Auto-updates from Linear eliminate manual data entry by connecting your issue tracking directly to Key Results and Initiatives. Whether you track sprint completion, feature delivery, or project milestones, Rhythms synchronizes these metrics automatically so your OKRs stay current without copying data.

New to auto-updates? The How to Set Up Auto-Updates article covers the general setup process and when auto-updates work best for your tracking needs.

Your workspace administrator must enable the Linear integration. This feature requires the MCP integrations capability at the tenant level. If you don't see Linear as an available integration option, contact your workspace administrator. Learn more: Enable Integrations for Your Workspace

You need access to the Linear workspace and projects containing the issues you want to track. Rhythms connects using your personal Linear credentials, so you'll only see issues you can already view in Linear. The connection is read-only and never modifies your Linear data.

Rhythms tracks progress from Linear issues with sophisticated filtering capabilities. Your Key Results and Initiatives should measure outcomes that map to issue completion, such as "Launch mobile authentication feature" or "Complete Q1 platform stability work."

What Rhythms Can Track from Linear:

The setup process follows the workflow described in How to Set Up Auto-Updates. Here's what's specific to Linear:

After authentication, the Rhythms AI assistant opens a chat window to help configure your tracking. The assistant is sophisticated and can handle complex filtering and calculations. Be specific about what you want to track.

Basic Tracking Examples

Start by describing your goal in natural language:

Advanced Filtering Options

The assistant can filter your data - tell it exactly what you want:

By Priority:

By Labels:

By Assignee/Team:

By Status Types:

By Time:

Complex Combinations

The assistant can combine multiple filters - be as specific as needed:

Tips for Best Results

Rhythms automatically determines the best calculation method based on your issue structure and requirements. The assistant evaluates these approaches and recommends the one that most accurately represents progress:

Issue completion: Calculates the percentage of issues marked as Done or Completed. Works with optional filtering by priority, labels, teams, or time ranges.

Estimate-based: Sums estimate values (story points or hours) across filtered issues. Ideal when your team estimates work and you want progress weighted by effort.

Status-based counts: Counts issues in specific status categories with optional filtering. Useful for tracking issues through workflow stages.

Remaining work: Calculates progress based on estimates remaining. Works well for burndown scenarios where the goal is reducing remaining effort to zero.

Weighted calculations: Combines multiple criteria where certain issues count more (e.g., P0 bugs count 3x more than P2 bugs).

Time metrics: Calculates average resolution time, issue age, or tracks issues within time windows.

The assistant writes filtering logic based on your requirements and saves it with your configuration. This same logic runs every day during auto-updates to ensure consistency.

Once Rhythms locates your data and determines the tracking method, it shows you the current value and explains the filtering logic. Review this carefully:

If something looks incorrect, you can refine your description or ask the assistant to adjust the filters.

Rhythms displays a Connected to Linear indicator on your Key Result or Initiative. The system syncs issue data once daily at 3 AM UTC. Changes in Linear will appear in Rhythms after the next daily sync.

What updates automatically: Current progress based on your configured filters and calculation method. Rhythms pulls the latest issue data, applies your filtering logic, and recalculates progress.

What you still provide: Context through check-ins. Auto-updates handle the numbers, but you explain what changed, obstacles encountered, or adjustments needed. Learn more: Effective Check-ins to Track OKR Progress in Rhythms

Historical data preserved: Rhythms maintains a history of progress updates. Even if you later disconnect the integration, past auto-updates remain visible in your Key Result's timeline.

The integration displays on your Key Result detail view with the Linear icon and last sync timestamp. Click the connection details to see which Linear issues contribute to the calculation and review your filtering configuration.

State transition history: Rhythms cannot track exact time spent in each workflow state (e.g., "time in 'In Progress' vs. 'In Review'"). Time metrics use creation and last update timestamps, which work for resolution time but not for detailed state history.

One parent per connection: Each connection tracks issues from one parent item (project, epic, or cycle). If your Key Result spans multiple projects, consider whether separate Key Results (one per project) or manual check-ins work better.

Daily sync only: Issue data refreshes once daily at 3 AM UTC. Real-time or webhook-based updates aren't currently available.

During setup, you can filter issues by priority, labels, assignees, teams, status, time ranges, or any combination. The assistant writes filtering logic based on your requirements and runs this same logic every day.

What works well: Filtering gives you precise control over which issues count toward progress. If your Linear project contains a mix of priorities or work types, you can track exactly what matters for your Key Result.

Testing your filter: The assistant shows current data during setup. If the filtered result doesn't match your expectations, refine your requirements before confirming.

To change your Linear configuration, you'll need to disconnect and reconnect. This disconnect-and-reconnect process is the same across all auto-update integrations. Learn more: How to Set Up Auto-Updates

If the numbers look incorrect, first verify which issues match your filters in Linear. Sometimes unexpected progress values come from issues you didn't realize met the filter criteria. You can ask the assistant to show which specific issues are being tracked to debug mismatches.

Yes. You can create separate connections for different projects or epics, each tied to its own Key Result. Each connection operates independently with its own filtering logic.

Yes. Each connection uses the individual's Linear credentials, so multiple team members can track related issues across different Key Results. Progress calculations are independent per Key Result.

Auto-updates will stop, and Rhythms displays an error. Reconnect with an account that has access, or disconnect the integration and switch to manual check-ins.

Not currently. Each Key Result or Initiative supports one auto-update connection at a time. Choose the primary data source that best represents progress.

Issue data refreshes once daily at 3 AM UTC. Changes in Linear will appear in Rhythms after the next daily sync.

First, review your filtering logic (the assistant explained this during setup). If you filtered for specific priorities or labels, Rhythms tracks only those matching issues while Linear may show all issues. Ask the assistant to show which issues are being counted to verify the filter is working as expected.

Not in a single auto-update connection. Each connection tracks issues under one parent item (project, epic, or cycle). If your Key Result spans multiple projects, consider whether separate Key Results (one per project) or manual check-ins work better.

No. Rhythms has read-only access. It pulls data to calculate progress but never changes issue states, fields, or comments.

Yes! During setup, tell the assistant exactly what to filter. Say "track only P0 and P1 issues" or "count items with the 'backend' label" or "monitor iOS team's tasks." By default, all items under your selected parent are tracked, but you can be as specific as needed with filtering.

Yes. Ask for "average resolution time for bugs" or "issues open longer than 14 days." The system calculates time metrics using creation and last update timestamps.

If you configured filtering (by priority, labels, teams, etc.), Rhythms tracks only issues matching your filters while Linear may show all issues. Review your filtering configuration to confirm which issues are being counted. The assistant can show you the specific issues being tracked.

Yes. During setup, request weighted calculations like "P0 bugs should count 3x more than P2 bugs" or "completed features are worth more than bug fixes." The assistant will create custom calculation logic to match your requirements.