bb-cli

name

bb-cli

description

Use the lite-bb (`bb`) CLI for Bitbucket operations instead of `gh`. Trigger this skill whenever the user is working with a Bitbucket-hosted repository and needs to create, review, merge, list, or manage pull requests, repositories, or API calls — even if they say 'create a PR' without mentioning Bitbucket explicitly. Also trigger when the user mentions Bitbucket, bb CLI, or asks about Bitbucket workflows. If the repo's git remote points to bitbucket.org or a Bitbucket Server instance, this skill applies.

bb — Bitbucket CLI for Claude Code

bb is a gh-style CLI for Bitbucket Cloud and Server/Data Center. When working in a Bitbucket-hosted repo, always use bb instead of gh.

Detecting Bitbucket repos

Before running any PR or repo command, check the git remote:

git remote -v

If the remote URL contains bitbucket.org or a known Bitbucket Server domain, use bb for all operations. Do NOT use gh — it won't work with Bitbucket.

Setup

If bb is not installed, suggest:

pip install lite-bb
# or
uv pip install lite-bb

Then authenticate — always suggest token-based auth first since it's simpler:

bb auth login

This prompts the user to choose between:

• Access Token (recommended): a single token value — simplest setup
• App Password: username + password pair

Check auth status with:

bb auth status

Environment variables override config: BB_TOKEN for access tokens, or BB_USERNAME + BB_APP_PASSWORD for app passwords. For Bitbucket Server/DC, also set BB_SERVER_URL.

Pull Requests

All PR commands auto-detect workspace/repo from git remotes. Override with -R WORKSPACE/REPO.

List PRs

bb pr list                        # open PRs (default)
bb pr list -s MERGED -L 10        # last 10 merged PRs
bb pr list --json                 # JSON output for scripting

Flags: -s/--state (OPEN|MERGED|DECLINED|SUPERSEDED), -L/--limit (default 30), --json, -R/--repo

View a PR

bb pr view 42                     # human-readable summary
bb pr view 42 --json              # full JSON with metadata

Create a PR

bb pr create -t "Add feature X" -b "Description here"
bb pr create -t "Fix bug" -H feature-branch -B main

Flags: -t/--title (required), -b/--body, -H/--head (source branch, defaults to current), -B/--base (destination, defaults to repo default branch)

Edit a PR

bb pr edit 42 -t "Updated title"
bb pr edit 42 -b "New description" -B develop

At least one of --title, --body, or --base is required.

Merge a PR

bb pr merge 42
bb pr merge 42 -s squash -m "squash: feature X"

Flags: -s/--strategy (merge_commit|squash|fast_forward), -m/--message

Close / Reopen

bb pr close 42          # decline the PR
bb pr reopen 42         # reopen a declined PR

Checkout PR branch

bb pr checkout 42       # fetches and checks out the PR's source branch

View PR diff

bb pr diff 42           # unified diff output

Code Review

Approve / Request Changes / Comment on a PR

bb pr review 42 --approve
bb pr review 42 --approve -b "LGTM, ship it"
bb pr review 42 --request-changes -b "Need to handle the edge case on line 42"
bb pr review 42 --comment -b "Have you considered using a map here?"
bb pr review 42 --approve -F review.md        # body from file
echo "Looks good" | bb pr review 42 --approve -F -   # body from stdin

Exactly one of --approve, --request-changes, or --comment is required. --comment requires --body or --body-file.

