The Interoperability Test Bed launches an online AI assistant, trained on its official documentation, to support test developers and users of its services.

The Interoperability Test Bed provides a comprehensive set of solutions for the testing of IT systems’ interoperability. These solutions range from its flagship GITB Test Bed software for scenario-based conformance testing, to validators for common data syntaxes (XML, RDF, JSON, YAML and CSV) that can be used standalone or as part of extended conformance tests. Test developers using the Test Bed’s solutions, are supported by rich online documentation including user and developer guides, tutorials, and best practices curated by the Test Bed team.

The available documentation is extensive given the range of topics covered, and includes “getting started” guides as newcomer entry points for both developers and managers. Even with these however, it can be challenging to find specific details before one is accustomed to navigating the provided information. To address this point, the Test Bed team has launched an online AI assistant, capable of answering users’ questions and guiding them through the documentation.

The new AI assistant has been trained on the Test Bed’s official documentation, code samples, and complementary sources selected by the Test Bed team. Doing so enables a better understanding of users’ questions, and improves the accuracy of answers as these are produced directly from official sources. Launched initially as a “beta” version, the assistant already provides high-quality answers, and will continue to improve from received feedback and tuning improvements.

The assistant is powered by Gurubase, an open-source solution used to build AI-powered Q&A assistants for different topics. Although in its early days, Gurubase is becoming increasingly popular and is already used by hundreds of open-source projects to enhance their documentation. Assistants in Gurubase are called “Gurus”, with the Test Bed’s assistant being the ITB Guru.

The new AI assistant can be accessed from any documentation page by clicking the Ask AI button from the lower right corner.

Clicking this button opens up an expandable chat panel allowing you to ask your question, with subsequent follow-ups as part of a full conversation.

For each provided answer the assistant will also include:

• The sources based on which the answer was determined.
• A trust score of how confident the assistant is of the answer’s accuracy.
• Proposed follow-up questions for related topics.

Besides using the assistant directly from the documentation, you can also access it online on Gurubase.io. Doing so offers an improved user experience and, if you choose to register, allows you to review previous chat sessions and continue where you left off.

It is important to note that while using the AI assistant there is no collection of users' private data. Question analytics are nonetheless reviewed regularly by the Test Bed team to provide insights for possible documentation improvements.

If you are already using the Test Bed, or a newcomer interested in what the Test Bed is about, don’t hesitate to try out the new assistant. Access it directly from the documentation or from the ITB Guru on Gurubase, and feel free to send your feedback to DIGIT-ITB@ec.europa.eu.

Further information on Gurubase is available in its documentation, with its GitHub repository providing extended technical details. Concerning the Test Bed itself, general details on its services and use cases can be found in the Interoperable Europe Portal, with its value proposition being a good starting point for newcomers. To receive updates on Test Bed news and releases remember to subscribe to the Test Bed on the Portal, and to follow Interoperable Europe’s updates on X and LinkedIn.

The Interoperability Test Bed is a service provided by the European Commission’s DIGIT, offering conformance testing and validation solutions in support of IT systems’ cross-border interoperability.