NZ Buses

Goal

Query live Wellington-region bus data through a small deterministic CLI with human-readable and JSON output.

Metlink Wellington is the v1 source. This skill intentionally filters the shared Metlink GTFS and GTFS-Realtime feeds to bus routes only.

Use this when

• A user asks about Wellington region Metlink buses
• A user asks for live Metlink bus arrivals from a known stop
• A user wants to search Wellington region stops or routes
• A user asks about Metlink bus service alerts or live bus vehicle positions
• A workflow needs lightweight machine-readable Wellington bus data

Do not use this for

• Auckland buses, trains, or ferries; use at-transport instead
• Wellington trains or other rail-specific tasks; use a train-specific skill if available
• Wellington ferries or cable car; they are separate modes and are not covered here
• Journey planning, route directions, fares, tickets, or account actions
• Historical timetable claims or punctuality analysis unless another dataset provides history
• High-volume mirroring of Metlink data

Preferred workflow

1. Confirm the request is for Wellington-region Metlink buses
2. Run scripts/cli.py with the narrowest subcommand that answers the task
3. Use stops --query or stops --near to find stop IDs before calling arrivals
4. Use routes or route <number> to discover route IDs before route-filtered vehicle lookups
5. Use --json for agent chaining, comparisons, or structured reports
6. Mention that results are live Metlink snapshots and require a Metlink Open Data API key

CLI

Set a free Metlink Open Data API key first:

export METLINK_API_KEY="..."

Run with:

python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py <command> [flags]

Commands

• routes [--query text] [--limit N] [--json] - list/search Metlink bus routes
• route <route> [--limit N] [--json] - show one bus route and its stops
• stops [--query text] [--near location-or-lat-lon] [--limit N] [--json] - search Metlink bus stops
• stop <stop-id> [--limit N] [--json] - show stop details with live bus arrivals
• arrivals <stop-id> [--limit N] [--json] - live bus arrivals for a Metlink stop
• vehicles [--route route] [--limit N] [--json] - live Metlink bus vehicle positions
• alerts [--limit N] [--json] - active Metlink bus service alerts

Examples:

python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py routes --limit 10
python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py route 1 --limit 12
python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py stops --near Lambton --limit 5
python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py stop 5011 --limit 5
python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py arrivals 5011 --json
python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py vehicles --route 83 --limit 10 --json
python3 skills/nz-buses/scripts/cli.py alerts --json

Resources

• CLI entrypoint: scripts/cli.py
• API and stability notes: references/api-notes.md

Notes

• Read-only only: no journey planning, booking, ticketing, account, or mutation actions
• Python stdlib only; no package install or browser automation is required for normal use
• Metlink requests use METLINK_API_KEY and fail with a clear message when it is missing
• Do not hardcode or commit Metlink API keys; use the METLINK_API_KEY environment variable only
• Bus filtering includes standard GTFS bus route_type=3 and Metlink school bus route_type=712; rail 2, ferry 4, and cable car 5 are excluded
• The Metlink API returns live snapshots; stops, trips, delays, alerts, and vehicles can change quickly
• Canterbury Metro, ORC Bus, BayBus, and other non-Auckland bus networks are follow-ups, not v1 commands