Skip to main content

⭐ Start Here — Recommended

Start here to understand how users and contributors are managed in LinearB. This guide explains the difference between users and contributors, how identities are merged across tools, how access and permissions are handled, and how user data affects reporting, audits, and billing. Use this as your entry point before managing users, reviewing contributor counts, or migrating to the unified User Management experience.

Steven Silverstone
Updated by Steven Silverstone
This article requires admin permissions in LinearB.

Use this Start Here guide to understand how LinearB manages users and contributors, how identities are unified across Git and project management tools, and where to perform common administration tasks (inviting users, managing access, merging accounts, and auditing changes).

Summary
  • Users control access to LinearB (login, roles, permissions).
  • Contributors represent engineering contributors in Git/PM data and commonly impact billing and reporting.
  • Auto-merge helps unify identities across systems to keep reporting accurate.
  • Use the Audit Log to track administrative actions and changes.
  • If you’re moving to the new experience, follow the Unified User Management migration guide.
Before you begin

What you’ll need

  • LinearB role: Company Admin (recommended).
  • SSO context (if applicable): Access may be controlled by your IdP settings and group assignments.
If you are troubleshooting missing access or unexpected contributor counts, start by confirming whether you are looking at a user (access) problem or a contributor (identity/reporting/billing) problem.
Key concepts

Users

Users are the people who can sign in to LinearB. User records include roles/permissions and may be tied to SSO. User management typically includes inviting users, removing access, and assigning roles.

Contributors

Contributors are identities detected from engineering activity (for example, Git authors, committers, PR creators, or linked PM identities). Contributors are used for attribution in reports, team views, and (in many plans) contributor-based billing.

Why this distinction matters

  • Someone can be a contributor without being a user (they contribute code but don’t log in).
  • Someone can be a user without being an active contributor (they log in to view dashboards but don’t contribute code).
  • One human may appear as multiple contributors until identities are merged.
Where to manage everything in LinearB
  • Users: Manage invitations, roles, and access in the User Management area (and in the unified UI if enabled).
  • Contributors: Review contributor identities, merge duplicates, or remove contributors from billing in Settings → Company Settings → Teams & Contributors.
  • Audit Log: Track administrative actions and system changes in Audit Log.
Common tasks
  • Invite or remove a user: Use the user management UI to grant or revoke access.
  • Merge contributors: Combine duplicate identities (multiple emails/usernames) into one contributor for accurate attribution.
  • Remove a contributor from billing: Use the Contributors list to stop tracking a person who has left the organization.
  • Validate identity accuracy: Confirm auto-merge behavior (if enabled) and correct mismatches early.
  • Audit changes: Use the Audit Log for compliance and troubleshooting.
Removing a user removes access to LinearB. Removing a contributor affects tracking and (in many cases) billing attribution.
Related articles

How did we do?

Using the Audit Log

Contact