pp-flight-goat

SKILL.md

Flight Goat — Printing Press CLI

What this skill is for

Use Flight Goat when the user is making a flight decision, not merely looking up an aviation API endpoint.

Default to the free fare and route-discovery commands first:

flights — Google Flights fare search for a specific itinerary.

dates — cheapest-date scan across a travel window.

explore — nonstop destinations from an airport using Kayak route data.

longhaul and cheapest-longhaul — long-haul route discovery and cheap-date scans.

compare — fares plus route reliability when operational risk matters.

assess — delayed-flight/rebooking assessment using airport, route, weather, and optional price context.

FlightAware AeroAPI is secondary and optional. Use AeroAPI-backed commands when the user needs live status, airport delays, disruption counts, aircraft/tail history, alerts, route reliability, or Foresight predictions. Do not present the whole CLI as credential-gated: Google Flights and Kayak-backed commands work without FLIGHT_GOAT_API_KEY_AUTH.

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the flight-goat-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:
npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install flight-goat --cli-only

Verify: flight-goat-pp-cli --version

Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.5 or newer):

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/travel/flight-goat/cmd/flight-goat-pp-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

Data sources and credential posture

Job
Primary commands
Credential

Find fares for known dates
flights, gf-search
None

Find cheaper travel dates
dates, cheapest-longhaul
None

Discover nonstop or long-haul destinations
explore, longhaul
None

Weigh price against reliability
compare, reliability, assess
AeroAPI improves reliability/status evidence

Monitor or investigate live operations
monitor, ontime-now, digest, heatmap, aircraft-bio, eta, resolve
Usually needs AeroAPI

Manage FlightAware alerting/history/airport/operator APIs
alerts, history, airports, operators, schedules, foresight
AeroAPI required

If the user asks a normal travel-planning question, start with Google Flights/Kayak commands. Reach for AeroAPI only when operational evidence changes the decision.

Google Flights Currency

Use --currency <ISO-4217-code> when the user wants Google Flights prices in a
specific currency. Omit it for the default USD behavior.

flight-goat-pp-cli flights MAN AGP 2026-05-10 --currency GBP --sort=cheapest --agent
flight-goat-pp-cli dates JFK CDG --from 2026-07-01 --to 2026-07-31 --currency EUR --sort --agent
flight-goat-pp-cli compare SEA LHR 2026-06-15 --currency GBP --agent

The flag is only valid on Google Flights price commands: flights, dates,
compare, gf-search, and cheapest-longhaul. Do not add it to AeroAPI,
Kayak-only, or soar commands (FlySoar prices in USD only — see below).

FlySoar (Duffel) Price Search

soar is a third price source alongside Google Flights (flights) and Kayak.
It queries FlySoar.ai — a Duffel-backed metasearch whose
fares come from Duffel's aggregated NDC + GDS content — for a specific route and
date. No API key, no auth. Use it as a second opinion on price when Google
Flights and FlySoar may surface different fares for the same itinerary.

# Cheapest SEA -> DEN on Sep 21 (JSON for agents)
flight-goat-pp-cli soar SEA DEN 2026-09-21 --agent

# First class one-way
flight-goat-pp-cli soar SEA DEN 2026-09-21 --class first --agent

# Round trip business class
flight-goat-pp-cli soar JFK LHR 2026-07-15 --return 2026-07-22 --class business --agent

# Nonstop or one-stop, on Delta or United only
flight-goat-pp-cli soar DCA IAH 2026-09-23 --class first --stops 0,1 --airlines DL,UA --agent

Cabin values: economy (default), premium_economy, business, first.
Flags mirror flights where they overlap (--return, --class,
--passengers, --airlines). Two more map FlySoar's GUI filters:

--stops — a comma list of allowed stop counts (0 = nonstop, 1, 2).
--stops 0,1 keeps nonstop and one-stop itineraries. It is a set, not a max.

--airlines — a whitelist of two-letter IATA carrier codes (--airlines DL,UA);
keeps itineraries flown end-to-end by those carriers.

Both filter the returned results and are encoded in search_url (as FlySoar's
stops=0,1 / airlines=DL,UA query params), so opening the link shows the same
filtered search. There is no --currency: FlySoar's anonymous endpoint prices
every offer in USD regardless of any requested currency. Results are normalized
to the same leg/itinerary shape as flights, sorted cheapest-first, with
identical itineraries deduped to the lowest fare. price is per-seat (as in
flights): FlySoar quotes the party total, and soar divides by --passengers,
so multiply by passenger count for the trip total.

