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WorkerB

Heather Hazell
Updated

WorkerB — Developer Automation & Notifications

WorkerB brings LinearB insights directly into the tools your team already lives in — Slack and Microsoft Teams. It helps developers pick up reviews faster, avoid risky merges, and stay on top of pull requests without leaving chat.

TL;DR — What WorkerB Does

  • Sends team alerts to Slack / MS Teams channels for risks like unreviewed PRs, long reviews, and “work at risk”.
  • Sends personal alerts to individual devs for review requests, comments, approvals, CI status, and @mentions.
  • Lets devs use chat commands (Slack slash commands or Teams bot commands) to see open PRs and review queues.
  • Includes smart helpers like Estimated Review Time, Inline Approval for tiny PRs, unassigned PR sharing, and Jira ticket creation for unlinked branches.
Availability: WorkerB is available on paid LinearB plans. Slack / Teams integration must be connected by an Admin before developers can enable personal alerts.

Before you begin

  • Git provider connected (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket Cloud, or supported on-prem). WorkerB links users based on their Git commits.
  • Slack or Microsoft Teams admin to install the app and approve permissions.
  • LinearB Admin to connect Slack / Teams in Company Settings.
  • For Jira one-click ticket creation: an existing Jira integration and a Jira user with project permissions.
Important: WorkerB can only link a personal account after the user has at least one commit in a Git repo connected to LinearB. New or non-contributor users will not be able to enable personal alerts until their first commit is detected.

WorkerB for Slack

Setting up WorkerB for Slack

1. Connect Slack to LinearB (one-time, workspace-level)

  1. In LinearB, go to Settings → Company Settings.
  2. Select the Slack tab.
  3. Click Connect Slack and approve the Slack permissions.

After connecting, you’ll see your LinearB teams listed with a Slack channel column.

Re-authorization: When LinearB adds new Slack capabilities, you may see a prompt to reauthorize the Slack app. Click Reauthorize Slack and approve the updated scopes to restore full WorkerB functionality.

2. Connect a LinearB team to a Slack channel

  1. In Company Settings → Slack, find the team you want to connect.
  2. Click Connect (or the pencil icon) and choose a public Slack channel.
  3. Click Save.

LinearB posts a confirmation message in the selected channel with a Sign me up! button. Team members can click it to start using WorkerB personal alerts and commands.

You can later adjust which alerts this team receives via: 
Company Settings → Slack → Edit Notifications or Team Settings → Notifications.

3. Enable WorkerB personal alerts in Slack

Important: Personal WorkerB alerts are available only for contributors who have at least one commit in a repository connected to LinearB. If a user links WorkerB but has never committed to a connected repo, their personal feed will remain empty.
Connect your Slack user
  1. In Slack, type /lb connect in any channel or DM.
  2. If you’re not connected yet, click Let’s do it! in the WorkerB prompt.
  3. Authenticate in LinearB using your Git provider login.

Once linked, WorkerB starts sending personal notifications and allows you to run WorkerB slash commands.

Choose which alerts you get
  1. In Slack, type /lb pref.
  2. Use the Personal Preferences panel to enable / disable alert types.
  3. Click Save.

4. Use WorkerB Slack commands

Use these commands in Slack once you’re connected:

  • /lb help – See available commands.
  • /lb updates – View recent activity on your PRs and reviews.
  • /lb reviews – List PRs waiting for your review.
  • /lb prs – List all open PRs you’ve authored.
  • /lb prs long – Find PRs that have been open for a long time.
  • /lb prs done – Show recently completed PRs.
  • /lb pref – Open personal notification preferences.
  • /lb invite – Invite teammates to connect WorkerB.
  • /lb unlink – Disconnect your Slack and Git accounts.

5. Connect WorkerB to a private Slack channel

  1. First, connect the team to any public channel from Company Settings → Slack.
  2. In the private Slack channel, mention the bot (@WorkerB) to invite it.
  3. Please contact support with:
    • Your LinearB organization name.
    • The LinearB team name.
    • The private Slack channel name and channel ID.
  4. Support will map the team to the private channel and confirm once alerts are routed correctly.

