IBM Bob™ Premium Package for Z integration

IBM Z Open Editor is part of the IBM Bob™ Premium Package for Z. This premium package extends IBM Bob by providing agents that help you analyze, explain, and develop mainframe applications more efficiently. Key use cases include:

Accelerate mainframe development with AI and automation.
Modernize applications and build new enterprise services.
Extract business logic to improve understanding of legacy code.

Z Open Editor is included in the package and unlocks most Advanced Capabilities when it runs as part of the Premium Package for Z. When Z Open Editor detects that it is running in the Premium Package for Z, it automatically performs an entitlement check. The results are reported on the Welcome page together with the unlocked Advanced Capabilities. A set of tools and skills is then registered with IBM Bob and made available in the Z Code and Z Architecture modes.

Z Open Editor also provides access to its its MCP server in the Premium Package for Z. The MCP server can be configured as described on the Agent Mode page. Although MCP tools provide additional capabilities, configuring the MCP server is optional. The following sections describe the tools that are available in the Premium Package for Z without MCP server configuration. To access the complete set of tools described in the IBM Z Open Editor MCP Tools reference page, configure the MCP server.

Advanced Premium Package Capabilities

This section describes the capabilities that IBM Z Open Editor contributes to the IBM Bob Premium Package for Z. These capabilities integrate with the two main modes of the Premium Package, Z Code mode and Z Architect mode. Capabilities from IBM Z Open Editor can be combined with the workflows, skills, and tools available in these modes.

Z Open Editor provides these capabilities through tools and skills. The tools correspond to the MCP tools provided by the Z Open Editor MCP server but do not require an MCP server configuration. They are integrated directly into the Bob Premium Package for Z. The same applies to the skills listed in this section. Z Open Editor contributes these skills to the package, making them available directly in Z Code mode and Z Architecture mode.

Examples of these integrations include:

Use the z-coding-standards-skill-builder in Z Code mode to define ZCodeScan rules files.
Run the impact-analysis skill in Z Architecture mode, which combines the zopeneditor-cobol-get-data-flow tool with the capabilities provided by the skill.
Troubleshoot an IBM Dependency Based Build (DBB) pipeline in Z Code mode by using the dbb-pipeline-troubleshoot skill contributed by Z Open Editor.

The following sections list all MCP tools and skills that IBM Z Open Editor registers with the IBM Bob AI assistant.

Z Architect mode

Bob Tools

Tools that provide data directly from the Z Open Editor language servers.

Tool name	Title	Description
`zopeneditor-cobol-get-data-flow`	Get COBOL Data Flow	Traces data flow for a specific COBOL data item and returns a graph representation that shows how the item is modified throughout the program. Use this tool to analyze the impact of modifying COBOL data items or to understand how they are used.
`zopeneditor-cobol-get-program-control-flow`	Get COBOL Program Control Flow	Retrieves parsed control flow data from the COBOL Language Server for analysis of program structure and execution paths. Returns a graph of sections and paragraphs, including their names, line numbers, and edges that show control flow relationships (Fall Through, PERFORM, and GO TO).
`zopeneditor-get-embedded-languages`	Detect embedded programming languages	Detects embedded languages in a COBOL or PL/I file. Identifies whether a program contains CICS, SQL, IMS (DLI), or MQ operations.
`zopeneditor-pli-get-program-control-flow`	Get PL/I Program Control Flow	Retrieves parsed control flow data from the PL/I Language Server for analysis of program structure and execution paths. Returns a graph of procedures and packages, including their names, line numbers, and edges that show control flow relationships.

Z Code mode

Bob Tools

Tools that support development tasks. Some tools integrate directly with the skills listed in this section, such as the DBB tools. The table also includes tools that support integrations and skills provided by other extensions, such as IBM Z Open Debug, which uses Z Open Editor tools through its skills and workflows.

