finish_skill

Overview

This skill automates finishing a Linear issue: it identifies the issue, checks off completed requirements in the description, posts a completion comment, ensures code is committed and pushed, marks the issue Ready For Release, and suggests the next issue to work on. Use it whenever you want a reliable, repeatable end-of-issue workflow driven by the linear CLI. It protects the original description while updating only checkbox status and concise metadata.

How this skill works

The skill extracts the issue identifier from user input or the current git branch, fetches the full issue details via the linear CLI, and updates only the checkbox markers for completed items. It generates a structured completion comment, posts it to the issue, inspects git for uncommitted or unpushed work and commits/pushes as needed, then sets the issue state to Ready For Release and recommends the next logical issue based on blocking relationships and parent-child context.

When to use it

• When you say “finish issue”, “done with this issue”, or invoke /finish
• After verifying local changes and tests are complete but before marking the issue released
• When you want a consistent completion comment and accurate checkbox updates in Linear
• When you want the issue marked Ready For Release and a suggested next task
• When you prefer the CLI-driven, minimal-touch workflow that preserves issue descriptions

Best practices

• Confirm the issue identifier if it cannot be extracted from branch name
• Carefully review the issue description and only toggle checkboxes for work you actually completed
• Keep commit messages descriptive and stage only relevant files before committing
• Run tests and local verification steps before pushing
• If linear CLI reports not authenticated, run linear auth login and retry

Example use cases

• Finish PL-12 after implementing the feature and verifying tests, updating the checklist and posting a completion summary
• Complete work when branch name contains the issue key — auto-detect PL-XX and proceed with minimal prompts
• Push a last-minute commit and have the skill add the commit short-sha to the completion comment and mark the issue Ready For Release
• Identify the next best issue by checking blocking relationships and siblings under the same parent epic
• Add a note in the completion comment for any unchecked items and capture follow-up tasks