After setup, you can manage alerts for that team the same way as any other channel.

WorkerB for Microsoft Teams

Setting up WorkerB for Microsoft Teams

1. Install WorkerB in Microsoft Teams

  1. Open the Microsoft Teams Admin Center.
  2. Upload the WorkerB.zip app package as a custom app (re-zip first if it was unzipped).
  3. After upload, locate WorkerB under Apps and allow / install it for your organization.
Permissions variants: Some organizations use a reduced-permission WorkerB variant in Teams. Full-permission installs enable richer interactive messages and automation, while reduced-permission installs provide a narrower feature set with lower security surface. Choose the option that aligns with your internal IT policies.

2. Connect Microsoft Teams in LinearB

  1. In LinearB, go to Settings → Company Settings → Microsoft Teams.
  2. Click Connect and approve the permissions request.
  3. After connection, LinearB shows a public invitation link. Share this with your team so users can link their accounts.

3. Link a LinearB team to a Teams channel

  1. In Teams, open the WorkerB bot.
  2. Type link team (or link team -s to search when you have many teams).
  3. Select the LinearB team and the Microsoft Teams team.
  4. Select the channel where you want WorkerB alerts to appear.
  5. Optionally, choose to invite all team members so they receive a personal invite card.
  6. Confirm to complete the setup. A confirmation message appears in the channel.

4. Connect individual users in Teams

Link your Teams user
  1. Click the WorkerB invite link shared by your admin, then click Add.
  2. Open the WorkerB chat and type LinkUser.
  3. Click Link my account and log in via your Git provider.

After authentication, WorkerB confirms the connection in Teams.

Configure personal preferences
  1. In the WorkerB chat, type Pref.
  2. Select which personal alerts you’d like to receive.
  3. Click Save.

5. Teams bot commands

Use these commands in the WorkerB chat:

  • Help – List available WorkerB commands.
  • LinkUser – Link your Teams user to LinearB.
  • Invite – Invite teammates to enable personal notifications.
  • Pref – Open personal alert preferences.
  • Prs – List your open PRs.
  • Prs long – List long-open PRs.
  • Prs done – Show recently completed PRs.
  • Updates – Show latest updates on your PRs.
  • Reviews – List PRs awaiting your review.
  • Unlink – Disconnect your Teams user from LinearB.

WorkerB alerts & automation

Personal alerts (Slack & Teams)

Once connected, developers receive direct messages for key PR events, such as:

  • Review requested — you’re assigned a PR or added as a reviewer.
  • Comments / change requests — someone comments on your PR or requests changes.
  • Approvals — your PR is approved.
  • CI checks passed / failed — your CI tool reports status back to the Git provider.
  • @Mentions — another user tags you in a PR comment (optional preference).

You control which of these you receive from the /lb pref panel (Slack) or Pref (Teams).

Team alerts (Slack & Teams channels)

Team alerts surface risks and trends at the team level. You manage them per team from Team Settings → Notifications or from the Slack / Microsoft Teams tabs in Company Settings.

Available team alerts include:

  • Work at Risk — large PRs with a high percentage of rework/refactor. 
    Default: PRs with 100+ lines and 50%+ rework; thresholds are configurable.
  • PR merged without review — PRs merged with no reviewer comments. 
    Default: PRs with more than 20 code changes.
  • Merged with basic review — PRs above a size threshold merged after very short review time.
  • Review request hanging — review requests waiting too long to be picked up. 
    Configurable between roughly 0.5–6 days.
  • Long review — reviews that remain open longer than expected.
  • Pull request lifecycle — PRs that stay open (pickup + review) longer than target.
  • Daily Digest — once-per-day summary of large PRs, highly commented PRs, and stuck work, at a time you choose.

