install coldbox-cli

coldbox create app name="my-app" skeleton="cbgenesis"

!npm install

Open the .env file in your preferred text editor and update the database credentials accordingly. The template ships pre-configured for MySQL. MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and MSSQL are supported and tested database targets. server.json's onServerInitialInstall installs the JDBC driver module matching your DB_DRIVER setting (bx-${DB_DRIVER}, defaulting to bx-mysql) the first time you run box server start. To use another database, set DB_DRIVER in .env before that first server start

Once your .env is set, then run the following commands to initialize and seed the database. It should automatically download the necessary drivers to connect the CLI to the configured database. If there are any issues connecting, ensure that the correct DB_DRIVER is set and that the corresponding JDBC driver module is installed.

migrate init
migrate up --seed

CBGenesis ships pre-configured AI guidelines, skills, and agent files in .agents/, so assistants such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code get accurate ColdBox and BoxLang context. They are generated by the coldbox-cli module you installed in the scaffold step. Refresh them after scaffolding so the guidelines and skills match your installed modules:

coldbox ai refresh

Run coldbox ai refresh again whenever you install, update, or remove CommandBox modules so module-specific guidelines and skills are picked up.

coldbox ai --help         # Discover the available AI commands
coldbox ai info           # Show installed guidelines, skills, agents, and MCP servers
coldbox ai skills list    # List the available skills
coldbox ai agents --help  # Add, update, or remove AI agent configuration files

server start

This is the BoxLang CLI server command. The first run installs the BoxLang modules listed in server.json (bx-esapi, bx-password-encrypt, bx-mail, bx-orm, the JDBC driver selected by DB_DRIVER, and bx-image).

server forget
server start

npm run dev