Skip to content

Daily

Move issues that have stalled

Issues left in one status too long are moved back automatically, with a comment, and you get the list.

Runs
Daily
Apps
Linear
AI
Not needed
Access
read+write

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: every night, move any Linear issue that has been In Review with no updates for 10 days back to Todo, add a comment explaining why, and email me the list.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Linear boards fill up with issues that nobody is actually working on. A ticket moved to In Review three weeks ago still sits there, a Todo item from last quarter keeps crowding the cycle view, and the engineers read the board and cannot tell what is live. Cleaning it up is a chore that gets postponed until a planning meeting, when the team spends twenty minutes arguing over tickets no one remembers.

Each day, ClickRuntime queries Linear for issues in the status you name whose last update is older than your cutoff, say 21 days, and moves them to another status such as Backlog. It then emails you the list of issues that were moved, so nothing disappears without a record and anyone can pull a ticket back.

Engineering managers who care about an honest board will find the routine especially helpful.

What you get out of it

  • The board reflects real work

    When stale items drop out of active columns, the team sees what is in progress at a glance. That reduces status questions in standups and makes the cycle view something people trust.

  • Planning meetings stop being cleanup sessions

    The backlog is already tidy when planning starts. Time that used to go to arguing over forgotten tickets goes to deciding what the team will actually build next. Everyone can see what is truly ahead of them.

  • Nothing is deleted or lost

    Issues are moved, not removed, and the email lists each one. If somebody still cares about a ticket, they can find it in Backlog with its full history intact. That makes the cleanup safe enough to run automatically.

  • Owners are reminded gently

    Seeing a ticket get moved is a prompt for its owner to say whether it matters. It surfaces abandoned work without anyone having to send a stern message. Quiet work becomes visible without anyone being blamed.

  • Metrics become more accurate

    Cycle time and work in progress counts are distorted by tickets that sit forever. Moving them out keeps your reporting closer to the truth about how fast the team delivers.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. Every day, ClickRuntime looks for Linear issues that have sat in a chosen status, such as In Review, without any update for too long.

  2. It moves each of those issues back to the status you picked, such as Todo.

  3. You get an email listing the issues it moved, so nothing changes without you knowing.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Linear

What you get

RunsDaily
Move issues that have stalledtoday, 9:00Succeeded
Email · Stale reviewsMoved 3 stale reviews back to Todo ENG-288 Add audit log export · ENG-295 Rate limit invite emails

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Run it at a different time, more or less often, or only on weekdays
  • Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Linear steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
auto_move_stale_issues.pyexample
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
from clickruntime import on_trigger, http, credentials, notify

def linear(query, variables=None):
    r = http.post(
        "https://api.linear.app/graphql",
        headers={"Authorization": credentials.secret("LINEAR_API_KEY")},
        json={"query": query, "variables": variables or {}},
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()["data"]

@on_trigger
def run(event):
    cutoff = (datetime.now(timezone.utc) - timedelta(days=10)).isoformat()
    issues = linear("""query($cutoff: DateTimeOrDuration!) {
      issues(first: 100, filter: {updatedAt: {lt: $cutoff}, state: {name: {eq: "In Review"}}}) {
        nodes { id identifier title team { states(filter: {name: {eq: "Todo"}}) { nodes { id } } } } } }""",
        {"cutoff": cutoff})["issues"]["nodes"]
    moved = []
    for i in issues:
        todo = i["team"]["states"]["nodes"][0]["id"]
        linear("mutation($id: String!, $s: String!) { issueUpdate(id: $id, input: {stateId: $s}) { success } }",
               {"id": i["id"], "s": todo})
        linear("mutation($id: String!) { commentCreate(input: {issueId: $id, body: \"Moved back to Todo: no review activity for 10 days.\"}) { success } }",
               {"id": i["id"]})
        moved.append(f"{i['identifier']} {i['title']}")
    if moved:
        notify.email_me(f"Moved {len(moved)} stale reviews back to Todo", "\n".join(moved))
    return {"moved": len(moved)}

FAQ

Common questions

Which status and age should I choose?
That depends on your workflow. Many teams start with issues in In Progress for 14 days or in Todo for 30 days. The source status, the target status and the number of days are all set when the automation is created, and you can tune them after seeing the first emails.
Does a comment count as an update?
Linear's updated date changes when an issue is edited, moved or commented on, so a new comment resets the clock. A ticket that people are still discussing will not be moved. That is why the automation uses the updated date rather than the created date.
Can I review the moves before they are made?
The default behavior moves issues and reports afterwards. If you prefer to approve first, the automation can email the list and wait rather than act. Some teams run it that way for the first month, then switch to automatic moves once they trust the rule.
What permissions does it need?
read+write. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run each time it runs (daily). Checks that find nothing to do and stop right away aren't counted.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Move issues that have stalled” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.