ace-bob

This repository provides IBM Bob Shell guidance for IBM App Connect Enterprise (ACE) Toolkit users. It combines:

• setup instructions for running IBM Bob Shell inside ACE Toolkit
• focused Bob skills for creating and explaining ACE artifacts
• shared ACE reference material for projects, node types, policies, ESQL, and JavaCompute

Who this repository is for

Use this repository if you want IBM Bob Shell to help with ACE Toolkit assets such as:

• message flows (.msgflow)
• ESQL (.esql)
• JavaCompute classes (.java)
• connector-based flows and related policy files

Quick start

1. Install IBM Bob Shell.
2. Configure ACE Toolkit to launch IBM Bob Shell in your Eclipse workspace.
3. Clone this repository into the .bob folder in that workspace.
4. Use the skills under skills/ as the canonical ACE guidance.

What this repository provides

• ACE Toolkit and IBM Bob Shell setup guidance
• focused Bob skills under skills/
• shared ACE guidance under skills/shared/
• connector-specific guidance under skills/shared/connectors/
• legacy root-level compatibility stubs for earlier connector file paths

Installing IBM Bob Shell

The ACE Toolkit runs on Windows, Linux, or macOS. You can find detailed instructions for installing IBM Bob Shell on each of these platforms here. Focusing on Windows, you can open PowerShell and install IBM Bob Shell using this command:

irm -Uri "https://bob.ibm.com/download/bobshell.ps1" | iex

Running IBM Bob Shell in ACE Toolkit

1. Start the ACE Toolkit and from the Toolkit's Window menu choose Preferences. When the Preferences pop-up opens navigate to the section Terminal > Local Terminal and click the Add button on the right-hand side of the window:

   

2. In the resulting dialog provide the following details and then click the Add button:

   • Name = IBM Bob Shell
   • Path = C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\npm\Bob.cmd
   
   

3. Control will return to the previous Preferences window. From the drop-down menu change the Initial Working Directory to Eclipse workspace and then click the Apply and Close button.

   

4. From the Window menu, choose Preferences again. When the Preferences window opens, use the filter to navigate to the section Terminal. From the Presets drop-down, select Eclipse Dark and click the Apply and Close button:

   

5. From the top toolbar in the Toolkit, click the Terminal shortcut shown in the red box below:

   

6. From the Launch Terminal pop-up, select IBM Bob Shell from the Choose terminal drop-down and click OK:

   

7. An IBM Bob Shell Terminal will open. By default it will be located at the bottom of the screen:

   

8. Scroll down and on first use you will be presented with a dialog to accept the IBM Bob license:

   

9. Next you will be asked to trust the folder. Due to the earlier setup, IBM Bob's workspace matches the ACE Toolkit Eclipse workspace directory. This makes it easier to use IBM Bob to interact with ACE Toolkit files in the local workspace.

   

10. If you have already been using IBM Bob then it may ask you to trust other directories as well. Once you have made these decisions, IBM Bob Shell will be ready to respond to queries as shown below:

Installing the ACE Bob skills into .bob

When operating IBM Bob Shell in the ACE Toolkit, the earlier configuration steps target your ACE Toolkit Eclipse workspace as the IBM Bob project root directory. To make these skills available for IBM Bob Shell in this context, navigate to this ACE Toolkit Eclipse workspace and, if it does not already exist, create a folder called .bob.

If you want to use IBM Bob across multiple ACE Toolkit workspaces, you might prefer to define ACE skills globally in your user's home directory. Based on current experience, locating the skill repository in the .bob folder within your Toolkit workspace improves the chances of Bob being able to find it and use it consistently.

Clone this repository into the .bob folder of your ACE Toolkit workspace as shown below:

Repository structure

The repository is organized around the skills/ directory:

• skills/ace-message-flow/ contains the Bob skill for generic ACE Toolkit .msgflow creation
• skills/ace-connector-flows/ contains the Bob skill for connector-based ACE flows
• skills/ace-project-setup/ contains the Bob skill for ACE Toolkit application and policy project scaffolding
• skills/ace-esql/ contains the Bob skill for ACE ESQL generation and refinement
• skills/ace-java-compute/ contains the Bob skill for ACE JavaCompute generation and refinement
• skills/shared/ contains shared ACE project, policy, version, review, and node type guidance
• skills/shared/connectors/ contains connector-specific guidance files
• Images/ contains setup screenshots used in this README

Active skills

• ace-message-flow
• ace-connector-flows
• ace-project-setup
• ace-esql
• ace-java-compute

Canonical locations

• The main compatibility entry point is SKILL.md.
• The canonical task-specific skills are under skills/.
• Shared guidance is under skills/shared/.
• Root-level connector markdown files are legacy compatibility stubs that point to the canonical connector docs under skills/shared/connectors/.