What's new

The watsonx Orchestrate ADK version 1.6.1 is now available!

This release brings a series of important bug fixes to improve the stability and reliability of the ADK.

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⬆️ Upgrade now

To upgrade to version 1.6.1, run:

pip install --upgrade ibm-watsonx-orchestrate==1.6.1

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🔧 Enhancements

• New connection options for Python tools: You can now use connections.oauth2_client_creds(<app_id>) and connections.oauth2_auth_code(<app_id>) when building Python-based tools.

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🐛 Bug fixes

• Spelling correction in error message: Fixed a typo in the connection error message, changing “diffrent” to “different”.
• Duplicate error messages: Fixed an issue where the CLI displayed the same error message twice when importing a tool with a connection configured only for the draft environment.
• Crashloop in AWS Mumbai: Fixed an issue where ai-gateway failed and entered a crashloop state in the AWS Mumbai region.
• Incorrect default model in AWS Mumbai: Fixed a bug where the default agent was associated with the wrong model in the AWS Mumbai region.
• Agent version not found: Fixed an issue where the error Agent version <agent UUID> not found appeared in agent chat, even though the agent was correctly configured.
• LLM inference failures not captured: Fixed an issue where LLM inference failures were incorrectly marked as successful in observability logs.
• Trace not found error: Fixed an issue where users saw a “Trace not found” error when clicking on traces that does not have a Model ID.
• Connection warning update: Changed the error shown when a live connection is missing during tool import to a warning instead.
• Record command improvements: Updated log messages and file format for the record command.

The watsonx Orchestrate ADK version 1.6.0 is now available!

This release brings powerful new features and enhancements to help you build, evaluate, and customize your agents more efficiently. You can now skip login for watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition images, import async OpenAPI tools, and much more.

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⬆️ Upgrade now

To upgrade to version 1.6.0, run:

pip install --upgrade ibm-watsonx-orchestrate==1.6.0

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🚀 New features

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Flow tools

You can now fully use Flow Tools to build dynamic, workflow-based tools. This feature was previously in public preview. You can create flow tools using either the ADK or the user interface. For more information, see Flow tools.

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New environment variable

You can now skip the login step when retrieving watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition images by setting the new environment variable called WO_DEVELOPER_EDITION_SKIP_LOGIN. For more information, see Setup the environment.

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Async OpenAPI tools

You can now import asynchronous OpenAPI tools. For more information, see Creating OpenAPI-based tools.

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InstructLab fine tuned custom model

You can now use the orchestrate models add command to import fine-tuned custom models from InstructLab in watsonx.ai. These models must be deployed using the Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) option. For more information, see Adding custom LLM.

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Context variables

You can now use context variables with agents. You can enable these variables in agent instructions and set their values through the API. For more information, see:

• Providing access to context variables
• Chat With Orchestrate Assistant

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Custom search

You can now configure your own knowledge base server and connect it to watsonx Orchestrate using custom search. For more information, see Custom search.

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Webchat customization

You can now customize the embedded webchat colors to better match your website’s branding. For more information, see Customizing webchat.

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Fullscreen webchat

You can now configure your embedded webchat to run in fullscreen mode. For more information, see Configuring webchat layout.

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Support for on-premises

You can now connect your on-premises environment in the ADK. The environment setup works just like any other environment. To authenticate, use either an API key or your username and password. For more information, see On-premises.

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Agent evaluation framework

You can now evaluate the performance and effectiveness of your agents using the new agent evaluation framework. For more information, see Evaluation Framework.

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Chat with documents

You can now upload documents to your native agents and get responses based on the document content during the same thread. Enable this feature by configuring the chat_with_docs section in your agent file. For more information, see Chat with documents.

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Welcome message and starter prompt

You can configure the welcome message and starter prompts individually for each agent in your environment. For more information, see:

• Welcome message
• Starter prompts

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Agent guidelines

You can now configure guidelines for your agents. For more information, see Guidelines.

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External agents as collaborator agents

You can now use external agents as collaborators for native agents. For more information, see External agents as collaborator agents.

