Loops

Overview⁠

Loops let Linear drive work forward automatically. They can trigger on a scheduled cadence, or when issues match a set of conditions.

Consider creating loops for repeatable tasks, like:

• When an issue enters this team’s triage queue, investigate its likely root cause with Code Intelligence. If you think you can fix it, start a coding session.
• Every Monday afternoon, review projects that had their first update in the last week or were mentioned as newly kicked off in @Weekly sync document. Send a Slack message to the #product-marketing channel so they’re aware of what’s coming.
• When an issue is created in team Mobile, create separate issues for the iOS and Android teams, if relevant.

Each loop has a schedule or issue-based trigger, instructions for the agent, optional tools for communicating with other services, and permissions that control its access. Loops can be configured for a specific team, a set of teams, or the whole workspace.

Example loops⁠

Here are some basic loops that are useful for most workspaces. Create custom loops for your team by prompting Linear, or get started with one of these examples.

Investigate and delegate bug reports (Build this loop ↗)⁠

When new bugs arrive in Triage, check the codebase for a root cause. Delegate the issue to Linear to fix if the cause is found.

Create follow-up issues from resolved incidents: (Build this loop ↗)⁠

When an issue with an incident label is marked done, do a root cause analysis and create follow-up issues.

Create platform specific versions of incoming requests: (Build this loop ↗)⁠

When a new incoming issue is created, determine if new issues also need to be created for multiple platforms.

Create user-facing messaging after issues close: (Build this loop ↗)⁠

After an issue closes, check the PR that closed it and generate user-facing messaging that Support can share with customers.

Create loops with Linear Agent⁠

The best way to create loops is to first achieve the outcome you want in a Linear Agent chat, then continue to refine it into a loop. For example, you might be the lead of a project that has check-in meetings each Thursday morning. You’re about to write the agenda, but realize you could automate this instead.

• Press ⌘/Ctrl + J to open a Linear Agent chat
• Prompt Linear: Check the project Slack channel, open questions in the last update, and any issue threads that seem relevant. Add a new section in the Meetings project document with those details, using a format like [...]
• Review the result to make sure it looks right. If it doesn’t, continue prompting Linear until the agenda looks complete, and in the desired format.
• Then, ask Linear to create the loop. You’ll be prompted to add any missing details.

Create loops manually⁠

You can also create a new loop directly in the interface.

1. In your sidebar, click Loops under the workspace group to start a new workspace-level loop. To create a new team loop, click the team name in your sidebar, then choose the Loops tab on that page.
2. Click New loop
3. Choose a trigger: an issue being created or updated and meeting conditions, or a schedule
4. Add instructions describing the outcome you want Linear to achieve
5. Optionally, add Tools
6. Review the loop’s scope and permissions
7. Click Create loop

Update loops⁠

Prompt Linear to update an existing loop, or make changes directly in the interface:

1. Open the list of Loops
2. Select the loop you want to update
3. Click Edit
4. Update the loop fields as needed. These changes are saved as a draft, and not yet live.
5. Click on Publish to apply all changes at once to the loop

Review a loop’s runs⁠

Each loop has a run history to let you audit its behavior.

1. Open Loops from the workspace or team that contains the loop
2. Open the loop you want to review
3. Select Run history
4. Review recent runs to see when the loop executed and what actions it took

Restoring a previous version⁠

All published versions of a loop are saved and can be restored. Please note that removed tools cannot be restored as they need to be authenticated again manually.

1. Start editing a loop as usual
2. Click on Published versions
3. Select a past version you want to restore
4. Click on Restore version

Tools⁠

Tools extend what Linear Agent can do during a loop run. When a connected tool is available to a loop, Linear can use it to gather context or take supported actions in other services. For example:

• Search or retrieve content from connected sources such as GitHub, Notion, or Sentry
• Post comments or updates to external services like Slack
• Fetch documentation, pull request details, or error reports to enrich an issue

A tool can only access data and perform actions that are permitted by the connected MCP server’s configuration and the loop’s data scope. When a user connects a tool to a loop, they authorize that loop to act in the other service, so tool access should be granted thoughtfully.

Managing available tools⁠

Owners (Enterprise) or workspace Admins (Business) can elect to let users connect any MCP server, or only allowlisted servers.

If Only specific servers is selected, each MCP server must first be approved in your workspace before it can be used in a loop as a tool.

Workspace admins and owners can configure the full set of tools allowed in a workspace in Security settings. Once an MCP server has been added, users can add it as a tool when creating or updating a loop. Adding a tool requires the configuring user to authenticate with the tool, and it will use their personal account’s connection.

Setup⁠

• Workspace owners can manage who can create and manage workspace loops in Settings → Security → Workspace management → Manage loops.
• Team owners can control who can create and manage loops in Settings → Teams → [Team name] → Access and permissions → Loop management.

Permissions⁠

Loops support a range of permissions to control what they can access and do. Enable only the permissions your loop needs to fulfill its intended purpose, and consider the impact of each one before enabling it.

Team access⁠

Controls which teams the loop can access. It can read and write data only in those teams. By default, a loop at the workspace level or in a public team will have access to all public teams, while a loop inside a private team will have access only to that team.

Loops that can access all public teams can also access workspace-level objects like Initiatives and Customers.

Web access⁠

If enabled, the loop can query any website. You can use this to set up loops that can take actions like researching competitor announcements, or checking the documentation of services your product integrates with.

Use caution when enabling web access. Web access can send workspace content to external services. Do not enable it for loops that may process sensitive data unless you are comfortable with that data leaving Linear.

Code Intelligence⁠

If enabled, the loop can use Code Intelligence to browse and analyze repositories configured in your workspace. Enable Code Intelligence for loops designed to investigate bugs or answer questions about your code.

Coding sessions⁠

If enabled, the loop will be able to start a coding session to open a draft pull request. Allow coding session access for loops that delegate implementation work to Linear.

Externally synced issues and comments⁠

If enabled, the loop will be able to write data on issues or comment threads that are synced with external applications, like issues created from Slack with bi-directionally synced threads.

Enable this with care, as some synced threads may be visible outside your workspace — if you use GitHub sync in a public repo for instance, the loop would be able to post comments to that repo’s GitHub Issues.

External sources⁠

Issues can be created from sources outside Linear, like Slack messages or emails received to a particular address. For security reasons, loops will only run by default on issues created from within Linear.

If you want a loop to run on issues created from external sources, you can enable specific external sources on a per-loop basis. Workspace owners can configure the list of allowed external sources in Security settings. After that, configured external sources can be enabled for individual loops.

Allow changes outside of triggering issue⁠

If enabled, the loop can write data to any issues included in the Team access scope. If disabled, the loop can only write data on the single issue that triggered the loop for a given run.

AI credits⁠

Starting July 20, Loops will require AI credits to run. AI credits are purchased and managed by workspace admins in Settings.

To help your team get started, we’re giving Business and Enterprise workspaces $20 per seat in promotional credits. These credits are pooled at the workspace level, applied automatically, and expire on August 20.

If your balance reaches zero or your promotional credits expire, Loops will pause unless an admin has enabled auto top-ups or purchased additional credits. Your workspace is only charged automatically if auto top-ups are enabled.

Learn more about AI Credits.

FAQ⁠