Linear for Unreal Engine

What it is

Linear tracks work as issues assigned to teams. Projects collect issues around a planned outcome, cycles define repeating work periods, and initiatives group projects for higher-level planning.

Use a project for "Inventory rewrite" and milestones for controller support and save migration. A focus bug is an issue within that project, assigned to the person fixing it. Cycles are optional if the team wants repeating planning periods.

With Unreal Engine

An Unreal team can use a Linear project for an inventory rewrite, with milestones for controller support and save migration. Issues hold the individual fixes and implementation tasks.

Where it fits

How it works

Teams and issues

Every issue belongs to one team, which owns its workflow and cycle settings. Parent and sub-issues break down work, while blocking, blocked, related, and duplicate relations make dependencies explicit.¹

Projects and milestones

A project has a planned outcome, lead, dates, status, health, documents, and issues. Projects can span several teams, but each issue can only belong to one project. Milestones split the outcome into stages people can recognize.¹⁴

Cycles

Teams can enable cycles for repeating periods of 1 to 8 weeks. Linear creates future cycles and moves unfinished issues into the next cycle. Keep release dates on the project or milestone rather than treating the cycle as a release.²

Initiatives and timeline

Initiatives group projects under a larger objective. Timeline views show project dates, milestones, dependencies, leads, status, and health. Base initiatives are part of the core product, while team initiatives require Business or Enterprise and saved initiative views require Enterprise.³¹¹

Git integration

GitHub and GitLab can link branches, commits, and pull requests to Linear issues and move issue status from engineering events. GitHub Issues Sync is a separate one-way or two-way repository issue synchronization feature.⁸

In production

1. 01

   Separate outcomes from tasks

   Create a project for a result such as "Gamepad-ready inventory" or "Console submission." Add milestones for the stages that decide whether it is on track. The work needed to reach those stages remains in issues.

2. 02

   Use cycles for capacity, not release identity

   If the team uses cycles, add the work it expects to finish during that period. Keep release dates on projects and milestones so a delayed release doesn't change the cycle schedule.

3. 03

   Check plan limits before organizing the workspace

   Confirm the issue cap, team count, private-team access, guest billing, and upload size before dividing the studio into teams. Moving confidential work after the workspace is active creates a harder access review than choosing the boundary first.⁵⁶⁹¹⁰

4. 04

   Check the result after merge

   Connect branches and pull requests to the issue identifier. Status automation can move engineering work when review begins or a change merges, but completion still needs the project's actual acceptance condition.

5. 05

   Link the thing being discussed

   Add the exact build, capture, document, or review comment to the issue. "See latest" becomes wrong the moment someone uploads another revision. The issue needs enough context for the assignee to open the same thing the reporter saw.

Best practices

Review rollover before the next cycle

Do not accept carried work as the next cycle plan by default. Recheck the owner, priority, estimate, and project date before it rolls forward, then let the cycle history show what actually finished.

Write updates about change

Report what changed in scope, date, risk, or confidence. Link the build or decision that caused the change. Issue counts already describe activity and do not explain why project health moved.

Standardize recurring intake

Use issue templates for bugs, crashes, and content requests. Ask for the build, platform, reproduction steps, expected result, actual result, and evidence. Use project templates for releases that repeat the same milestones and documents.

Audit access paths to private work

Review guests, personal API keys, integrations, and webhooks before putting confidential work in a private team. Export private-team data only to an equally controlled location.

Gotchas

An issue has one team and at most one project

Projects can include issues from several teams, but each issue still has one owning team. Split cross-team work into related issues or sub-issues, one per team.¹

Open work rolls into the next cycle

Unfinished issues can move forward automatically. The historical cycle graph is a snapshot, while later issue changes can make the current issue list look different from that snapshot.²

Private teams require Business or Enterprise

Projects created under a private team are visible only to its members, including when they belong to an initiative. Sharing the project with a public team makes it visible to others. Guests also require Business or Enterprise and are billed as regular members.⁵⁶⁹¹⁰

Integrations can widen the boundary

Guests can use enabled workspace integrations, and personal API keys or webhooks can carry private-team data into another system. Team privacy does not automatically make every connected system private.⁵⁶

CSV exports skip attachments

CSV exports contain issue and project fields. They don't bundle attached files. Download linked evidence separately if you'll need it after leaving the workspace.⁷

Capacity and reporting change by plan

Free allows 250 issues, two teams, and 10 MB file uploads. Basic removes the issue cap and allows five teams. Business adds unlimited and private teams, guests, and Insights. Dashboards require Enterprise.^69101213

Adoption checklist

• Give each team a small workflow with names contributors can distinguish at a glance.
• Define when work belongs in a project, milestone, cycle, or only the backlog.
• Use dependencies only when one item blocks the start or finish of another.
• Require a short project update when health or dates change.
• Test Git automation against branch, review, merge, and revert cases.
• Use stable links for builds, files, and review comments.

Related guides

• Project FeedProject management with built-in file review.
• JiraWork tracking with configurable fields, approval workflows, boards, and release reports.
• GitHub ProjectsTables, boards, and roadmaps built from GitHub issues and pull requests.
• Frame.ioFile review with timecoded comments, version comparison, share links, and supported 3D previews.
• SyncSketchSynchronized review for animation dailies, drawovers, audio, and supported 3D files.

Sources

Official sources checked September 24, 2026.

1. 1Linear projectslinear.app
2. 2Linear cycleslinear.app
3. 3Linear timelinelinear.app
4. 4Linear project milestoneslinear.app
5. 5Linear private teamslinear.app
6. 6Linear members and roleslinear.app
7. 7Linear data exportslinear.app
8. 8Linear GitHub integrationlinear.app
9. 9Linear pricinglinear.app
10. 10Linear teamslinear.app
11. 11Linear initiativeslinear.app
12. 12Linear Insightslinear.app
13. 13Linear dashboardslinear.app