Create Linear Issues from GitHub CI Failures
Every GitHub Actions failure becomes a reviewed Linear issue with the error summary, failing job, commit SHA, and a Slack recap, without anyone hunting through logs by hand.
Triggered when A GitHub Actions workflow run fails, and the agent picks it up within about a minute.
Read the failing job logs and pinpoint the likely cause
readRecall related failures and the owning area from memory
readReview the drafted issue before it is filed in Linear
ConfirmationA failing GitHub Actions run tells you something broke, but it does not tell you who should fix it or what exactly went wrong. Someone still has to open the logs, read through the noise, decide which step failed, work out the likely cause, find the right person to own it, and create a Linear issue before the next commit makes the context harder to reconstruct. Actionist closes that gap: an agent picks up each CI failure, reads the job logs to pinpoint the error, recalls related failures and owning areas from memory, and drafts a Linear issue for your review before anything is filed.
Because the agent operates GitHub and Linear directly, it fits the workflow your engineering team already runs. It does not need a webhook middleware layer or a custom integration. It reads the logs, recalls context from past failures, prepares the issue with the error summary, the failing step, the commit SHA, and a suggested assignee, then waits for a human to confirm before the issue is created. A Slack recap follows automatically so the team sees the outcome without checking Linear manually. The shown apps are examples: you can build a custom agent for your own CI platform, issue tracker, and channel.
What this automation does, end to end
A GitHub Actions workflow run fails, and the agent picks it up within about a minute.
Runs within about a minuteSee how this Automation works
- 1
A GitHub Actions CI run fails and the agent picks it up
Connect GitHub to Actionist once, and every failed workflow run becomes a starting point. As soon as GitHub registers a completed run with a failure status, the agent picks it up within about a minute, so triage begins from the build your team is already running, with no manual log-watching or webhook setup.
- 2Step 2ActionistRead
Read the failing job logs and pinpoint the likely cause
The agent reads the full logs for the failing job, not just the status line. It works through the steps to find which one failed, what the error message says, which test or command produced it, and what the most likely root cause is. This turns a wall of log output into a concise error summary a human can review in seconds, without opening the GitHub Actions UI.
- 3Step 3ActionistRead
Recall related failures and the owning area from memory
Before drafting anything, the agent checks its memory: has this test failed before, which team or person owns the affected area, and are there open Linear issues already tracking this class of error. This is what stops the agent from filing a duplicate or assigning the issue to the wrong person. Prior failures, ownership patterns, and related issues carry forward automatically so every run builds on what was learned before.
- ✓Step 4HumanConfirmationOptional
Review the drafted issue before it is filed in Linear
You see the drafted Linear issue with the error summary, the failing step, the commit SHA, the branch name, and the suggested assignee, all in one place. You can adjust the title, change the assignee, set the priority, or approve as-is before anything is written to Linear. This review is optional: because the workflow only creates an internal Linear issue and posts a Slack recap, with no client-facing or destructive write, you can switch the agent to a full-auto approval mode and let it run end to end without a confirmation step.
- 5
Create a Linear issue with the error summary, failing job, commit SHA, branch, and suggested assignee
Once approved, the agent creates the Linear issue exactly as reviewed: a clear title, the full error summary, the failing job name and step, the commit SHA, the branch, a link to the GitHub Actions run, and the suggested assignee. Because the draft was already checked, what lands in Linear is clean, complete, and traceable back to the exact build that produced it. No context is lost between the failure and the issue.
- 6
Post a recap to the engineering Slack channel with the issue link
Finally, the agent posts a short recap to the engineering Slack channel: the repository, the workflow that failed, the error in one line, and a direct link to the new Linear issue. The whole team sees the failure and its owner without anyone writing a follow-up message by hand, and the recap only goes out after the issue is approved and created.
By hand vs. with the agent
What you do manually today
What your agent runs for you
- Engineering60 min / weekOpen the run and read through the logs
An engineer opens the failing GitHub Actions run, scrolls through step output to find the error, and works out the likely cause manually.
Engineering Agent0 minAgent reads and summarises the errorThe agent extracts the failing step, the error message, and the likely cause from the full log output into a one-line summary.
- Engineering60 min / weekManually create a Linear issue
Someone opens Linear, creates an issue from scratch, pastes the error, adds the commit and branch, and searches for the right assignee, often late or skipped when the team is busy.
Engineering Agent0 minAgent drafts the issue for reviewA ready-to-create Linear issue with the error summary, job name, commit SHA, branch, run link, and suggested assignee is staged for a one-click approval.
- Engineering24 min / weekWrite a Slack message about the failure
A lead copies the error into Slack after the issue is created, often losing the thread or skipping the notification when multiple failures land at once.
Engineering Agent0 minAgent posts the recap automaticallyA Slack recap with the error summary and the Linear issue link is posted to the engineering channel once the issue is approved, with no manual copy-paste.
Calculate what your team saves
Based on typical team usage — the visible tasks plus a few other automations the agent runs: ~2.4 hrs / person / week of admin work automated.
What this saves your team
- Per month
- 13 hrs
- Per year
- 150 hrs
- 150h
Annual triage work removed
Based on a typical cadence of twelve CI failures a week and about 15 minutes of manual log-reading, issue creation, and Slack notification saved per failure.
Failures stop going untracked
Every CI failure is triaged and filed as a Linear issue the same run, so broken builds do not wait until someone finds time to read the logs.
Issues keep their source
Each Linear issue links straight back to the GitHub Actions run, the failing step, and the commit that caused it, so owners have the full context without opening multiple tabs.
Approval before anything is filed
The agent drafts the issue and waits for a human to confirm before anything is written to Linear, so the team never sees duplicate or misfiled CI issues.
See this automation run on your stack
Book a personalised demo and watch an Actionist agent do it with your apps, live.
How it works, and how you stay in control
- trigger
Starts from a GitHub failure
The agent picks up each GitHub Actions job that completes with a failure status, so triage begins from the build your team is already running, within about a minute of the job finishing.
Read the docs → - memory
Remembers failures and owners
Saved context lets the agent recall who owns the affected area, whether this error has appeared before, and whether a related Linear issue is already open, so it never files a duplicate.
Read the docs → - approval
Waits for your review
Issue creation and the Slack recap pause for a human confirmation step by default, so the assignee, priority, and error summary are checked before anything is written to Linear.
Read the docs → - app-connection
Operates GitHub, Linear, and Slack
Instead of asking engineers to copy errors between tools, the agent reads the GitHub logs, creates the Linear issue, and posts the Slack recap itself, without a middleware layer.
See Actionist App Store →
Who automates this with Actionist
People also automate
Questions about this workflow
Does it work with GitHub Actions?
What gets added to each Linear issue?
Will it create a Linear issue without my review?
How does it know who should own the issue?
How fast does it pick up a failing run?
Can it post a recap to Slack?
Will it file duplicate issues for the same recurring failure?
Can I build this for a different CI platform or issue tracker?
See your CI failures become tracked issues
Book a free demo and watch an Actionist agent turn a GitHub Actions failure into a reviewed Linear issue and a Slack recap.