How to use Linear's cycle feature

Turn on cycles for a Linear team, add an issue to Cycle 1, and check the cycle's scope and capacity on the Cycles page in a few clicks.

Quick answer

Open your team's cycle settings and tick Enable cycles. Then open Cycles in the team sidebar, open an issue, choose Add to cycle, and pick Cycle 1. The Cycles page then lists each cycle with its dates, capacity, and how many issues are in scope.

Steps at a glance

  1. Tick Enable cycles in the team's cycle settings
  2. Open Cycles in the team sidebar
  3. Open an issue and click Add to cycle
  4. Pick Cycle 1 from the menu
  5. Check the cycle label on the issue
  6. Review scope on the Cycles page

Interactive demo

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Summary

Cycles are time-boxed periods of work in Linear. Turning them on for a team and adding issues to a cycle gives everyone a shared view of what is planned and how much capacity it uses.

Step-by-step guide

  1. Step 1

    Turn on cycles for the team

    Open the team's cycle settings, where the page explains cycle automation. Tick **Enable cycles** to switch the feature on for the team. Cycle settings appear below the checkbox once it is on.

  2. Step 2

    Open Cycles in the team sidebar

    Go back to the team's issues. Your team in the sidebar now has a **Cycles** entry beside **Home** and **Issues**. Click **Cycles** to open the list of cycles.

  3. Step 3

    Add the issue to a cycle

    Open an issue, such as ARC-4 Set up your teams. In the **Properties** panel on the right, click **Add to cycle**.

  4. Step 4

    Pick the cycle

    A menu lists **No cycle**, **Cycle 1**, and **Cycle 2** with their dates. Choose **Cycle 1** to assign the issue to the upcoming cycle.

  5. Step 5

    Open the cycle to see its scope

    The activity feed notes that the issue was added to **Cycle 1**, and Properties now shows the cycle in place of **Add to cycle**. Hover the cycle label to confirm which cycle the issue belongs to.

  6. Step 6

    Check the cycle's scope

    Back on the Cycles page, **Cycle 1** is marked **Upcoming** and shows its capacity and scope. Compare it with **Cycle 2**, which is **Planned** and still empty.

Why this matters

You have a backlog of issues and no shared sense of what the team will tackle next. Enabling cycles and assigning issues to Cycle 1 turns that backlog into a planned, time-boxed list you can check at a glance.

Frequently asked questions

  • Which cycles can I choose from?

    The Add to cycle menu listed Cycle 1, which was Upcoming, and Cycle 2, which was Planned, plus the No cycle option.

  • Does adding an issue change the cycle's numbers?

    Yes. After the issue was added, the Cycles page showed Cycle 1 with 1 scope, while Cycle 2 stayed at 0 scope.

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