Linear ci integration

Linear CI Integration

Overview

Integrate Linear into GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines: run integration tests against the Linear API, automatically link PRs to issues, transition issue states on PR events, and create Linear issues from build failures.

Prerequisites

• GitHub repository with Actions enabled
• Linear API key stored as GitHub secret
• npm/pnpm project with @linear/sdk configured

Instructions

Step 1: Store Secrets in GitHub

# Using GitHub CLI
gh secret set LINEAR_API_KEY --body "lin_api_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
gh secret set LINEAR_WEBHOOK_SECRET --body "whsec_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

# Store team ID for CI-created issues
gh variable set LINEAR_TEAM_ID --body "team-uuid-here"

Step 2: Integration Test Workflow

# .github/workflows/linear-tests.yml
name: Linear Integration Tests

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:

env:
  LINEAR_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.LINEAR_API_KEY }}

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run test:linear
        env:
          LINEAR_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.LINEAR_API_KEY }}

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: always()
        with:
          name: test-results
          path: test-results/

Step 3: Integration Test Suite

// tests/linear.integration.test.ts
import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from "vitest";
import { LinearClient } from "@linear/sdk";

describe("Linear Integration", () => {
  let client: LinearClient;
  let teamId: string;
  const cleanup: string[] = [];

  beforeAll(async () => {
    const apiKey = process.env.LINEAR_API_KEY;
    if (!apiKey) throw new Error("LINEAR_API_KEY required for integration tests");
    client = new LinearClient({ apiKey });

    const teams = await client.teams();
    teamId = teams.nodes[0].id;
  });

  afterAll(async () => {
    for (const id of cleanup) {
      try { await client.deleteIssue(id); } catch {}
    }
  });

  it("authenticates successfully", async () => {
    const viewer = await client.viewer;
    expect(viewer.name).toBeDefined();
    expect(viewer.email).toBeDefined();
  });

  it("creates an issue", async () => {
    const result = await client.createIssue({
      teamId,
      title: `[CI] ${new Date().toISOString()}`,
      description: "Created by CI pipeline",
    });
    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
    const issue = await result.issue;
    expect(issue?.identifier).toBeDefined();
    if (issue) cleanup.push(issue.id);
  });

  it("queries issues with filtering", async () => {
    const issues = await client.issues({
      first: 10,
      filter: { team: { id: { eq: teamId } } },
    });
    expect(issues.nodes.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
  });

  it("lists workflow states", async () => {
    const teams = await client.teams();
    const states = await teams.nodes[0].states();
    expect(states.nodes.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
    expect(states.nodes.some(s => s.type === "completed")).toBe(true);
  });
});

Step 4: PR-to-Issue Linking Workflow

Automatically update Linear issues when PRs are opened, merged, or closed. Extracts issue identifiers from branch names (e.g., feature/ENG-123-description).

# .github/workflows/linear-pr-sync.yml
name: Sync PR to Linear

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, closed]

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci

      - name: Extract Linear issue ID from branch
        id: extract
        run: |
          BRANCH="${{ github.head_ref }}"
          ISSUE_ID=$(echo "$BRANCH" | grep -oE '[A-Z]+-[0-9]+' | head -1 || true)
          echo "issue_id=$ISSUE_ID" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Update Linear issue
        if: steps.extract.outputs.issue_id
        env:
          LINEAR_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.LINEAR_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          npx tsx scripts/sync-pr-to-linear.ts \
            --issue "${{ steps.extract.outputs.issue_id }}" \
            --pr "${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}" \
            --action "${{ github.event.action }}" \
            --merged "${{ github.event.pull_request.merged }}"

Step 5: PR Sync Script

// scripts/sync-pr-to-linear.ts
import { LinearClient } from "@linear/sdk";
import { parseArgs } from "util";

const { values } = parseArgs({
  options: {
    issue: { type: "string" },
    pr: { type: "string" },
    action: { type: "string" },
    merged: { type: "string" },
  },
});

async function main() {
  const client = new LinearClient({ apiKey: process.env.LINEAR_API_KEY! });

  // Find issue by identifier search
  const results = await client.issueSearch(values.issue!);
  const issue = results.nodes[0];
  if (!issue) {
    console.log(`Issue ${values.issue} not found — skipping`);
    return;
  }

  const prUrl = `https://github.com/${process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/pull/${values.pr}`;

  // Add comment linking to PR
  await client.createComment({
    issueId: issue.id,
    body: `PR #${values.pr} ${values.action}: View PR`,
  });

  // Transition state based on PR action
  const team = await issue.team;
  const states = await team!.states();

  if (values.action === "opened") {
    const reviewState = states.nodes.find(s =>
      s.name.toLowerCase().includes("review") || s.name.toLowerCase().includes("in progress")
    );
    if (reviewState) await client.updateIssue(issue.id, { stateId: reviewState.id });
  } else if (values.action === "closed" && values.merged === "true") {
    const doneState = states.nodes.find(s => s.type === "completed");
    if (doneState) await client.updateIssue(issue.id, { stateId: doneState.id });
  }

  console.log(`Updated ${values.issue} for PR #${values.pr} (${values.action})`);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Step 6: Create Issue on CI Failure

# .github/workflows/issue-on-failure.yml
name: Create Linear Issue on Failure

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: ["CI"]
    types: [completed]

jobs:
  create-issue:
    if: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'failure' }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create Linear issue for build failure
        env:
          LINEAR_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.LINEAR_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          curl -s -X POST https://api.linear.app/graphql \
            -H "Authorization: $LINEAR_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -d '{
              "query": "mutation($input: IssueCreateInput!) { issueCreate(input: $input) { success issue { identifier url } } }",
              "variables": {
                "input": {
                  "teamId": "${{ vars.LINEAR_TEAM_ID }}",
                  "title": "[CI] Build failure: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}",
                  "description": "Build failed on branch `${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}`.\n\nView run",
                  "priority": 1
                }
              }
            }'

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Secret not found	Missing GitHub secret	Add LINEAR_API_KEY to repo Settings > Secrets > Actions
Issue not found	Wrong identifier or workspace	Verify branch naming convention matches team key
Permission denied	API key lacks write scope	Regenerate key with write access
Duplicate CI issues	Failure workflow runs repeatedly	Add deduplication check before creating

Examples

PR Template for Linear Integration

<!-- .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md -->
## Linear Issue
<!-- Use magic words: Fixes, Closes, Resolves -->
Fixes ENG-XXX

## Changes
-

## Testing
- [ ] Unit tests pass
- [ ] Integration tests pass

Resources

• GitHub Actions Documentation
• Linear GitHub Integration
• Linear API Authentication