AI Agents and Assistants
What is an AI agent? A plain-English guide for business owners
What an AI agent is, how it works, where it helps a small business, the risks, and a 7-point check to see if you are ready for one.
Business Agents
AI Project Manager Agent for Linear
Linear cycles watched as they run: unstarted and stalled issues flagged mid-cycle, carry-over proposed, and status posted to the team.
Linear cycles move fast, and unfinished work often only shows up on the last day, when it is too late to adjust. This agent follows each cycle as it runs. It flags issues that have not started or have stalled, watches project target dates, posts status to your team channel and proposes what should carry over. Moving issues or owners waits for your approver.
- Unstarted and stalled Linear issues flagged mid-cycle, while there is time
- Project target dates watched so slips are raised early
- Carry-over proposed for your approver, never moved silently
$4,900
20–30 working days
Optional maintenance $249/mo
What it is
AI Project Manager Agent for Linear follows each Linear cycle as it runs. It reads issues, projects and cycles, flags work that has not started or has stalled before the cycle ends, posts status to your team channel, and proposes what should carry over. Moving issues or changing owners needs your approver.
Why businesses buy it
For engineering teams, a cycle that ends with half the work rolled over hurts planning, morale and promises made to the rest of the business. The warning signs were usually visible mid-cycle, but nobody had time to look. This agent checks every cycle as it runs, so leads can cut scope or unblock work while it still matters. Retros get shorter because the facts are already written down. The teams, rules and approval steps are written on the Scope Card before you order.
Problems this solves
Linear cycles end with work that never started
The agent follows each Linear cycle as it runs, reading issues, projects and cycles. It flags work that has not started or has stalled while there is still time left in the cycle.
Deciding what carries over eats into planning time
Near the end of a cycle, it proposes which issues should carry over, with reasons. Your team reviews the list instead of building it from scratch in planning.
Status updates pull engineers away from focused work
Status is posted to your team channel from Linear's own data. Moving issues or changing owners needs your approver, so the agent never reshuffles work on its own.
A good fit if
Your engineering team plans in Linear cycles, and surprises about unfinished work only surface on the last day.
Project target dates in Linear slip without anyone flagging the risk early.
Leads want a mid-cycle check and an end-of-cycle summary without assembling them by hand.
Someone can create a Linear API key and agree on a 30-minute call which issue changes need approval.
Not the right fit if
You need updates written for an outside client after each cycle. See AI Project Status Agent for Linear.
Customer-facing release notes are what you are missing. See AI Release Notes Generator.
Your team tracks work in Jira. See AI Project Manager Agent for Jira.
You need more than six workflows, or a third system such as a separate incident tool. Add a note at checkout for a Change Quote.
How it works
- We set the rules with your Linear admin on a 30-minute call: which teams and projects are in scope, when an issue counts as stalled, and which issue fields the agent may change.
- As a cycle runs, the agent compares progress with the time left. Issues not started by the midpoint, or idle for longer than you allow, are flagged.
- Flags go to the owner in your team channel, with the issue and what it is holding up, rather than waiting for the retro.
- Projects are checked against their target dates, and one falling behind is called out in the next status post.
- Status is posted on your schedule: what closed this cycle, what is at risk, and which projects are drifting.
- Near the cycle's end, the agent proposes which unfinished issues should move to the next cycle. Your approver confirms before anything changes in Linear.
What you provide within 72 hours
Your portal lists these the moment you order. Delivery starts the working day after everything is in and your access is checked.
- A Linear API key covering the teams and projects in scope.
- Your Linear admin for a 30-minute setup call.
- Your rules for stalled issues, at-risk projects and carry-over.
- Ten sample issues, cycle summaries or status posts from your team.
- The approver for moving issues between cycles or changing owners.
- Access to the team channel and the one other system, with test data where possible.
- One decision-maker who signs off the workflows.
- An API key for your own AI model account (for example OpenAI or Google Gemini), created for this build with a spending limit.
The 72-hour rule. Send everything on your checklist, including access, within 72 hours of ordering so your build starts on time.
Timeline
Start
Intake verified; teams, cycles and approval rules agreed.
Weeks 1–2
Cycle checks, project risk rules and status posts built.
Week 3
Linear issues, projects and cycles connected, channel linked.
Weeks 3–4
Fifty scenarios run on test cycles.
Week 4
Your review, then two rounds of changes.
