cobol

COBOL for mainframe and legacy business systems. Use for .cob files.

7 stars

byG1Joshi

View on GitHub Installation ↓

Best use case

cobol is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.

COBOL for mainframe and legacy business systems. Use for .cob files.

Teams using cobol should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.

When to use this skill

You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.

When not to use this skill

You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.

Installation

Claude Code / Cursor / Codex

$curl -o ~/.claude/skills/cobol/SKILL.md --create-dirs "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/G1Joshi/Agent-Skills/main/skills/languages/cobol/SKILL.md"

Manual Installation

Download SKILL.md from GitHub
Place it in .claude/skills/cobol/SKILL.md inside your project
Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill

How cobol Compares

Feature / Agent	cobol	Standard Approach
Platform Support	Not specified	Limited / Varies
Context Awareness	High	Baseline
Installation Complexity	Unknown	N/A

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this skill do?

COBOL for mainframe and legacy business systems. Use for .cob files.

Where can I find the source code?

You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.

SKILL.md Source

# COBOL

COBOL runs 70% of the world's business transactions. Modern COBOL (GnuCOBOL 3.2 / IBM Enterprise COBOL) supports **JSON**, XML, and Object-Oriented features.

## When to Use

- **Mainframes**: The backbone of banking/insurance systems (CICS/IMS).
- **Legacy Migration**: Moving logic to Linux/Cloud using GnuCOBOL.
- **Decimal Arithmetic**: Native fixed-point math (`PICTURE 9V99`) is unmatched for currency.

## Core Concepts

### Divisions

`IDENTIFICATION`, `ENVIRONMENT`, `DATA`, `PROCEDURE`.

### Picture Clause

`01 SALARY PIC 9(5)V99`. Defines data layout precisely.

### PERFORM

The main control flow loop.

## Best Practices (2025)

**Do**:

- **Use GnuCOBOL**: For local development on Mac/Linux.
- **Use `VS Code`**: With the `bitlang.cobol` extension.
- **Unit Test**: Use `COBOL Check` or `ZUnit`.

**Don't**:

- **Don't use `GO TO`**: Use `PERFORM` and structured programming.

## References

- [GnuCOBOL FAQ](https://gnucobol.sourceforge.io/faq/)