emmett deen Linear MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation for the Linear GraphQL API that enables AI assistants to interact with Linear project management systems.

• Access to Linear's GraphQL API through MCP tools
• Authentication via Linear API key
• Retrieve and modify data related to users, teams, projects, and issues
• Create, update and comment on issues
• Add and remove labels
• Create projects
• Comprehensive documentation of available tools

To install Linear MCP Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

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

After installation, 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"
      }
    }
  }
}

• 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

1. Clone the repository

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

1. Install dependencies

npm install

1. Build the project

npm run build

1. Create a .env file with your Linear API token

LINEAR_API_KEY=your_linear_api_key_here

1. Start the server

npm start

See TOOLS.md for a complete list of available tools and planned features.

Linear-MCP-Server bridges the gap between Claude (AI assistant) and Linear (project management tool) by implementing the MCP protocol. This allows Claude to:

• Retrieve issues, projects, teams, and other data from Linear
• Create and update issues
• Change issue status
• Assign issues to team members
• Add comments
• Create projects and teams

The server uses Linear's GraphQL API and authenticates via user tokens (not OAuth) for simplicity.

• Node.js (v18+)
• NPM or Yarn
• Linear API token

# Install globally
npm install -g @emmett.deen/linear-mcp-server

# Or clone and install locally
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/Linear-MCP-Server.git
cd Linear-MCP-Server
npm install
npm link  # Makes the package available globally

Run the server with your Linear API token:

linear-mcp-server --token YOUR_LINEAR_API_TOKEN

Or set the token in your environment and run without arguments:

export LINEAR_API_TOKEN=YOUR_LINEAR_API_TOKEN
linear-mcp-server

To use this MCP server with Claude Desktop:

1. Enable Developer Mode in Claude Desktop (from the menu bar)
2. Go to Settings > Developer options
3. Click "Add Server"
4. Configure with the following settings:
   • Name: Linear MCP Server
   • Type: Local Process
   • Command: linear-mcp-server
   • Arguments: --token YOUR_LINEAR_API_TOKEN

Alternatively, manually edit the config file:

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

1. Save the config
2. Restart Claude Desktop (quit completely and reopen)
3. You should now see Linear MCP Server available as a tool in Claude

Once connected to Claude Desktop, you can use prompts like:

• "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'"

To develop locally:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/Linear-MCP-Server.git
cd Linear-MCP-Server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run dev -- --token YOUR_LINEAR_API_TOKEN

To add new tools to the server:

1. Follow the implementation guide in the TOOLS.md document
2. Make sure to follow the established code structure in the src/ directory
3. Update the documentation to reflect your changes

1. Clone the repository

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

1. Install dependencies

npm install

1. Start in development mode

npm run dev

To publish this package to npm:

1. Update the version in package.json

npm version patch  # or minor, or major

1. Build the project

npm run build

1. Make sure you've already logged in to npm

npm login

1. Publish to npm

npm publish --access public

1. For Smithery registry, you'll need to work with the Smithery team to get your server listed in their catalog.

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.