gistfile1.py

#!/usr/bin/python
'''
This script takes 2 items.
1) Your bitlbee xml file.
2) A generated hipchat API user list.
'''

from sys import argv
import simplejson
from lxml import etree as et

root = et.parse(open(argv[1]))
users = {}

hipchat_gid = "YOUR HIPCHAT GID"

# Gets a list of all your existing buddies
for user in root.iterfind('.//buddy'):
    handle = user.get('handle')
    if 'hipchat' in handle:
        uid = handle[handle.index('_')+1:handle.index('@')]
        users[int(uid)] = user.get('nick')

acct = root.find('.//account')

json = simplejson.load(open(argv[2]))

#Adds <buddy> for any users it didnt find in the above stanza
for user in json['items']:
    if user['id'] not in users:
      handle = "%s_%s@chat.hipchat.com" % (hipchat_gid, user['id'])
      mention_name = user['mention_name']
      element = et.SubElement(acct, 'buddy', nick=mention_name, handle=handle)

root.write(argv[1], xml_declaration=False)