I'll add, in the future, it is being considered (and possibly likely) that we could create a mode to switch the execution to use the .flow file versus the xml, due the significant gains that Martellucci Fabrice's post skillfully detailed (thanks!)
These gains aren't just storage, but also it has a significant impact on memory, load/parse times, and much more.
We are always cautious as we don't want to disrupt/affect customers implementation, some which have existed for many years, so whilst we make changes like this, we're always a little cautious to avoid compatibility or breaking changes, which is one of the things we take to heart!
The v12.1 intergration server will continue to get monthly updates via the fixes, as will the skills and service designer, so keep your eyes open for these as we'll continue to expand on this and considerably improve as we move forward!
Original Message:
Sent: 09/03/26 02:56 AM
From: Martellucci Fabrice
Subject: Webmethods code integration with agentic AI for code assistance
I know, i know.
i know well the file .xml ^^
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Martellucci Fabrice
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Original Message:
Sent: 09/03/26 02:41 AM
From: Wayne Campos
Subject: Webmethods code integration with agentic AI for code assistance
Martellucci,
The ".xml" files are still required. They do not go away. To ensure the consistency of execution, the ".flow" files are not executed. The ".xml" files that correspond to the ".flow" files are used at execution time for the Flow Service.
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Regards,
Wayne Campos
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Original Message:
Sent: 09/02/26 02:09 AM
From: Martellucci Fabrice
Subject: Webmethods code integration with agentic AI for code assistance
Hey Mr Pemberton
I've looked through your skill; it's very well done, by the way.
We're currently still on version 10.15 of IS.
I started by using the skill to help me create documentation for some package services. The AI did a great job and used the skill to format the documentation. Perfect.
Then I tried converting these services, flow.xml and node.ndf, to .flow, which it did. (but I can't validate or deploy 10.15 yet)
And to show other responsible people one of the added values, I'm doing a small comparison between a flow.xml file and flow.flow.
Comparison Table
Metrics | flow.xml | flow.flow (FSL) | FSL / XML Ratio
File Size (bytes) | 113,693 | 10,613 | 9.3%
Number of Lines| 2,751 |288 | 10.5%
Total Characters | 113,693 |10,613 |9.3%
Non-Whitespace Characters (excluding spaces/tabs/line breaks) | 91,855 | 6,087 |6.6%
Readability
The FSL file is only about 1/10th the size and number of lines of the original Flow XML, and contains only about 1/15th of its significant characters (excluding spaces), for a strictly identical business logic (13 faithfully translated functional steps, same field names, same literal values - see logError.md for details).
Why such a difference?
The flow.xml format is a verbose serialized XML: each MAPTARGET/MAPSOURCE block explicitly redefines the entire <Values> tree with all type metadata (node_type, field_dim, wrapper_type, nillable, form_qualified, is_global, etc.) - and this for each field, at each step, including fields not affected by the current step.
The FSL only declares, at each step, the field paths actually read or written (principle of the minimal local contract), without repeating redundant schema metadata already known elsewhere (referenced document types, etc.). Result: the same business logic fits into ~6,000 useful characters versus ~92,000 in XML - a considerable gain in readability and maintainability, without functional loss or change in behavior.
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Martellucci Fabrice
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Original Message:
Sent: 08/10/26 06:39 AM
From: Dave Pemberton
Subject: Webmethods code integration with agentic AI for code assistance
Hi Martellucci Fabrice,
You can access them from here!
Service Designer v12.1.x with Flow Pilot:
https://www.ibm.com/resources/mrs/assets/DownloadList?source=WMSD_FlowPilot&lang=en_US#lang=en_US
Flow Pilot Skills + VS Code Plugin:
https://www.ibm.com/resources/mrs/assets/DownloadList?source=WebMtds_FlowPilot&lang=en_US
Dave
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Dave Pemberton
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Original Message:
Sent: 08/07/26 01:53 AM
From: Martellucci Fabrice
Subject: Webmethods code integration with agentic AI for code assistance
Hello,
I watched Dave Pemberton's presentation video on .flow.
It's very interesting, and I'd like to follow it more closely.
I work for an IT company in Belgium that uses WebMethod (10.15). We're also trying out methods to generate documentation based on the flow.xml files (process diagrams, process overviews, business logic, etc.) of all our legacy services.
I use VS Code, Claude Code, Quen, etc.
Dave's idea of converting XML to script and vice versa would be a huge plus for generating services based on the prompts and business skills we've implemented (.md).
How can we try the skill (/codedemo/config/*) and the VS Code extension to add the XML<->TypeScript conversion commands (DeployService, ValidateService, RunService) to VS Code?
Currently, we use Graphify with AI to generate a dependency graph between our service projects in WebMethod.
Thank you in advance.
Martel
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Bonjours,
J'ai vu la vidéo de présentation de Dave Pemberton sur .flow
It is very very intéressant, et j'aimerais suivre de plus près.
Je suis dans une société en Belgique IT qui utilisons Webmethod (10.15), nous essayons aussi des méthodes pour sortir de la documentation sur base des flow.xml (diagram de process, overview process, and business etc..) de tous nos anciens services.
J'utilise VS Code, Claude Code, Quen etc..
L'idée de Dave sur la conversion des xml en script et inversément serait un très grand plus pour générer des services sur base de prompts et de skills business que nous avons mis en place (.md)
Comment peut on essayer le skill (/codedemo/config/*) et l'extension VScode pour rajouter les commandes de conversion xml<->typescript (DeployService, ValidateService, RunService) dans VS Code
Actuellement nous utilisons graphify avec des ia pour générer un graph de dépendance entre nos projets services dans webmethod.
D'avance merci
Martel
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Martellucci Fabrice
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Original Message:
Sent: 07/07/26 01:11 AM
From: Kailash Kumar Mishra
Subject: Webmethods code integration with agentic AI for code assistance
Thanks Dave for this info was helpful. The webMethods Flow Pilot is a great step ahead.
Do you know if any official documentation related to webMethods Flow Pilot regarding usage, setup and tutorials has been released in the Public domain yet?
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Kailash Kumar Mishra
webMethods Developer
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Original Message:
Sent: 06/24/26 06:00 PM
From: Dave Laycock
Subject: Webmethods code integration with agentic AI for code assistance
A colleague of mine recently attempted that with limited results
Wayne Leishman recently created a library topic on something promising IBM may be close to releasing
https://community.ibm.com/community/user/viewdocument/overview-and-demo-of-ibm-webmethods-flow-pilot-may-22nd-2026?CommunityKey=82b75916-ed06-4a13-8eb6-0190da9f1bfa&tab=librarydocuments
From what I understood, it will only be available for the very latest version of Integration Server/Designer. It relies on transpiling to/from Flow XML from/to a new Flow programming language with a formal grammar. This new language and grammar gives the AI models enough semantic information to reason about the code
Seems like they could also release a command line tool that does those same transformations for existing repos.
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Dave Laycock
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