Architecture

The modern app/public split, the full project tree, and how a request flows from browser to database and back.

Architecture

CBGenesis follows ColdBox's modern template layout: application code is fully separated from the public webroot, so nothing under app/ is ever directly web-accessible.

Layered overview

flowchart TD
    A["Browser Request"] --> B

    subgraph B["public/ — Webroot"]
        B1["Application.bx — entry point, bootstraps ColdBox + ORM"]
        B2["index.bxm — front controller"]
        B3["includes/ — Vite compiled assets"]
    end

    B --> C

    subgraph C["app/ — Application code (not web-accessible)"]
        C1["config/ — ColdBox, Router, CacheBox, WireBox, Scheduler"]
        C2["handlers/ — Controllers, auth, admin, audit log"]
        C3["models/ — Entities, Services"]
        C4["views/ + layouts/ — BXM templates"]
        C5["email_templates/ — Token-based email bodies"]
        C6["interceptors/ — Audit logging hook"]
    end

    C --> D

    subgraph D["resources/ — Source assets"]
        D1["assets/js/ — Alpine components + stores"]
        D2["assets/scss/ — Bootstrap + custom SCSS"]
        D3["database/ — Migrations + seeders"]
    end

    D --> E

    subgraph E["lib/ — Dependencies (not source-controlled)"]
        E1["coldbox/, testbox/, modules/ — qb, cbsecurity, cborm, ..."]
    end

Request lifecycle

Every request enters through public/Application.bx, which bootstraps ColdBox before handing off to the router and, eventually, your handler:

sequenceDiagram
    Browser->>+public/Application.bx: HTTP Request
    public/Application.bx->>+ColdBox Bootstrap: loadColdbox()
    ColdBox Bootstrap->>+Main Handler: onRequestStart
    Main Handler->>+Router: Match route
    Router->>+Target Handler: Dispatch event
    Target Handler->>+Service Layer: Business logic
    Service Layer->>+ORM / qb: Data access
    Target Handler->>+View / Layout: Render response
    View / Layout-->>-Browser: HTML + Vite assets

Main.bx (app/handlers/Main.bx) is the implicit-event handler wired up in app/config/Coldbox.bx:

• onAppInit - runs settingService.preFlightCheck(), seeding any missing app settings into the database
• onRequestStart - loads prc.settings and prc.authUser for every request
• onException - the app-wide exception handler

Interceptors

app/config/Coldbox.bx registers three application interceptors, in this order:

app/interceptors/AuditLogger.bx writes to the audit trail on four interception points:

app/interceptors/RateLimiter.bx fires on preProcess - before routing, before any handler - and throttles five unauthenticated Auth actions (login, register, forgot/reset password, invitation activation) by client IP. See Rate limiting for the settings and how it works.

app/interceptors/SSOAuthorization.bx handles cbSSO's CBSSOAuthorization interception point. It connects a verified provider identity to the local user model, enforces login-versus-linking policy, provisions users when allowed, and creates the cbauth session. See Single sign-on for the callback flow and the reason cbGenesis uses a custom handler instead of cbSSO's generic cbAuth integration.

Add your own to the variables.interceptors array in Coldbox.bx; they fire in declaration order.

Scheduled tasks

app/config/Scheduler.bx registers three daily background tasks, each onOneServer() and withNoOverlaps() so a multi-instance deployment runs each one exactly once:

All three call a purgeExpiredTokens()/purgeOlderThan() method on the owning service rather than querying the table directly, so the same purge logic is reachable (and testable) outside the scheduler. Add a new task the same way - see Extending the App.

Full project tree

cbgenesis/
├── app/                      Application code
│   ├── Application.bx        Abort-only gate (prevents direct /app access)
│   ├── config/
│   │   ├── Coldbox.bx        Framework settings, environments, logging
│   │   ├── Router.bx         All application routes
│   │   ├── CacheBox.bx       Cache regions (default, template, sessions, rateLimit)
│   │   ├── WireBox.bx        DI container configuration
│   │   ├── Scheduler.bx      Scheduled tasks
│   │   └── modules/          Per-module settings (cbsecurity, cbauth, cborm, ...)
│   ├── handlers/              Controllers (Auth, Dashboard, Users, Roles, ...)
│   ├── layouts/                Admin, AuthCenter, AuthSplit, Main
│   ├── models/
│   │   ├── BaseEntity.bx      ORM base: timestamps, soft delete, memento
│   │   ├── BaseService.bx     Service base: cborm + qb + cache + validation
│   │   ├── security/            Role, Permission, APIToken, RememberToken,
│   │   │                        Passkey, UserActionToken, SecurityService, ...
│   │   └── system/              User, Setting, AuditLog + their services
│   ├── views/                  BXM templates, one folder per handler
│   │   └── _components/        Reusable UI partials (app, auth, ui)
│   ├── email_templates/       Token-based email body templates
│   ├── helpers/               ApplicationHelper.bxm — global view helpers
│   └── interceptors/           AuditLogger, RateLimiter, SSOAuthorization
├── public/
│   ├── Application.bx         Entry point — ColdBox + ORM bootstrap
│   ├── index.bxm               Front controller placeholder
│   └── includes/               Vite production build output
├── resources/
│   ├── assets/js/              Alpine entry, stores, components
│   ├── assets/scss/            Bootstrap + custom SCSS
│   └── database/
│       ├── migrations/         Schema migrations (cfmigrations)
│       └── seeds/              AdminData seeder
├── tests/
│   ├── specs/integration/      Full HTTP-level specs
│   └── specs/unit/             Entity + service specs
├── lib/                        Dependencies (gitignored, installed by `box install`)
├── runtime/                    BoxLang engine config (boxlang.json)
├── server.json                 CommandBox server config (engine, webroot, aliases)
├── box.json                    Package manifest — deps, scripts
├── package.json                 NPM — Alpine, Bootstrap, Vite, ESLint
├── vite.config.mjs              Vite + coldbox-vite-plugin
└── .env.example                  Environment template

The stack