How do I connect Linear and GitHub to LingCode via MCP?

Linear → Settings → API → Personal API keys

Sign in to Linear. Click your avatar → Settings → API → Personal API keys. Click Create key, name it (e.g., "LingCode"), pick the scope.

The key inherits your user's permissions. If you're an admin, the key is admin. If you have read-only access to certain workspaces, the key respects that. Scope at the user level, not the key level.

Copy the key — it's shown once. lin_api_….

Fine-grained tokens are better than classic ones

Go to GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Fine-grained tokens. Generate a new token. The important fields:

• Expiration: 90 days is sensible. Long enough not to be annoying; short enough that an old, forgotten token isn't a permanent risk.
• Repository access: "Only select repositories" — pick the ones you actually want the agent to operate on. "All repositories" works but is a wider blast radius than necessary.
• Permissions: Repository → Contents (read+write), Pull requests (read+write), Issues (read+write), Metadata (read). Skip Actions, Secrets, Administration unless you specifically need them.

Copy the token — github_pat_….

Two entries in one file

In ~/.claude/mcp.json (user-wide is right here — these are personal-account tokens):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "github_pat_..."
      }
    },
    "linear": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-server-linear"],
      "env": {
        "LINEAR_API_KEY": "lin_api_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Both use stdio transport, both spawn via npx (so you don't have to install the packages globally — npx fetches and runs). Tokens go in the per-server env, never in shared shell config.

What you'll see

Open a chat and ask: "What Linear tickets are assigned to me?" The agent picks the tool, you get a permission prompt naming mcp__linear__list_issues with the arguments it's about to pass. Approve.

The first call per server warms up: npx downloads the package (one-time delay), the server starts, registers its tools, executes the call. Subsequent calls in the session are fast.

Do the same for GitHub: "List the open PRs on org/repo." Approve when prompted. From here, both servers are live.

One prompt, four tool calls

The payoff for connecting both is composition. Try:

"Read Linear ticket ACME-1234, then look at the code, implement what the ticket describes, open a draft PR linking back to the ticket."

The agent calls Linear to read the ticket, the local file tools to look at and edit code, and GitHub to open the PR. Four tool families in one turn, all with structured arguments and structured results. The PR description references the Linear ticket; closing the PR can be configured to update the ticket status, depending on your Linear settings.

If you'd usually have spent ten minutes context-switching between three tools, you've spent zero.

Three things that catch first-timers

• Token scope too narrow. A GitHub token with only Contents: read can't open PRs. The agent's tool call fails with a 403; you re-issue a token with broader scopes.
• Linear workspace ID confusion. If you have multiple Linear workspaces, the key is scoped to one. Ask the agent which workspace it's reading from before assuming.
• Stale tool descriptions. If you update the MCP package and a tool's signature changes, your existing chat's tool list is stale. Start a new chat after updating servers.