Launchpad API

Overview

This skill enables interaction with Canonical's Launchpad platform (https://launchpad.net) through direct API calls using the lp-api command-line tool. It provides full CRUD capabilities (Create, Read, Update, Delete) for querying and managing bugs, people, projects, builds, and other Launchpad resources via the official API at https://api.launchpad.net/devel.html.

API-First Approach: This skill focuses on direct API interaction using lp-api, not the web UI or Python launchpadlib. All operations are performed via HTTP requests to api.launchpad.net.

Important Note: All lp-api commands return JSON responses except using with ws.show==total_size, or using download and pipe subcommands. Parse these outputs to extract meaningful information.

Installation & Troubleshooting

If lp-api is not found, use the GitHub API to find and download the correct binary for your system.

1. Find download URL:

# Get the browser_download_url for your OS (linux/darwin/windows) and Architecture (amd64/arm64)
# Example for Linux AMD64:
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/fourdollars/lp-api/releases | \
  jq -r '.[0].assets[] | select(.name | endswith("linux-amd64.tar.gz")) | .browser_download_url'

2. Download and Install:

curl -L -o lp-api.tar.gz <URL>
tar -xzf lp-api.tar.gz
chmod +x lp-api
mkdir -p bin
mv lp-api bin/
export PATH=$PWD/bin:$PATH

Authentication

The tool handles OAuth authentication automatically:

1. Environment Variable (preferred for CI/CD):

   bashCopy

   export LAUNCHPAD_TOKEN="oauth_token:oauth_secret:consumer_key"
   

2. Config File (for interactive use):

   • Stored at .lp-api.toml in the current directory (recommended)
   • Use -conf .lp-api.toml to specify the location
   • Created automatically on first run via OAuth flow
   • User prompted to authorize at launchpad.net

Resources

Refer to the documentation in references/ for detailed usage, patterns, and workflows:

• basics.md: START HERE. CLI usage, core operations (GET/PATCH/POST), URL structure.
• workflow.md: Common workflows combining multiple operations (Bug triage, Batch updates, Build monitoring).
• bugs.md: Comprehensive guide to bug tracking, searching, and attachments.
• git.md: Guide to Git repositories, recipes, and merge proposal reviews.
• livefs.md: Guide to monitoring and managing LiveFS (ISO) builds.
• archive.md: Guide to working with archives (PPAs) and publishing.
• package-sets.md: Guide to managing package sets.
• people.md: Guide to managing people, teams, and memberships.
• project.md: Guide to managing projects, milestones, and releases.
• series.md: Guide to working with Launchpad series (distro releases).

Quick Tips

Search Bugs Across ALL Projects

To find bugs you're involved with across all projects and distributions, use searchTasks on the person resource:

# Get your person link
ME_LINK=$(lp-api get people/+me | jq -r '.self_link')

# All bugs assigned to you (across all projects)
lp-api get people/+me ws.op==searchTasks assignee==$ME_LINK

# Filter by status
lp-api get people/+me ws.op==searchTasks assignee==$ME_LINK status=="In Progress"

# Bugs you reported, subscribed to, or have activity on
lp-api get people/+me ws.op==searchTasks bug_reporter==$ME_LINK
lp-api get people/+me ws.op==searchTasks bug_subscriber==$ME_LINK
lp-api get people/+me ws.op==searchTasks bug_commenter==$ME_LINK  # includes any activity
lp-api get people/+me ws.op==searchTasks affected_user==$ME_LINK

Note: bug_commenter includes any bug activity (comments, status changes, field updates), not just message comments.

This is equivalent to the web UI at https://launchpad.net/~username/+assignedbugs.