How to Access Live Linear Data in Power Automate Desktop via ODBC

The CData ODBC Driver for Linear enables you to access live Linear data in workflow automation tools like Power Automate. This article shows how to integrate Linear data into a simple workflow, moving Linear data into a CSV file.

Through optimized data processing, CData ODBC Drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live Linear data in Microsoft Power Automate. When you issue complex SQL queries from Power Automate to Linear, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Linear and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (e.g. SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connect to Linear as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

You can authenticate to Linear with a personal API key or with OAuth 2.0. The API key is the simplest option for connecting with your own Linear account.

Authenticating with an API Key

Set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: A Linear personal API key.

To create a personal API key, log in to Linear, open Settings > Security & access > Personal API keys, select New API key, and create it. Copy the key immediately, because Linear shows it only once.

Authenticating with OAuth

OAuth requires a custom OAuth application registered in Linear (Settings > API > OAuth applications), which provides the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret. Two flows are supported:

• Authorization code: Set AuthScheme to OAuth, InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH, and provide OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and the CallbackURL defined in your application (e.g., http://localhost:33333). The driver opens Linear in your browser so you can grant access.
• Client credentials: Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient and provide OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret. This authenticates the application itself, with no browser interaction, and suits machine-to-machine integrations.

By default, the driver requests the read,write scopes. The driver refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing workflows.

Integrate Linear Data into Power Automate Workflows

After configuring the DSN for Linear, you are ready to integrate Linear data into your Power Automate workflows. Open Microsoft Power Automate, add a new flow, and name the flow.

In the flow editor, you can add the actions to connect to Linear, query Linear using SQL, and write the query results to a CSV document.

Add an Open SQL Connection Action

Add an "Open SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• Connection string: DSN=CData Linear Source

After configuring the action, click Save.

Add an Execute SQL Statement Action

Add an "Execute SQL statement" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• Get connection by: SQL connection variable
• SQL connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
• SQL statement: SELECT * FROM Team

After configuring the action, click Save.

Add a Write to CSV File Action

Add a "Write to CSV file" action (Actions -> File) and configure the properties.

• Variable to write to: %QueryResult% (the variable from the "Execute SQL statement" action above)
• File path: set to a file on disk
• Configure Advanced settings as needed.

After configuring the action, click Save.

Add a Close SQL Connection Action

Add a "Close SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• SQL Connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)

After configuring the action, click Save.

Save & Run the Flow

Once you have configured all the actions for the flow, click the disk icon to save the flow. Click the play icon to run the flow.

Now you have a workflow to move Linear data into a CSV file.

With the CData ODBC Driver for Linear, you get live connectivity to Linear data within your Microsoft Power Automate workflows.

Related Power Automate Articles

This article explains how to use the CData ODBC Driver for Linear with Power Automate Desktop. Check out our other articles for more ways to work with Power Automate (Desktop & Online):

• Linear Data in Power Automate Desktop using CData Connect AI
• Linear Data in Power Automate (Online) using CData Connect AI