Tool name	Title	Description
`dbb-download-build-result-attachments`	Download all the attachments of a DBB build result	Exports all attachments from an IBM Dependency Based Build (DBB) build result in a remote environment and downloads them to a local folder. Returns the path to the local folder.
`dbb-get-build-result`	Get a DBB Build Result	Gets an IBM Dependency Based Build (DBB) build result and returns the metadata for the build.
`dbb-get-last-failed-build-result`	Get the last failed DBB Build Result	Gets the most recent failed IBM Dependency Based Build (DBB) build result in a specified DBB group and returns its metadata.
`userbuild-get-dbb-log`	Return the logs of the last IBM Dependency Based Build (DBB) user build	Returns the contents of a DBB log from the most recent user build. Logs are downloaded from the remote host after a build and provide detailed troubleshooting information about compilation steps.
`userbuild-run-user-build`	Run a user build	Runs a user build (v1 or v2) on the currently open program or on a file specified by a relative workspace path. Returns a runtime report, when available for DBB-based builds, along with stdout and log file listings.
`zcodescan-check-current-program`	Run ZCodeScan on current program	Runs an IBM ZCodeScan on the COBOL or PL/I program file that is currently open in the editor. Returns linter-style issues along with stdout and log file listings.
`zcodescan-check-list-of-local-programs`	Run ZCodeScan on a list of program file name patterns	Runs IBM ZCodeScan on COBOL or PL/I files in the local workspace that match glob search patterns. Returns linter-style issues grouped by severity and occurrence count.
`zcodescan-get-rule-details`	Get ZCodeScan issues for a specific rule	Returns all issues for a specific ZCodeScan rule from the most recent scan, grouped by file and line numbers. Use this tool after `zcodescan-check-list-of-local-programs` when detailed location information for a single rule is required.
`zopeneditor-cobol-format-file`	Format COBOL program file	Formats a COBOL file by using the COBOL Language Server and a Z Code Format file (`zcodeformat.yaml` or `zcodeformat.json`) in the workspace.
`zopeneditor-cobol-format-multiple-files`	Format multiple COBOL program files	Formats multiple COBOL files that match glob search patterns by using the COBOL Language Server and a Z Code Format file (`zcodeformat.yaml` or `zcodeformat.json`) in the workspace.
`zopeneditor-cobol-renumber-file`	Renumber COBOL sequence numbers	Adds sequence numbers to every line of a single COBOL file using the COBOL Language Server. Numbers can be inserted in the left column (cols 0–6), the right column (cols 73–80), or both.
`zopeneditor-cobol-renumber-multiple-files`	Renumber COBOL sequence numbers for multiple files	Adds sequence numbers to every line in COBOL files that match glob search patterns by using the COBOL Language Server. Numbers can be inserted in the left column, the right column, or both.
`zopeneditor-cobol-unnumber-file`	Remove or unnumber COBOL sequence numbers	Removes sequence numbers from every line in a COBOL file by using the COBOL Language Server. Numbers can be removed from the left column, the right column, or both.
`zopeneditor-cobol-unnumber-multiple-files`	Remove or unnumber COBOL sequence numbers for multiple files	Removes sequence numbers from every line in COBOL files that match by glob search patterns by using the COBOL Language Server. Numbers can be removed from the left column, the right column, or both.
`zowe-get-all-job-spools-output`	Get all JES job spool output	Gets all spool file output for a specified JES job name or job ID. Spool files can optionally be downloaded to a local directory.
`zowe-get-dataset-content`	Get contents of a data set member or sequential data set	Gets the contents of a specified sequential data set or partitioned data set (PDS) member. Content is returned in a buffer or downloaded to a local file path.
`zowe-list-job-spools`	List job spools	Lists JES job spools for a specified job name or job ID. If multiple jobs match the name, returns a list from which a specific job ID can be selected.
`zowe-submit-jcl`	Submit a job from JCL	Submits a JES job by using the provided JCL string and returns the submission response.

Bob Skills

These skills enhance the DBB tools described in this section by providing additional context and orchestration. For more information, see the DBB section in the Agent mode page.

Skill ID	Description	Trigger phrases
`dbb-pipeline-troubleshoot`	Guides a step-by-step investigation of a failed IBM Dependency Based Build (DBB) pipeline build. Uses `dbb-get-build-result` or `dbb-get-last-failed-build-result` to retrieve build metadata, then downloads and analyzes build attachments (runtime report, build report, compilation logs) to identify the cause of the failure.	"troubleshoot DBB", "DBB pipeline failed", "DBB build error", "pipeline build failed", "DBB compile error", "zBuilder error"
`dbb-setup-mcp-tools`	Guides configuration of the `zopeneditor.dbb.metadataStore` VS Code setting that the DBB MCP tools require to connect to a DBB metadata store (file-based or Db2). Generates a `settings.json` snippet and can optionally write it to User or Workspace settings.	"configure DBB MCP tools", "set up DBB MCP", "DBB tool configuration", "set up DBB tool connection"