Shared meeting imports

PDF edition · Word edition

Use Meetings → Import meeting records in Windows 1.8.1.1. Select a source and format, enter the original public URL, then choose Preview import. For a saved response, select the file before previewing. Choose a meeting and use Save selected meeting. Townlight records the source URL, format, stable source ID and capture hash with the canonical meeting. Reopening the same capture returns the existing meeting. A changed capture for that identity is reported for staff review.

The source and format selector lists the supported reader pairs below. A public URL must serve the chosen format directly. Use a saved public response for POST-only listings, portals that require a browser session and sources whose page does not return the required response. The importer reads what a municipality publishes in that response. Fields and attachments vary by municipality and by meeting.

Staff handoffs

• Core and Meetings. Core's existing vendor formats share the same preview and save path as the public readers. The saved meeting and any structured agenda items open in the regular Meetings workflow.
• Records. In Meetings, load imported documents by meeting ID, choose a PDF and enter the destination Records request ID. The attachment retains the citation and file hash. An HTML viewer or a dead document link may need staff to obtain the PDF separately.
• Notice and Access. Use Review imported text to start a Notice draft or accessibility review with the source citation. Use each workspace's normal review and save actions.
• Station. In the configured Station operator page, select the saved meeting and stage a direct MP4. Use the private capture workflow to queue processing. Player-only references are visible without a staging action.
• Code. Use the existing ordinance proposal and adoption workflow with the canonical imported meeting and agenda IDs.
• Boards, Contracts, Procurement, Zoning, Planning, Permitting and Inspections. In the destination workspace use Imported meeting evidence. Select an existing staff record and the saved meeting, then save the citation. The destination's existing role and workflow apply.

Shared interface

The installed Townlight Python runtime exposes a read-only CLI. CivicCast and other local clients can consume its normalized JSON and apply their own access and persistence rules.

python -m townlight_runtime.meeting_imports champ PUBLIC_EVENT_URL saved-event.json --format champ-event-json

Use --fetch in place of the saved file to read a supported public response.

Interfaces and other products

The version-1 normalized JSON contract is shared by the Python function townlight_runtime.meeting_imports.preview_export(connector, source_url, content, input_format=...) and the CLI above. A saved response can also be read from stdin using -. Inputs are limited to 16 MiB. Preview is read-only; the consuming application owns persistence, staff authorization and its own data.

The installed native HTTP bridge exposes GET /desktop/v1/meetings/imports/sources, POST /desktop/v1/meetings/imports/preview, POST /desktop/v1/meetings/imports/fetch, POST /desktop/v1/meetings/imports/commit, and meeting/link/document handoff operations in the native API schema. Use the existing X-Townlight-Session authentication, mapped staff roles and configured local PostgreSQL service. This is a native application interface; there is no independent anonymous importer HTTP service or importer MCP server.

CivicCast: opt in through its Townlight shared importer source setting and TOWNLIGHT_IMPORT_PYTHON (the absolute Python executable), TOWNLIGHT_IMPORT_CONNECTOR, TOWNLIGHT_IMPORT_FORMAT, TOWNLIGHT_IMPORT_URL and optional TOWNLIGHT_IMPORT_CAPTURE. The adapter saves normalized items through the existing AgendaStore. Structured agenda availability depends on the source response; a video listing can contain meeting metadata without agenda items. Existing sources remain the default.

CivicCast Brief: its existing PrimeGov and Granicus discovery routes can opt into the shared reader using TOWNLIGHT_IMPORT_PYTHON. Brief does not expose all 31 sources as a new selection menu. Its existing caption/media workflow remains the consuming path. See each project's shared-import client documentation.

TownReporter, Describer Workbench and Textflowkit: no shared-import adapter was added to these products. TownReporter retains its own PrimeGov path. Describer Workbench and Textflowkit expose their existing transcription APIs/MCP interfaces, which do not constitute meeting-import integration. The shared engine ships inside Townlight Runtime; a standalone library is outside this release.

Windows acceptance and limits

Windows 1.8.1.1 adds shared meeting imports for 31 source families, with 34 supported source/format pairs. Installed Windows Sandbox checks exercised preview, save and durable readback using public captures and fixtures, plus the documented Townlight handoffs. These checks do not establish automatic discovery on every live portal or a complete retest of every module.

Windows 1.8.1.1 has fresh-install acceptance. An in-place upgrade to 1.8.1.1 was not exercised. The previous Windows 1.8.0.1 release tested upgrade from 1.7.2.1; that result applies to 1.8.0.1. Before an existing-city evaluation, back up city data and settings, close Townlight, keep the existing %LOCALAPPDATA%\CivicSuite profile, and use the same Windows account. Keep the prior installer and a restore path. Station continues to use its separately configured service.

The accepted MSI contains Townlight Runtime 0.3.1 and Meetings 1.0.6 distributions. Its health version strings still report Runtime 0.3.0 and Meetings 1.0.5. Default-branch source corrects those display strings; the signed MSI and its exact build source remain unchanged.

Exact Windows 1.8.1.1 acceptance and limits.