IBM Bob (Project Bob)
IBM's generally available AI coding agent for IBM i, built as a fork of Visual Studio Code and tuned for RPG, CL, DDS, and SQL. Reached GA on March 24, 2026; Bob 2.0 and the IBM i-specific Bob Premium Package for i shipped June 24, 2026.
IBM Bob, introduced as "Project Bob" at TechXchange in October 2025, is IBM's AI coding agent for IBM i. It reached general availability 1.0.0 on March 24, 2026, then Bob 2.0 on June 24, 2026 with a 270,000-token context window, parallel and native tool calling, subagents, Git-independent rollback, repeatable workflows and three operating modes: agent, plan and ask. The Bob Premium Package for i, shipped the same day, is the IBM i layer: about 40 skills and workflows and about 30 tools including QSYS and IFS read-write, CL and SQL execution, 5250 session launch, library list management, a RAG workflow, a Developer Mode for RPG, COBOL, DDS, SQL and CL, and a Db2 for i Database Mode. Bob succeeded IBM's earlier watsonx Code Assistant for i preview track. Since August 2026 it can also be launched from watsonx Orchestrate through Build with Bob, currently a preview, to generate agents and tools from natural language. Reported pricing runs from a $20 to $40 monthly add-on for the Premium Package to $240 a month for Ultra with Premium included.
Related Terms
Bob Premium Package for i
The IBM i-specific add-on to IBM Bob, generally available June 24, 2026. It gives Bob about 40 skills and workflows and about 30 tools that work directly against QSYS, the IFS, CL, SQL and Db2 for i on a live system.
Build with Bob
An option added to watsonx Orchestrate's Create an agent dialog in the August 2026 release, listed by IBM as a preview, that launches IBM Bob into a workspace wired to your Orchestrate tenant to generate agents, tools and workflows from natural language.
watsonx Orchestrate
IBM's AI agent and automation platform for orchestrating multi-step business workflows across enterprise applications. Since August 2026 it can launch IBM Bob from its Create an agent dialog through a Build with Bob preview, but it still ships no IBM i or Db2 for i connector.
watsonx Code Assistant for i
IBM's November 2025 preview announcement of an AI code assistant purpose-built for RPG on IBM i. The preview track was superseded by IBM Bob, which reached general availability in March 2026.
RPG
Report Program Generator, the primary business application programming language on IBM i and its AS/400 predecessors, still running the majority of production logic in most IBM i shops.
Free-Format RPG
A modern RPG coding style that drops the rigid column-based syntax of traditional fixed-format RPG in favor of freer, more readable statement syntax.
IBM i
IBM's operating system for Power servers running traditional AS/400-lineage business applications, with Db2 for i built directly into the OS.