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🔧 Enhancements

• Manage hidden agents: You can now manage hidden agents directly from the ADK CLI.
• Preferred model indicator: You can now identify validated third-party models by a star (⭐) icon. These models are tested and approved for use with watsonx Orchestrate agents.

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🐛 Bug fixes

• Agent export with MCP and flows: Fixed an error that prevented agents that used MCP and flow tools from being exported. The agent now exports correctly. MCP and flows are still not included in the export.
• Toolkit deletion: Fixed an issue that blocked users from deleting toolkits in the SaaS environment.
• Mistral model failures: Fixed an error where some utterances and tools failed when using Mistral models.
• Missing deployment platform: Fixed an issue where the deployment platform was not included in the watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition.
• Invalid API key acceptance: Fixed an error where invalid API keys were incorrectly accepted during environment activation.
• Model policy import: Fixed an error where the CLI forced you to provide values for on_status_code.
• Model Policy fallback:: Fixed an error where weights of 1.0 were incorrectly assigned to each model.

The watsonx Orchestrate ADK version 1.5.1 is now available!

This release brings bug fixes and improvements such as the model policies.

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⬆️ Upgrade now

To upgrade to version 1.5.1, run:

pip install --upgrade ibm-watsonx-orchestrate==1.5.1

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🚀 New features

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Model policies

You can now define model policies to coordinate multiple models for tasks like load balancing and fallback. This helps you improve reliability and performance across your workflows. For more information, see Configuring model policies.

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🔧 Enhancements

• AI Gateway: You can now use model policies in the AI Gateway to enable load balancing, fallback, and retry logic.

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🐛 Bug fixes

• Re-enabled flow editor UI that was unavailable in the previous version.

The watsonx Orchestrate ADK version 1.5.0 is now available!

This release brings powerful new capabilities to help you build and manage agents with greater flexibility and control. You can now define model policies, and fully integrate custom LLMs.

The watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition UI also gets major upgrades, including flow editing and in-chat feedback.

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⬆️ Upgrade now

To upgrade to version 1.5.0, run:

pip install --upgrade ibm-watsonx-orchestrate==1.5.0

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🚀 New features

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Custom LLM provider

The custom LLM provider feature, earlier in public preview, is now fully released. You can now fully integrate custom models using a supported set of providers. For more information, see Managing custom LLMs.

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Agent styles

You can now build native agents using the tool planner style. These agents support structured output and custom join tools, giving you more flexibility in how your agents reason and respond. For more information, see Planner style.

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Flows UI

You can now edit your flows directly in the watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition UI for a more streamlined development experience.

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🔧 Enhancements

• Credentials configuration: You can now configure credentials using connections, just like in other parts of watsonx Orchestrate—no more .env files.
• LLM providers: You can now integrate with more LLM providers for greater flexibility.
• Flow examples: You can now explore three new flow tool examples to jumpstart your development:
  • collaborator_agents
  • extract_support_request
  • get_tuition_reimbursed
• Chat feedback: You can now give thumbs up/down feedback in the chat interface of the watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition UI to improve agent responses.

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🐛 Bug fixes

• Toolkit endpoint alignment: Fixed inconsistent toolkit endpoints across SaaS and Developer Edition environments.

The watsonx Orchestrate ADK version 1.4.2 is now available! This release brings powerful new features and enhancements to streamline your development workflow. You can now export tools and agents, use flows as tools, and configure custom LLM providers — all designed to give you more flexibility and control.

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🚀 New features

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Export agents and tools

You can now export agents and tools directly from your active environment. Use the new export argument with the orchestrate agents and orchestrate tools commands to get started. For more information, see:

• Exporting tools
• Exporting agents

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Flow tools (Public Preview)

You can now create flow tools. Flow tools let you sequence nodes to build dynamic, workflow-based tools. A new tool type available in public preview for the watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition. For more information, see Flow tools (Public Preview).

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Custom LLM provider (Public Preview)

You can now add and remove custom LLM providers for your agents. This feature is available in public preview for the watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition. For more information, see Managing custom LLMs (Public Preview).

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watsonx/* LLMs

You can now use watsonx/* LLMs by simply configuring a few .env variables. For more information, see Enabling watsonx/* LLMs.

