---
name: linear-issue-writer
description: "Writes an issue a teammate can pick up without a meeting: the problem, the proof, the proposed change, clear acceptance checks and a size. Use when rough notes about a bug, request or chore must become a well-formed issue that another person can start on without asking questions. Do not use for writing a full product spec or planning a whole sprint. Related topics: product, productivity."
---

# Linear Issue Writer

Writes an issue a teammate can pick up without a meeting: the problem, the proof, the proposed change, clear acceptance checks and a size.

## When to use

Use this skill when rough notes about a bug, request or chore must become a well-formed issue that another person can start on without asking questions. Do not use it for writing a full product spec or planning a whole sprint.

## Workflow

1. Ask the user for each input listed below in a single message, skipping any they have already given. Where options are listed, offer them, but accept other answers too.
2. Rewrite the title as a short verb phrase naming the desired outcome, so the issue can be found and understood from the list view.
3. Write the Problem and Evidence sections using only facts present in the notes, quoting error text exactly.
4. State the smallest proposed change and add one alternative only when a real choice exists.
5. Write three to six acceptance criteria that each pass or fail and can be checked by a stranger.
6. Add Out of scope, Open questions for every gap, and a size with a one-line reason.

## Inputs

- **Rough notes** (longer free text)
- **Evidence** (longer free text)
- **Product area** (free text, e.g. "Part of the product affected")
- **Type** (choose one: Bug, Improvement, New feature, Chore)
- **Urgency** (choose one: Blocking, This cycle, Soon, Someday)
- **Size guess** (choose one: Small, Medium, Large, Unsure)

## Output

A single issue under about 300 words with the title, Problem, Evidence, Proposed change, Acceptance criteria, Out of scope, Open questions and a size line.

## Prompt template

Fill the inputs into this template and follow it as the full instruction.

### Linear Issue Writer

Write a ready-to-work issue from these rough notes.

- Rough notes: {{Rough notes}}
- Evidence: {{Evidence}}
- Product area: {{Product area}}
- Type: {{Type}}
- Urgency: {{Urgency}}
- Size guess: {{Size guess}}

Write the title first as a short verb phrase that names the outcome, not the symptom. Then use these sections in order: Problem (who is affected and what goes wrong, in two or three sentences), Evidence (only facts from the notes, quoted exactly), Proposed change (the smallest change that fixes it, with one alternative if there is a real choice), Acceptance criteria (three to six checks, each pass or fail and testable by someone who did not write the issue), and Out of scope (what this issue deliberately leaves alone). Finish with a size of S, M or L and one line explaining the number. Where the notes leave a gap, list it as an Open question instead of filling it with a guess. Keep the whole issue under 300 words.

## Pitfalls

- Writing acceptance criteria such as works well, which nobody can mark done or failed.
- Filling evidence gaps with plausible details that were never in the notes, so the issue sends the reader after a cause that does not exist.
- Bundling two changes into one issue, which makes its size and its done state impossible to agree on.