IBM Bob

artpar 248 points 279 comments September 04, 2026
bob.ibm.com · View on Hacker News

Discussion Highlights (19 comments)

colesantiago

I never thought the day that IBM would make complete slop. But it is IBM after all.

Geonode

I bet this will be as successful as Microsoft Bob.

quietsegfault

I used Bob extensively at an IBM acquisition, it was absolutely dreadful. Bobcoins.

brk

This can only mean that IBM Clippy is next.

a012

Nobody got fired for using IBM Bob

antonvs

Should have been IBM Tom, after legendary IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson. But perhaps they didn't want to sully his name.

saberience

This is embarrassing. It would have been better to release nothing than this.

znpy

Lost opportunity to call it Hal

bob1029

I like how the solitary review is word salad.

mrbluecoat

Totally reminds me of "HP Offers 'That Cloud Thing Everyone Is Talking About'" https://youtube.com/watch?v=9ntPxdWAWq8

Ciantic

This sounds a lot like Spotify's XIRP. They managed to vibe something useful for their own engineers, were super hyped, and decided to release it in public. However what are the odds this harness will stand the test of time against actual harness makers like OpenAI or Anthropic? Neither Spotify or IBM are focused on making models or harnesses, these are just side-products.

walrus01

Not to be confused with Microsoft Bob: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob

Stevvo

Interesting they are renting out agent skills. You can pick up "Java Modernization" at $20 a month for "Specialist workflows to help with modernizing Java applications", or "IBM i" for "Specialist modes, workflows, and skills to work with IBM i applications".

sajithdilshan

I'm really confused what this is, is it a harness or a new model by IBM? Some reviews on that page suggests that it's a new model

m_w_

The review that "IBM Bob isn't just another autocomplete tool" tells you everything you need to know about this product. lol.

DeathArrow

31 years after Microsoft Bob, IBM releases it's own IBM Bob. :)

varispeed

The companies who are hoarding RAM to produce pointless products should be called out. Deprive working class from computing resources to sell some corporate crap. Get fucked.

taspeotis

Not to shit on their effort or anything, but it looks like a VS Code fork + an agent panel which is very ... late 2024 energy?

self_awareness

Oh, so we are yet again in the 'Bob' phase? Maybe this time it'll work.

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