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May 30, 2024

Passkeys: A fast and secure way to log in to Linear

Log in with passkey button shown alongside a fingerprint (Touch ID), Face ID, 1Password, and Microsoft Hello

Passkeys: A fast and secure way to log in to Linear⁠

Linear now supports Passkeys as a login method in addition to email and SSO options. Passkeys are a new standard enabling secure and fast login without having to rely on passwords. They are supported by all major browsers, mobile operating systems, and many password managers like 1Password.

To set up Passkeys on your account, head to Security & Access settings. You'll be able to register several devices if you wish. You can log in to Linear on your browser or mobile app using passkeys today and we're looking to add support to our desktop application later this year.

In addition to adding Passkey support, we also added email-based security notifications for new sessions, API keys, and other security options. These notifications will help you keep track of activity on your account and you'll always see the active sessions listed in your security settings.

IP restrictions⁠

Linear Enterprise customers now have the option to enable an extra security layer for accessing Linear by restricting workspace access to their private network. When enabled, all direct user access to Linear, including web, desktop, mobile, and API access, will be limited to the set of configured IPs. Be careful, don't lock yourself out.

Table improvements⁠

You can now resize tables in the text editor by adjusting the column width. Hover over any column border and then click and drag to change the size. Large tables will overflow the document boundary and allow horizontal scrolling.

  • Views
    We will now automatically update affected view filters after changing label names and after deleting teams.
  • Sub-issues
    You can now group views by the parent issue to view issues and their sub-issues underneath them.
  • Boards
    Time-based grouping will now default to showing the current month/quarter when a board view is opened.
  • Projects
    Improved the experience of adding milestones in the Project Overview page to feel more consistent when clicking out of the name input.
  • Icons
    Added 90+ new icons for you to use!
  • Issues
    We now preserve issue relations when archiving issues.
  • Slack
    We no longer mark the Slack thread with the ✖️ emoji if its synced issue was marked as a duplicate of another issue. The ✖️ emoji is still posted when the synced issue is canceled.
  • Issue activity
    Issue history will now correctly show the name of the connected application as the actor instead of Linear for certain events.
  • @-mentions
    The mentions menu in the editor now works with non-Latin languages.
  • Desktop
    Fixed an issue that could cause the desktop app to crash on every load after the workspace URL was changed.
  • Board
    Fixed issues with board row headers not showing titles in some cases when switching to the swimlanes view.
  • Editor
    Deleting a loading Figma preview from a comment no longer prevents the comment from being posted.
  • Slack
    Synchronized Slack comments now preserve a non-1 starting number for ordered lists.
  • Views
    Fixed a bug that prevented filtering views with more than 5000 issues.
  • Projects
    Fixed a bug where grouping by cycle in a project view would display issues not belonging to the project.
  • Filters
    Fixed issue links filtering for saved views when matching links with subdomains.
  • Views
    Fixed a bug where it was not possible to store a view with project updates filter.
  • Issues
    Fixed the issue ID and branch name copy buttons staying disabled after issue creation in some cases.
  • Documents
    Fixed document URLs when the title contains a backslash.
  • Added actors field to the issue history resolver and deprecated actor.
  • API key creation/deletion is no longer available for API consumers.
  • Manual webhook creation/deletion has been deprecated for OAuth applications. Please use OAuth app webhooks instead.
May 23, 2024

European Union data hosting

A globe-like stylized sphere with lines for longitude and latitude

European Union data hosting⁠

You can now choose to store your data in the European Union or the United States when creating a Linear workspace. This change also builds the foundation for us to support hosting data in other regions in the future. You can learn why we chose to make this change now and how we designed and built the technical architecture in this blog post.

To store your data in the EU, select the option when creating a new workspace (we set the default storage location based on your system timezone). The data storage location cannot be changed for existing workspaces. Learn more in the docs.

