Linear Skills — Development skill for Claude Code

Linear Get Issue Skill

A lightweight Claude Code skill for fetching Linear issue details without the context overhead of the full Linear MCP.

Why This Over the Full Linear MCP?

**This skill:** Read-only issue lookup (search + get details)

• ✅ Minimal context usage
• ✅ Fast issue retrieval
• ✅ Perfect for "what's the status of X?" queries
• ✅ Zero external dependencies

**Official Linear MCP:** Full read/write operations

• For creating issues, updating status, adding comments
• For complex workflows that modify issues
• When you need your agent to take hands-on action

**The smart workflow:**

1. Use this skill to read/search issues (lightweight)
2. Use Linear MCP when you need to create/modify issues (when needed)

Quick Start

1. No Dependencies to Install!

This skill uses only Python's built-in stdlib (urllib, json, argparse). Nothing to install.

2. Set Up Your Linear API Key

Copy the example `.env` file from the skill directory and add your API key:

cp .claude/skills/linear-skills/.env.example .claude/skills/linear-skills/.env

Then edit `.claude/skills/linear-skills/.env` and add your Linear API key:

LINEAR_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

**Note:** The script checks for `.env` in this order:

1. .claude/skills/linear-skills/.env (preferred - skill-specific)
2. Project root .env (for shared config)
3. Current working directory (fallback)

**Getting your API key:**

1. Go to your Linear workspace
2. Settings > API
3. Create a Personal API Key
4. Copy and paste into .env

3. Test It Works

python scripts/get_issue.py ENG-123

You should see the issue details printed out.

4. Install as Claude Code Skill

Option A: Copy to Claude Code skills directory

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r .claude/skills/linear-skills ~/.claude/skills/

Option B: Use directory directly (if Claude Code recognizes the path)

# Point Claude Code settings to this project's .claude/skills folder

Once in