# Glossary

Domain and technical terms you meet when using `bundesrat`. For the option
reference see the **[README](README.md)** and the full cookbook in
**[Usage.md](Usage.md)**.

## The Bundesrat

**Bundesrat.** One of Germany's federal legislative bodies — the chamber through
which the sixteen **Länder** (federal states) take part in legislation and
administration at the federal level. It is *not* a second parliament of elected
MPs: its members are members of the Länder governments.

**Land / Länder.** A German federal state (plural Länder). Each Land sends members
to the Bundesrat and holds a bloc of **votes** weighted by population (3–6 each).

**Member (`members`).** A member of a Land government who sits in the Bundesrat.
Each record carries `honorificTitle`, `firstname`, `name`, `party`, `state` (the
Land), a `url`, and status flags: `mitglied` (one of the 69 members, as many per
Land as it has votes), `brmitglied` (a member **or** a deputy — *stellvertretendes
Mitglied*; 181 of 193 records on 2026-09-15), `bv` (*Bevollmächtigter* —
plenipotentiary), `designiert` (designated, not yet in office) — all as
`"true"`/`"false"` strings. The feed lists members, deputies and plenipotentiaries,
so filter on `mitglied == "true"` to get the 69 members.

## Plenary sittings & agenda

**Plenarsitzung / session (`session`).** A plenary sitting of the Bundesrat. It
meets roughly every 3–4 weeks (~10 times a year). `session` returns the
current/next sitting with its agenda.

**Tagesordnung / agenda.** The list of items a sitting will decide. `session`
returns it as `tops`.

**TOP (Tagesordnungspunkt) — `top` / `tops`.** A single agenda item. Each carries
`toptitle` (e.g. "TOP 67"), `topheader` (a short factual label), `topdrucksache`
(the associated document number) and `linkedtop` (a cross-reference). Empty fields
are dropped, so `linkedtop` appears only when set. The feed lists the TOPs out of
numerical order. The feed's HTML description (`topdetail`) is editorial content and
is not surfaced.

**Drucksache (`topdrucksache`).** A numbered printed paper, e.g. "Drucksache
371/26" — the document a TOP is about (a bill, regulation, motion, …). Bundesrat
Drucksachen are *amtliche Werke* (public-domain official works); the numbers let
you look the full document up on bundesrat.de or in DIP.

**Termine / appointments (`appointments`).** Committee dates and other scheduled
events (e.g. *Umfragen* — written committee polls under § 43 GO BR). Surfaced as
factual calendar items (`title`, `startdate`, and `date`/`stopdate` when the feed
sets them). `startdate` is German-format, e.g. "25.09.2026 09:30"; a cancelled
meeting stays listed with „entfällt" in its title.

## Concepts the feeds carry but this CLI does not surface

The Bundesrat app feeds also expose the items below. Their payload is
copyright-protected **editorial text or images**, not open data, so this CLI
provides **no command** for them and strips their editorial fields where they
overlap a surfaced feed (see [DATA_LICENSE.md](DATA_LICENSE.md)):

- **Stimmverteilung / composition** — the distribution of the 69 Bundesrat votes
  across the Länder. The feed is essentially the official composition **graphic** (an
  image), with no structured per-Land vote table.
- **Präsidium** — the Bundesrat's presiding body (President — a Land premier,
  rotating yearly — and Vice-Presidents). The feed is an HTML page plus a photo.
- **BundesratKOMPAKT** — an editorial round-up of selected agenda items with
  written summaries.
- **Aktuelles / news** — press and news items (editorial text + press images).
- **Anstehende Plenarsitzungen** — the upcoming-sittings page; the dates live inside
  a copyright HTML fragment, with no structured date fields.

## Data & format

**Feed.** Each command maps to one XML feed served by `www.bundesrat.de` — the
data behind the official Bundesrat iOS app. There is no JSON API; this CLI parses
the XML into JSON for you and projects each result down to its openly-licensed
factual fields.

**`?view=renderXml`.** The render parameter that makes the CMS return the **XML
feed** rather than the website's **HTML page**. The CLI adds it automatically; a
"received an HTML page" error means it was lost or the feed moved (see
[DEVELOPING.md](DEVELOPING.md)).

**Editorial fields (not surfaced).** The raw feeds embed HTML fragments in CDATA —
`detail`, `abstract`, `topdetail`, the member biography `detail` (role / biography /
address) — plus image paths. These are copyright-protected editorial content, so the
CLI **strips them**; only factual fields reach the output.

**amtliches Werk (§ 5 UrhG).** An "official work" — laws, regulations, and here the
Bundesrat's Drucksachen/Plenarprotokolle — which carries **no copyright**, so it
may be reused freely if left **unaltered** (§ 62) and **with a source citation**
(§ 63). The rest of the website content is copyright-protected. See
[DATA_LICENSE.md](DATA_LICENSE.md).

## CLI / technical

**Exit codes.** `0` success · `2` usage error · `4` not found · `6` network
failure · `1` other (incl. a non-XML/HTML-shell response). See
[Usage.md](Usage.md#exit-codes).

**`--state` vs `--party`.** `--state` matches a Land **exactly** (case-insensitive);
`--party` matches a **substring** of the party name (case-insensitive), so `grüne`
finds "BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN". Both are applied client-side after fetching the full
members list.