Using IBM watsonx.ai with IBM App Connect Enterprise

IBM® watsonx.ai is part of IBM's AI and data platform. It allows you to work with generative AI and traditional machine learning models, providing tools to build and refine models for your specific needs. It offers various models, including options from IBM, open source models, and the ability to use your own.

The following steps show you how to connect to an IBM watsonx.ai account and configure an IBM watsonx.ai Request node by using connector discovery.

1. In the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit, create a flow that contains an IBM watsonx.ai Request node.
2. Select the IBM watsonx.ai Request node in the flow to show the node properties in the editor.
3. On the Basic tab, click Launch Connector Discovery.
   A panel is displayed in which you specify the name of the policy project and vault details to be used during connector discovery.
4. Specify the details of the policy project and vault to be used during connector discovery:
   1. In the Policy Project field, specify the policy project that is used to store the policies that are created during connector discovery.
      Alternatively, you can create a new policy project by clicking New and then specifying the name of the new policy project. Then click Finish.
   2. Specify the vault to be used during connector discovery. By default, credentials that are used during connector discovery are stored in an external directory vault, which is an App Connect Enterprise vault that can be used by any integration server. Alternatively, you can store the credentials in an integration server vault, which is created in the integration server's work directory and can be used only by that specific integration server.
      To specify the vault to be used for storing the credentials, complete the steps in the Using the Connector Discovery wizard section of one of the following topics:

      • Configuring an external directory vault
      • Configuring an integration server vault
   3. In the Vault key field, enter the vault key that is used to access the credentials stored in the vault. The vault key must be at least 8 characters in length.
   4. Optional: By default, the specified vault location and vault key are saved as preferences in the Toolkit so that the values are preset when you launch Connector Discovery. If you do not want the preferences to be saved, deselect Save in vault preferences.
5. Click Launch Discovery to start the Connector Discovery wizard for the IBM watsonx.ai connector.
   The Connector Discovery window is displayed. If existing IBM watsonx.ai connections (accounts) are available, a list of those connections is displayed. If there are no existing connections, the status of the IBM watsonx.ai connector is shown as Not connected.
   • If one or more IBM watsonx.ai connections (accounts) are available, complete the following steps:
     1. Select the connection (account) that you want to use by clicking it.
     2. Click the required object type and then select the action that you want to perform on the object. For example, to generate text from IBM watsonx.ai, click Text generation and then Generate text.
   • If there are no existing connections (accounts), complete the following steps:
     1. Click the required object type and then select the action that you want to perform on that object. For example, to generate text from IBM watsonx.ai, click Text generation and then Generate text.
     2. Click Connect.
        A window is displayed in which you enter the connection details for your IBM watsonx.ai account. Enter the following information in the connector wizard:

        • Server URL: Specify the URL for the API server that makes runtime calls.
        • API key: Specify the API key that you use to access IBM watsonx.ai.
        • Allow self-signed certificates: Select True or False from the drop-down menu.
        • Override server URL: Required if you want to connect to an endpoint in a private network by using the private network client, or if you want to override the server URL. Specify an override value for the host and port for the connector in the format <http or https>://<host_name>:<port>. If you are not using the private network client or do not require an override, leave this field blank.
     3. Click Connect.

     For more information about identifying these connection details, see Obtaining connection values for IBM watsonx.ai in the IBM App Connect Enterprise as a Service documentation.

6. Set the required connector properties in the wizard.

   For create actions, you can optionally use advanced mode. In the default edit view for an action, some applications have fields that are hidden because they are not required for general use cases. For more advanced use cases, you can switch to advanced mode editing, which provides extra capabilities for editing flows. To use advanced mode, exit the Connector Discovery wizard by clicking the Close button (X) and then complete the instructions in Using advanced mode.

