linear-lifecycle

# Linear Lifecycle Management with Linearis CLI

## Overview

**Core principle:** Use Linearis CLI for all Linear operations instead of loading 20k token Linear MCP. CLI returns structured JSON for parsing without context overhead.

**Tool:** [Linearis](https://github.com/czottmann/linearis) - Linear CLI built for LLM agents with ~1000 token footprint vs 13k+ for MCP.

**Context savings:** 100% - no MCP loaded, just bash commands with JSON output.

## Setup

**One-time dependencies install:**

Use `/linear-setup` to install Linearis CLI (required for this skill to work).

**Token configuration:**

Automatic! On first use, Claude will:

1. Check if `~/.linear_api_token` exists
2. If not, prompt you for your Linear API token
3. Save it to `~/.linear_api_token` with secure permissions
4. Verify the connection works

**Get your token:** Linear Settings → Security & Access → Personal API keys

## When to Use

**Use this skill when:**

- Starting work on a Linear issue (need issue details)
- Creating new issues from bugs or features discovered
- Updating issue status during development
- Adding comments or progress updates
- Searching for issues across teams/projects

**Don't use when:**

- Issue tracking not needed for current work
- Working on non-Linear projects

## Implementation

**IMPORTANT: Always check for token on first Linear operation in a skill invocation:**

```bash
# Check if token exists
if [ ! -f ~/.linear_api_token ]; then
  echo "⚠️  Linear API token not found."
  echo ""
  echo "Get your token from: Linear Settings → Security & Access → Personal API keys"
  echo ""
  # Use AskUserQuestion tool to prompt for token
  # Save response to ~/.linear_api_token
  # Set permissions: chmod 600 ~/.linear_api_token
  # Verify it works with: linearis issues list -l 1
fi
```

After token is confirmed, proceed with Linear operations. Linearis automatically reads from `~/.linear_api_token`.

### Creating a New Issue

**IMPORTANT: Keep it simple! Specify the team key di