  • Documents
    Fixed document URLs when the title contains a backslash.
  • GitHub Issue Sync
    Deleting a synced issue on GitHub no longer irrecoverably deletes it on Linear; instead, it will be moved to the trash.
  • Issues
    Fixed a bug where you wouldn't see the issue description update when someone else started writing it after you entered the issue page.
  • Filters
    Fixed the date range filter not being correctly applied when combined with other filters using the Any filter matches option.
  • Custom views
    Fixed view ordering not getting saved when creating custom project views.
  • Documents
    Fixed a bug that prevented adding comments inside the selection for an existing comment.
  • Projects
    Fixed incorrect prompts when dismissing editing a project in a modal.
  • Editor
    Fixed a problem with @-mentions in the editor always selecting the first option on touch screens.
  • Labels
    Prevented label duplicates when migrating multiple label groups from Team to Workspace.
  • Templates
    Fixed a problem with applying templates not updating the description in some cases.
  • Estimates
    Fixed a regression in the estimate dropdown where it would show the first option selected for issues with no estimate.
  • Issue relations
    Issue relations will now retain their original creation date when being undone, so they'll appear back in the correct place in listings.
  • Slack integration
    Fixed an issue where Slack push notifications for issue unfurls did not have a proper preview when a Linear issue was detected in a message.
  • Due dates
    When setting the due date to "End of this week" and it is that day, it will now properly set it to today instead of the next end of the week.
  • Desktop
    Fixed an issue where loading the desktop app with a linear:// URL would not show the correct screen.
  • Related issues
    Fixed an incorrect copy link action in the right-click contextual menu for related issues.
  • Attached Views
    Fixed an issue with rendering issues when creating new attached views in projects.
  • Editor
    The Lightbox now has a safe area for controls in the top right corner when images are zoomed.
  • Board
    Restored the vertical scroll position for boards with swimlanes.
  • Desktop
    Increased empty space in the page headers to allow dragging the entire window.
  • Inline comments
    Fixed overlapping of document comments and table controls.
  • Board view
    Fixed the hidden items indicator at the bottom of the board being cut off.
  • Editor
    Changed so that uploading images and videos will show a preview while uploading instead of an error.
  • Settings
    Fixed the help menu in settings not working.
  • Asks
    Sub-issues now retain their original status as defined in the issue template when the issue template is used in Asks.
  • Asks
    Completed Asks will no longer show up in the Active Asks tab in your Slack app home.
  • Mobile
    The two-finger tap now properly opens the command menu when used on an element that also supports long-press actions.
  • Documents
    The document table of contents stays fixed.
  • Editor
    Fixed Lightbox error when another user is editing the image you're viewing.
  • Parent issues
    It will now properly truncate long parent issue names.
  • Help
    Help menu/messages are properly docked to the bottom left.
  • Milestones
    Disabled 1Password completion on milestone edit input.
  • Projects
    Fixed a bug where you were allowed to input long project summaries on the overview page, but the update would be rejected.
  • Projects
    Fixed a rendering bug when converting an issue to a project.
  • Projects
    Fixed a bug where toggling the projects layout with a keyboard shortcut wasn't updating properly sometimes.
  • Custom views
    Added zoom control to Project Views in Timeline layout.
  • Board view
    Fixed a problem with saving default column grouping for issue boards.
  • Projects
    Fixed an issue with numerical keyboard shortcuts not working for view tabs.
  • Editor
    Fixed misplaced table outline when in a list.
  • Editor
    Fixed editor toolbar getting cut off on narrow screens.
  • Settings
    Added the ability to close the edit email popover in profile using the escape key.
  • Inline Comments
    Fixed an issue where TouchEvent isn't usable in Safari.
  • Milestones
    When adding a milestone in the sidebar, the other items are no longer disabled.
  • Security
    Enterprise customers can now prevent users from creating new workspaces using emails that match their domain.
  • Notifications
    We will now send another issue status changed notification if an issue moves from a cancelled to done status or vice versa.
  • Slack integration
    You can now begin syncing the thread of an existing (unsynced) Slack attachment to its issue through the attachment's overflow menu.
  • Workflow statuses
    Updated the default status when creating an issue on the Active Issues page to be Unstarted.
  • Timeline
    Prediction bars will now continue to be rendered when dragging a project.
  • Slack integration
    We now automatically append the issue title to issue links that are posted in Slack.
  • Slack integration
    Slack notifications about resolved threads now include the relevant comment for context.
  • Create issues via email
    Added ability to copy sender's email address for issues that were created through email.
  • Sub-issues
    Sub-issue titles now have more space compared to parent titles in list views.
  • Slack integration
    Replaced Slack user tags with Linear user tags in comments synced from Slack to Linear if the tagged Slack user is a user in the Linear workspace.
  • Related issues
    Added the ability to change relation type using the right-click contextual menu in the related issues sidebar section.
  • Templates
    We now respect the template sort order for templates used in integrations (Asks, Slack, Intercom, and Zendesk).
  • UI
    Improved contrast of selected items in the Inbox & Triage.
  • Breadcrumbs
    Issues will now be added to the existing breadcrumb only if the previous item was a parent issue.
  • Milestones
    Creating issues from a selection within a milestone description now inherits the milestone property.
  • Issue attachments
    It is now possible to use a wide variety of protocols in issue attachments.
  • Projects
    When converting an issue to a project, the project description is now pre-populated with the issue description.
  • Editor
    Embedded Cleanshot links can now be added in the editor.
  • Labels
    When editing the label of multiple issues, the command menu will now show partial selections for labels that are attached to some but not all of the issues.
  • Project
    When creating a project, we will now suggest an icon/color automatically.
  • Added new shortcut to open sibling sub-issues using → Cmd/Ctrl Shift.
  • Improved keyboard navigation in the Display Options popover. ← and → can now be used for focusing controls, and Cmd/Ctrl B toggles the layout option.
  • Fixed an issue where the O then P shortcut to navigate to projects did not properly support project names starting with numbers.
  • Added ability to use Opt/Atl Enter to toggle checklist items. Use Opt/Atl Enter Shift to target nested items both with the keyboard and while clicking.
  • The createdAt timestamp for webhook events no longer gives incorrect results for imported issues.
  • Added projectStatusUnarchive mutation to restore previously archived project status.
May 2, 2024

