You can choose to work with tools in watsonx, with REST APIs in your development environment, or with a combination of tools and Python code.
Comparison of functionality in tools and code
That tasks that you can complete with tools in the user interface and with REST API code are mostly the same. You can also complete some tasks with Python code.
Project tasks
The following table lists the tasks for managing projects and the tools and code that you can work with to complete those tasks.
| Task | Tools | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Create projects | Create project wizard | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API |
| Manage collaborators | Access control page | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API |
| Get project ID | General page | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API |
| Associate services | Services & integrations page | None |
| Export assets | Export assets wizard | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API |
| Manage assets | Assets page | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API |
| Manage runtime environments | Environments page | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API |
| Manage jobs | Jobs page | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API |
Prepare data tasks
The following table lists data preparation tasks and the tools and code that you can work with to complete those tasks.
| Task | Tools | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Connect to data sources | Add connection | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
| Add connected data | Import assets | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
| Add data files | Import assets | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
| Add documents to a vector index | Vector index | ✓ Data and AI Common Core API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
| Extract text from documents | None | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
| Create embeddings of documents and vectorize them | Vector index AutoAI for RAG |
✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
| Refine structured data | Data Refinery | None |
| Generate synthetic data | Synthetic Data Generator | None |
| Visualize data | Visualizations | None |
Build generative AI solutions tasks
The following table lists the tasks for building gen AI solutions and the tools and code that you can work with to complete those tasks. For a detailed list of tasks that you can code with the watsonx.ai REST API, the ibm-watsonx-ai Python library, or the watsonx.ai Node.js SDK, see Coding generative AI solutions.
| Task | Tools | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Experiment with prompts | Prompt Lab | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK ✓ IBM Extension in LangChain |
| Tune a foundation model | Tuning Studio | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
| Implement a RAG pattern | Prompt Lab AutoAI for RAG |
✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API ✓ ibm-watsonx-ai Python library ✓ watsonx.ai Node.js SDK |
Govern AI tasks
The following table lists governance tasks and the tools and code that you can work with to complete those tasks.
| Task | Tools | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Create an AI use case | AI use case | ✓ AI Factsheets API ✓ AI Factsheets Python library |
| Evaluate a prompt | Prompt Lab | ✓ Watson OpenScale REST API ✓ Watson OpenScale Python Library |
| Compare and evaluate multiple prompts | Evaluation Studio | ✓ Watson OpenScale REST API ✓ Watson OpenScale Python Library |
| Audit a model or prompt | Governance console | ✓ OpenPages REST API v2 |
Deploy solution tasks
The following table lists deployment tasks and the tools and code that you can work with to complete those tasks.
| Task | Tools | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy an AI service | Prompt Lab | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API |
| Deploy a prompt template | Prompt Lab | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API |
| Deploy a tuned foundation model | Deployment wizard | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API ✓ watsonx.ai Python library |
| Deploy a custom foundation model | Deployment wizard | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API ✓ watsonx.ai Python library |
| Deploy an on-demand model | Resource hub | ✓ watsonx.ai as a Service REST API |
Learn more
Parent topic: Initial strategic decisions