flowleap-ai FlowLeap OPS
Auth and global flags: see flowleap-shared.
Direct access to the European Patent Office (EPO) Open Patent Services API.
OPS needs the user's own EPO patent-data key. If a command returns the gate code
— the CLI's providerKeysHint.code provider_keys_required, raised from the
backend's data_keys_required or patent_provider_key_invalid (each carrying
provider: "epo") — EP/WO is a user-action stop: decline that read and name
the free key as the fix; never serve the claims, description, or bibliography
from Google Patents, Espacenet, or a web search instead. Only those explicit
codes mean gated, and only the code — never the message wording — decides: an
empty payload, a truncated response, or a 5xx is an ordinary dead route with the
usual fallbacks. See flowleap-keys.
Commands
Search
flowleap ops search --cql <query> [flags]
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--cql |
CQL query string (required) | — |
--start |
Start position | 1 |
--end |
End position | 25 |
Document Commands
All document commands take a patent document number (e.g., EP1234567).
claims and description accept --lang (defaults to en):
flowleap ops biblio <doc> # Bibliographic data
flowleap ops claims <doc> --lang en # Claims text
flowleap ops description <doc> --lang en # Full description
flowleap ops family <doc> # Patent family members
flowleap ops legal <doc> # Legal status events
flowleap ops abstract <doc> # Abstract text
Doc IDs are normalized server-side — ep1.000.000 and EP1000000 both resolve.
For a non-EP-style number (US grant/application, or an original-format KR/CN number), convert it to DOCDB first so OPS can match it:
flowleap convert-number US5443036.A --to docdb
A SERVER.EntityNotFound on some KR/CN documents is an OPS coverage gap, not a
retryable error — don't retry it; fall back to another source for that document.
Response envelope
Every ops command runs a tool on the Tools facade — search_patents for
ops search, then get_bibliography, get_abstract, get_claims,
get_description, get_legal_status, and get_family for the document reads.
The per-source provider route each used to call is a retired endpoint.
The facade answers one envelope,
{ success, tool, data, executionTimeMs, cached? }; the CLI unwraps it so
--json prints just data. Pass --verbose to see the cache verdict and
execution time on stderr.
Failures carry { success: false, error: { code, message }, status }. Branch
on error.code, never on message — codes come from a closed registry and
never change once shipped, while wording is freely editable. The codes you will
see here: INVALID_INPUT (422, carries issues[]), UNKNOWN_TOOL (404),
NOT_FOUND (404), RATE_LIMITED (429, carries retryAfterSeconds),
TOOL_EXECUTION_ERROR (422), INTERNAL_ERROR (500), plus the key gate
(data_keys_required / patent_provider_key_invalid, each carrying
provider).
ops family returns the INPADOC extended family. get_patent_family is the
narrower simple-family tool — the same invention republished across offices,
without the divisionals and continuations. They answer different questions; pick
deliberately.
Examples
# CQL search
flowleap ops search --cql "ti=solar AND pa=Tesla"
# Get bibliographic data
flowleap ops biblio EP1234567
# Get claims in German
flowleap ops claims US10123456 --lang de
# Get family members (JSON for agents)
flowleap ops family EP1234567 --json
# Search with pagination
flowleap ops search --cql "ti=battery" --start 1 --end 50
# Verbose shows cache status and timing
flowleap ops biblio EP1234567 --verbose
Workflow: Deep Patent Analysis
- Search:
flowleap ops search --cql "ti=solar AND pa=Tesla" - Get details:
flowleap ops biblio EP1234567 - Read claims:
flowleap ops claims EP1234567 - Check family:
flowleap ops family EP1234567 - Check legal status:
flowleap ops legal EP1234567
One-call alternative: flowleap --json summary EP1234567 bundles biblio,
legal status, family, and term.