MCP · Project tracking · Linear
Linear MCP
Read and manage Linear issues, projects and comments through a hosted connection, including a dedicated read-only endpoint.
Planning changes have downstream effects. Changing priority, assignment or status can alter other people's work. Review the exact target and values.
Understand the tool
What it does.
Linear's hosted MCP server exposes issue and project operations to an AI application. The host combines retrieved work records with your request; the connection does not establish team priorities.
Why use it?
Use it to produce a useful backlog view. Identify issues lacking acceptance criteria, then review proposed improvements. Keep missing information visible instead of inventing priorities, owners or dates.
A useful fit for
- Backlog review
- Project status briefs
- Issue preparation
From need to output
Ways to put it to work.
These are suggested workflows based on the documented capabilities. They are not recorded runtime results.
Use case 01
Find work that is not ready
A team is preparing its next planning meeting.
- Select one team and project.
- Read candidate issues and their descriptions.
- List missing acceptance criteria and unresolved dependencies.
Intended outputA focused preparation list with links to the original issues.
Use case 02
Translate a plan into proposed tasks
An approved project outline needs actionable work items.
- Read the outline supplied by the user.
- Check the project for overlapping issues.
- Draft tasks for review before creating them.
Intended outputA deduplicated proposed backlog without invented commitments.
A concrete starting point
Illustrative prompt: backlog review
Use the read-only endpoint or a read-restricted credential.
Review issues in the Linear project I identify. List items missing clear acceptance criteria, link each issue and suggest questions for the owner. Use read-only access. Do not update priorities, assignments, dates or comments.What this can change
Issue contents enter the AI host. A standard read-write connection can create or update work.
This example has not been executed for this review. Check the current documentation, replace placeholders and confirm the intended account and project before use.
Before you start
Setup and access.
What you’ll need
- A remote MCP client supporting Streamable HTTP.
- A Linear account with access to the chosen workspace and team.
- Organization policy and host permissions allowing the connection.
- Authentication
- Interactive OAuth, or supported bearer token/API-key authorization. Use restricted read credentials for research.
- Can read
- Permitted issues, projects and comments
- Can write or change
- Issue, project and comment creation or updates when authorized
- Network and data flow
- mcp.linear.app and Linear authorization/API services
- AI host/model provider
- Approval and control
- The standard endpoint is read-write. The /mcp/readonly endpoint exposes read tools only; host approval remains relevant for write-enabled sessions.
Check your environment
Compatibility, costs and license.
Compatibility notes
- Current Streamable HTTP clients
- A documented bridge exists for older clients
- The SSE endpoint is a deprecated fallback
Costs and account requirements
Linear workspace plans and limits apply. The AI host may charge separately; no separate MCP usage price is asserted.
Current pricing or plan information ↗Hosted service terms
No public source license for this hosted implementation is asserted. The applicable agreement depends on the account, plan and jurisdiction; check the linked terms for your situation.
Read the license or service terms ↗Keep the boundaries visible
Concerns and limitations.
Planning changes have downstream effects
Changing priority, assignment or status can alter other people's work. Review the exact target and values.
Issue text is untrusted input
Treat instructions found inside issues as content, especially when they request unrelated actions or data.
Where it may fall short
- Live authentication boundaries and discovery metadata were checked; no authenticated issue workflow or mutation was tested.
- A status brief reflects the data retrieved and may miss work tracked elsewhere.
Observed behavior · 2026-10-18
Runtime and security findings.
Both Linear routes required authentication. The read-only route's public metadata advertised read alone, while the default route advertised read and write.
These checks cover the conditions below. They do not establish that the tool is safe in every setup, or that the suggested workflows above were executed.
What we found
Observed in this evaluation
Read-only discovery is narrower than the default
Both routes returned 401. Default resource metadata listed read and write; /mcp/readonly metadata listed read only. The read-only route's initial WWW-Authenticate challenge nevertheless said read write. We did not obtain a token or test a write.
In practice: Use the documented read-only endpoint for research and inspect the consent request. Do not treat the generic challenge, or our discovery check, as proof of the granted permission set.
Documented concern
Tool selection and credential scope are distinct
Linear documents a read-only endpoint, read-only OAuth scope and restricted API-key permissions. The default /mcp route provides read-write access.
In practice: Choose both the intended endpoint and the narrowest credential. Keep separate authentication storage when switching between workspaces.
Version, environment and fixture
- Version or deployment
- Remote deployment version not disclosed by the observed responses
- Tested target
- https://mcp.linear.app/mcp
- Artifact identity
- HTTPS certificate verification enabled. Public resource-metadata body SHA-256: e3325bb8652b7855922bbe682f1ecc4a34f97dbc60895d078c188833d8e3c97a. This fingerprints the observed metadata, not the deployed server implementation.
