From debugging and source control to automation, testing, and AI-assisted development, a look at how the ThingWorx developer experience is evolving.

Modern application development is no longer just about writing code. Developers expect integrated source control, repeatable workflows, automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and increasingly, AI-assisted development. These capabilities have become standard across the broader software development ecosystem because they help teams move faster, improve software quality, and scale engineering practices.

ThingWorx application developers face many of the same challenges. As applications become larger and more collaborative, developers need better ways to troubleshoot issues, manage changes, automate repetitive tasks, validate functionality, and leverage emerging AI technologies without sacrificing reliability.

To address these challenges, recent investments in ThingWorx developer tooling have focused on making the platform more compatible with modern software engineering practices while preserving the flexibility developers value today.

This journey spans several connected capabilities, from debugging and deterministic exports to command-line automation, local unit testing, and AI-assisted development.

Improving Visibility During Development

Every productivity journey starts with a simple challenge: understanding what the system is doing.

Before developers can automate workflows, integrate source control, or leverage AI assistance, they need effective ways to investigate application behavior and diagnose issues quickly.

Historically, troubleshooting complex service logic and event-driven execution paths often required extensive log analysis and manual investigation. To improve visibility into runtime behavior, ThingWorx introduced enhanced debugging capabilities designed specifically for application developers.

JavaScript Debugger

The JavaScript Debugger enables developers to step through service execution, inspect variables, monitor execution flow, and better understand how application logic behaves at runtime.

Instead of relying solely on log statements and post-execution analysis, developers can now interactively investigate service behavior and isolate issues more efficiently.

Subscription Debugger

Event-driven architectures are central to many ThingWorx applications, but understanding subscription execution paths can become increasingly difficult as solutions grow in complexity.

The Subscription Debugger helps developers visualize and analyze subscription execution, making it easier to identify unexpected behaviors, trace event propagation, and troubleshoot automation logic.

Together, these capabilities provide a stronger foundation for application development by reducing troubleshooting effort and accelerating issue resolution.

Check Attachment <Subscription_Debugger_Demo.mp4>

Availability

• JavaScript Debugger: Delivered in ThingWorx 10.1 (December 2025)

• Subscription Debugger: Delivered in ThingWorx 10.1.1 (April 2026)

Building a Strong Foundation for Source Control

Modern software teams depend on source control systems for collaboration, governance, code reviews, and quality assurance. However, source control only delivers its full value when application artifacts are stable, readable, and structured in a way development tools understand naturally.

One of the first steps toward modernizing the ThingWorx developer experience has been improving export reliability.

Deterministic Export

Deterministic exports produce stable and reproducible output, eliminating unnecessary noise in source control diffs and ensuring repeated exports generate consistent results.

This makes code reviews easier, reduces friction during collaboration, and enables more reliable automation.

New JSON Export

JSON has become the preferred format across modern developer ecosystems because it is easily consumed by source control systems, IDEs, automation tools, static analyzers, and increasingly, AI development tools.

By supporting JSON exports, ThingWorx aligns more closely with the broader software engineering landscape while improving interoperability across modern development environments.

Multipart Modular Export

Multipart Modular Export takes this evolution even further by separating application artifacts into smaller, purpose-specific files.

For example:

• Entity definitions can be represented independently.

• Service definitions can be separated from service implementations.

• JavaScript source code can exist as standalone files.

• Mashups can be broken into multiple logical components.

This modular approach enables cleaner source control histories, more focused code reviews, reduced merge conflicts, and better compatibility with developer tooling.

Check Attachment <1-Maya-JSONExport.mp4>

In this workflow, Maya continues building directly within Composer while benefiting from source-control-friendly artifacts that integrate naturally with tools such as Git and VS Code.

Availability

• Deterministic Export: Delivered in ThingWorx 10.2 (September 2026)

• New JSON Export: Planned for ThingWorx 10.2.1

• Multipart Modular Export: Planned for ThingWorx 10.2.1

Bringing Automation into the Developer Workspace

As projects grow, developers repeatedly perform operational tasks such as:

• Connecting to environments

• Importing and exporting projects

• Managing credentials and configurations

• Reviewing changes

• Moving code between systems

• Supporting CI/CD automation

While necessary, these activities often consume valuable development time.

To simplify these workflows, ThingWorx is introducing a command-line experience designed specifically for modern developers.

ThingWorx Command Line Tool

The ThingWorx Command Line Tool (CLI) provides a repeatable and scriptable way to interact with ThingWorx directly from a developer’s preferred environment.

Developers can manage environments, perform imports and exports, review changes, monitor logs, switch between profiles, and automate repetitive workflows without leaving VS Code or their preferred terminal.

