the workspace

save_comment

Add a comment to an issue

Inputs

issueIdstringrequired
bodystringrequired

list_cycles

List current and upcoming cycles for a team

Inputs

teamIdstringrequired

Configuration

Works identically across clients. Only the config file path differs.

Claude Code~/.claude.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.linear.app/sse"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cursor.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.linear.app/sse"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.linear.app/sse"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Authentication setup

1
Install the Linear MCP and authenticate via OAuth (one-click flow)
Get it

What you can do with Linear MCP

Paste any of these prompts into Claude Code, Cursor or another MCP-compatible client.

“What issues are assigned to me in the current cycle?”

Uses: list_issues

“Create a bug ticket titled 'Login 500 error on Safari' in the Frontend team”

Uses: save_issue

“Summarise all In Progress issues in the Platform project”

Uses: list_projects, list_issues

“Comment 'Waiting on design' on issue ENG-421”

Uses: save_comment

Why Linear MCP matters

Linear is the issue tracker that ships the cleanest MCP server for AI coding agents. The Linear MCP exposes the same primitives the Linear web app and CLI use — issues, projects, cycles, comments, labels — but as tool calls Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf and Claude Desktop can chain together. The practical effect is that you can stop pasting issue links into chat and instead say "open the three highest-priority bugs in the Auth project, summarise the last comment on each, and draft a fix for the first one." The agent walks the graph itself.

Where Linear MCP earns its keep: tight feedback loops where the AI needs to read context (recent comments, linked PRs, cycle progress) before doing anything. We use it daily to triage backlog grooming — the agent reads the cycle, finds stale issues, asks for status, and updates labels — work that would otherwise be 30 minutes of clicking. The token cost is dominated by issue bodies; if your team writes long Linear descriptions, expect ~2-4k input tokens per issue inspected. Authentication is a single API key per user (no OAuth dance), which makes the server a clean fit for agent runners that don't have a browser.

Compared to writing your own Linear API wrapper, the MCP layer pays off because every MCP-compatible client (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code Copilot Chat, custom agents on the SDK) gets the same tools for free. The trade-off is that the official MCP currently exposes ~7 high-level tools — enough for 95 % of read/update flows, but if you need GraphQL-level access (custom queries on a specific view, attachment uploads), you'll still drop down to the REST API.

Common pitfalls

The Linear MCP runs as a remote server in newer versions — make sure your client supports remote MCP transport (Claude Code 1.0.50+, Cursor 0.45+). Older versions only handle stdio servers and will silently skip Linear.

Workspace-level vs team-level scoping confuses people: the API key authorises against a workspace, but most useful queries (cycles, projects) need a team identifier. If your prompt produces "team not found" errors, ask the agent to call `list_teams` first and pin the team key in subsequent calls.

Rate limits are gentle for human use but can be hit by aggressive agent loops — a 10-issue triage that comments on each one will burn through ~50 API calls. If you see 429s, batch the updates with `update_many` style prompts rather than one-by-one.

How Linear MCP compares

Honest pros/cons against the closest productivity MCP servers.

Server	Strengths	Trade-offs
GitHub MCP	Free, deeper code-side integration (PRs, files, search)	No native cycles/sprint concept — issue tracking is shallower
Jira MCP (community)	Mature for enterprises already on Atlassian	Slower API, OAuth flow harder to automate, fewer maintained MCP forks
Notion MCP	Works if your team uses Notion for planning instead of Linear	Page-tree model is awkward for issue workflows, no cycles primitive

Works with

Claude Code

Claude Desktop

Cursor

Windsurf

VS Code + Copilot

Any MCP Client

More Productivity MCPs

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Access and manage Obsidian vault

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Raindrop

Manage bookmarks and web collections

📅

Google Calendar

Calendar events and scheduling

✅

Todoist

Task management with Todoist API

Alternatives to Linear

If Linear doesn't fit your stack, these Productivity MCP servers solve similar problems.

Genviral

Genviral is a remote MCP server for creating, managing, scheduling, and publishing social content. Agents can access account context, upload media, manage posts, and generate campaign assets through OAuth-scoped tools with explicit publish confirmation.

📊

Airtable

Read and write data to Airtable bases

📅

Monday.com

Work management and project tracking

Frequently asked questions

What is the Linear MCP server?

Linear is listed as an Productivity Model Context Protocol server whose documented purpose is to let an MCP-compatible agent issue tracking — projects, issues, cycles. Client support, permissions and authentication remain specific to the upstream project.

How do I install Linear MCP with Claude Code?

The fastest way is the MCPizy CLI: run `mcpizy install linear` and MCPizy will add the server to your `.claude.json` automatically. You can also install it manually by adding an entry under `mcpServers` in `.claude.json` with the command `claude mcp add --transport http linear https://mcp.linear.app/mcp` and restarting Claude Code.

Does MCPizy charge to view or install Linear MCP?

No. Reading this profile and copying its install guidance is free. Upstream software, API, account or usage costs are separate, and licence coverage should be checked from the linked source when available.

Does Linear MCP work with Cursor and Windsurf?

The MCP standard is supported by those clients, but a specific server can still have client-specific setup or transport limits. Use the configuration shown on this page when present and verify the upstream instructions before installation.

What can I do with Linear MCP?

Its documented purpose is to let an MCP-compatible agent issue tracking — projects, issues, cycles. The exact tools, permissions and write capabilities depend on the server version and configuration shown by the upstream project.

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