How to use MCP for project management (Jira, Linear)

1// Claude Desktop: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
2{
3  "mcpServers": {
4    "jira": {
5      "command": "npx",
6      "args": ["-y", "mcp-server-jira"],
7      "env": {
8        "JIRA_URL": "https://your-company.atlassian.net",
9        "JIRA_EMAIL": "you@company.com",
10        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-jira-api-token"
11      }
12    }
13  }
14}
15
16// Tools typically available:
17// - search_issues: Search with JQL queries
18// - create_issue: Create a new ticket
19// - update_issue: Update fields on existing ticket
20// - add_comment: Add a comment to a ticket
21// - transition_issue: Change ticket status

1// Claude Desktop config:
2{
3  "mcpServers": {
4    "linear": {
5      "command": "npx",
6      "args": ["-y", "mcp-server-linear"],
7      "env": {
8        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "lin_api_your_key_here"
9      }
10    }
11  }
12}
13
14// Common natural language interactions:
15// "Create a bug ticket: Login page returns 500 when password is empty"
16// "What issues are assigned to me this sprint?"
17// "Mark LIN-423 as done"
18// "Add a comment to LIN-150: Fixed in PR #78, deployed to staging"

1// src/linear-server.ts
2import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
3import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";
4import { z } from "zod";
5
6const LINEAR_API = "https://api.linear.app/graphql";
7const API_KEY = process.env.LINEAR_API_KEY!;
8
9async function linearQuery(query: string, variables: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
10  const res = await fetch(LINEAR_API, {
11    method: "POST",
12    headers: {
13      "Content-Type": "application/json",
14      Authorization: API_KEY,
15    },
16    body: JSON.stringify({ query, variables }),
17  });
18  return res.json();
19}
20
21const server = new McpServer({ name: "linear-pm", version: "1.0.0" });
22
23server.tool("search_issues", "Search Linear issues with filters", {
24  query: z.string().optional().describe("Text search query"),
25  status: z.string().optional().describe("Filter by status: Todo, In Progress, Done"),
26  assignee: z.string().optional().describe("Filter by assignee name"),
27  limit: z.number().default(20),
28}, async ({ query: q, status, assignee, limit }) => {
29  const filters: string[] = [];
30  if (q) filters.push(`{ searchableContent: { contains: "${q}" } }`);
31  if (status) filters.push(`{ state: { name: { eq: "${status}" } } }`);
32  if (assignee) filters.push(`{ assignee: { name: { contains: "${assignee}" } } }`);
33
34  const filterStr = filters.length > 0 ? `filter: { and: [${filters.join(",")}] },` : "";
35  const result = await linearQuery(`{
36    issues(${filterStr} first: ${limit}, orderBy: updatedAt) {
37      nodes { identifier title state { name } assignee { name } priority createdAt }
38    }
39  }`);
40  return { content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(result.data.issues.nodes, null, 2) }] };
41});
42
43server.tool("create_issue", "Create a new Linear issue", {
44  title: z.string(),
45  description: z.string().optional(),
46  teamKey: z.string().describe("Team key, e.g. ENG"),
47  priority: z.number().min(0).max(4).default(3).describe("0=none, 1=urgent, 2=high, 3=medium, 4=low"),
48  labelNames: z.array(z.string()).optional().describe("Labels to apply"),
49}, async ({ title, description, teamKey, priority, labelNames }) => {
50  const teamResult = await linearQuery(`{ teams(filter: { key: { eq: "${teamKey}" } }) { nodes { id } } }`);
51  const teamId = teamResult.data.teams.nodes[0]?.id;
52  if (!teamId) return { content: [{ type: "text", text: `Error: Team ${teamKey} not found` }], isError: true };
53
54  const result = await linearQuery(`mutation($input: IssueCreateInput!) {
55    issueCreate(input: $input) { success issue { identifier title url } }
56  }`, { input: { title, description, teamId, priority } });
57
58  const issue = result.data.issueCreate.issue;
59  return { content: [{ type: "text", text: `Created ${issue.identifier}: ${issue.title}\n${issue.url}` }] };
60});

1// Workflow examples:
2
3// After fixing a bug:
4// "Update LIN-423 status to Done and add a comment: 
5//  Fixed the null pointer in UserService.getProfile(). 
6//  Root cause was missing null check on the session token. 
7//  PR #78 deployed to staging."
8
9// After finding a bug while coding:
10// "Create a bug ticket for the ENG team: 
11//  Title: API returns 500 when email contains special characters
12//  Description: The /api/users/search endpoint throws an unhandled
13//  error when the email query parameter contains + or & characters.
14//  Priority: high"
15
16// Sprint planning:
17// "Show me all In Progress issues assigned to me"
18// "What high-priority bugs are unassigned in the ENG team?"
19// "How many story points are done vs remaining in the current sprint?"