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The Agent Development Kit (ADK) is a comprehensive set of CLI utilities and Python modules that enables you to create, test, and deploy agents and tools for watsonx Orchestrate. You can use these agents and tools across all watsonx Orchestrate offerings, including:
  • watsonx Orchestrate AWS
  • watsonx Orchestrate AWS Gov
  • watsonx Orchestrate IBM Cloud
  • watsonx Orchestrate on-premises
  • watsonx Orchestrate Developer Edition

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ADK components

The ADK includes a powerful CLI that streamlines the process of building, testing, and importing agents and tools into watsonx Orchestrate.

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Core building blocks

ComponentDescriptionKey Features
AgentAn AI agent that uses tools and other agents to plan and execute tasks, reflecting on results and refining outputs to align with defined objectives.- Collaborates with other agents to solve complex tasks
- Handles task decomposition and synthesis
- Uses tools autonomously on behalf of users
ToolA function that can be invoked to perform specific actions or retrieve information.- Well-defined inputs and outputs
- Permission-based access control
- Support for multiple binding types (Python, OpenAPI, MCP, Skill, etc.)
- Schema validation
- Reusable across agents
The ADK provides a comprehensive framework that enables developers to define new tools and agents programmatically with ease.

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How it all works together

  1. Define Tools: Create tools using one of the available binding types (Python, OpenAPI, MCP, Skill, etc.) and import them into watsonx Orchestrate using the ADK CLI.
  2. Build Agents: Define agents using the ADK framework and import them into watsonx Orchestrate using the ADK CLI. Agents leverage the tools created in step 1.
  3. Deploy and Use: Once imported, agents can interact with users through the watsonx Orchestrate Agent Chat UI or via the Orchestrate API.