Just as importantly, these same commands can later be incorporated into scripts, automation pipelines, and CI/CD workflows.

The goal is not to replace Composer. Instead, the CLI complements existing workflows by providing an additional option for developers who prefer automation-friendly tooling.

Check Attachment <2-Jordan-TWX_CLI.mp4>

Availability

• ThingWorx Command Line Tool: Currently under Preview

Shifting Quality Earlier in the Software Development Lifecycle

Testing is one of the most effective ways to improve software quality, yet application-specific platforms have historically faced challenges when it comes to traditional unit testing approaches.

For many teams, validating a service often meant deploying to a running server and manually exercising functionality before issues could be detected.

This approach can slow feedback cycles and increase troubleshooting effort.

ThingWorx Unit Test Kit

The ThingWorx Unit Test Kit introduces a framework for executing service logic outside the platform using a lightweight testing environment.

By leveraging modular exports and standalone JavaScript assets, developers can execute real service logic locally while mocking only the platform components required for testing.

This enables teams to:

• Validate business logic earlier

• Expand test coverage

• Reduce dependency on deployed environments

• Accelerate feedback loops

• Improve confidence before deployment

The result is a more modern testing experience that supports shift-left quality practices.

Check Attachment <3-Priya-ThingWorxUnitTestKit.mp4>

The demonstration also highlights AI-assisted test generation, enabling developers to rapidly generate meaningful test coverage based on actual service logic.

Availability

• ThingWorx Unit Test Kit: Currently under Preview

Preparing for the AI-Assisted Development Era

AI-assisted software development is transforming how developers design, build, and test applications. However, successful AI workflows require more than just access to a language model.

Reliable AI-assisted development depends on structured artifacts, deterministic tooling, automated workflows, and testing frameworks that enable generated solutions to be validated and executed consistently.

This is where the previous investments come together.

• Deterministic exports create stable artifacts.

• JSON and Modular Exports provide AI-friendly source structures.

• The CLI provides repeatable execution mechanisms.

• The Unit Test Kit enables rapid validation.

• Agent skills provide domain-specific context.

Combined, these capabilities create a foundation for AI-assisted development that is grounded in ThingWorx-specific workflows rather than generic code generation.

AI-Assisted Development Grounded in ThingWorx Context

In an AI-first workflow, developers can define functionality through specifications while AI tools assist with implementation, scaffolding, testing, and deployment activities.

Rather than manually creating projects, templates, services, and tests, developers can describe requirements in natural language while automation and AI work together to accelerate execution.

The AI focuses on understanding intent.

The underlying tooling provides deterministic, repeatable, and verifiable execution.

Check Attachment <4-Derek-AIFirstWorkflow.mp4>

Perhaps the most important takeaway is that AI-assisted development is not an isolated capability. It is the result of investments made across the entire development lifecycle that collectively create a trustworthy foundation for AI-driven workflows.

Availability

• AI-Assisted Development Grounded in ThingWorx Context: Currently under Preview

A Layered Approach to Developer Productivity

Although each capability delivers value independently, the most significant benefits emerge when they are used together.

1. Debuggers help developers understand application behavior.

2. Deterministic Export creates stable and reliable source artifacts.

3. JSON and Multipart Modular Export improve source control and developer tooling compatibility.

4. CLI Automation enables repeatable workflows and CI/CD readiness.

5. Unit Testing introduces faster feedback and earlier quality validation.

6. AI-Assisted Development builds on these foundations to accelerate implementation.

Viewed together, these investments represent a deliberate effort to evolve ThingWorx toward a modern software engineering experience while preserving flexibility for different development styles.

Capability Status at a Glance

NOTE: Roadmap items reflect current plans and may change over time.

Looking Ahead

Developer productivity is not defined by a single feature. It emerges from an ecosystem of capabilities working together to reduce friction throughout the software development lifecycle.

The recent investments in debugging, deterministic exports, modular source control artifacts, command-line automation, testing frameworks, and AI-assisted development reflect a broader effort to align ThingWorx with the workflows modern developers increasingly expect.

Future areas of exploration include:

• Expanded test framework capabilities

• Improved upgrade experiences

• Deeper CI/CD integration

• Extension deployment and distribution workflows

• Configuration and secrets management

For organizations building industrial applications on ThingWorx, these investments represent more than tooling enhancements. They provide a foundation for faster delivery, improved quality, stronger collaboration, and a path toward AI-enabled development practices.

Interested in learning more or participating in preview programs? Contact your Velotic representative or reach out to the ThingWorx product team to discuss available preview opportunities and upcoming developer productivity initiatives.

Vineet Khokhar

Principal Product Manager, ThingWorx and IoT Security

Stay tuned for more updates and as always, in case of issues feel free to reach out to <support.ptc.com>