Linear Upgrade Migration

Overview

Safely upgrade Linear SDK versions and handle breaking changes.

Prerequisites

• Existing Linear integration
• Version control (Git) configured
• Test suite for Linear operations

Instructions

Step 1: Check Current Version

# Check installed version
npm list @linear/sdk

# Check latest available version
npm view @linear/sdk version

# Check changelog
npm view @linear/sdk changelog

Step 2: Review Breaking Changes

# View version history
npm view @linear/sdk versions --json | jq -r '.[-10:][]'

# Check GitHub releases for migration guides
open https://github.com/linear/linear/releases

Step 3: Create Upgrade Branch

git checkout -b upgrade/linear-sdk-vX.Y.Z

Step 4: Update SDK

# Upgrade to latest
npm install @linear/sdk@latest

# Or upgrade to specific version
npm install @linear/sdk@X.Y.Z

# Check for type errors
npx tsc --noEmit

Step 5: Common Migration Patterns

Pattern A: Renamed Fields

// Before (deprecated)
const issue = await client.issue("ABC-123");
console.log(issue.state); // Old field name

// After (new version)
const issue = await client.issue("ABC-123");
const state = await issue.state; // Now returns Promise
console.log(state?.name);

Pattern B: Changed Return Types

// Before: Direct object return
const teams = await client.teams();
teams.forEach(team => console.log(team.name));

// After: Paginated connection
const teams = await client.teams();
teams.nodes.forEach(team => console.log(team.name));

Pattern C: New Required Parameters

// Before
await client.createIssue({ title: "Issue" });

// After: teamId is required
await client.createIssue({
  title: "Issue",
  teamId: team.id, // Now required
});

Pattern D: Removed Methods

// Check if method exists before using
if (typeof client.deprecatedMethod === "function") {
  await client.deprecatedMethod();
} else {
  await client.newMethod();
}

Step 6: Create Compatibility Layer

// lib/linear-compat.ts
import { LinearClient, Issue } from "@linear/sdk";

// Wrapper for breaking changes
export class LinearCompatClient {
  private client: LinearClient;

  constructor(apiKey: string) {
    this.client = new LinearClient({ apiKey });
  }

  // Normalize different SDK versions
  async getIssue(identifier: string): Promise<{
    id: string;
    title: string;
    stateName: string;
  }> {
    const issue = await this.client.issue(identifier);
    const state = await issue.state;

    return {
      id: issue.id,
      title: issue.title,
      stateName: state?.name ?? "Unknown",
    };
  }

  // Add backward-compatible methods as needed
}

Step 7: Run Tests

# Run test suite
npm test

# Run type checking
npx tsc --noEmit

# Run linting
npm run lint

Step 8: Test in Staging

# Deploy to staging
npm run deploy:staging

# Run integration tests against staging
npm run test:integration

Step 9: Gradual Rollout

// Feature flag for new SDK behavior
const USE_NEW_SDK = process.env.LINEAR_SDK_V2 === "true";

async function getIssues() {
  if (USE_NEW_SDK) {
    // New SDK logic
    return newGetIssues();
  } else {
    // Legacy SDK logic
    return legacyGetIssues();
  }
}

Version Compatibility Matrix

SDK Version	Node.js	TypeScript	Key Changes
1.x	14+	4.5+	Initial release
2.x	16+	4.7+	ESM support
3.x	18+	5.0+	Strict types

Common Breaking Changes

SDK 1.x to 2.x

// 1.x: CommonJS
const { LinearClient } = require("@linear/sdk");

// 2.x: ESM
import { LinearClient } from "@linear/sdk";

// Update package.json
{
  "type": "module"
}

SDK 2.x to 3.x

// 2.x: Loose types
const issue: any = await client.issue("ABC-123");

// 3.x: Strict types
const issue: Issue = await client.issue("ABC-123");
// Must handle nullable fields
const state = await issue.state;
if (state) {
  console.log(state.name);
}

Rollback Procedure

# If upgrade fails, rollback
git checkout main
npm install @linear/sdk@PREVIOUS_VERSION
npm run test
git commit -am "Rollback Linear SDK to PREVIOUS_VERSION"

Error Handling During Migration

Error	Cause	Solution
Property does not exist	Renamed field	Check migration guide
Type not assignable	Changed type	Update type annotations
Module not found	ESM/CJS mismatch	Update import syntax
Runtime method missing	Version mismatch	Check SDK version

Resources

• Linear SDK Changelog
• Linear API Changelog
• TypeScript Migration

Next Steps

Set up CI/CD integration with linear-ci-integration.