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Introduction

watsonx Orchestrate supports two types of agents: native agents and external agents.
  • External agents are services hosted by partners or customers outside of WXO. They expose an API that watsonx Orchestrate can call when needed.
  • Native agents are built and deployed directly within Orchestrate. They use IBM-managed models, tools, and runtime.
An external agent is typically implemented as a REST service that conforms to a chat completions interface. This allows it to receive conversation history and return structured responses in real time. Because external agents cannot be chatted with directly, they are always used as collaborators to a native agent. The native agent acts as the host agent, and delegates specific tasks to the external agent when appropriate.

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Video guide

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Choose your agent type

Select the type of agent you want to create and list in the watsonx Orchestrate Agent Catalog:

External Agent

Host your agent externally and connect it to watsonx Orchestrate via API. Submit your agent details through the IBM Concierge web form.

Native Agent

Build and deploy your agent directly within watsonx Orchestrate using the Agent Development Kit (ADK). Package and submit your agent for catalog listing.

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What IBM checks during onboarding

When you submit your agent, the IBM Concierge and IBM onboarding team validate:
  • Offering metadata: publisher, tags, category, and icon are properly set.
  • Agent definition: API details, authentication scheme, and structure are correct.
  • Evaluation artifacts: validation results and metrics are included and show that the agent is functional.
  • Folder structure (native agents only): matches the required scaffold (agents, offerings, evaluations, etc.).
If something is missing, the onboarding team will ask you to repackage and resubmit.

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What happens after approval

  • Catalog publishing: Once your submission is reviewed and approved, your agent enters the publishing queue for the watsonx Orchestrate Catalog.
  • Discovery & provisioning: End-users will then be able to find your agent in the catalog, provision it into their own environment, and use it directly in Orchestrate flows.
  • Ongoing updates: To ship new features or fixes, simply increment the version number in your agent definition, re-run the packaging process (for native agents) or update your submission (for external agents), and resubmit through the IBM Concierge app. The same validation and approval process applies.