Booking is a handoff, not an API call. FlySoar has no anonymous booking
endpoint — the actual purchase runs through its conversational iMessage agent
or its authenticated web app (both need a FlySoar account with a saved traveler +
payment method). soar prices the search and hands off: the booking block
carries a pre-composed natural-language request, an imessage_url that opens a
new iMessage to FlySoar's agent with the request filled in, and a web_url deep
link. search_url is the same web deep link at the top level.

{
  "success": true,
  "source": "flysoar",
  "trip_type": "one_way",
  "count": 96,
  "flights": [ { "price": 94.98, "currency": "USD", "stops": 0, "legs": [ ... ] } ],
  "search_url": "https://flysoar.ai/flights/sea/den/260921/?cabin=economy&trip=oneway",
  "booking": {
    "method": "handoff",
    "request": "DEN -> SEA on 2026-09-28, first class",
    "imessage_agent": "+14156299322",
    "imessage_url": "sms:+14156299322?body=DEN+-%3E+SEA+on+2026-09-28%2C+first+class",
    "web_url": "https://flysoar.ai/flights/den/sea/260928/?cabin=first&trip=oneway"
  }
}

To book: send booking.request to booking.imessage_agent over iMessage (or
open booking.imessage_url), then complete traveler/payment/verification in the
chat; or open booking.web_url. Never claim soar itself placed a booking.

Delay Assessment

Use assess first when the user asks whether a delay is systemic, whether to
switch flights, or which same-route alternative is operationally safer.

flight-goat-pp-cli assess --origin SFO --destination DCA --delayed-flight UA123 --agent
flight-goat-pp-cli assess --origin KSFO --destination KJFK --depart-after 18:00 --no-prices --agent

assess joins AeroAPI airport delays, disruption counts, weather, route
alternatives, delayed-flight status, inbound-aircraft status, FAA NAS Status,
and optional Google Flights prices. Read decision.verdict,
decision.systemic_signals, decision.flight_signals, alternatives, and
sources before recommending an action. Failed upstream calls remain visible in
sources and decision.missing_evidence; do not treat a partial report as a
complete all-clear. Use --include-raw only when the original AeroAPI JSON is
needed for audit or custom scoring. FAA NOTAM data is not part of this command
yet.

AeroAPI endpoint families

AeroAPI still matters when the task is operational rather than fare-shopping. The generated command reference below exposes FlightAware endpoint families for current and historical flights, Foresight predictions, airports, operators, alerts, schedules, and disruption counts. Treat those as the operational layer behind the higher-level decision commands, not as the CLI's core value proposition.

Command Reference

transcendence — Compound flight decisions

flight-goat-pp-cli assess — Classifies systemic vs flight-specific delay risk and ranks alternatives with AeroAPI, FAA NAS Status, inbound aircraft, and optional Google Flights price context.

aircraft — Manage aircraft

flight-goat-pp-cli aircraft <type> — Returns information about an aircraft type, given an ICAO aircraft type designator string. Data returned includes...

airports — Manage airports

flight-goat-pp-cli airports get — Returns information about an airport given an ICAO or LID airport code such as KLAX, KIAH, O07, etc. Data returned...

flight-goat-pp-cli airports get-all — Returns the ICAO identifiers of all known airports. For airports that do not have an ICAO identifier, the FAA LID...

flight-goat-pp-cli airports get-delays-for-all — Returns a list of airports with delays. There may be multiple reasons returned per airport if there are multiple...

flight-goat-pp-cli airports get-nearby — Returns a list of airports located within a given distance from the given location.

alerts — AeroAPI alerting can be used to configure and receive real-time alerts on key flight
events. With customizable alerting offered by our alert endpoints, AeroAPI empowers
users to selectively pick various types of events/filters to alert on. By doing so,
you can receive specially tailored alerts delivered to you for events such as flight plan
filed, flight departure (out and off), flight arrival (on and in), and more!

To get started with alerting, the PUT /alerts/endpoint endpoint must first be used
to set up the account-wide default URL that alerts will be delivered to. This step must
be done before any alerts can be configured and will serve as the fallback URL that all
alerts will be sent to for the account if a specific delivery URL is not designated on a
particular alert. If this is not performed before configuring alerts, then you will
receive a 400 error with an error message reminding you of this step when trying to interact
with the POST /alerts endpoint. Once a URL is set via the PUT /alerts/endpoint endpoint,
then alerts can be configured using the POST /alerts endpoint. The GET /alerts endpoint
can also be used to retrieve all currently configured alerts associated with your AeroAPI key.
The GET /alerts endpoint will allow you to easily retrieve the id of any specific alerts of
interest configured for the account which can let you use the GET PUT and DELETE
/alerts/{id} endpoints to retrieve, update, and delete specific alerts.

