Using the integration assistant ( Cloud Service)

The integration assistant is a natural language, conversational interface that helps you complete tasks such as creating and deploying instances and integrations. Before you can use the assistant, you must enable it in the Platform UI.

Attention: The assistant conversational interface is a Cloud Service, available for online OpenShift clusters only.

Enabling the assistant

  1. Log in to the OpenShift web console.

  2. Create an ibm-entitlement-key secret in the project (namespace) where the Platform UI is installed, by following the instructions in "Adding the pull secret to a namespace by using the OpenShift web console" in Finding and applying your entitlement key by using the UI (online installation).

  3. Log in to Platform UI as an administrator.

  4. Find the Platform UI instance in the list of instances, click the overflow menu (three-dot icon) for that instance, then click Edit.

  5. Update the Cloud Service - Integration assistant section as follows:

    • Set Enabled to on to enable the integration assistant.

    • If you used a name other than ibm-entitlement-key for the secret that you created earlier, specify that name in the Secret name (optional) field (the default value for this field is ibm-entitlement-key).

  6. Click Update. The pod for the Platform UI is recreated automatically. The assistant is now enabled and available in the Platform UI.

  7. Refresh your browser tab. The home page now has an "Open the chat window" button:

    Open the chat window button

    You might also see an introductory message. Click either the icon or the message to start the assistant. If other users are logged into the Platform UI, they must also refresh their browser tabs to see the changes.

Creating instances and integrations with the assistant

To get started, enter simple phrases to tell the assistant that you are trying to create a specific instance type. For example, enter "Create a Messaging server instance" or "Create a queue". The assistant understands a variety of phrasings, so if you enter "Deploy a queue", you get the same assistance with your task.

For example, the assistant can use your input to create a YAML definition for an instance. The assistant can read the cluster configuration such as namespaces and storage classes, and present those as selectable options when gathering input. You can then deploy the instance to the cluster directly within the assistant. Alternatively, you can deploy the instance by using either the CLI, or the YAML view when you create an instance from the Platform UI.

Because the assistant is a Cloud Service, it is automatically refreshed when new features and improvements are made on IBM Cloud. You do not need to upgrade the Platform UI to get these updates.