LegacyBridge OSS COBOL

Overview

Use this skill when migrating COBOL applications to Java with an agent-assisted workflow. The upstream project, ltoscano/legacybridge-oss-cobol, describes AI-powered COBOL to Java migration using Atomic Agents and Instructor.

Compatibility: COBOL, Java, Python, Atomic Agents, and Instructor.

Workflow

1. Identify the migration slice: a program, transaction, batch job, or bounded business capability.
2. Gather source COBOL, copybooks, sample inputs, expected outputs, database schemas, and operational documentation.
3. Generate a structured understanding of data definitions, control flow, file operations, database calls, and business rules.
4. Create Java equivalents incrementally, keeping one conversion unit small enough to review and test.
5. Build characterization tests from existing examples before refactoring generated Java into idiomatic application structure.
6. Compare output records, numeric precision, error behavior, and edge cases against the COBOL baseline.

Guardrails