Exporting backlog items to Linear

When a backlog item is ready for engineering, push it to Linear as an issue - no copy-pasting. Pilea creates issues when you tell it to, and it never imports anything from Linear as feedback. Once an issue exists, its status in Linear mirrors back onto the Pilea item, so the backlog reflects what engineering is actually doing.

What you’ll need

• Admin access in Pilea to connect the integration (only admins can change integration settings)
• A Linear account with permission to authorize apps

How to connect Linear

1. In Pilea, go to Integrations in the sidebar under Data Sources.
2. Find Linear in the grid and click Connect.
3. Click Connect in the dialog. You’ll be redirected to Linear to authorize access (Linear’s read and write scopes - write is what lets Pilea create issues for you).
4. Once you’re back, you’ll see Connected successfully!

Credentials are encrypted at rest, and you can disconnect anytime from the integration’s config dialog.

ℹ️ Note: Linear connects at the organization level, so every workspace in your organization can export to it once it’s connected.

How to export a backlog item

1. Open the backlog item you want to hand off.
2. Go to the item’s Details tab.
3. Under Export to Issue Tracker, click Export to Linear.
4. In the export dialog, pick the Project / Team the issue should land in.
5. Confirm, and Pilea creates the issue in Linear.

Already exported an item? It shows a link to the Linear issue instead of the export button, so you can jump straight to it - and so nobody exports the same item twice. A Remove link button next to it detaches the item from the issue if you need to export again.

💡 Tip: Export items one at a time as they’re ready, rather than in bulk. The pick-a-project step in the export dialog means each item lands exactly where the right team will see it.

How status mirroring works

Pilea listens for issue updates from Linear. When the state of an issue Pilea created changes, the Pilea backlog item’s status updates to match:

Linear state type	Pilea status
Backlog, Unstarted	Ready for dev
Started	In progress
Completed	Completed
Canceled	Won’t do

Only issues that were created from Pilea are affected. Nothing else in Linear is read or changed.

What Pilea does and doesn’t do

• Does: create a Linear issue from a backlog item when you click export, and mirror that issue’s status back to the item.
• Doesn’t: read your existing Linear issues, import them as feedback, or modify issues you didn’t create through Pilea.

Troubleshooting

The export dialog doesn’t show the project I need Check that the Linear account used to connect has access to that project or team. If access was granted after connecting, disconnect and reconnect Linear from the Integrations page.

I can’t change the integration settings Only admins can change integration settings. Ask a Pilea admin in your organization to make the change.

Next: Exporting backlog items to Jira