# Linear MCP vs Shortcut

> Shortcut scores 60.2 (C) to Linear MCP's 53.8 (D) for issues and tasks. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-shortcut
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-shortcut.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-shortcut.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-shortcut.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Shortcut scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against Linear MCP's 53.8 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Linear MCP leads on security & auth. Both do issues and tasks.

- Linear MCP: grade D, 53.8/100, rank #698 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linear-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linear-mcp.json
- Shortcut: grade C, 60.2/100, rank #526 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/shortcut.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/shortcut.json
- Best issue tracking, docs and chat tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/productivity/index.md
- All 40 work comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/productivity/index.md
- Best project and task management tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/project-management/index.md
- All 135 projects comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/project-management/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Linear MCP (D)

Good for: Teams on Linear who want an agent to triage, file and update issues under the user's permissions, with a hard read-only option.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 71 against 54

Watch for: No published tool list, schemas or MCP error responses

### Shortcut (C)

Good for: Software teams already on Shortcut that want an agent to search, create and update stories, epics, iterations and docs, and coding agents that pick up assigned stories.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 75 against 51
- Agent ergonomics, 57 against 38
- Maintenance & community, 73 against 57

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The v3 docs still allow the API token as a `token` query parameter, marked deprecated with no removal date


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Linear MCP | Shortcut | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 64 | Shortcut +4 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 51 | 75 | Shortcut +24 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 38 | 57 | Shortcut +19 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 54 | Linear MCP +17 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 73 | Shortcut +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 73 | Shortcut +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **53.8 · D** | **60.2 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Linear MCP | Shortcut |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Linear | Shortcut Software Company |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.linear.app/mcp` | `https://api.app.shortcut.com` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Your plan | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | proprietary | Proprietary service under Shortcut's terms of service. The JavaScript client and the archived MCP server on GitHub are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `app.linear/linear` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-08-13 | 2026-09-22 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-06-09 | 2025-09-18 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-03-17 | 2025-07-11 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 142 stars, 103k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Linear MCP.** OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration, so most MCP clients connect without a registered app. No published tool list, schemas or MCP error responses.

**Shortcut.** REST API v3 and the hosted MCP server are included on the Free plan, with downloadable OpenAPI files and OAuth scopes down to story or comment writes on the MCP side. The API still accepts the token in a query string, and no idempotency keys, Retry-After header, uptime SLA or API changelog were found in the reviewed documentation.

## Before you call either

### Linear MCP

1. Use `https://mcp.linear.app/mcp/readonly` for triage and reporting, it only exposes read tools
2. Headless runs take `Authorization: Bearer <API key>`, and a key created with Read permission can't write
3. Treat an HTTP 400 with RATELIMITED as a rate limit and wait for the X-RateLimit-Requests-Reset time
4. Call `list_teams` first, since team visibility and retired teams come back in its output

### Shortcut

1. Send the v3 token in the `Shortcut-Token` header. v4 (alpha) takes `Authorization: Bearer` with `sct_ro_` or `sct_rw_` tokens, and v3 tokens don't work there.
2. Create a story with `name` and `workflow_state_id`. Sending both `workflow_state_id` and `project_id`, or neither, is rejected.
3. Use `GET /api/v3/search/stories` with `detail=slim`, `page_size` (1 to 250) and the `next` token. Many other v3 list endpoints return every record at once.
4. Stay under 200 requests a minute and add your own backoff on 429, because no Retry-After header is documented.
5. For MCP, connect to https://mcp.shortcut.com/mcp and request only the scopes needed, such as `read` or `story-write`.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Linear MCP or Shortcut?

Shortcut scores 60.2 (C) on agent readiness against Linear MCP's 53.8 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Linear MCP leads on security & auth.

### Do Linear MCP and Shortcut need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Linear MCP and Shortcut without installing anything?

Yes. Linear MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.linear.app/mcp and Shortcut at https://api.app.shortcut.com.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-shortcut.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-shortcut.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "linear-mcp", "b": "shortcut"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare linear-mcp shortcut`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linear-mcp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/shortcut.json

## Other comparisons with Linear MCP or Shortcut

- [Asana vs Linear MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asana-vs-linear-mcp.md)
- [Asana vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asana-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Atlassian Rovo MCP Server vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atlassian-rovo-mcp-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Basecamp vs Linear MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basecamp-vs-linear-mcp.md)
- [Basecamp vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/basecamp-vs-shortcut.md)
- [ClickUp vs Linear MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clickup-vs-linear-mcp.md)
- [ClickUp vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clickup-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Linear MCP vs monday.com](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-monday.md)
- [Linear MCP vs OpenProject](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-openproject.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Plane](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-plane.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Redmine](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-redmine.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Roma](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-roma.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Taiga](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-taiga.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Teamwork.com](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-teamwork.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Todoist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-todoist.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Trello](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-trello.md)
- [Linear MCP vs Wrike](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-wrike.md)
- [Linear MCP vs YouTrack](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/linear-mcp-vs-youtrack.md)
- [monday.com vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/monday-vs-shortcut.md)
- [OpenProject vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openproject-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Plane vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plane-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Redmine vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/redmine-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Roma vs Shortcut](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/roma-vs-shortcut.md)
- [Shortcut vs Taiga](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-taiga.md)
- [Shortcut vs Teamwork.com](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-teamwork.md)
- [Shortcut vs Todoist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-todoist.md)
- [Shortcut vs Trello](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-trello.md)
- [Shortcut vs Wrike](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-wrike.md)
- [Shortcut vs YouTrack](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shortcut-vs-youtrack.md)
- [Atlassian Rovo MCP Server vs Linear MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atlassian-rovo-mcp-vs-linear-mcp.md)