switching software/project management

GitHub Projects to Linear: Engineering Team Migration Checklist

A detailed checklist and guide for migrating engineering workflows from GitHub Projects to Linear, covering backlog transfer, sprint parity, and Git integration.

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GitHub Projects to Linear: The Engineering Migration Guide

For many development teams, GitHub Projects is the default starting point for task management. It is free, lives exactly where the code lives, and requires zero setup. However, as engineering teams scale beyond a handful of developers, the limitations of GitHub Projects become apparent. It lacks opinionated structures for sprint planning, velocity tracking, and cross-team dependencies.

Linear has emerged as the project management tool of choice for high-velocity product teams. It is heavily opinionated, lightning-fast, and designed specifically for modern software development lifecycles.

Migrating from GitHub Projects to Linear is less about moving data and more about upgrading your team's operational cadence. This guide details how to transition your backlog, configure Linear's cycles, and maintain deep Git integration without losing a day of development velocity.

Project Management Migration

Key Takeaways

  • Embrace the Opinion: Linear forces you into specific workflows (Cycles, Triage, Projects). Do not try to recreate your exact GitHub Kanban board in Linear; adapt to Linear's structure.
  • The Git Connection: The most crucial step is configuring the Linear-GitHub integration so that branch creation and PR merges automatically move Linear tickets.
  • Backlog Bankruptcy: Do not migrate closed issues or issues older than 6 months. Leave them in GitHub as an archive. Only migrate active work.
  • The Parallel Run: You can run both systems for a short 1-week sprint to train the team before archiving the GitHub Project boards.

Table of Contents

Why Engineering Teams Switch to Linear

While GitHub Projects (especially the newer version) has improved, Linear solves three specific scaling problems:

  1. Speed and UX: Linear is built as a local-first application. Navigating between issues, using keyboard shortcuts, and creating bug reports is tangibly faster than waiting for web page loads.
  2. Opinionated Workflows: GitHub Projects gives you a blank canvas. Linear gives you a framework. Features like "Triage" (for incoming bugs) and "Cycles" (for sprints) are built-in and enforce good agile hygiene.
  3. Cross-Team Visibility: If you have a frontend team and a backend team, managing dependencies across multiple GitHub repositories in GitHub Projects is difficult. Linear aggregates work into company-wide "Projects" and "Initiatives" regardless of which repo the code lives in.
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The "Connect" Strategy: Linear + GitHub

You are not leaving GitHub. You are leaving GitHub Projects.

The magic of Linear is how deeply it integrates with GitHub repositories. The goal of this migration is to set up a workflow where developers rarely have to open the Linear app to move tickets.

The Ideal Workflow:

  1. Developer picks up a ticket in Linear (e.g., ENG-123).
  2. Developer clicks "Copy Branch Name" in Linear (or uses the command line integration).
  3. Developer pushes the branch to GitHub. Linear automatically moves the ticket to "In Progress".
  4. Developer opens a Pull Request in GitHub. Linear automatically links the PR to the ticket.
  5. PR is merged. Linear automatically closes the ticket and notifies the reporter.

The Step-by-Step Migration Checklist

Follow this checklist to ensure a seamless cutover for your engineering team.

Phase 1: Pre-Migration Planning

  • Audit the Backlog: Review all open issues in GitHub. Close anything that is realistically never going to be fixed ("Backlog Bankruptcy").
  • Define Teams in Linear: Create your Teams (e.g., Frontend, Backend, Design) in Linear. Each team gets its own identifier (e.g., FRN, BCK).
  • Configure Issue States: Map your GitHub columns (Todo, In Progress, In Review, Done) to Linear's standard states.
  • Set up the GitHub Integration: Navigate to Linear Settings > Integrations > GitHub. Authenticate and select the repositories you want to connect.

Phase 2: Data Import

  • Use the Native Importer: Linear has a built-in GitHub importer. Use it.
  • Select Repositories: Choose the repos containing the issues you want to migrate.
  • Map Users: Ensure GitHub usernames are correctly mapped to the team members you invited to Linear so that issue assignments are preserved.
  • Verify Labels: Ensure GitHub labels (e.g., bug, enhancement) are imported as Linear labels.

Phase 3: Workflow Configuration

  • Enable Automations: In Linear Team Settings, configure the GitHub automations (e.g., "Move issue to In Progress when a branch is created").
  • Configure Triage: Enable the Triage inbox for bug reports. Decide who is responsible for clearing this inbox daily.
  • Setup Slack Integration: Connect Linear to your team Slack channels. Create a dedicated #engineering-feed for PR and ticket updates.
  • Define Cycles: Set your sprint cadence (e.g., 2 weeks). Determine what day the cycle starts and ends.

Phase 4: Cutover and Training

  • The Hard Cutover: On Friday afternoon, turn off the old GitHub Projects boards. Change the repository settings to disable the "Projects" tab to prevent confusion.
  • Team Onboarding: Host a 30-minute training session on Monday morning. Focus entirely on keyboard shortcuts (Command+K) and the Git branching workflow.
  • Update Documentation: Update your CONTRIBUTING.md or internal wiki to reflect the new ticket creation process.

Configuring Cycles (Sprints)

Linear calls sprints "Cycles." Unlike Jira, where you have to manually start and stop sprints, Linear Cycles are automatic and relentless.

If you set a 2-week cycle starting on Monday, Cycle 1 will end on Sunday night, and Cycle 2 will begin instantly. Unfinished work from Cycle 1 will roll over. This enforces a reality check on engineering velocity. Do not try to fight this automation; use it to identify chronic over-estimation.

Common Pitfalls

  • Recreating Jira/GitHub: The most common mistake is trying to bend Linear to act like your old tool. If you find yourself creating 15 custom issue states, you are doing it wrong. Stick to Linear's defaults (Todo, In Progress, In Review, Done, Canceled).
  • Ignoring Keyboard Shortcuts: Linear is built for keyboard navigation. If your team is clicking through menus with a mouse, they are missing 50% of the value.
  • Importing Closed Issues: Do not clutter your fast, new Linear workspace with 4,000 closed GitHub issues. Leave them in GitHub for historical reference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Linear replace GitHub Issues? Yes. While Linear integrates with GitHub PRs and commits, you should instruct your team to create all new bugs and feature requests in Linear, not in the GitHub Issues tab.

Can non-engineers use Linear? Yes, but it has a learning curve. Many companies use tools like Zendesk or Intercom integrated with Linear. The customer support team stays in Zendesk, and when they escalate a bug, it creates a Linear ticket for the engineers.

What happens to our old PR links in GitHub? If you used the native importer, Linear will maintain a reference to the original GitHub issue URL in the imported ticket's description.