---
sidebar_label: WatsonX
description: Configure IBM watsonx.ai text and chat models for LLM testing
---

# WatsonX

[IBM watsonx.ai](https://www.ibm.com/watsonx) exposes foundation models through text generation
and chat APIs. Model availability varies by region and account.

## Supported Models

IBM watsonx.ai provides foundation models through its inference API. The promptfoo WatsonX provider supports **text generation and chat models** that can be called directly via API.

:::tip Finding Available Models

To see the models available in your region, use IBM's API or review IBM's [supported foundation models](https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/watsonx/saas?topic=solutions-supported-foundation-models):

```bash
curl "https://us-south.ml.cloud.ibm.com/ml/v1/foundation_model_specs?version=2024-05-01" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
```

:::

### Currently Available Models

The examples use `ibm/granite-4-h-small`. Confirm its availability with the model-specs endpoint
above, or select another text/chat model from your region's catalog.

<a id="ibm-granite"></a>
<a id="meta-llama"></a>
<a id="mistral"></a>
<a id="other-models"></a>

### Other Model Types

IBM watsonx.ai also offers:

- **Deploy on Demand Models** - Curated models that require creating a dedicated deployment first
- **Embedding Models** - For generating text embeddings (e.g., `ibm/granite-embedding-278m-multilingual`)
- **Reranker Models** - For improving search results (e.g., `cross-encoder/ms-marco-minilm-l-12-v2`)
- **Vision and Guardrail Models** - Models with APIs or payloads that differ from the provider's current text/chat workflow

:::info Additional Model Types Not Currently Supported

The promptfoo WatsonX provider focuses on **text generation and chat models only**. Deploy on Demand, embedding, and reranker models use different API endpoints and workflows. For these model types, use IBM's API directly or create a [custom provider](/docs/providers/custom-api/).

:::

:::note Model Availability

- **Region-specific**: Model availability varies by IBM Cloud region
- **Version changes**: IBM regularly updates available models
- **Deprecation**: Models marked "deprecated" will be removed in future releases

Always verify current availability using IBM's API or check your watsonx.ai project's model catalog.

:::

## Prerequisites

Before integrating the WatsonX provider, ensure you have the following:

1. **IBM Cloud Account**: You will need an IBM Cloud account to obtain API access to WatsonX models.

2. **API Key or Bearer Token, and Project ID**:
   - **API Key**: You can retrieve your API key by logging in to your [IBM Cloud Account](https://cloud.ibm.com) and navigating to the "API Keys" section.
   - **Bearer Token**: To obtain a bearer token, follow [this guide](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/account?topic=account-iamtoken_from_apikey).
   - **Project ID**: To find your Project ID, log in to IBM WatsonX Prompt Lab, select your project, and locate the project ID in the provided `curl` command.

Make sure you have either the API key or bearer token, along with the project ID, before proceeding.

## Installation

The WatsonX SDKs are optional peers and are not installed with promptfoo by default. To use this provider:

1. Install promptfoo and the supported SDK versions together in your project:

   ```sh
   npm install promptfoo @ibm-cloud/watsonx-ai@^1.7.16 ibm-cloud-sdk-core@^5.6.2
   ```

   For a global installation, add `-g` to the same command so both SDKs are installed alongside promptfoo. Missing or incompatible SDKs are reported when the WatsonX provider is used.

2. Set up the necessary environment variables:

   You can choose between two authentication methods:

   **Option 1: IAM Authentication (Recommended)**

   ```sh
   export WATSONX_AI_APIKEY=your-ibm-cloud-api-key
   export WATSONX_AI_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
   ```

   **Option 2: Bearer Token Authentication**

   ```sh
   export WATSONX_AI_BEARER_TOKEN=your-bearer-token
   export WATSONX_AI_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
   ```

   **Force Specific Auth Method (Optional)**

   ```sh
   export WATSONX_AI_AUTH_TYPE=iam  # or 'bearertoken'
   ```

   :::note Authentication Priority

   If `WATSONX_AI_AUTH_TYPE` is not set, the provider will automatically use:
   1. IAM authentication if `WATSONX_AI_APIKEY` is available
   2. Bearer token authentication if `WATSONX_AI_BEARER_TOKEN` is available

   :::

3. Alternatively, you can configure the authentication and project ID directly in the configuration file:

   ```yaml
   providers:
     - id: watsonx:ibm/granite-4-h-small
       config:
         # Option 1: IAM Authentication
         apiKey: your-ibm-cloud-api-key

         # Option 2: Bearer Token Authentication
         # apiBearerToken: your-ibm-cloud-bearer-token

         projectId: your-ibm-project-id
         serviceUrl: https://us-south.ml.cloud.ibm.com
   ```