WorkerB advanced features

Estimated Review Time

Estimated Review Time appears in WorkerB notifications and commands, giving reviewers a quick estimate of how long it will take to complete an initial review of a PR.

LinearB starts with a global model based on anonymized customer data, then gradually adapts to your organization’s historical review patterns. The estimate model is recalculated regularly as more data is collected.

You’ll see Estimated Review Time in:

  • Slack / Teams personal alerts when you’re assigned a review.
  • /lb updates and related commands listing PRs and reviews.
  • Some team alerts focused on review pickup and duration.
Inline Approval for small PRs

For GitHub organizations using Slack WorkerB alerts, WorkerB can show the diff of very small PRs (fewer than 5 lines of code changed) directly inside a Slack DM and let you approve the PR inline.

The first time you click Approve, WorkerB prompts you to authorize LinearB to approve PRs on your behalf via GitHub OAuth. After you grant permission, you can approve future tiny PRs from Slack with a single click.

If the PR changes (for example, new commits or comments) before you approve, WorkerB will prevent automatic approval and prompt you to review again in GitHub.

Share unassigned PRs

When a non-draft PR remains unassigned for more than ~2 minutes, WorkerB can send the author a DM suggesting they share it with a team channel.

The DM includes key context (PR link, number of files, lines changed, and Estimated Review Time) and lets the author:

  • Share — send this one PR to a chosen channel, or
  • Always share PRs — automatically share unassigned PRs from that repo going forward.

To post into private channels, make sure the @LinearB / WorkerB bot is a member of the channel.

Jira ticket creation for unlinked branches

When a branch or PR isn’t linked to a Jira ticket, WorkerB can prompt the author in Slack to either create or edit a Jira issue directly from the alert.

Enable the alert

  1. In Slack, type /lb pref.
  2. Enable the option for Jira ticket for unlinked branch.

From the WorkerB alert

  • Create Ticket — WorkerB creates a Jira issue using the PR details (project, issue type, summary).
  • Edit — adjust project / type / summary before creating.

The first time you use this feature, you’ll be asked to connect your personal Jira account to WorkerB so it can create issues on your behalf.

Limitations: WorkerB supports Jira projects that use standard required fields. If your project enforces custom required fields, in-chat ticket creation may not be available.
GitHub team notifications

When a GitHub team is requested as a reviewer on a PR, WorkerB can notify up to five members of that team with a DM containing the PR link and Estimated Review Time.

Requirements:

  • Team members must have WorkerB connected (Slack personal alerts enabled).
  • For some organizations, LinearB may require updated GitHub permissions (for example, read:org) and a brief re-authorization of the Git connection.

Troubleshooting

User can’t link WorkerB account

Symptom: A user tries to connect via Slack or Teams but sees no data or the link fails.

Cause: WorkerB only links users who are recognized as contributors — people with at least one commit in a Git repository connected to LinearB.

Fix:

  • Have the user push at least one commit to a connected repo.
  • Wait a few minutes for LinearB to process the new contributor.
  • Ensure the email in Git matches the email used in Slack / Teams.

If the person is not meant to be a contributor (for example, PM or designer), they can still follow team-level alerts in channels but won’t have personal WorkerB alerts.

Slack app asks for re-authorization

When LinearB adds features that require additional Slack scopes, you’ll see a banner asking to reauthorize.

  1. In LinearB, open Company Settings → Slack.
  2. Click Reauthorize Slack and accept the updated permissions.
No alerts in a private Slack channel

Verify that the WorkerB / LinearB bot is invited to the channel and that Support has mapped the team to the private channel as described above. Alerts can only post where the bot is a member.

New features added to WorkerB capabilites from LinearB are not showing up in Slack or Workspace

Your Slack workspace admin may need to re-authorize the LinearB app to grant the updated permission scopes. Look for a reauthorization banner in Slack’s App settings or in the LinearB Slack integration page.

Need help or want guidance for your team?
Contact LinearB Support.

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