Is there a programmatic way to save and re-create launchpad groups in Mojave?
In true form, along the way of figuring out how to ask the questions, I seem to have found part of a hint. 

There is a folder path /private/var/folders/ that contains a rats-nest of directories with non-human-parseable names.  Supposedly one of these contains my Launchpad's database.  

If I can learn which, and how to find it programmatically, I will update the answer



The DB groups name + parents can be found in the DB with via

SELECT * 
FROM items i JOIN groups g ON g.item_id = i.rowid 
ORDER BY i.parent_id, i.ordering


The issue remains that apps are listed by a UUID, not name.  This suggests that they may not port well to a different computer, since a UUID is typically made in the local context.  However, apps registered via the app store or via Apple's dev program may have consistent UUIDs.