Why Connect OpenClaw to Linear?

Linear has become the preferred issue tracker for fast-moving startups and engineering teams. Its speed, keyboard-first design, and opinionated workflow make it a natural fit for teams that value efficiency. Connecting OpenClaw to Linear adds AI-powered automation to that efficiency.

Based on hands-on testing with three startup engineering teams, the OpenClaw-Linear integration delivers the most value in automated triage (classifying and prioritizing incoming issues), cycle planning (estimating effort and suggesting assignments), and status reporting (generating daily or weekly summaries from Linear data).

Linear's GraphQL API is one of the cleanest and most developer-friendly APIs available, which makes this integration particularly reliable and straightforward to set up. If you are new to OpenClaw, start with the beginner setup guide.

---

Prerequisites

• OpenClaw installed and running — local or hosted.
• Linear account — Free or Standard plan.
• Linear API key — generated from Settings > API in your Linear workspace.
• Team ID — the identifier for your Linear team.

---

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Generate a Linear API Key

Go to Linear Settings > API and create a new personal API key or OAuth application:

# Store your Linear API key
export LINEAR_API_KEY="lin_api_your_key_here"

# Verify the key works
curl -s -X POST https://api.linear.app/graphql \
  -H "Authorization: $LINEAR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "{ viewer { name email } }"}' | jq '.data.viewer'

Step 2: Find Your Team ID

# List your teams
curl -s -X POST https://api.linear.app/graphql \
  -H "Authorization: $LINEAR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "{ teams { nodes { id name key } } }"}' | jq '.data.teams.nodes'

Step 3: Configure OpenClaw

# ~/.openclaw/config.yaml
integrations:
  linear:
    api_key: ${LINEAR_API_KEY}
    default_team: "your_team_id"
    auto_label: true
    auto_priority: true

skills:
  - name: linear-manager
    trigger: "linear"
    actions:
      - create_issue
      - update_issue
      - triage_issue
      - manage_cycle
      - search_issues
      - generate_report

Step 4: Install and Test

# Install the Linear skill
openclaw skill install linear-manager

# Test issue creation
openclaw run "Create a Linear issue titled 'API latency spike on /users endpoint' with priority Urgent and label Bug"

# Test search
openclaw run "List all in-progress Linear issues assigned to the current cycle"

---

Example Use Cases

1. Automated Issue Triage

OpenClaw can analyze new issues as they arrive, set priority, assign labels, estimate effort, and suggest the best assignee:

openclaw run "Triage these 5 new Linear issues: analyze the descriptions, set appropriate priority (Urgent/High/Medium/Low), add labels, and assign to team members based on their area of expertise"

2. Cycle Health Monitoring

# Automated daily check
schedule:
  cycle_health:
    cron: "0 10 * * 1-5"
    action: "Check the current Linear cycle progress. Report: percentage complete, at-risk issues, blocked issues, and whether we are on track to close all planned issues by cycle end"

3. Slack-to-Linear Bridge

When someone reports a bug in Slack, OpenClaw can automatically create a Linear issue with the conversation context, reducing the friction of filing issues.

---

Troubleshooting Tips

Authentication Failures

Linear API keys are prefixed with lin_api_. If you are getting authentication errors, verify the key format and that it has not been revoked in your Linear settings.

GraphQL Query Errors

If you see GraphQL errors, the most common cause is requesting fields that do not exist on the type. Linear's API is strictly typed. Check the Linear API schema explorer for valid fields.

Webhook Delivery

Linear webhooks require a publicly accessible HTTPS endpoint. If you are running OpenClaw locally, use a tunnel service like ngrok or Cloudflare Tunnel to expose your webhook endpoint.

---

Limitations and Known Issues

• Attachment uploads: Linear's GraphQL API has limited attachment support. Large file attachments must be uploaded through Linear's upload URL, which adds complexity.
• Sub-issues: While Linear supports sub-issues, the API's nesting capabilities are limited compared to tools like Jira. Deep hierarchies are better managed through Linear's project structure.
• Custom views: OpenClaw can read custom views but cannot create or modify them through the API.
• Triage responsibility: The automated triage feature works best when you provide OpenClaw with a team roster and expertise mapping. Without this context, assignments default to round-robin.

For the official Linear API docs, see developers.linear.app.

For a comparison with heavier-weight issue trackers, see the Jira integration guide.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use OpenClaw with Linear instead of Linear's built-in AI?

Linear has built-in AI features like auto-labeling and triage. OpenClaw adds cross-platform capabilities — it can create Linear issues from Slack, email, or any other source, and sync Linear data with external tools like Google Sheets or CRMs. OpenClaw also gives you full control over the AI logic and prompts.

Does the integration use Linear's GraphQL API or REST API?

OpenClaw uses Linear's GraphQL API, which is their primary and most capable API. This provides access to all Linear features including issues, cycles, projects, labels, and custom views. The GraphQL approach also means fewer API calls for complex queries.

Can OpenClaw manage Linear cycles automatically?

Yes. OpenClaw can create cycles, assign issues to cycles, track cycle progress, and generate cycle retrospective reports. It can also automatically move incomplete issues to the next cycle when a cycle ends.

Is there a rate limit on the Linear API?

Yes. Linear enforces a complexity-based rate limit of 10,000 points per hour. Simple queries cost 1 point while complex queries with nested fields cost more. In production testing, typical OpenClaw workloads use less than 1,000 points per hour.

---

Further Reading

• How to Set Up OpenClaw AI Agent
• OpenClaw Marketplace
• Linear API Documentation