How to Build Custom Skills for IBM Bob — Step-by-Step Tutorial

Skills are one of the most powerful ways to customize IBM Bob — and you don't need to write a single line of code to get started. In this tutorial, Alex Soto walks through building a Bob skill from scratch using nothing but markdown files, then progressively expands it to run shell scripts and reference external files.

Unlike MCP servers which require coding in Java, Python, or another language, skills are simple markdown instruction files that tell Bob how to behave in specific situations. They can include workflows, command-line tool execution, templates, and reference documentation — all defined in a structured .bob/skills directory.

🔹 What you'll learn in this video:
— What skills are and how they differ from MCP servers
— The skill file structure: skill.md metadata, content, and optional directories (scripts, references, assets, templates)
— Building a basic skill that returns a custom greeting
— Expanding the skill to execute a command-line tool (whoami)
— Extracting scripts into separate files for reusability and easier testing
— How Bob reads and applies skills automatically during a session

📌 Key takeaway: Skills are the simplest way to teach Bob a specific workflow without any coding. A structured markdown file, a clear set of instructions, and Bob follows the playbook. Start simple, iterate over time, and expand to your own use cases.

🔗 Try IBM Bob: ibm.com/bob

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Видео How to Build Custom Skills for IBM Bob — Step-by-Step Tutorial канала Bob