The next generation of Linear projects

The next generation of Linear projects⁠

We've redesigned projects from the ground up. You can now start projects in Linear when they are just an idea and centralize all of your project work in Linear through research, planning, and execution.

Seek to:00:00 / 

Closing the gap between planning and building⁠

When planning a project, information often gets scattered across multiple platforms like docs, Slack channels, Figma files, and spreadsheets. This fragmentation can lead to data getting misplaced or outdated once work starts, placing a heavy burden on team members to keep project resources accessible and updated for everyone involved. Keeping stakeholders informed throughout the project's lifecycle is challenging.

Our new project design closes the gap between planning and execution. Now, you can now start, plan, and execute your projects entirely within Linear. All project information is consolidated in one place, making it easy to find what you need and establish a clear understanding of priorities and progress. Syncing data between planning documents and issues is now automated, removing the hassle of manual updates.

Project Overview⁠

When you open a project in Linear, you'll now see an Overview tab. At the top you'll see project properties including the status, lead, team members, target date, and a quick description. You'll also see any documents that have been created in the project as well as links to artifacts such as specs, design files, and meeting notes.

The project overview with project properties, project docs and external links, and a description with issues and documents embedded

Collaborative, rich-text project descriptions⁠

Project Overviews also have a project description that you can use while building out your project. During early phases of project development, you can use this space to jot down notes and ideas. Later, it can be transformed into a formal brief with a detailed description of the project. The text editor supports our full suite of functionality, such as building tables, @-mentioning teammates, issues, projects, and documents, as well as adding comments.

Milestones with descriptions⁠

You can now build out a project's milestones directly from a project Overview page. Individual milestones support a detailed description with rich text editing and collaborative features.

Milestone with a detailed description including linked issues, a linked doc, and a comment

Turn text into issues and documents⁠

To make the switch from building and planning easier, we've made it possible to turn text into issues or documents in a single click. Simply highlight text or a list of bullets to turn it into issues in the project. If the text is in the milestone description, issues will automatically be created under that milestone. You can similarly highlight text and turn it into a document linked to the project.

Highlighting a list of bullets in a project doc or description in the Overview will show an option to turn the bullet list into individual issues in the project

Attach views⁠

You can now attach views to projects so that important issues are easy to access. They will show up as tabs pinned to the top of the project.

A project in Linear with attached views for Launch tasks and High priority bugs
  • Desktop
    Using the History/Home command in the desktop app will no longer open in a new tab
  • Templates
    The order of templates in lists can now be manually adjusted in settings
  • Notion
    Link previews of Linear issues, projects, and custom views in Notion will now automatically update when relevant properties change in Linear. Newly created link previews will come with this behavior built in, but existing link previews will need to be manually refreshed once to begin automatically receiving updates from Linear.
  • Project Statuses
    Custom project status descriptions are now displayed when hovering over group headers in boards and lists
  • Editor
    List items can now be converted into headings
  • Issues
    Issue properties in the right panel now have an increased and consistent click area
  • Lightbox
    You can now zoom to the full size for images larger than the viewport, and pan to see the details.
  • Editor
    Working on large documents or with many collaborators should be more performant
  • Create via email
    You can now filter issues for those that were created via email
  • Editor
    Using Tab and Shift Tab in a code block will now indent and outdent selected lines like in a code editor
  • Board
    Fixed a problem with saving default column grouping for issue boards
  • Projects
    Fixed an issue where a View tabs's numerical keyboard shortcuts were not working
  • Editor
    Fixed misplaced table outline when in a list
  • Editor
    Fixed editor toolbar getting cut off on narrow screens
  • Settings
    Edit email popover in profile can be closed with the
    Escape
    key
  • Inline Comments
    TouchEvent isn't usable in Safari
  • Milestones
    When adding a milestone in the sidebar, the other items are no longer disabled.
  • Triage
    When moving an issue from one team Triage to another team Triage, the item was grayed out
  • Board
    Fixed long milestone names overflowing board cards
  • Inbox
    You can now close the resolved comments panel when it's opened from the inbox
  • Lightbox
    Lightbox now works properly in the issue creation modal
  • Sidebar
    Fixed a bug that prevented elements at the bottom of the sidebar from being clickable
  • Create Issues
    Fixed an issue where the cycle dropdown was not pre-filling when creating an issue on a cycle page
  • Editor
    Fixed a bug that prevented the Backspace key from working when right after a blockquote, if the last element of the blockquote was not text
  • Editor
    Fixed unusable tables within blockquotes
  • Issues
    Create Project is not pre-filled in the issue create view when clicking + in No milestone section
  • Board
    Fixed a problem where the board would sometimes be empty after setting default display options
  • Editor
    Fixed two issues with the link toolbar blinking and displaying previous link data
  • Added projects field on customView resolver to retrieve projects associated with a view
April 24, 2024

