# Flowleap Ops

> Direct EPO Open Patent Services access through the FlowLeap backend — CQL search plus per-document bibliography, claims, description, family, legal status, and abstract. Trigger when an agent needs authoritative EPO document data for a known publication number, full claims or description text, family members, legal-status events, or a raw OPS CQL search. For query-building or ranked discovery use flowleap-patent; use OPS for authoritative per-document data.

- Skill: `flowleap-ai/flowleap-ops` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add flowleap-ai/flowleap-ops`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/flowleap-ai/flowleap-ops/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: flowleap-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/flowleap-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/flowleap-ai/flowleap-ops

---


# 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

```bash
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`):

```bash
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:

```bash
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

```bash
# 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

1. Search: `flowleap ops search --cql "ti=solar AND pa=Tesla"`
2. Get details: `flowleap ops biblio EP1234567`
3. Read claims: `flowleap ops claims EP1234567`
4. Check family: `flowleap ops family EP1234567`
5. Check legal status: `flowleap ops legal EP1234567`

One-call alternative: `flowleap --json summary EP1234567` bundles biblio,
legal status, family, and term.