Linear MCP server

This MCP server implementation enables AI assistants to interact with Linear project management systems through the Model Context Protocol. It provides a bridge to Linear's GraphQL API, allowing AI assistants to create, read, update, and manage issues, comments, projects, and more within Linear.

Installation Options

Via Smithery (Recommended)

Install Linear MCP Server automatically with Smithery using:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @emmett.deen/linear-mcp-server --client claude

Manual Configuration

After installing the package, add the following to your MCP settings file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linear": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@emmett.deen/linear-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "your_linear_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Client-Specific Configuration Files

• Claude Desktop: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Claude VSCode Extension: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json
• GoMCP: ~/.config/gomcp/config.yaml

Manual Installation

For a completely manual installation:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/Linear-MCP-Server.git
cd Linear-MCP-Server

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

4. Create a .env file with your Linear API token:

LINEAR_API_KEY=your_linear_api_key_here

5. Start the server:

npm start

Using with Claude Desktop

Setup in Claude Desktop

1. Enable Developer Mode in Claude Desktop
2. Navigate to Settings > Developer options
3. Click "Add Server"
4. Configure with these settings:
   • Name: Linear MCP Server
   • Type: Local Process
   • Command: linear-mcp-server
   • Arguments: --token YOUR_LINEAR_API_TOKEN

Alternative Manual Configuration

You can also manually edit the Claude Desktop config file:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": [
      {
        "name": "Linear MCP Server",
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "linear-mcp-server",
          "args": ["--token", "YOUR_LINEAR_API_TOKEN"]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

5. Save the configuration
6. Restart Claude Desktop completely
7. The Linear MCP Server should now appear as an available tool in Claude

Example Prompts for Claude

With the Linear MCP Server connected, you can ask Claude to:

• "Show me all my Linear issues"
• "Create a new issue titled 'Fix login bug' in the Frontend team"
• "Change the status of issue FE-123 to 'In Progress'"
• "Assign issue BE-456 to John Smith"
• "Add a comment to issue UI-789: 'This needs to be fixed by Friday'"

Available Capabilities

The Linear MCP Server provides access to:

• Retrieve and manage issues, users, teams, and projects
• Create and update issues
• Change issue status
• Assign issues to team members
• Add and remove comments
• Add and remove labels
• Create new projects
• View team information

For a full list of available tools and capabilities, consult the TOOLS.md document in the project repository.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "linear" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@emmett.deen/linear-mcp-server"],"env":{"LINEAR_API_KEY":"your_linear_api_key_here"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "linear": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@emmett.deen/linear-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "LINEAR_API_KEY": "your_linear_api_key_here"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "linear": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@emmett.deen/linear-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "LINEAR_API_KEY": "your_linear_api_key_here"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect