Use Background Agents directly from Linear by delegating issues to Cursor or mentioning @Cursor in comments.

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Get started

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Installation

You must be a Cursor admin to connect the Linear integration. Other team settings are available to non-admin members.
  1. Go to Cursor integrations
  2. Click Connect next to Linear
  3. Connect your Linear workspace and select team
  4. Click Authorize
  5. Complete any remaining Background Agent setup in Cursor:
    • Connect GitHub and select default repository
    • Enable usage-based pricing
    • Confirm privacy settings

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Account linking

First use prompts account linking between Cursor and Linear. GitHub connection required for PR creation.

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How to use

Delegate issues to Cursor or mention @Cursor in comments. Cursor analyzes issues and filters out non-development work automatically.

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Delegating issues

  1. Open Linear issue
  2. Click assignee field
  3. Select “Cursor”
Delegating an issue to Cursor in Linear

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Mentioning Cursor

Mention @Cursor in a comment to assign a new agent or provide additional instructions, for example: @Cursor fix the authentication bug described above.

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Workflow

Background Agents show real-time status in Linear and create PRs automatically when complete. Track progress in Cursor dashboard.
Background Agent status updates in Linear

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Follow-up instructions

You can respond in the agent session and it’ll get sent as a follow-up to the agent. Simply mention @Cursor in a Linear comment to provide additional guidance to a running Background Agent.

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Configuration

Configure Background Agent settings from Dashboard → Background Agents.
SettingLocationDescription
Default RepositoryCursor DashboardPrimary repository when no project repository configured
Default ModelCursor DashboardAI model for Background Agents
Base BranchCursor DashboardBranch to create PRs from (typically main or develop)

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Configuration options

You can configure Background Agent behavior using several methods: Issue description or comments: Use [key=value] syntax, for example:
  • @cursor please fix [repo=anysphere/everysphere]
  • @cursor implement feature [model=claude-3.5-sonnet] [branch=feature-branch]
Issue labels: Use parent-child label structure where the parent label is the configuration key and the child label is the value. Project labels: Same parent-child structure as issue labels, applied at the project level. Supported configuration keys:
  • repo: Specify target repository (e.g., owner/repository)
  • branch: Specify base branch for PR creation
  • model: Specify AI model to use

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Repository selection

Cursor determines which repository to work on using this priority order:
  1. Issue description/comments: [repo=owner/repository] syntax in issue text or comments
  2. Issue labels: Repository labels attached to the specific Linear issue
  3. Project labels: Repository labels attached to the Linear project
  4. Default repository: Repository specified in Cursor dashboard settings

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Setting up repository labels

To create repository labels in Linear:
  1. Go to Settings in your Linear workspace
  2. Click Labels
  3. Click New group
  4. Name the group “repo” (case insensitive - must be exactly “repo”, not “Repository” or other variations)
  5. Within that group, create labels for each repository using the format owner/repo
These labels can then be assigned to issues or projects to specify which repository the Background Agent should work on.
Configuring repository labels in Linear