Linear GraphQL Skill

Use this skill to run Linear GraphQL API operations through uxc.

Reuse the uxc skill guidance for discovery, schema inspection, auth lifecycle, and error recovery.

Prerequisites

• uxc is installed and available in PATH.
• Network access to https://api.linear.app/graphql.
• Linear API key or OAuth credentials available.

Authentication

Linear supports two authentication methods:

Option 1: Personal API Key (Recommended for development)

1. Get your API key from Linear: https://linear.app/settings/api

2. Set credential with custom Authorization header:

   uxc auth credential set linear-graphql \
     --auth-type api_key \
     --header "Authorization:{{secret}}" \
     --secret "lin_api_XXX"
   

   Or use environment variable:

   export LINEAR_API_KEY="lin_api_XXX"
   uxc auth credential set linear-graphql \
     --auth-type api_key \
     --header "Authorization:{{secret}}" \
     --secret-env LINEAR_API_KEY
   

3. Bind endpoint:

   uxc auth binding add \
     --id linear-graphql \
     --host api.linear.app \
     --path-prefix /graphql \
     --scheme https \
     --credential linear-graphql \
     --priority 100
   

Important (Personal API Key only): Linear API keys require Authorization: lin_api_XXX format (no Bearer prefix). The --header "Authorization:{{secret}}" configuration above is required for API key auth. For OAuth access tokens, use standard Authorization: Bearer <token> semantics (handled by the OAuth credential flow in uxc).

Credential/binding IDs in this skill use linear-graphql by convention; IDs are local aliases and can be changed if needed.

Option 2: OAuth 2.0 (For production/user-delegated access)

1. Create an OAuth app in Linear: https://linear.app/settings/api

2. Start OAuth login:

   uxc auth oauth start linear-graphql \
     --endpoint https://api.linear.app/graphql \
     --redirect-uri http://127.0.0.1:8788/callback \
     --scope read \
     --scope write
   

   After approval, complete it with:

   uxc auth oauth complete linear-graphql \
     --session-id <session_id> \
     --authorization-response 'http://127.0.0.1:8788/callback?code=...&state=...'
   

3. Bind endpoint:

   uxc auth binding add \
     --id linear-graphql \
     --host api.linear.app \
     --path-prefix /graphql \
     --scheme https \
     --credential linear-graphql \
     --priority 100
   

Core Workflow

1. Use fixed link command by default:

   • command -v linear-graphql-cli
   • If the command exists, confirm it is the expected uxc link for this skill before using it.
   • If a command conflict is detected and cannot be safely reused, stop and ask skill maintainers for guidance instead of dynamically renaming the command.
   • If missing, create it: uxc link linear-graphql-cli https://api.linear.app/graphql
   • linear-graphql-cli -h

2. Discover operations:

   • linear-graphql-cli -h
   • Returns hundreds of GraphQL operations

3. Inspect specific operation:

   • linear-graphql-cli query/issues -h
   • linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate -h

4. Execute queries:

   # Query issues (simple)
   linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":10}'
   
   # Query issues with explicit selection set for useful fields
   linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":10,"_select":"nodes { identifier title url state { name } assignee { name } }"}'
   
   # Query teams
   linear-graphql-cli query/teams '{"first":10}'
   
   # Create issue (requires write scope)
   linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate '{
     "input": {
       "teamId": "TEAM_ID",
       "title": "New Issue Title",
       "description": "Issue description"
     }
   }'
   

Available Operations

Queries

• query/issues - List and filter issues
• query/issue - Get single issue
• query/teams - List teams
• query/team - Get single team
• query/projects - List projects
• query/workflowStates - List workflow states

Mutations

• mutation/issueCreate - Create new issue
• mutation/issueUpdate - Update issue
• mutation/issueArchive - Archive issue
• mutation/commentCreate - Add comment

Usage Examples

List recent issues

linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":20,"_select":"nodes { identifier title url state { name } assignee { name } }"}'

Get issue by ID

linear-graphql-cli query/issue id=ISSUE_ID

List teams

linear-graphql-cli query/teams

Create issue

linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate '{"input":{"teamId":"YOUR_TEAM_ID","title":"Fix bug"}}'

Troubleshooting

Authentication Errors

Error: "Bearer token" prefix rejected

• Linear API does not accept Authorization: Bearer lin_api_XXX
• Ensure credential uses --auth-type api_key --header "Authorization:{{secret}}"
• Do not use --auth-type bearer

Error: "Credential not found"

• Check credential exists: uxc auth credential list
• Verify binding: uxc auth binding list
• Create binding if missing (see Authentication section)

OAuth login spans multiple agent turns

• Prefer uxc auth oauth start ... and uxc auth oauth complete ...
• Use uxc auth oauth login ... --flow authorization_code only when one process can wait for the pasted callback URL

Error: "No binding matched"

• Check binding exists: uxc auth binding match api.linear.app/graphql
• If missing, create binding with uxc auth binding add (see Authentication section)

For detailed authentication troubleshooting, see uxc skill's references/auth-configuration.md.

Common Issues

Daemon issues after credential changes

• Restart daemon: uxc daemon restart
• Check status: uxc daemon status

Environment variable not found

• Ensure variable is exported in daemon's environment
• Or use --secret for literal values (less secure)
• Or use --secret-op for 1Password (most secure)

Guardrails

• Keep automation on JSON output envelope; do not use --text.
• Parse stable fields first: ok, kind, data, error.
• Prefer positional JSON for non-string and typed arguments (for example: linear-graphql-cli query/issues '{"first":10}' and linear-graphql-cli mutation/issueCreate '{"input":{"teamId":"TEAM_ID","title":"Test"}}').
• Use reserved GraphQL argument _select (string) when you need explicit return fields, e.g. {"_select":"nodes { identifier title }"}.
• Use linear-graphql-cli as the default command path.
• linear-graphql-cli <operation> ... is equivalent to uxc https://api.linear.app/graphql <operation> ....
• Prefer read operations first (query/), then write operations (mutation/).
• For write operations, always confirm user intent before execution.
• If auth fails, check credential with uxc auth credential info linear-graphql.

References

• Linear API Documentation: https://developers.linear.app
• GraphQL Schema: https://studio.apollographql.com/public/Linear-API
• Invocation patterns: references/usage-patterns.md