Post comments on a PR

# PR-level comment
bb pr comment 42 -b "Overall looks good"

# Inline comment on an added line
bb pr comment 42 -b "This could be None" --path src/handler.py --line 15 --line-type added

# Inline comment on a removed line
bb pr comment 42 -b "Why remove this?" --path src/handler.py --line 20 --line-type removed

# Inline comment on a context (unchanged) line
bb pr comment 42 -b "Note about this" --path src/handler.py --line 10 --line-type context

# Code suggestion (use ```suggestion fenced block)
bb pr comment 42 --path src/handler.py --line 15 --line-type added -b '```suggestion
    return handle_none_case(value)
```'

Inline comment rules:

• --path and --line must both be present for inline comments
• --line-type is required with inline comments: added, removed, or context
• For added lines, use the new file's line number
• For removed or context lines, use the old file's line number

List comments

bb pr comments 42               # human-readable
bb pr comments 42 --json        # JSON array

Check CI status

bb pr checks 42                 # shows ✓/✗/○/■ status
bb pr checks 42 --json

Repositories

List repos

bb repo list                          # repos in default workspace
bb repo list my-workspace             # specific workspace
bb repo list --visibility private     # filter by visibility
bb repo list --json

View repo

bb repo view                          # current repo
bb repo view myworkspace/my-repo      # specific repo
bb repo view --web                    # open in browser
bb repo view --json

Clone repo

bb repo clone myworkspace/my-repo             # clone into ./my-repo
bb repo clone myworkspace/my-repo ./local     # custom directory
bb repo clone myworkspace/my-repo . -- --depth 1   # shallow clone

Prefers SSH over HTTPS when available.

Create repo

bb repo create -n my-new-repo -d "My project"     # private by default
bb repo create -n my-new-repo --public             # public repo
bb repo create -n my-new-repo --public --clone     # create and clone locally

Code Search

bb search code "fn main"                          # search whole workspace
bb search code "TODO" -R myworkspace/myrepo       # search specific repo
bb search code "import requests" --extension py   # filter by extension
bb search code "apiKey" --json

Flags: -R/--repo, -L/--limit (default 30), --extension, --filename, --json

Raw API Access

bb api is a raw passthrough to the Bitbucket API — use it for anything not covered by the higher-level commands.

# GET (default)
bb api repositories/myworkspace/myrepo

# GET with jq filter
bb api repositories/myworkspace/myrepo/pullrequests -q '[.values[].title]'

# POST with JSON fields
bb api repositories/myworkspace/myrepo/pullrequests -X POST \
  -F title="My PR" -F description="Fixes the bug"

# POST with raw JSON body
bb api rest/search/latest/search -X POST \
  --input '{"query":"deepseek","entities":{"code":{"start":0,"limit":3}}}' \
  -q '.code.values[].file'

# Custom headers and raw output
bb api some/endpoint -H 'X-Custom: value' --raw

Flags: -X/--method, -F/--field (repeatable, auto-typed), --input (raw JSON), -H/--header (repeatable), -q/--jq (requires jq in PATH), --raw

Base URLs:

• Cloud: https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0
• Server/DC: configured server root (supports /rest/api/1.0/, /rest/search/latest/, etc.)

Config

Config lives at ~/.config/bb/config.yml (respects XDG_CONFIG_HOME and BB_CONFIG_DIR):

# Access token auth (simplest)
token: "your-access-token"

# OR app password auth
username: "your-username"
app_password: "your-app-password"

# For Bitbucket Server/DC
server_url: "https://bitbucket.company.com"

# Defaults (optional)
workspace: "myworkspace"
default_repo: "my-repo"

Credential priority: env vars > config file.

Repo format

• Cloud: workspace/repo-slug
• Server/DC: PROJECT_KEY/repo-slug or ~username/repo-slug (personal repos)

Key differences from gh

gh	bb	Notes
gh pr create	bb pr create	Same flags
gh pr merge --squash	bb pr merge -s squash	Strategy flag differs
gh pr review --approve	bb pr review --approve	Same
gh pr close	bb pr close	bb uses "decline" internally
gh api	bb api	Same concept, Bitbucket endpoints
gh repo clone	bb repo clone	Same
N/A	bb search code	Bitbucket code search
States: open/closed/merged	States: OPEN/MERGED/DECLINED/SUPERSEDED	Bitbucket has SUPERSEDED