Editor improvements

Image from a website being dragged into a Linear project spec

Editor improvements⁠

We've made multiple quality of life improvements and bug fixes to the editor to create a smoother writing experience, whether you are creating an issue or drafting a project spec. You can now drag to re-arrange videos and drop images from outside Linear. We've also added support for GraphQL and improved TSX and JS support in code blocks. Read through some of the 70+ fixes and improvements we made to the editor below.

Table of contents⁠

A table of contents now automatically appears in documents that have at least two headings. This makes it easier to navigate long documents—like detailed project specs or meeting notes—to find what you need.

Table of contents appearing in the left-hand side of a project spec

Mobile beta⁠

Invites for our mobile beta are continually rolling out to iOS users. Pre-orders are still open if you'd like to join the waitlist for iOS or Android: https://linear.app/mobile.

Fixes

  • Editor
    Fixed a bug that caused the link to open when selecting link text
  • Editor
    Improved the behavior of the Undo function after pasting, so that it only undoes the last paste action
  • Editor
    Fixed an issue where undoing image resizing would not show the image sized as expected
  • Editor
    Improved behavior of formatting toolbar buttons to maintain previous selection state even when hidden
  • Editor
    Improved performance of collaborative editing
  • Editor
    Fixed unexpected behavior when deleting paragraphs after images in lists
  • Editor
    Fixed a flickering issue when the formatting toolbar was hidden
  • Editor
    Properly hid the formatting toolbar while selecting special characters
  • Editor
    Copy project URL and Copy document URL shortcuts now work properly when the editor is focused
  • Editor
    Fixed the formatting toolbar not animating properly on Firefox
  • Editor
    Fixed collaborative editing issue where when inserting an image it could end up at the bottom of the document
  • Editor
    Fixed an issue with reordering checklists by drag
  • Editor
    Added support for multiple extensions for one language in editor code blocks
  • Editor
    Fixed an issue that caused a checklist item to be checked by default when created by pressing Enter

