Linear Asks Deep Dive 2026: Slack Intake, Email, Web Forms and Triage Intelligence
Linear Asks turns internal requests from Slack, email and web forms into Linear issues that land in a team’s Triage. It is on the Business plan ($16 per user a month, yearly) and Enterprise. Web forms and extra Slack options, like auto-creating an Ask from an emoji, are Enterprise only. Requesters do not need a Linear account.
I set up intake for engineering and IT teams. Before Asks, bug reports lived in DMs and got lost. After, every request is an issue with an owner, and the person who asked gets replies in the place they asked. This guide uses Linear’s docs on Linear Asks, Asks in Slack, web forms and Triage Intelligence, plus the April 2, 2026 changelog and pricing page, checked on October 15, 2026.
Business vs Enterprise
| Feature | Business ($16) | Enterprise (custom) |
|---|---|---|
| Slack intake (channels) | Yes | Yes |
| Email intake and replies | Yes | Yes |
| Custom email domains | Yes | Yes |
| Private Asks (DMs and Asks bot) | Yes | Yes |
| Asks fields and form templates | Yes | Yes |
| Extra Slack options (emoji, every message, many workspaces) | No | Yes |
| Web forms (SAML sign-in) | No | Yes |
| Triage Intelligence | Yes | Yes |
Free and Basic ($10) do not include Asks. Basic is capped at 5 teams. Business has unlimited teams, private teams and guests.
How an Ask flows
- Someone asks in Slack, sends an email, or fills a web form.
- Linear creates an issue for the chosen team. It starts in that team’s Triage.
- A synced thread keeps the requester in the loop. Replies in Linear show up in Slack or email, and replies there show up in Linear.
- The team accepts, assigns, merges as a duplicate, or declines, using normal Linear workflow.
That synced thread is the part people love. The requester never has to ask “any update?” in a second place.
Set up Slack intake
- In Linear, open Settings, then Asks.
- Click + under Slack intake and sign in to your Slack workspace.
- Choose who manages Asks channels and templates: admins only, or members too.
- Connect Linear teams to Private Asks (DMs and the Asks app home) or to specific public channels.
- In Slack, invite the Linear Asks app to each channel.
Good to know:
- Make teams connected to Private Asks private in Linear too, so only that team can see the issues.
- Auto-create on every new message works in public channels only. Even Enterprise cannot auto-create in private channels.
- The optional Asks agent lets people @mention it in a thread. If a template has required fields, it asks the person to fill them before creating the Ask.
- You can decide whether Slack users outside your Linear workspace can change status and priority from Slack.
Templates keep requests usable
Add templates per team, then choose which ones each channel can use. Fields include text, long text, dropdown, checkboxes, date, file upload and instructions, plus priority, labels, due date and customer. Workspace-level templates do not work with Asks.
If a channel has several templates, Linear picks the best match from the message. A default template applies to auto-created Asks. If it has required fields, auto-create is turned off for that channel.
My starter set for an IT team: “Access request,” “Hardware,” and “Something’s broken.” Three is enough.
Set up email intake
Each email creates an issue. The subject becomes the title and the body becomes the description. Use the Linear intake address, or forward your own address, like it@yourcompany.com, into Linear. In Microsoft 365, allow automatic forwarding in the outbound anti-spam policy first. In Google Workspace, avoid Google Groups for forwarding because it changes email headers.
Web forms (Enterprise)
Web forms launched on April 2, 2026. They give your company an Asks site with pages, and each page holds forms built from templates.
- People sign in through SAML. Create a separate SAML app for Asks. Do not reuse your workspace sign-in app.
- Requesters get an email confirmation, and comments sync both ways with that email thread.
- You can use a Linear-hosted domain or your own. A custom domain needs DNS records and can take up to 48 hours to verify.
- Up to 30 web form pages per workspace.
Triage Intelligence: route the flood
Asks increases volume. Triage Intelligence helps the team keep up.
- An admin turns it on in Settings > AI. It applies to every team, and each team can turn it off.
- For each new issue in Triage, it suggests team, project, assignee and labels, and flags likely duplicates.
- Per team, choose whether each kind of suggestion is shown, hidden or auto-applied.
- Suggestions take about 1 to 4 minutes per issue.
- Linear says it does not train its own models on your data.
I start with suggestions shown, not auto-applied. After two weeks, auto-apply the ones the team accepts almost every time, usually labels.
A sample setup for an IT team
Here is a simple version that works for a 150-person company:
- Slack: a public #it-help channel connected to the IT team, with auto-create on. Private Asks for anything about accounts or passwords.
- Email: it@ forwards into Linear for people who prefer email and for vendor messages.
- Templates: Access request, Hardware, and Something’s broken, each with two or three fields.
- Triage: one person on triage duty each week, with Triage Intelligence suggesting labels and assignees.
The whole setup takes about an afternoon, plus SAML time if you add web forms on Enterprise.
Rollout mistakes to avoid
- Turning on every channel at once. Start with one busy channel, like #it-help, for two weeks.
- No triage owner. Linear lets you set triage responsibility per team. Name one person each day or week, or Asks pile up.
- Too many required fields. Each required field is a reason someone goes back to DMs. Ask only what you truly need.
- Forgetting to close the loop. Decline with a short reason instead of letting stale Asks sit.
For more on structuring work after triage, see our Linear cycles guide, Linear pricing and Linear review. Comparing tools for intake? Read Jira vs Linear.
Common questions
Do people need a Linear account to submit an Ask?
No. Slack and email requesters do not need one. Web form users sign in through your company’s SAML identity provider.
Which Linear plan includes Asks?
Business and Enterprise. Web forms and extra Slack features need Enterprise.
Can Asks auto-create issues in private Slack channels?
No. You can create Asks manually in private channels, but auto-create works in public channels only.
How long does Triage Intelligence take?
About 1 to 4 minutes per new issue in Triage.
Where do Asks land in Linear?
In the selected team’s Triage, where the team reviews, assigns and prioritizes them.
Checked against linear.app docs, changelog and pricing on October 15, 2026.
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