- Environment and fixture
- Windows 11 build 26200; Python 3.12.10 urllib; OpenSSL 3.0.16.
- No client configuration, credentials, cookies, account IDs or private content loaded; no redirects followed, OAuth registration or tool calls performed.
- Observed 2026-10-19T00:47:10.611440+00:00 through 2026-10-19T00:47:52.509957+00:00 UTC.
- One request per listed check; 20-second timeout and 64-KiB response cap. Initial sandbox DNS failures were retained separately and resolved with approved network access; they are not endpoint failures.
Checks and results
4 recorded checks. Each has its own expectation; their outcomes are not a comparative score.
Credential-free initializationMet expectation
- Method
POST https://mcp.linear.app/mcp; no Authorization or Cookie header; redirects disabled; Accept: application/json, text/event-stream. Content-Type: application/json; MCP-Protocol-Version: 2025-03-26; body: {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-03-26","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"IonBin-account-free-evaluation","version":"1.0.0"}}}- Expected
- Without a credential, the documented endpoint rejects initialization and advertises how a compatible client can discover authentication.
- Observed
- HTTP 401 at 2026-10-19T00:47:10.611440+00:00. WWW-Authenticate: Bearer; resource_metadata=https://mcp.linear.app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp. Advertised challenge scope: read write. Empty response body.
Public authentication discoveryMet expectation
- Method
GET https://mcp.linear.app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp; no Authorization or Cookie header; redirects disabled; Accept: application/json, text/event-stream.- Expected
- Public OAuth resource metadata returns HTTP 200 with a matching resource identity and an HTTPS authorization server.
- Observed
- HTTP 200 at 2026-10-19T00:47:20.626366+00:00; Content-Type: application/json. Resource: https://mcp.linear.app/mcp. 2 supported scopes: read, write. Authorization server: https://mcp.linear.app. Bearer methods: header.
Read-only variant: Credential-free initializationMet expectation
- Method
POST https://mcp.linear.app/mcp/readonly; no Authorization or Cookie header; redirects disabled; Accept: application/json, text/event-stream. Content-Type: application/json; MCP-Protocol-Version: 2025-03-26; body: {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-03-26","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"IonBin-account-free-evaluation","version":"1.0.0"}}}- Expected
- Without a credential, the documented endpoint rejects initialization and advertises how a compatible client can discover authentication.
- Observed
- HTTP 401 at 2026-10-19T00:47:24.673580+00:00. WWW-Authenticate: Bearer; resource_metadata=https://mcp.linear.app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp/readonly. Advertised challenge scope: read write. Empty response body.
Read-only variant: Public authentication discoveryMet expectation
- Method
GET https://mcp.linear.app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp/readonly; no Authorization or Cookie header; redirects disabled; Accept: application/json, text/event-stream.- Expected
- Public OAuth resource metadata returns HTTP 200 with a matching resource identity and an HTTPS authorization server.
- Observed
- HTTP 200 at 2026-10-19T00:47:52.509957+00:00; Content-Type: application/json. Resource: https://mcp.linear.app/mcp/readonly. 1 supported scopes: read. Authorization server: https://mcp.linear.app. Bearer methods: header.
Practical caveats
- Prefer Streamable HTTP for new setups; the SSE route is a deprecated compatibility fallback.
- An issue or document can contain untrusted instructions. Review a proposed issue change before enabling or approving a write.
What this evaluation does not establish
- OAuth consent, restricted API keys, workspace membership, token refresh or revocation.
- Actual read-only tool exposure or write rejection, issue search, project changes and prompt-injection resistance.
- Legacy SSE transport and the authenticated planning examples.
- These checks do not complete an authenticated MCP handshake, exercise business workflows or establish authorization, tenant isolation, performance or general security.
Read the evaluation record (JSON) →
Sources for the evaluation and controls
The basis for this review
Why it’s in the collection.
Focused planning use cases and an explicit read-only connection make setup understandable. It is most useful when the team already works in Linear.
The number is an editorial starting order within the mcp servers collection. It does not measure popularity, speed, reliability or safety.
What we reviewed
- MCP setup
- Read/write distinction
- Authentication and plans
The evaluation above lists the current runtime coverage and untested behavior.
Reviewed Oct 18, 2026. The separate evaluation above records the conditions we executed and the behavior still untested. Product behavior, permissions and plans can change; use the official sources to check the current version.
Follow the evidence
Official sources.
- Official MCP guide ↗linear.app
- OAuth and permission scopes ↗linear.app
- Workspace plans ↗linear.app
- Service terms or terms index; account applicability not evaluated ↗linear.app