Improvements

  • Editor
    We now display the correct icon for custom views in @-mentions
  • Editor
    Updated the formatting toolbar with new icons, a re-ordered layout, and subtle design refinements
  • Editor
    Improved the relevance of suggested items in the @-mention menu
  • Editor
    Grouped list options under a single menu in the formatting toolbar
  • Editor
    Added ability to convert selected text into a heading using the formatting toolbar
  • Editor
    Enhanced ease of dropping images when creating an issue
  • Editor
    It is now possible to add images to issues and documents by drag and drop from websites
  • Editor
    Made it easier to drop images at the start or end of documents and issue descriptions
  • Editor
    Made it easier to drag images outside of lists and to the end of documents
  • Editor
    You can now click on a lightbox image again to zoom the image to fit the window
  • Editor
    Multiple right-clicks on an image will now keep the menu open
  • Editor
    Added support for GraphQL in code blocks
  • Editor
    Made videos draggable within the editor
  • Editor
    Popovers in the editor will now identify links to documents, projects, and views in different workspaces
  • Editor
    Added dedicated styling and popover to links for project updates
  • Editor
    Toggling a list while a list item is selected will now toggle the list off
  • Editor
    Addressed two issues with the link toolbar blinking and displaying previous link data
  • Editor
    Added support for using Tab and Shift Tab in a code block to indent and outdent selected lines, similar to a code editor
  • Editor
    It is now possible to cancel uploads in progress
  • Desktop
    The empty space in the sidebar can now be dragged to move the window
  • SLA
    Hid SLA change history messages when changing SLA back to the original value
  • Templates
    Increased the limit for connecting templates in Intercom, Zendesk, and Front integrations from 5 to 10
  • Cycles
    Added the ability to view the capacity of an active cycle in addition to upcoming cycles when viewing the list of cycles for a team
  • Projects
    Made it easier to change an issue's team when adding it to a project, even if the original team was not already a part of the project
  • Slack
    Pre-populated the issue creation modal in Slack with a project if the channel is configured for project notifications
  • Sidebar
    Improved animation for opening and closing favorites folders in the sidebar
  • Navigation
    Added dashes in the command menu for partial selections on all actions that target multiple issues, projects, or roadmaps
  • Comments
    We now suggest deleting a comment when you edit it and save after deleting all contents
  • Views
    Improved layout and design of the custom view edit state
  • Git integrations
    Added relates to (in addition to related to) as a magic word for linking PRs
  • Search
    Improved search functionality to include icons and emojis when picking a project or team icon
  • Issue relations
    Made a small text improvement to make it clearer why an issue cannot be marked as blocked by
  • Issues
    Right-clicking on an issue sidebar now opens a contextual menu with relevant actions
  • Themes
    Added a new theme: Pure Light
  • Icons
    The icon picker now displays icons with a dimmed background that matches the selected color
  • Asks
    Added the ability to configure a channel connected to Asks to not receive updates related to an issue moving into a canceled state in synced Slack threads. (Note: If an issue is marked as a duplicate of another issue, that update will still be posted to the synced thread.)
  • Settings
    We now automatically display a new label field when adding labels to a label group
  • Documents
    Fixed document heading links being cut off on smaller screens
  • Documents
    We now copy the icon and color of the document when duplicating it
  • Documents
    Fixed an issue where the content of a document could be set to blank when reloading immediately after an edit
  • Issues
    Improved how issue details are displayed on the issue page to correctly take the current available space into account
  • Comments
    Improved the @ suggestions in thread replies
  • Discord
    The wrap command will no longer include issues from private teams.
  • Board
    Fixed scrolling with mouse wheel while dragging over board columns.
  • Issue Creation
    Fixed an issue where an inactive issue (triage or backlog) would end up in an invalid creation state, causing a cycle.
  • List
    Fixed a problem with selection items in a list, which caused them to act as shift+click selection after certain shortcuts were used.
  • Asks
    Fixed an issue where milestones from issue templates were not applied when creating Asks.
  • Filters
    Fixed a problem where filtering by issue group would return no issues.
  • Subissues
    Fixed scrolling to the sub-issue editor when a new sub-issue is outside of the viewport.
  • Projects
    Fixed overflow of milestone badge on a project list.
  • Sidebar
    Fixed a bug that was preventing the collapsed sidebar in Inbox and Triage from being displayed.
  • Views
    Fixed custom view resolver to properly validate filter input.
  • UI
    Fixed an issue where floating menus would not be repositioned when resizing the window.
  • Navigation
    Fixed an issue where inadvertently opening issues from the list and board when cancelling drag and drop using the escape key.
  • Issues
    Fixed a bug in Safari where the truncation of the issue history entry was hiding excessive information.
  • Command menu
    Fixed the problem of Cmd+K/Ctrl+K not closing the menu once it's open
  • Command menu
    Updated command menu to display partial selections with a dash, allowing for multiple issues with different priority levels
  • Command menu
    Fixed the problem of Cmd+K/Ctrl+K not closing the menu once it's open
  • Guests
    Guests can now reorder their teams in the sidebar.
  • Themes
    Fixed a bug where the contextual menu theme would look strange on selected list rows.
  • Issue creation
    Removed focus outline on the fast issue create modal.
  • Slack
    Fixed an issue where tables used in a project update would show up as "See table in Linear" due to a limitation in Slack.
  • Boards
    Fixed a problem where the team was not pre-filling properly when using + in columns and cells grouping by team & state.
  • Navigation
    Fixed wrong redirects to issues containing previous identifiers in the same team.
  • Projects
    Fixed project URL to use ID if slug ID is not available.
  • Settings
    When updating a team icon color, the change is now correctly shown in the settings sidebar after saving.
  • Icons
    When setting a custom emoji as a team icon, we now properly use the fallback background color instead of relying on the previously set icon color.
  • Triage
    Fixed triage actions labels overflowing header content when using a larger font size.
  • PWA
    Fixed a problem where the application would not start in offline mode.
  • Issues
    Fixed assignee dropdown selection when multiple issues with different assignees are selected.
  • Grouping
    Fixed an issue with cycles grouping not working properly in custom views.
  • Issues
    Fixed an issue where the assignee selector dropdown wouldn't always reflect the selected value.
  • Grouping
    Included project leads in grouping columns/rows when grouping projects by members.
  • Documents
    Handled archived document content entities when recording history.
  • Documents
    After creating a document, the title is now automatically focused so that you can start typing immediately.
  • Comments
    Resolved comments are now sorted by when they were resolved, with the most recently resolved comments appearing first.
  • Search
    Fixed a problem where search was not being triggered in the CMD+K command menu.
  • SLAs
    Issues with SLAs are now correctly ordered on lists sorted by due date.
  • Board
    Resolved an issue where the board would sometimes appear empty after setting default display options.
  • Added support for opening your list and board selections in new tabs by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + Enter
  • Added a toast when assigning/un-assigning an issue to yourself via keyboard shortcut
  • Removed ALPHA flag for triage responsibility and time schedule APIs
  • Added triageResponsibilityNotifiedUsers relationship to IssueHistory nodes
  • SLAs Exposed slaStartedAt and slaBreachesAt properties on the issue
  • Added support for DocumentNotification type
  • Webhooks now send actor information for when bots such as integrations or OAuth apps make changes to Linear data
  • Added a url property to Roadmap entities
  • Document entities now include a url property
  • Added comments field on ProjectUpdate entity
  • reactionData is now available on ProjectUpdate entities
April 3, 2024

