# Build brief — a focused alternative to Linear > **Verdict:** Partly, if you narrow it · **Buildability:** 53/100 · **Category:** Dev Tools > **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/linear > Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Linear. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting. ## Context **Linear** — Keyboard-first issue tracker and project planner for product teams. It currently costs $10/mo. The object model is small: issues, states, labels, cycles, projects. A keyboard-first single-player tracker with a board, cycles, and one-way GitHub sync is a contained build. What does not survive the copy is the sync engine, real-time multiplayer, and the integration surface (GitHub two-way, Slack, Figma, Sentry) that make Linear the place a team actually agrees on what is being built. This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of Linear that is genuinely reproducible. It is deliberately narrower than the product it replaces, and it says so in writing. Build the useful core; do not pretend to have rebuilt the rest. ## What you are building Local SQLite issue tracker with prefixed IDs, statuses, priorities, labels, a drag board, rolling two-week cycles, a command palette, and a script that pulls GitHub issues in. - Build the focused developer workflow you use repeatedly, with local configuration. - A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states. ## Requirements ### Functional - Local or hosted database. - A box the team can reach if more than one person uses it. ### Data and integrations - GitHub personal access token for issue sync. Each of these needs a real account, credential, or quota. Set them up before writing feature code. ### Non-functional - Accessibility: semantic markup, labelled controls, visible focus, and reduced-motion support. - Security: server-side secrets, validated input, and no credentials in the client bundle. - Reliability: retries with backoff on external calls, and a clear failure state when a provider is down. - Portability: the operator can export their data and leave without losing it. ## Implementation brief Build me a personal issue tracker to replace Linear. Requirements: - A local web app: Node + Express + better-sqlite3, server-rendered, dark, bound to localhost. One SQLite file I back up. - Issues have an auto ID with a team prefix (ENG-142), a Markdown body, a status (backlog, todo, in progress, in review, done, canceled), a priority (urgent to none), labels, and a point estimate. - Keyboard-first: c creates, s status, p priority, l labels, / searches titles, bodies, and comments with SQLite FTS5, cmd+k opens a command palette for all of it. - Three views: My Issues, a board with drag between columns, and the current cycle, a two-week window with a remaining-estimate burndown. On its last day, unfinished issues roll forward, done ones archive. - node scripts/sync-github.js (octokit, token and repo list in .env) pulls open GitHub issues in, keyed on issue number so re-runs update instead of duplicate. - Pressing b copies a branch name (me/eng-142-short-title) to the clipboard. - Comments and a per-issue activity log. No accounts, no telemetry, nothing leaves the machine except the GitHub calls. - Out of scope: multiplayer, mobile apps, and writing back to GitHub. Skip auth and deploy config, this runs on my machine. - README: how to run it, where the SQLite file lives, and the GitHub token scope. ## Delivery standard - Inspect the repository first, then write a short implementation plan before writing code. - Deliver the smallest complete end-to-end workflow first; every primary control must work against persisted data. - Use real validation and storage; never substitute fake dashboards, decorative controls, hard-coded success states, or mock integrations. - Include responsive layouts plus genuine empty, loading, success, validation, and failure states. - Keep secrets server-side in environment variables, provide .env.example, and never commit credentials or user data. - Add structured logs around every external call and return actionable errors without leaking sensitive details. - Write unit tests for the core logic and one automated test of the main user journey. - Finish with a README covering setup, architecture, data location, backups, tests, deployment, and known limitations. ## Acceptance criteria - [ ] A clean install starts the app using only the README and .env.example. - [ ] The primary journey works from first visit through saved result, reload, edit, export, and deletion where applicable. - [ ] Invalid input, missing configuration, provider failure, and an empty database each have a usable state. - [ ] The interface works at 390px and 1440px, is keyboard navigable, and shows visible focus on every control. - [ ] Tests, type checking, linting, and a production build all pass with no ignored failures. - [ ] No part of the interface implies a live integration, security guarantee, or scale capability that was not actually built and verified. ## Non-goals Do not build these, and do not claim to have replaced them: - Real-time multiplayer and the sub-100ms sync engine. - Native mobile and desktop apps. - Two-way integrations with GitHub, Slack, Figma, and Sentry. - Triage, Insights, and Linear Asks. - Permissions, presence, and shared workflows are difficult to simplify. - The last 20 percent is sync, migration fidelity, speed, and edge cases. ## What you still own after launch - Secure credentials, rotate secrets, and handle provider rate limits. - Run migrations, backups, restores, and dependency updates. - Test the critical journey after every model, API, or hosting change. - Monitor failures and fix the edge cases a first prompt will miss. - Maintain every third-party integration as APIs and OAuth rules change. ## Risk **Operational risk.** The code is achievable; dependable data, integrations, and ongoing operations are the real cost. Editorial confidence in this assessment: medium. No independent one-shot implementation is linked yet. ## Prior art Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting: - [Plane](https://github.com/makeplane/plane) — Open-source project and issue tracker with cycles, modules, and boards; the closest self-hosted Linear analogue - [Huly](https://github.com/hcengineering/platform) — Open-source all-in-one platform whose tracker module is an explicit Linear alternative --- Generated by [Can It Be Vibe Coded?](https://www.canitbevibecoded.com) · Full report: https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/linear