   You can also set properties that specify the maximum number of records to retrieve and the action to be taken if that limit is exceeded.
7. When you have finished specifying the properties in the Connector Discovery wizard, click Save.
   The credential that is used for connecting to IBM watsonx.ai is stored in the vault, and the other connection details are saved in the IBM watsonx.ai policy. The values of the properties that you set in the wizard are returned to the IBM watsonx.ai Request node in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit.
8. When you finish discovery and save the property values, exit the Connector Discovery wizard by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the window or by pressing Alt+F4.
9. Return to editing the IBM watsonx.ai Request node in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit.
   The connector properties that were set in the Connector Discovery wizard (in step 6) are now visible on the IBM watsonx.ai Request node in the property editor. The Basic tab shows the values of the Action and Object properties that you set in the wizard. For example, if you selected Text generation > Generate text in the wizard, the following properties are visible on the Basic tab of the node:

   • Action - postMlV1TextGeneration
   • Object - postMlV1TextGeneration_model

   The values of the Action and Object properties are displayed in read-only format. If you want to change these values, you can do so by clicking Launch Connector Discovery again and setting new values in the Connector Discovery wizard.

   The Schema base name property specifies the base name of the schema files that describe the format of the request and response messages that are sent and received from the IBM watsonx.ai connector. The schema base name is set automatically the first time that you run discovery for the node, and it is based on the current flow name and node name. If you set this property manually before you run discovery for the first time, the value that you set is used. If you rename the schemas after discovery, you must edit this property so that it matches the schema base name that is used by the renamed schemas in the project. If you change this property after discovery, you must either rename the schema names to match or run discovery again.

   Depending on the action that was selected during discovery, the Connector Discovery wizard generates either a request schema and a response schema, or a response schema only. A request schema is generated only if the selected action and object require a request message. The generated request schema is used for validation of the request message. If the action was RETRIEVE or DELETE, only the response schema is returned by the connector.

   The generated schema files are added to the project and can be used by a Mapping node for transforming input or output data. The full filename of the schema is derived from the schema base name (such as gen/watsonxai.IBM_watsonx.ai_Request), suffixed with either response.schema.json or request.schema.json. You can open the schema by clicking Open request schema or Open response schema.

10. Check that the property settings on the IBM watsonx.ai Request node are correct and then save the message flow.
11. On the Connection tab of the IBM watsonx.ai Request node, the Policy property shows the name of the policy that contains the details of the security identity to be used for the connection. The policy has a type of IBM watsonx.ai.
    For more information, see IBM watsonx.ai policy.
12. Optional: Set the Timeout property on the Connection tab to specify the time (in seconds) that the node waits for IBM watsonx.ai to process the operation.
13. The Filter tab of the IBM watsonx.ai Request node contains properties that control how the message flow selects data. The initial values of these properties are taken from the property values that were set for the IBM watsonx.ai connector in the Connector Discovery wizard, including the filter options properties and any conditions that were specified (as described in step 6). Then, if you return to the Connector Discovery wizard and change the values of any properties (by adding new conditions, for example) those updates are reflected in the properties set on the node.

    The Filter Options properties control which objects are to be operated upon when the IBM watsonx.ai Request node executes. The Filter Limit properties control the maximum number of items to be retrieved and the action to be taken if the limit is exceeded.

    You can modify the values by clicking Edit next to the value that you want to modify in the Filter Options section, and by changing the property values that have been set in the Filter Limit section.

    The property values can be either text values or ESQL or XPATH expressions that are resolved from the contents of the message that is passed to the IBM watsonx.ai Request node as it executes.

14. On the Request tab, set the Data location property to specify the location in the incoming message tree that contains the object data to be created in IBM watsonx.ai. This data forms the request that is sent from the IBM watsonx.ai Request node to the IBM watsonx.ai system.
15. On the Result tab, set the Output data location property to specify the location in the output message tree to contain the data of the record that is created in IBM watsonx.ai.
16. By default, request messages are validated against the request schema that was generated during connector discovery. You can turn off request validation or change the validation settings by using the Validation properties of the IBM watsonx.ai Request node.
17. Save the message flow.