Swimlanes

Project view visualized in a swimlane with Project Status as the rows and Target date (in quarters) as the columns

Swimlanes⁠

Swimlanes bring a powerful new way to visualize your projects and issues on the board view. This highly requested feature allows you to group cards into rows based on different dimensions and instantly see how work is distributed across teams, projects, assignees, and other properties.

Use swimlanes to:

  • View a high-level overview of the roadmap by quarter or team
  • Use simple drag-and-drop to reorganize, reassign, or update issues
  • Understand resource allocation across members of your team
  • Review work per project or assignee during a stand-up

To create swimlanes, open the display options from any issue or project board view and select grouping by Rows.

Display options UI showing new Rows selection option that you can use to create a swimlane

Protip: You can use keyboard shortcuts to navigate and update cards on board views without using your mouse. The following shortcuts are especially helpful when using swimlanes:

  • Move to the left ⌥ ← or right ⌥ → column
  • Move to the top ⌥ Shift ↑ or bottom ⌥ Shift ↓ of the group
  • Move up ↑ K, down ↓ J, right →, and left ←
  • Collapse/expand row T

See all shortcuts by opening searching for board in the keyboard shortcuts list.

New UI⁠

Last week we revealed a refreshed design for Linear’s interface. We redefined the foundational layers of the application's design to improve the hierarchy, balance, and density of all interface elements. You can read about the changes and the design process in-depth in our two-part series:

  • Comments
    Reply input is now shown by default when opening a comment notification
  • Editor
    You can now scroll through multiple images in an editor without unzooming
  • Emoji
    We were too eager to replace emoticons with emoji ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. We now only replace emoticons that are separate words. You can disable emoticons altogether in Settings > Account > Preferences.
  • Filters
    AI Filters will now be added to the compatible filters you already have, instead of replacing them.
  • Slack
    We now process bot messages from other Slack apps in synced Slack threads
  • Templates
    Allow users to select the team when creating a template using an existing document instead of creating it in the first accessible team
  • Practice your keyboard shortcuts by disabling pointer input. Enable this new mode in the command menu – type Cmd/Ctrl K search for keyboard
  • You can now use Cmd/Ctrl F when creating a new view to search issues or projects by keyword
  • You can now press the new workspace menu while holding the Option/Alt key to quickly switch workspaces
  • Long-pressing on notifications or Triage issues will now bring up the action menu on touch devices
  • Asks
    Bot messages will no longer trigger auto creating a new Linear issue when using Slack Asks in a channel
  • Board layout
    Start and target dates automatically update when dragging projects in list or board view grouped by date
  • Board layout
    Column order for boards grouped by milestones is now the same as the milestone order in the project sidebar
  • Desktop
    Fixed printing to PDF even if no printers are available
  • Documents
    Fix links to headings on documents created from older templates
  • Editor
    User mentions in editors now respect the Display full names setting
  • Filters
    Fixed a bug where views with includes any filters would sometimes return the wrong issues
  • Help Center
    Fix opening links to Linear Docs from the in-app help center
  • Mobile
    Fixed problems on iOS devices with interacting with some projects in the list and board.
  • Mobile
    Fixed roadmap navigation tabs on tablet devices
  • Settings
    Fixed alignment of the api key form on mobile devices
  • Templates
    Fixed a problem with long lists of milestones and project issues overlapping when using or editing project templates.
  • Views
    Fixed a bug with the "Find in view" feature used with selected items
  • Document entities now include a url property
  • Added comments field on ProjectUpdate entity
  • reactionData is now available on ProjectUpdate entities
  • You can now sync a Slack thread to a comment thread on an issue by passing syncToCommentThread: true in the input to the attachmentLinkSlack mutation
March 27, 2024

Welcome to the new Linear

Our new macOS app icon
Our new macOS app icon

Welcome to the new Linear⁠

Today, we are revealing the result of many weeks of work redesigning Linear’s interface. You can read about the changes we made and the design process in-depth in our two-part series:

We have redefined the foundational layers of Linear's design to improve the hierarchy, balance, and density of all interface elements. As you use the application, you will see improvements across every view.

Whether you heavily rely on favorites and folders or prefer a minimalist approach, your sidebar should feel better and less cluttered now.

New sidebar
New sidebar

Tabs, headers, filters, and panels are adjusted to reduce the visual noise and clutter. The current view, available actions, and meta properties are now presented more clearly.