When configuring an individual alert, the target_url field can be set to a URL that’s
different than the account-wide target endpoint set via the PUT /alerts/endpoint. If
the target_url field is set on an alert, then that specific alert will be delivered to
the specified target_url rather than the default account-wide one. If this field is not
configured for the alert, then the alert will be delivered to the default account-wide endpoint.
By setting this field, one can easily target different alerts to be received by different endpoints
which can be useful for configuring per-application alerts or sending alerts to an alternate
development environment without having to adjust a production alert configuration.

For each alert configured, one-to-many ‘events’ can be set for alert delivery. While most
events will result in one alert delivery, both the arrival and the departure events can
result in multiple alerts delivered (referred to as bundled). The departure event bundles the
departure (actual OFF the ground) alert, along with the flight plan filed alert and up to 5
per-departure changes which can include alerts for significant departure delays of over
30 minutes, gate changes, and airport delays. FlightAware Global customers will
also receive Power on and Ready to taxi alerts as part of the departure bundle. The arrival event
bundles the arrival (actual ON the ground) alert, along with up to 5 en-route changes (including delays
of over 30 minutes and excluding diversions) identified. FlightAware Global customers will also receive
taxi stop times as part of the arrival bundle. Setting a bundled type and unbundled type for an
On/Off will only result in a single alert in the case where events may overlap.

If there is a need to change the alert configurations, updating an alert using the PUT /alerts/{id}
endpoint and a unique alert identifier (id) is preferred rather than creating an additional alert.
By doing so, you can avoid duplicate alerts being delivered which could create unnecessary noise
if they are not of interest anymore.

If at any point there is a need to delete an alert, the DELETE alerts/{id} endpoint can be
leveraged to delete an alert so that it won’t be delivered anymore. As a reminder, specific alert
IDs can be retrieved from the GET /alerts endpoint.

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts create — Create a new AeroAPI flight alert. When the alert is triggered, a callback mechanism will be used to notify the...

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts delete — Deletes specific alert with given ID

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts delete-endpoint — Remove the default account-wide URL that will be POSTed to for alerts that are not configured with a specific URL....

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts get — Returns the configuration data for an alert with the specified ID.

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts get-all — Returns all configured alerts for the FlightAware account (this includes alerts configured through other means by...

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts get-endpoint — Returns URL that will be POSTed to for alerts that are delivered via AeroAPI.

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts set-endpoint — Updates the default URL that will be POSTed to for alerts that are delivered via AeroAPI. This sets the account-wide...

flight-goat-pp-cli alerts update — Modifies the configuration for an alert with the specified ID. If a target URL address is provided, then the alert...

disruption-counts — Manage disruption counts

flight-goat-pp-cli disruption-counts get — Returns flight cancellation/delay counts in the specified time period for a particular airline or airport.

flight-goat-pp-cli disruption-counts get-all — Returns overall flight cancellation/delay counts in the specified time period for either all airlines or all airports.

flights — Manage flights

flight-goat-pp-cli flights get — Returns the flight info status summary for a registration, ident, or fa_flight_id. If a fa_flight_id is specified...

flight-goat-pp-cli flights get-by-advanced-search — Returns currently or recently airborne flights based on geospatial search parameters. Query parameters include a...

flight-goat-pp-cli flights get-by-position-search — Returns flight positions based on geospatial search parameters. This allows you to locate flights that have ever...

flight-goat-pp-cli flights get-by-search — Search for airborne flights by matching against various parameters including geospatial data. Uses a simplified...

flight-goat-pp-cli flights get-count-by-search — Full search query documentation is available at the /flights/search endpoint.

foresight — Foresight endpoints provide access to FlightAware's Foresight predictive models and
predictions for key events. Our advanced machine learning (ML) models identify key
influencing factors for a flight to forecast future events in real-time, providing
unprecedented insight to improve operational efficiencies and facilitate better
decision-making in the air and on the ground. To learn more about the power of Foresight,
visit https://www.flightaware.com/commercial/foresight/

These endpoints each mirror a non-Foresight equivalent endpoint of similar functionality,
with the addition of all the ML 'predicted' values included in the Foresight response. The
respective non-Foresight endpoint response includes a flag, 'foresight_predictions_available',
which can optionally be used as a trigger to obtain and leverage Foresight predictions on an
as-needed basis and manage cost. Foresight is only available to Premium tier customers.
Contact integrationsales@flightaware.com for more information, pricing details, and to have
your account enabled for Foresight.

