bxThreads

A public BoxLang port of DismalThreads — a Reddit-style forum app — built on boxlang-express instead of ColdBox, with no cbwire. Plain server-rendered HTML, fetch()-driven actions, and a STOMP-based realtime layer for comments, votes, and notifications.

Requirements

• BoxLang + CommandBox
• MySQL (the dismal datasource)

Setup

The fastest path — installs dependencies, prompts for every .env value, and creates the database + an admin/admin login if it doesn't exist yet:

boxlang setup.bxs

(or box run-script setup). Re-running it is safe — it reuses whatever's already in .env as the new defaults and never touches a database that already exists. See setup.bxs for exactly what it does, or do it by hand:

box install

Copy the env template and fill in real values:

cp .env.example .env

Apply the schema to a fresh MySQL server (see db/README.md):

mysql -u root -p < db/schema.sql

Variable	Purpose
APP_PORT	HTTP port (default 3000)
APP_ENV	development enables reloadOnChange and verbose error responses
SITE_URL, SITE_NAME	Canonical URL / brand name used in OG tags, sitemap
API_KEY	Required X-Api-Key header for /api/* admin routes — generate with uuidgen
DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_DATABASE, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD	MySQL connection for the dismal datasource

Running

boxlang --bx-config ./boxlang.json app.bxs

Serves on http://localhost:$APP_PORT.

Testing

box run-script test

Runs the TestBox suite (tests/specs/unit, tests/specs/integration) via tests/runner.bxs.

Scripts

box run-script backfill-achievements

Runs scripts/backfill-achievements.bxs.

Project layout

Path	Contents
app.bxs	Entry point — DI registry, middleware, routers, WebSocket mount
setup.bxs	First-run setup — installs dependencies, writes .env, creates the database + admin login
db/	schema.sql — MySQL DDL for the dismal datasource, plus achievement catalog seed data
lib/	Framework-ish infrastructure: config, DI container (AppContext), sessions, view rendering, SQL helper, request context
models/beans	Plain data beans (Post, Comment, User, Forum, Vote, ...)
models/dao	DismalDAO — raw data access
models/services	Business logic (users, activity, achievements, sitemap, spider detection, ...)
routes/	AppRouter (page routes), ActionsRouter (session-authenticated mutations), ApiRouter (X-Api-Key admin REST API)
views/	.bxm templates, composed through lib/View.bx (no built-in layout support in boxlang-express)
ws/	STOMP broker (Stomp.bx), broadcast (Broadcast.bx), and forum presence (Presence.bx)
public/	Static assets, mounted at root to match the source app's webroot paths
tests/	TestBox specs
scripts/	One-off/maintenance BoxLang scripts

Architecture notes

• DI: lib/AppContext.bx is a simple registry — services/DAOs/beans are registered once in app.bxs and scanned from models/beans, models/dao, models/services.
• Sessions: cookie name dt_sid, 30-day maxAge, backed by boxlang-express's in-memory session middleware. The same store instance is shared with the WebSocket layer since app.ws() routes sit outside the HTTP middleware chain.
• Realtime: one shared STOMP broker (ws/Stomp.bx) drives comment/vote/notification broadcasts and forum presence over /stomp.
• Two auth models: page + action routes (AppRouter, ActionsRouter) use the session cookie; /api/* (ApiRouter) requires the X-Api-Key header instead.
• Error handling: full error messages only in APP_ENV=development; production returns a generic 500.

Status

This is a phased port — see the top-of-file comment in app.bxs for what's landed vs. still in progress.