Expand a Linear Project

Add an epic with child issues to an existing project using add-epic — one call that gets parent/child structure, milestone wiring, and labels automatically.

When to Use This vs. Other Tools

• 3+ related issues that form a logical group → use this skill (add-epic)
• 1-2 standalone issues → just use mcp__linear__save_issue directly
• New project from scratch → use /linear-bootstrap instead

Workflow

0. Verify prerequisites

Confirm mcp__linear-bootstrap__add-epic is available. If not, tell the user the linear-bootstrap MCP server is not running and suggest troubleshooting.

1. Find the target project

Use $ARGUMENTS or ask the user which project to expand. Use mcp__linear__list_projects if needed.

2. Understand current project structure

Gather in parallel:

• mcp__linear__get_project — project overview
• mcp__linear__list_milestones — existing milestones (to wire the new epic to one)
• mcp__linear__list_issues — existing issues (to avoid duplicates and understand naming patterns)
• mcp__linear-bootstrap__introspect-workspace — team labels and workflow states (for label reuse)

3. Design the epic

From the user's description, determine:

• Epic title and description
• Which milestone to attach to (pick the most appropriate existing one)
• Child issues with titles, priorities, estimates, labels, and dependencies
• Labels to apply (reuse existing team labels where possible)

Show the user a summary: _"I'll add epic 'Payment Retry Logic' with 5 issues to milestone 'M3: Checkout Flow'. Sound right?"_

4. Create with add-epic

Use mcp__linear-bootstrap__add-epic with:

• project_id — from step 2
• team_id — from the project's team
• epic — the designed structure
• milestone_id — from step 2
• label_ids — map of label name → ID from introspection

Report what was created: epic ID, child issue count, milestone, labels applied.

5. Handle errors

If add-epic fails partially, report what was created vs. what failed. The successfully created items remain in Linear.

Examples

User: /linear-expand Add payment retry handling to the Checkout Redesign project

Agent: Found project "Checkout Redesign" with 3 milestones.
       I'll add to M3: Checkout Flow.

       Epic: "Payment Retry Logic" (5 issues)
       - Detect failed payment attempts (P1)
       - Implement exponential backoff retry (P1)
       - Add retry status UI component (P2)
       - Send retry notification email (P3)
       - Add retry metrics dashboard (P3)

       Labels: "payments" (existing), "reliability" (existing)
       Sound right?

User: Yes, go ahead.

Agent: Created epic "Payment Retry Logic" in Checkout Redesign:
       - 5 child issues under M3: Checkout Flow
       - Reused 2 existing labels