Create issues

Creating issues is the most common action taken in Linear.

Overview

The most basic concept in Linear is the issue. Most concepts in Linear are oriented around issues or groups of issues.

Issues are always tied to a single team. Issues have an issue ID (team and unique number) and are required to have a title and status – all other properties and relations are optional. This makes it fast to create issues and cuts down on unnecessary work (see Write Issues Not User Stories).

Basics

Create issues

• Use the keyboard shortcut C to open up an issue creation modal
• Use V to create an issue in full screen mode.
• Use the New Issue button at the top of the lefthand sidebar.
• To create from a template use Option/Alt C, or hold Option/Alt and click the New Issue button.
• Type the URL https://linear.new into your browser to create new issues. It'll redirect you to the new issue creation page as long as you're logged into your Linear account. If you have text highlighted when you go to create an issue, this will pre-fill in the issue title.
• Issues can be created using our GraphQL API. Many integrations in our directory allow creating issues from other services using this functionality.

Create issues via email

Issues can also be created by emailing, or forwarding email to a unique email address associated with a Linear team.

Learn more about this feature in its dedicated article here.

Drafts

If you're writing an issue and navigate away to another part of the app, we'll hide the issue modal and keep a temporary draft. The next time you press C or the New Issue button, the editor will re-open with the previous content draft. This type of draft is saved locally and only available on the client used to create it. Logging out, restarting, or resetting Linear will clear this type of draft.

If instead you use Esc or click on the close button, you'll have an option to save a draft. This draft type persists across clients and will not clear on logout or reset. To access your saved drafts, re-open the create issue modal and select the draft from the Drafts menu.

Modal shortcuts

Most shortcuts that you use on issues in lists and boards are applicable to the new issue modal as well. Hover over a field to see a tooltip with the shortcut.

There are a few things to note:

• Shortcuts cannot be used while the title or description text fields are active. Tab to unfocus, then apply shortcuts. The shortcut will highlight the field (e.g. A for assignee), Enter will launch the dropdown, then use the up / down arrows or type to search to highlight your choice and press Enter again to select it.
• Some actions such as Add link or Create relation cannot be taken until the issue has been saved. If that's the case, the shortcut will not trigger an action.
• Some actions including Set due date and Set parent can be taken. These are listed under the three dot (more) menu and can be triggered by keyboard shortcuts. If you aren't sure, just try using the shortcut.

Save options

The modal has three options for saving to make it more efficient to create issues.

• Cmd/Ctrl Enter will save the issue and keep you in the current view.
• Cmd/Ctrl Option/Alt Enter will save and then open the issue you just created so you can take further actions (e.g. copy branch name).
• Cmd/Ctrl Shift Enter will save the issue and then launch a new draft with the same issue properties as the previous one (toggling on the Create more button will do the same thing in combination with Cmd Enter).

URL attachments

Add URL attachments to issues using Control L or by choosing "Add link" through the overflow menu. Attached URLs can display a small in-Linear preview or be followed to their source. Many integrations in Linear also use this field displaying information from outside sources, like GitHub PRs linked to an issue.

File uploads

Files can be uploaded to issues in descriptions or comments. On paid plans, the maximum size for a single file is 2GB, and there are no workspace-wide upload limits.

On Free plans, maximum single file upload size in 15MB, with a workspace-wide limit of 300MB in uploads a month.

Full screen mode

Issues can also be created in full screen mode using V. Use your mouse or keyboard shortcuts to update issue fields. Tab and Shift Tab will move the cursor focus away from the markdown editor and through the issue fields.

• Status: Issues are set to your first workflow state by default (usually Backlog)
• Priority: Assign Low, Medium, High, Urgent, or No priority
• Assigned: Unassigned by default. You can auto-assign issues you create to yourself in settings under your preferences.
• Estimate: We recommend setting estimates if you use the Cycles feature (and recommend you do). Teams choose from these scales: T-Shirt, Fibonnaci, Linear, or Exponential.
• Labels: Add one or many. You can create new labels from the issue editor, too.
• Cycles: Quickly add issues to the current cycle, following two cycles, or select No cycle
• Project: Issues can be added to a single project
• Some values can only be assigned via keyboard shortcuts or when viewing (not editing) an issue. Click on the icons or more menu (three dots) when viewing an issue to set the due date, move teams, remove, add or change the parent issue, add sub-issues, add issue relations, duplicate, subscriber or unsubscribe from or archive the issue and copy the git branch name, issue ID, or issue link.

Video

Watch this tutorial to learn how to:

• Create issues with C and add properties [0:00]
• Open issues in fullscreen issue view [0:40]
• Create multiple issues in a row with same properties [0:51]
• Create new issue in fullscreen with V [1:40]
• Add sub-issues to an issue after saving it [2:05]
• Apply templates to issues [2:34]

FAQ