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Hate, Abuse, and Profanity filtering

You can now control how your knowledge bases handle inappropriate content by using the new Hate, Abuse, and Profanity (HAP) filter settings. For more information, see Configuring Hate Abuse and Profanity (HAP) filtering.

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🔧 Enhancements

• Agent identity in chat: You can now see the agent’s name and avatar in the chat screen during conversations.
• Display names: You can now assign display names to tools and agents.
• Granite 3.2 & 3.3 support: You can now use the Granite 3.2 and 3.3 LLMs.
• Simplified command: You no longer need the --project-id argument when using the orchestrate settings observability langfuse command.
• SaaS proxy access: You can now source watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition images from the SaaS proxy without needing an entitlement.
• LLM Without API Key: You can now use a SaaS instance of watsonx Orchestrate as your LLM provider without supplying a wx.ai key.
• MCP toolkit management: You can now list your MCP toolkits and import them directly from public NPM repositories.

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🐛 Bug fixes

• Tool import hang: Fixed issue where importing multiple tools caused the ADK to hang.
• Truncated tool names: Fixed an issue in multi-file tools where the import process dropped the first letter of each tool name due to incorrect package name handling.

The watsonx Orchestrate ADK version 1.3.0 is now available. This release introduces new functionality, including support for Python-based knowledge bases and a ADK version display command. It also includes key bug fixes to improve usability.

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New features

• You can now use the --version argument in the CLI to display the currently installed version of the ADK.

• The ADK now supports creating knowledge bases using Python files. Documentation has been updated with examples and configuration details for Python-based setups. For more information, see Creating Knowledge Bases.

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Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue that prevented the use of numbers in the names of OpenAPI-based tools.

In version 1.2.0, the watsonx Orchestrate ADK introduces support for building and managing toolkits within your watsonx Orchestrate environment.

This is the first iteration of toolkit functionality in the ADK. Therefore, this feature is only available for watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition and currently supports only the MCP server.

For more information, see Managing Toolkits.

The 1.1.0 version brings numerous enhancements and bug fixes to IBM watsonx Orchestrate ADK.

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Enhancements

• Environment variable persistence: Environment variables passed during the orchestrate server start command are now cached. You no longer need to re-specify them when starting the watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition chat.

  By default, only non-sensitive variables are persisted. To persist all variables, including secrets, use the hidden -p argument.

• Toos importing error messages: Importing error messages for tools have been enhanced to provide clearer and more descriptive feedback when issues occur.

• Support for non-ZIP tool formats: The importing process now supports tools that are not packaged in ZIP format.

• Startup feedback for observability Languse platform: A new feedback message is displayed when starting the observability Languse platform. This message includes instructions on how to access the platform.

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Bug fixes

• Crash during repeated tool import: Fixed an issue that caused the application to crash when importing tools multiple times in succession.

• watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition name on CLI: Fixed the watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition name on CLI.

The 1.0.1 version brings numerous enhancements to IBM watsonx Orchestrate ADK.

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Enhancements

• Private network communication for containers: watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition containers now communicate exclusively on the private network (excluding TRM).

• Open Source Containers from DockerHub: Open source containers are now pulled directly from DockerHub.

• Memory consumption: Enhanced memory usage to reduce memory consumption.

• Path mapping for knowledge base commands: Fixed path mappings for the knowledge commands on SaaS.

• PI publication: PyPI publication has been enabled and is now the default setting.

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New features

• New feature for observability
• New feature for managing knowledge bases
• Ability to upload multiple files to build tools
• Updated connection commands structure

• Bug fixes

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Enhancements

• A new chat completion API for watsonx Orchestrate agents exists that can be called from Agentforce
• Salesforce Agentforce agents can now be used as external agents to Orchestrator Agent
• External instances of watson assistant can be registered as collaborators to a native agent

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Bugfixes

• |python_tag| no longer appears in the response of React Style agents
• Optional fields are no longer required by the tool runtime
• Server start timeout has been increased to 7 minutes and it is more clear when a timeout happens and the server fails to start

• Bug fixes

• Adds the ability to connect to a wx.ai agent as a collaborator.