bulaev.ai

Linear

CCCFreemium

Other · Work OS

Issue tracking fast enough that humans and agents both keep it current; one session, one issue.

Open linear.app

What it is

Linear is a project and issue tracker built for software teams that dislike project trackers. Everything is keyboard-driven and instant: issues, projects with milestones, cycles (sprints), triage, roadmaps and initiatives, with a GraphQL API and integrations for GitHub, Slack and Figma. Branch names derived from issue ids, automatic status changes when a PR is opened or merged, and a clean comment thread per issue are the features that matter day to day.

Linear has a free plan for small teams and per-seat paid plans. The API is complete enough that an agent can create an issue, comment at milestones and move it to Done without a human opening the app; the MCP server and third-party CLIs make that a one-line command.

Where it fits in the AI OS

Work OS, the ledger of work. When agents do most of the typing, the question "what is in progress and who owns it" needs an answer that is not a chat scrollback. One issue per unit of work, with the branch, the PR, the decisions and the verification note attached, is that answer.

Insider notes

members

How Serge's stack uses it

The project runs on Linear (team SER, project "bulaev.ai Membership") under a strict protocol from CLAUDE.md: one Claude session equals one Linear issue, created before work starts with a CLI on the server (linear create --team SER --project ..., linear gql as the escape hatch); comments only at milestones; and an issue moves to Done only after the change is deployed and verified against the live site or live data, because a green build is not a verification. Open items such as spikes, key rotation and content tasks are all issues in the same project.

Setup in 5 minutes

  1. Create a workspace and one team; import from GitHub Issues or start empty.
  2. Connect GitHub under Settings → Integrations so SER-123-slug branches link automatically.
  3. Create a personal API key; test with one GraphQL query ({ viewer { id name } }).
  4. Add the Linear MCP server to Claude Code; ask it to "create an issue for the thing I am about to do" at the start of each session.
  5. Add a "Done means deployed and verified" line to the team's workflow description.

Alternatives

  • GitHub Issues + Projects — free, in the repo, slower UI, fine for open-source.
  • Jira — for organizations that need its process machinery.
  • Plane / Huly — open-source Linear-likes you can self-host.
  • Notion databases — flexible, not built for engineering flow.
Linear — Other | Serge Bulaev