Linear Teams
Teams are the primary organizational unit inside a Linear workspace. Each team has its own issues, projects, cycles, and workflow. Setting up teams correctly keeps work separated and manageable across your organization.
What Is a Team in Linear
A team in Linear is a dedicated space for a specific group of people. Think of it as a separate room within your company's office building. The engineering team works in one room, the design team in another, and so on.
Each team controls its own:
- Issue list and workflow states
- Projects and cycles
- Labels, templates, and integrations
- Member list and permissions
Team Structure Diagram
Workspace: Acme Corp
│
├── Team: Engineering
│ Members: Alice, Bob, Carlos
│ Issues: 120 open
│ Active Cycle: Sprint 22
│
├── Team: Design
│ Members: Diana, Eve
│ Issues: 34 open
│ Active Cycle: Sprint 22
│
└── Team: QA
Members: Frank, Grace
Issues: 58 open
Active Cycle: Sprint 22
Create a Team
Open Settings > Teams and click Create Team. Fill in the team details on the creation form.
Team Creation Fields
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Team Name | The name displayed across Linear | Engineering, Design, QA |
| Team Identifier | A short prefix for issue IDs | ENG, DES, QA |
| Team Color | A color to identify the team visually | Blue for Engineering |
| Team Icon | An emoji or icon in the sidebar | ⚙️ for Engineering |
The team identifier appears in every issue ID created under that team. The engineering team with identifier ENG produces issues like ENG-1, ENG-2, ENG-3. This makes it easy to reference issues in conversations and code comments.
Add Members to a Team
Go to Settings > Teams > [Your Team] > Members. Click Add Members and search for existing workspace members by name or email.
Only workspace admins or team admins can add and remove team members. Regular members can see the team member list but cannot change it.
Steps to Add a Team Member
- Open Settings from the left sidebar
- Click Teams, then select the team you want to update
- Click the Members tab
- Click Add Members and type the person's name
- Select their name from the dropdown and confirm
Team Roles and Permissions
Every member added to a team receives a team-level role. This role determines what they can do within that specific team. Workspace admins always have full access regardless of team role.
| Team Role | Can Create Issues | Can Edit Team Settings | Can Manage Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Member | Yes | No | No |
| Guest | No | No | No |
Team Settings
Open Settings > Teams > [Team Name] to access all configuration options for a team. These settings affect everyone in that team.
Important Team Settings
| Setting | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Workflow States | Defines the stages an issue moves through (e.g., Todo, In Progress, Done) |
| Issue Estimates | Enables point-based or time-based sizing for issues |
| Cycle Length | Sets the default duration for each cycle (e.g., 2 weeks) |
| Auto-archive | Automatically archives completed issues after a set number of weeks |
| Triage Mode | Routes new unassigned issues into a triage queue before the team sees them |
When to Create Separate Teams
Not every group needs its own Linear team. A good rule is to create a team when a group has distinct work that rarely overlaps with other groups.
Team Creation Decision Guide
| Situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Engineering and Design work on the same product | One team with sub-projects works fine |
| Frontend and Backend teams have separate sprints | Create two separate teams |
| A small startup with 3 people | One team is enough |
| A company with 5+ departments shipping independently | One team per department |
Team Visibility
Teams can be set to public or private. Public teams are visible to all workspace members. Private teams are visible only to the members explicitly added to them.
Use private teams for sensitive work like executive planning or security research where access needs to stay restricted.