A Linear issue is rarely a complete implementation plan. How to turn one into a scoped, supervised agent session — context assembled, repository resolved, and every diff reviewed while it is still cheap to change.
A ticket that says "Add SSO support" is a starting signal, not an agent-ready task. Turning a Jira item into a bounded, reviewable agent session — with a human in control at every stage.
An agent can produce a diff in ten minutes. The hard problem starts at minute 45, still tracing a bug while its owner is in transit. Monitoring is a control loop.
Async agent work is not unattended delivery. It plans for the developer being away: structured context up front, visible checkpoints, and approvals backed by proof.
An agent can produce a useful diff in 20 minutes, then sit idle for six hours. The constraint is not model capability — it is continuity across people and time.