Linear Workflow Manager

A Claude Code skill for automating daily planning, issue triage, and status reporting with Linear.

What It Does

This skill helps you:

• Start your work day with automated priority analysis and daily planning
• Triage issues efficiently with consistent categorization and labeling
• Generate status reports for standups, weekly updates, and stakeholder communications
• Coordinate with autonomous agents to handle batch operations and complex analysis

Prerequisites

1. Linear API Key

This skill uses direct Linear GraphQL API access. Configure your API key in ~/.claude/.env:

LINEAR_API_KEY=lin_api_xxx

Get your API key from Linear Settings > API > Personal API Keys.

2. Linear Account

You need a Linear account with appropriate permissions to:

• View and update issues
• Assign issues and add labels
• Access team and project information

3. Claude Code

This skill is designed for use with Claude Code (https://claude.ai/code).

Installation

1. Download the linear-workflow-manager.zip file

2. Install the skill in Claude Code:

   /skills install linear-workflow-manager.zip
   

3. Restart Claude Code to load the skill

4. Verify installation:

   /skills list
   

   You should see linear-workflow-manager in the output.

Usage

Starting Your Work Day

Simply say:

"Start my work day"

Claude will:

1. Fetch your high priority Linear issues
2. Analyze your workload and dependencies
3. Suggest a prioritized plan for the day
4. Estimate time allocations

Triaging Issues

To process new or untriaged issues:

"Triage new Linear issues"

Claude will:

1. Find issues without proper categorization
2. Analyze each issue's content and context
3. Suggest priorities, labels, and assignments
4. Update Linear with your approval

Generating Status Reports

For daily, weekly, or custom reports:

"Generate my weekly status update"
"Create a status report for Project X"
"Summarize what I did today"

Claude will:

1. Query Linear for relevant issues
2. Analyze progress and patterns
3. Generate a formatted report
4. Adapt tone based on your needs (standup vs stakeholder)

Customization

Triage Criteria

Edit references/triage_criteria.md to customize:

• Priority assignment rules
• Label taxonomy
• Team routing logic
• SLA expectations

Report Templates

Edit references/report_templates.md to customize:

• Report formats and sections
• Metrics to include
• Communication tone
• Stakeholder-specific templates

Example Customizations

Add custom labels:

# In references/triage_criteria.md

### Custom Labels
- `customer-impact` - Affects external users
- `technical-spike` - Research/investigation needed

Create team-specific report:

# In references/report_templates.md

## Engineering Team Weekly
[Your custom template]

Features

Autonomous Agent Integration

The skill uses Claude agents for:

• Planning Agent: Analyzes full workload context, identifies blockers, recommends priorities
• Triage Agent: Processes multiple issues in batch with consistent criteria
• Reporting Agent: Aggregates data, identifies trends, generates summaries

Agents keep you in the loop and present findings for review before making updates.

Linear GraphQL Integration

The skill uses direct Linear GraphQL API access for:

• Issue querying and filtering
• Issue creation and updates
• Label and project management
• User and team information
• Comment creation

All Linear interactions use the helper script (scripts/linear.sh) or direct GraphQL queries.

Query Templates: Pre-built queries in queries/ directory for common operations.

Documentation: See references/ directory for query index, schema reference, and examples.

Best Practices

Daily Workflow

1. Morning: Start with planning workflow to set priorities
2. During the day: Use triage workflow for new issues
3. End of day: Quick status update to track progress

Agent Coordination

• Use agents for batch operations (multiple issues, reports)
• Review agent findings before bulk updates
• Keep manual control for sensitive or complex decisions

Customization

• Update triage criteria as your team's process evolves
• Create new report templates for different audiences
• Adjust priority rules to match your sprint schedule

Examples

Example: Daily Planning

You: "Start my work day"

Claude: "I'll help you plan your day with Linear. Let me analyze your high priority items..."

[Claude launches planning agent]

Claude: "Here's your daily plan based on [X] high priority issues:

Critical (Complete Today):

1. Fix authentication bug (#123) - 2 hours
2. Review API changes (#124) - 1 hour

Important (Start Today): 3. Dashboard feature (#125) - 4 hours (continue tomorrow)

Blockers to resolve:

• Issue #126 waiting on design review from @designer"

Example: Issue Triage

You: "Triage new issues"

Claude: "I found [X] untriaged issues. Launching triage agent..."

[Claude processes issues]

Claude: "Triage complete. Here's what I recommend:

Issue #127: 'Login page crash on mobile'

• Priority: High (P1) - customer-facing bug
• Labels: bug, frontend, mobile
• Assign to: @frontend-lead
• Update now? [Yes/No]"

Example: Status Report

You: "Generate my weekly status update"

Claude: "Creating your weekly summary..."

[Claude generates report]

Claude: "Here's your weekly update:

Completed This Week: (5 issues)

• Fixed authentication bug (#123)
• Implemented dashboard feature (#125) ...

[Full formatted report]

Would you like me to post this anywhere or make any changes?"

Troubleshooting

"Configuration file not found"

Solution: Create ~/.claude/.env with your Linear API key:

LINEAR_API_KEY=lin_api_xxx

"Authentication failed"

Solution: Verify your Linear API key is valid. Get a new one from Linear Settings > API > Personal API Keys if needed.

"Skill not triggering"

Solution: Use explicit triggers like "Start my work day" or "Triage Linear issues" to activate the skill.

"Can't find issues"

Solution: Verify your Linear account has access to the workspace and issues you're querying.

Support

• Skill Issues: Report bugs or feature requests for this skill
• Linear API: Check Linear API documentation at https://developers.linear.app
• Claude Code: Visit https://docs.claude.com for Claude Code documentation

Version

Current version: 2.0.0

License

This skill is provided as-is for use with Claude Code.

Changelog

2.0.0 (GraphQL Migration)

• Replaced Linear MCP with direct GraphQL API integration
• Added helper script (scripts/linear.sh) for executing queries
• Created organized query template library (queries/)
• Added comprehensive reference documentation
• Improved reliability and removed authentication issues

1.0.0 (Initial Release)

• Daily planning workflow with priority analysis
• Automated issue triage with customizable criteria
• Status report generation with multiple templates
• Autonomous agent integration for batch operations
• Customizable triage criteria and report templates