New navigation headers
New navigation headers

The Inbox has a new look with increased density and better contrast.

New inbox
New inbox

The default dark and light themes have increased contrast. If you are feeling nostalgic, you can still apply the Magic Blue theme to the improved UI from the command menu or settings. We have also built a new theme generator that lets you easily adjust the themes.

New light and dark themes
New light and dark themes
March 19, 2024

Custom statuses for projects

Image showing project status icons, reminiscent of a slot machine with 5 slots and the different icons representing what would be different numbers or images in a slot machine

Custom project statuses⁠

You can now create custom statuses for your projects. Custom statuses help you share more context about where a project is in its lifecycle and what steps are needed to move the project forward. Go to workspace settings > projects to create or modify statuses under the categories: Backlog, Planned, Started, Completed, and Canceled. If your workspace has any paused projects, they'll now be assigned a Paused status under the Planned category.

Here is how we are using custom project statuses internally at Linear:

  • We have three different Backlog statuses to communicate how early a project concept is and how seriously we're exploring the idea.
  • Under the Planned category, the Ready status indicates which projects are ready for engineering to pick up while Accepted signals there is scoping work left to be done.
  • We've created a Maintenance status to capture evergreen projects as well as projects that have shipped but are still actively being worked on (e.g. to incorporate changes based on customer feedback).
Dropdown showing the project statuses we use at Linear. Under the Backlog category, the statuses are Idea, Proposal, Discovery. Under Planned, the statuses are Accepted, Ready, and Paused. Under In Progress, the statuses are In Progress and Maintenance. The remaining statuses are the default Completed and Canceled statuses.

Triage responsibility integrations and API⁠

If you use Triage responsibility to manage who reviews incoming issues on your team, you now have more options available for setting custom rotations. You can now link to schedules from OpsGenie and Incident.io, in addition to PagerDuty. Alternatively, you can use the API to build your own connections to schedules in other applications.

Improvements to document comments⁠

Open comments are now displayed next to documents and always visible until they're resolved. You can view a document's resolved and deleted comments by selecting the checkmark icon at the top right of the page.

Highlights:

  • Editor
    You can now specify a formatting language for a code block and the auto-detection is much better
  • Desktop
    You can now print from the desktop app with Cmd/Ctrl P (use with care 🍃)
  • Documents
    You can now link directly to headings within documents
  • Sub-issues
    You can now sort the sub-issues list

Other improvements:

  • Asks
    There is no longer a limit on the number of templates a workspace can use with Linear Asks
  • Asks
    Templates added to Private Asks for the Linear Asks integration are now the templates available in DMs as wellBoard Added ability to select and create new items on a board using right-click menu
  • Cycles
    You can now filter issues based on whether they are currently in a cycle's cooldown or not
  • Cycles
    We now keep issues in a cycle through the end of the cycle's cooldown period.
  • Issue comments
    Now we display issues created from comments in the thread
  • Issue relations
    Added ability to create blocking/blocked issues (from right-click on existing issue)
  • Issue relations
    We now also show the title for related issues in the issue history
  • My Issues
    Latest used tab in My issues in now remembered when you navigate back to this section
  • Projects
    Added ability to create new issue from a project update comment
  • Projects
    We no longer reset your project's progress when it is moved into the planned state after already being started
  • Roadmap
    You can now hide prediction bars in the timeline via display options
  • Roadmap
    Views
    AI filters now support filtering by milestones in project views
  • Sentry
    Canceling an issue linked to Sentry will now archive the Sentry issue (it will reopen if it happens again)
  • Triage
    The Triage responsibility notification is now kept for the actor when moving an issue out of Triage or between teams
  • Views
    Users without issues are now also shown when grouping issues by assignee
  • Views
    We now show the suggested view name when creating and sharing an unsaved custom view
  • You can now switch between workspaces using the O then W shortcut followed by a number key
  • Added a suite of keyboard shortcuts for better timeline navigation
    • Select next project with ↑ and ↓
    • Rotate through the project and selected milestones with ← and →
    • X to toggle project or milestone selection
    • Esc when on milestone will select its project
    • Enter when focused on milestone to navigate to the project with that milestone's issues filtered
  • Fixed a browser bug that caused excessive memory usage in Firefox
  • You can once again click away or press escape when using the board to deactivate the currently active item and use Cmd/Ctrl K in the global context
  • Fixed active state being cut off on favorite folders
  • We no longer show an error toast message when you visit Security & Access settings page as a guest member
  • Fixed a problem for guest members when viewing issues with parent issues that they don't have access to
  • Fixed issues from being created in an active state in a closed cycle
  • Correctly show the cooldown period for cycles that fall over Daylight Savings Time
  • Reinstated the file upload button on issue page
  • Fixed a bug on mobile Safari where the issue creation modal would stay open after submitting an issue
  • Fixed a bug where clicking links to Linear URLs would not navigate in the desktop app
  • Fixed client crash when workspace URL was changed
  • Removed deprecated issueSortOrderDefaultToBottom field from Team; use setIssueSortOrderOnStateChange instead
  • Project.state has been deprecated in favor of Project.status, this new relationship allows supporting workspaces having custom project statuses. Project.status.type is similar to the previous behavior
  • The attachmentLinkSlack mutation now only requires a valid Slack permalink to be passed in
  • Added ability to query and update Triage responsibility settings
  • Added ability to update schedules used for Triage responsibility
February 29, 2024