Go-live
Live on your Linear teams, recorded handoff, support starts.
| Option | Delivery time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 20–30 working days | $4,900 |
| Express | 15–25 working days | $5,750 |
| Rush | 10–20 working days | $6,600 |
What you receive at handover
- The AI Project Manager Agent for Linear, configured and deployed
- A two-way Linear connection with documented field mapping, plus up to one more system
- Access set up through invites or keys you control, with no keys sent by email
- A test report on sandbox or test records
- An admin guide and recorded handoff session
- 30 days of post-launch support
Expected benefits and how to measure them
- Can make cycle reviews shorter and better informed
- Helps stalled issues get attention mid-cycle
- Makes status updates appear without engineers writing them
- Cycle completion
- Use Linear's cycle view to compare completed and planned issues for cycles before launch and after.
- Issues carried over per cycle
- Count issues rolled into the next cycle for recent cycles before launch and the cycles after.
- Planning meeting length
- Note how long cycle planning takes for the last few cycles before launch, then for the next few.
Before you start: Record completion and carry-over for your last few Linear cycles. Note how long planning and status writing take today.
These are things to track, not promised results. Outcomes depend on your data, your team and your market.
Running costs
The build price is one-time. Running it costs roughly $50 to $250 a month for AI model usage and hosting, in your own accounts, next to your Linear plan and other tools. Linear licenses and upgrades are excluded.
AI usage during the build and testing is billed to you directly too.
Ask about running costsCustom requirements
A third connected system, a seventh workflow, or custom Linear objects outside the mapping need a written Change Quote. Add it as a checkout note to receive one.
Request a custom versionKeep it running
Monthly maintenance covers monitoring, fixes and a monthly allowance of change hours, for instance a new team added or a changed stall threshold. It bills monthly and can be cancelled any month.
$249/mo (the minimum fee, includes 2 change hours)
Optional. Starts after the post-launch support period. Cancel any month.
How maintenance worksHow this compares
| Do it yourself with a SaaS tool | Hire a custom agency | Upmark Labs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | An engineering analytics tool charges per developer | A delivery manager is a full-time hire | Ours is one fixed price, shown before you buy |
| Timing | Dashboards show the cycle after it ends | Risks raised at the retro | Ours flags unstarted and stalled issues mid-cycle |
| Carry-over | Unfinished issues often roll over without review | Decided in the planning meeting | Ours proposes carry-over and waits for approval |
| Delivery | You connect it and read the charts | Hiring takes weeks | Ours has a fixed delivery time shown before you buy, with faster options |
Questions about this product
How does AI Project Manager Agent for Linear judge a cycle at risk?
By comparing progress with time left, using your rules. Issues not started by the cycle's midpoint, issues idle for longer than you allow, or scope added after the cycle began all count. Flags go to owners in your team channel while there is still time to act, not after the cycle closes.
Does the Linear agent move unfinished issues to the next cycle?
It proposes the move, and your approver decides. Near the end of each cycle it lists unfinished issues with a suggested carry-over, and only approved moves are written to Linear. You can allow specific cases automatically, such as low-priority issues, if your rules say so.
Which Linear data can the project manager edition read and update?
Issues, projects and cycles, on the field mapping your Linear admin approves. It reads issue state, owners and cycle membership, and project target dates. Updates such as moving an issue or changing an owner follow your approval rules. Custom Linear objects are outside this build.
Where do the Linear agent's flags and status posts appear?
In the one channel on the Scope Card, typically a Slack or Teams channel your engineers already use. Flags mention the issue owner and what the issue is blocking, and the scheduled status post covers closed work, at-risk issues and drifting projects across the teams in scope.
When does the build start for the Linear project manager edition?
The clock starts once your Linear API key, rules and approver are verified, which is due within 72 hours of ordering. Standard, express and rush delivery times are shown in the delivery panel before you buy. If you can, agree your stall threshold and carry-over rules before the intake call, because they shape every workflow.
What are the monthly running costs of the Linear agent?
Roughly $50 to $250 a month for AI model usage and hosting, billed in your own accounts, depending on how many teams and workflows are active. Linear stays on your current plan. Monthly maintenance is optional after the 30 days of support, and covers changes such as adding a team.
Guides on this topic
All guides Find out mid-cycle, not on the last day.
Order AI Project Manager Agent for Linear and it watches your cycles and project dates, flags stalled work while there is time to act, and proposes carry-over for your approver.
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