What it is
Linear runs a hosted MCP server at https://mcp.linear.app/mcp over Streamable HTTP. Read-only access comes two ways: the /mcp/readonly endpoint, which only ever exposes read tools, or the standard endpoint with only the read OAuth scope requested, in which case the token itself cannot reach write APIs. The old /sse endpoint is deprecated and kept for clients without Streamable HTTP.
Sign-in uses OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration, or you pass a Linear API key or OAuth token as a bearer header, which suits app users and background agents. Workspaces on Okta can turn on enterprise-managed authorisation once SAML is configured. Linear documents setup for Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Jules, VS Code, v0, Windsurf and Zed; other clients connect through mcp-remote.
Linear says the tools find, create and update issues, projects and comments, but publishes no tool list. The changelog shows steady additions, such as list_customer_needs for customer requests and partial-name matching for assignees in September 2026.
Install
https://mcp.linear.app/mcpOur review
Linear’s server is the low-maintenance choice for an issue tracker: hosted, OAuth with dynamic client registration, and nothing to upgrade. Its best feature is a read-only mode that means it. Connect to /mcp/readonly, or request only the read scope, and the token cannot reach write APIs at all, a stronger guarantee than a server that merely hides its write tools from the model.
The documentation remains thin. Linear lists no tool names, so the changelog is the only record of what changed: list_customer_needs arrived in September 2026, alongside customer lookup by domain and assignment by partial name. Teams writing approval rules for their client have to read the tool list from the client itself, and should expect it to grow without notice.
Background agents meet API limits before people in chat do. Linear publishes no MCP-specific limits, but its GraphQL API allows 2,500 requests an hour per user with an API key, shared across all of that user’s keys, plus a separate hourly complexity budget. An agent sweeping a large backlog as one service user will hit that first. Each workspace also needs its own auth context, which the FAQ handles with a separate mcp-remote config directory per workspace.
Governance is decent but tiered. Okta-managed MCP authorisation depends on SAML, which Linear sells only on Enterprise, and the Free plan’s 250-issue cap makes it a trial rather than a home for agent-filed tickets. Atlassian’s server offers more administrative control; Linear’s can be filing issues from Claude Code after a single command, and for most product teams that difference in setup cost decides it.
Where it earns its place
An engineering manager running a 12-person product team
Turn a planning document into a Linear project with milestones and issues
Paste the document into Claude and ask for a proposed project, milestones and issues before anything is created, as Linear’s own example prompt does, then approve. There is no MCP fee beyond Basic at $10 or Business at $16 per user a month; the risk is invented dependencies, which that prompt tells the model to avoid.
A support lead on a Business-plan workspace
Summarise what last cycle fixed for the weekly customer update
Connect through /mcp/readonly so the assistant can gather completed issues and customer requests but cannot touch tickets. It replaces filtering views by hand, with no chance of the bot reopening or relabelling anything.
A platform engineer building a background triage agent
File and label issues from new Sentry alerts under a dedicated app user
Pass the app user’s OAuth token as a bearer header instead of a personal login, so actions are attributed to the bot. Budget against Linear’s published 2,500 requests an hour per user for API-key traffic; an agent that makes several lookups per alert needs batching well before that.
Before you commit
- Setup
- One command in Claude Code (claude mcp add --transport http linear-server https://mcp.linear.app/mcp) or Codex, a connector in Claude, or npx mcp-remote for stdio-only clients; the first tool call triggers the OAuth login. The FAQ’s fixes: clear ~/.mcp-auth on internal server errors, and fall back to /sse under WSL.
- Integrations
- Tools cover issues, projects, comments, teams, cycles and customer requests; Linear publishes neither the list nor the count. Read and write tools share /mcp, while /mcp/readonly exposes reads only.
- Data and privacy
- The hosted server acts with the signed-in user’s or app user’s permissions. Linear holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and offers a HIPAA BAA. Issue text written by customers or integrations is untrusted input the model will read and may act on.
- Cost at scale
- No server fee. A 40-person team on Business pays $16 per user a month billed yearly, about $7,680 a year; Enterprise pricing for SAML, SCIM and Okta-managed MCP auth is not published.
- Limits
- API-key traffic is capped at 2,500 requests an hour per user plus an hourly complexity budget, and unauthenticated calls at 600 an hour per IP. Remote connections sometimes need a manual reconnect, per the FAQ.
What's good
- Read-only endpoint and read scope enforced at the token
- Hosted; OAuth, API key or app-user tokens
- Setup documented for 9 clients
- Steady tool additions in the changelog
What's not
- No published tool list
- One auth context per workspace
- API-key traffic capped at 2,500 requests an hour per user
- Okta-managed auth needs the Enterprise plan
Best for
Product and engineering teams on Linear who want assistants to triage, file and update issues with little setup.
Alternatives
Linear MCP: common questions
- Is Linear MCP worth it?
- A hosted Linear server whose read-only mode is enforced at the token, which makes it unusually easy to give an assistant access on day one. We rate it 4.4 out of 5.
- How much does Linear MCP cost?
- No charge for the server; it uses your Linear plan. Free (250 issues), Basic $10 and Business $16 per user/month billed yearly, Enterprise custom.
- What are the downsides of Linear MCP?
- No published tool list; one auth context per workspace; aPI-key traffic capped at 2,500 requests an hour per user; okta-managed auth needs the Enterprise plan.
- Who is Linear MCP best for?
- Product and engineering teams on Linear who want assistants to triage, file and update issues with little setup.
- How much does Linear MCP cost for a team or in production?
- No server fee. A 40-person team on Business pays $16 per user a month billed yearly, about $7,680 a year; Enterprise pricing for SAML, SCIM and Okta-managed MCP auth is not published.
- Is Linear MCP safe for company data?
- The hosted server acts with the signed-in user’s or app user’s permissions. Linear holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and offers a HIPAA BAA. Issue text written by customers or integrations is untrusted input the model will read and may act on.
- What are the best Linear MCP alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are Atlassian Rovo MCP Server, Asana MCP and GitHub MCP Server.
Answers checked Oct 22, 2026.
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