A new era for the timeline

Roadmap timeline showing a chronology bar and projects with milestones. When hovered over a milestone, details show up indicating how many issues were completed and the milestone target date.

Milestones on the timeline⁠

A new timeline design layers in details to give a more accurate overview of project progress.

Milestones will now appear on project bars as long as they have a target or completion date. Represented by diamonds, milestones indicate status and can be hovered over or clicked on to show details. Milestones near each other collapse into a set, like on a map app.

You can change a milestone's target date from the timeline view by dragging it to a new date. Select individual milestones to move them, or if they appear together, hold shift to drag all milestones to a new date. Dragging a project to change its start and target date will move the milestones along with it, but you can hold Cmd/Ctrl to keep milestones in place. Right-click on the project to add a new milestone.

Chronology bar on the timeline showing a curser line on the current date

A new chronology bar makes it easier to navigate the roadmap and understand where you are in time. When you move your mouse, a cursor line will appear to indicate the exact date. You can now also choose to display week numbers instead of dates.

Timeline view showing cycles along the chronology bar

You can now display team cycles on the timeline, too, which appear below the chronology bar.

And we've added a few more settings to make working with the timeline easier:

  • A display option to show the project list, which can be hidden with Shift [ to get more space
  • Shortcuts to leap to Today or change the zoom to Year, Quarter, or Month
  • Offscreen project indicators that show the dates of the project and can be dragged to reorder
  • A display option to hide prediction bars to reduce clutter and take cleaner screenshots for status reports
  • View resolved and deleted comments from any document
  • Accept, mark as duplicate, or decline multiple issues at once from Triage
  • You can now switch between workspaces using O then W
February 15, 2024

Create issues via email

Icon with email symbol showing arrows pointing toward Linear icon

Create issues via email⁠

Bring your email-based workflows into Linear by turning emails into issues.

  • Quickly create bug reports and feature requests from customer emails
  • Forward reports to general emails like security@ to specific Linear teams
  • Automatically turn email notifications from service providers into issues

Set up a unique intake email for your team so that any emails sent or forwarded to that address will go to Triage or your team's default workflow status. You can also create unique intake emails for individual templates to automate the issue creation process further and apply specific fields. Learn more and generate intake emails from team or template settings.

AI-generated issue titles in Slack⁠

When you create Linear issues using the Slack integration or with Asks, we now pre-populate the title with AI-generated summaries to save you one step in the issue creation process.

Linear Mobile (Private Beta)⁠

Linear Mobile is now in private beta for iOS and Android. Pre-order to join the waitlist: https://linear.app/mobile.

Google Calendar integration⁠

Sync your status in Linear with out-of-office events from Google Calendar. If someone tries to assign an issue to you or mentions you in a comment when you are OOO, they'll see that you are unavailable and for how long.

Issue sidebar showing the assignee Tim is away until Monday

/shrug⁠

Typing :) will now convert to 🙂 and :joy: to 😂 automatically. Type /shrug to get the universal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

February 1, 2024

Project update comments

A project update in Linear showing a comment posted from Slack

Project update comments⁠

You can now comment on project updates to discuss changes and ask follow up questions. Comments sync bi-directionally across Linear and Slack, so everyone can chime in on one thread — even teammates who don't have a Linear account.

You can now also:

  • Subscribe to receive updates from specific projects
  • Copy project updates as markdown for easy sharing
  • Disable progress report metrics on individual updates

Tables⁠

A long-standing feature request, Linear now support tables in issue descriptions, documents, and comments. Add a table using the /table command.

Branch-specific workflow automations⁠

Set custom workflow automations based on particular target branches with our GitHub and GitLab integrations. For example, you can set up your workflow so that when a PR is merged to…

  • staging -> the issue status will change to In QA
  • main -> the issue status will change to Deployed

You can also override a default rule in a particular branch with no action if desired, so that issues linked to a change in that branch will not change status. Branch rules can also be specified using regex (e.g., ^fea/.* can set automations for all of your feature branches). Update your configuration in your team's Workflow settings.

  • @-mentioned issues include the title as well as the ID
  • See version history and revert to previous content in documents
  • Codeblocks now have a Copy action button
  • Linear's Figma plugin is available from the Figma for VS Code extension
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