### Usage Examples

Once configured, you can use the WatsonX provider to generate text responses based on prompts. Here's an example using the **Granite 4 H Small** model:

```yaml title="promptfooconfig.yaml"
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://promptfoo.dev/config-schema.json
providers:
  - watsonx:ibm/granite-4-h-small

prompts:
  - "Answer the following question: '{{question}}'"

tests:
  - vars:
      question: 'What is the capital of France?'
    assert:
      - type: contains
        value: 'Paris'
```

You can also use other models by changing the model ID:

```yaml
providers:
  # Replace this ID with a text/chat model returned by the model-specs endpoint.
  - watsonx:ibm/granite-4-h-small
```

## Configuration Options

### Text Generation Parameters

The WatsonX provider supports the full range of text generation parameters from the IBM SDK:

| Parameter             | Type     | Description                                |
| --------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `maxNewTokens`        | number   | Maximum tokens to generate (default: 100)  |
| `minNewTokens`        | number   | Minimum tokens before stop sequences apply |
| `temperature`         | number   | Sampling temperature (0-2)                 |
| `topP`                | number   | Nucleus sampling parameter (0-1)           |
| `topK`                | number   | Top-k sampling parameter                   |
| `decodingMethod`      | string   | `'greedy'` or `'sample'`                   |
| `stopSequences`       | string[] | Sequences that cause generation to stop    |
| `repetitionPenalty`   | number   | Penalty for repeated tokens                |
| `randomSeed`          | number   | Seed for reproducible outputs              |
| `timeLimit`           | number   | Time limit in milliseconds                 |
| `truncateInputTokens` | number   | Max input tokens before truncation         |
| `includeStopSequence` | boolean  | Include stop sequence in output            |
| `lengthPenalty`       | object   | Length penalty configuration               |

#### Example with Parameters

```yaml
providers:
  - id: watsonx:ibm/granite-4-h-small
    config:
      temperature: 0.7
      topP: 0.9
      topK: 50
      maxNewTokens: 1024
      stopSequences: ['END', 'STOP']
      repetitionPenalty: 1.1
      decodingMethod: sample
```

#### Length Penalty

For more control over output length:

```yaml
providers:
  - id: watsonx:ibm/granite-4-h-small
    config:
      lengthPenalty:
        decayFactor: 1.5
        startIndex: 10
```

### Cost estimates

Cost estimates use pricing metadata for the configured service and account. If required metadata is unavailable or a required pricing tier is unrecognized, the response omits `cost` and still returns the generated output. A token category with a reported count of zero does not require a price.

For account-specific pricing, set `inputCost` and `outputCost` in USD per token, or set `cost` for a shared input/output rate. These values override the built-in tier prices; an explicit zero is supported. Estimates do not determine whether your account can use a model.

## Chat Mode

WatsonX also supports chat-style interactions using the `textChat` API. Use the `watsonx:chat:` prefix:

```yaml
providers:
  - id: watsonx:chat:ibm/granite-4-h-small
    config:
      temperature: 0.7
      maxNewTokens: 1024
```

Chat mode automatically parses messages in JSON format:

```yaml
prompts:
  - |
    [
      {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
      {"role": "user", "content": "{{question}}"}
    ]

providers:
  - watsonx:chat:ibm/granite-4-h-small
```

For plain text prompts, the chat provider automatically wraps them as a user message.

### Chat vs Text Generation

| Feature         | Text Generation (`watsonx:`) | Chat (`watsonx:chat:`)       |
| --------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| API Method      | `generateText`               | `textChat`                   |
| Input Format    | Plain text                   | Messages array or plain text |
| Best For        | Completion tasks             | Conversational applications  |
| System Messages | Not supported                | Supported                    |

## Environment Variables

| Variable                  | Description                                 |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `WATSONX_AI_APIKEY`       | IBM Cloud API key for IAM authentication    |
| `WATSONX_AI_BEARER_TOKEN` | Bearer token for token-based authentication |
| `WATSONX_AI_PROJECT_ID`   | WatsonX project ID                          |
| `WATSONX_AI_AUTH_TYPE`    | Force auth type: `iam` or `bearertoken`     |

## Migrating from IBM BAM

The IBM BAM provider has been deprecated (sunset March 2025). To migrate:

1. Change provider prefix from `bam:` to `watsonx:`
2. Update authentication to use WatsonX credentials
3. Update model IDs to WatsonX equivalents (e.g., `ibm/granite-4-h-small`)