flight-goat-pp-cli foresight get-flight-position-with — Get flight's current position, including Foresight data

flight-goat-pp-cli foresight get-flight-with — Returns the flight info status summary for a registration, ident, or fa_flight_id, including all available predicted...

flight-goat-pp-cli foresight get-flights-by-advanced-search-with — Returns currently or recently airborne flights based on geospatial search parameters. If available, flights'...

history — Manage history

flight-goat-pp-cli history get-aircraft-last-flight — Returns flight info status summary for an aircraft's last known flight given its registration. The search is limited...

flight-goat-pp-cli history get-flight — Returns historical flight info status summary for a registration, ident, or fa_flight_id. If a fa_flight_id is...

flight-goat-pp-cli history get-flight-map — Returns a historical flight's track as a base64-encoded image. Image can contain a variety of additional data layers...

flight-goat-pp-cli history get-flight-route — Returns information about a historical flight's filed route including coordinates, names, and types of fixes along...

flight-goat-pp-cli history get-flight-track — Returns the track for a historical flight as an array of positions. Data is available from now back to...

operators — Manage operators

flight-goat-pp-cli operators get — Returns information for an operator such as their name, ICAO/IATA codes, headquarter location, etc.

flight-goat-pp-cli operators get-all — Returns list of operator references (ICAO/IATA codes and URLs to access more information).

schedules — Manage schedules

flight-goat-pp-cli schedules — Returns scheduled flights that have been published by airlines. These schedules are available for up to three months...

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

flight-goat-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Auth Setup

Do not require AeroAPI auth for normal fare discovery. flights, dates, explore, longhaul, gf-search, and cheapest-longhaul can run without FLIGHT_GOAT_API_KEY_AUTH.

Set the optional AeroAPI key only when the user needs FlightAware-backed status, reliability, alerts, history, aircraft/tail, disruption, or Foresight commands:

export FLIGHT_GOAT_API_KEY_AUTH="<your-key>"

Or persist it in ~/.config/flight-goat-pp-cli/config.toml.

Run flight-goat-pp-cli doctor to verify which upstreams are configured.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

flight-goat-pp-cli airports get KSEA --agent --select id,name,status

Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending

Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal — piped/agent consumers get pure JSON on stdout.

Flight booking URLs

Each result from flights carries booking_urls for one-tap booking handoff:

{
  "booking_urls": {
    "primary": "https://www.delta.com/flightsearch/book-a-flight?...",
    "primary_kind": "prefill",
    "airline_url": "https://www.delta.com/flightsearch/book-a-flight?...",
    "airline_kind": "prefill",
    "google_url": "https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=..."
  }
}

primary is the recommended single URL. Click once, land on a booking surface.

primary_kind tells you what to call it:

prefill — airline form pre-filled with route + dates. Render as "Book on ".

landing — airline booking page; user may need to retype dates. Render as "Open  booking".

search — Google Flights search executed with the user's query. Render as "View on Google Flights".

airline_url and airline_kind are present only when the itinerary is operated end-to-end by a single carrier in the curated table (~35 carriers, see internal/gflights/testdata/airline_url_captures.md). Codeshare itineraries and unknown carriers omit these.

google_url is always populated.

If you only render one URL, render primary and use primary_kind to pick the call-to-action text.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

flight-goat-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
flight-goat-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
flight-goat-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally at ~/.flight-goat-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless FLIGHT_GOAT_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or FLIGHT_GOAT_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Sink
Effect

stdout
Default; write to stdout only

file:<path>
Atomically write output to <path> (tmp + rename)

webhook:<url>
POST the output body to the URL (application/json or application/x-ndjson when --compact)

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.

flight-goat-pp-cli profile save agent-json --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes
flight-goat-pp-cli --profile agent-json dates SEA LHR --from 2026-06-01 --to 2026-08-31 --sort
flight-goat-pp-cli profile list --json
flight-goat-pp-cli profile show agent-json
flight-goat-pp-cli profile delete agent-json --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Code
Meaning

0
Success

2
Usage error (wrong arguments)

3
Resource not found

4
Authentication required

5
API error (upstream issue)

7
Rate limited (wait and retry)

10
Config error

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

Empty, help, or --help → show flight-goat-pp-cli --help output

Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above

Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)

MCP Server Installation

Install the MCP server:
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/travel/flight-goat/cmd/flight-goat-pp-mcp@latest

Register with Claude Code:
claude mcp add flight-goat-pp-mcp -- flight-goat-pp-mcp

Verify: claude mcp list

Direct Use

Check if installed: which flight-goat-pp-cli
If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).

Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.

Execute with the --agent flag:
flight-goat-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent

If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: flight-goat-pp-cli <command> --help.