# Linear

How the Linear export works, from connecting to fixing problems.

## Connect

Press "Connect" beside Linear under Cloud on Exporter's home. Sign in with Apple; your browser opens Linear's page, where you press "Authorize". Exporter asks Linear only to read. Back in Exporter, choose where the files go and press "Use This Folder".

Linear's token stays on Exporter's server, sealed. Your Mac signs in to that server and never holds it.

## Choose items

The pick page lists every issue, project and document, all ticked, with three tabs: Issues, Projects and Documents. Untick what you don't want; its file stays out.

## Where the files go

A folder right in your home folder, like `~/Documents`, gets a `linear-export` folder inside it; a deeper one is used as it is.

- Issues: a folder per team, one file each, named by the issue's id and title: `Northwind/NW-142 Invite flow.md`
- Projects: `Projects/Q4 launch.md`
- Documents: `Documents/<project or team>/<title>.md`

## The file

An issue's front matter carries `id`, `team`, `state`, `priority`, `assignee`, `creator`, `labels`, `project`, `cycle`, `parent`, `estimate`, `due` and the dates, with `source_url` opening it in Linear. Then the title, the description and every comment, oldest first. A project carries its status, lead, teams and dates; a document its project, team and creator. Times are in UTC.

## Sync

Linear tells Exporter's server about every change. The server rewrites the file at once and tells your Mac, which downloads it, so an edit arrives in seconds, a minute at most. An issue you rename moves its file; one you archive, trash or delete loses it. "Sync Now" asks the server first; "Full Resync" writes every file again.

## Exporter Cloud

The first 7 days are free from your first connect. Then Exporter Cloud is a subscription in the App Store: Linear on its own, or All Cloud for every cloud source we add, monthly or yearly. When a plan ends, syncing stops and your files stay. Thirty days later the server deletes its copies and the token.

## Account

Settings › Account shows the email you signed in with. "Sign Out" keeps the connection for when you sign in again. "Delete Account…" disconnects every workspace and deletes everything the server holds for you. The files on your Mac stay.

## Command line

`exporter export --source linear --dest <folder>` writes the workspace's files into a folder granted on the Command Line card. See [the command line](https://exporter.dev/docs/cli).

## Problems and fixes

- The card says "Connect Again…": Linear no longer accepts the connection, often because the app was removed in Linear's settings. Press it and authorize again.
- The card says "Sign In…": the session ended. Sign in with the same Apple account and syncing carries on.
- An issue is missing: check it is ticked, then press "Sync Now". Archived issues are not exported.

## Related

- [Linear](https://exporter.dev/linear): Issues, projects and docs as files
- [Linear guides](https://exporter.dev/guides/linear): Obsidian and Claude Code
- [Pricing](https://exporter.dev/pricing): Free allowances, unlocks and Exporter Cloud

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human version: https://exporter.dev/docs/linear
every page: https://exporter.dev/llms.txt