ForgeBox `wheels-cli` is the legacy CommandBox-module CLI and drifts from the LuCLI CLI (generates broken `{{enums}}` models)

[bpamiri]

Summary

box install wheels-cli (ForgeBox slug wheels-cli, type commandbox-modules, 6735 installs, latest 4.0.3) installs the OLD CommandBox-module CLI compiled from cli/src/, NOT the LuCLI runtime (cli/lucli/) that CLAUDE.md declares the canonical Wheels 4.0+ CLI and that brew/scoop/apt distribute. These are two independently maintained codebases, and they produce divergent behavior for the same command.

Reproduction (verified in ortussolutions/commandbox:latest)

box install wheels-cli            # installs commandbox-modules 4.0.3
cd <starter-app>
box wheels generate model Widget --no-migration
cat app/models/Widget.cfc

Produces:

component extends="Model" {
    function config() {
        table("widgets");
        {{enums}}
    }
}

The literal {{enums}} placeholder leaks into the generated file (invalid CFML in a config() body).

Root cause

The module's models/TemplateService.cfc replaces {{belongsToRelationships}} (l.92), {{hasManyRelationships}} (l.106) and {{validations}} (l.129), but has no branch for {{enums}} — even though both the module template (templates/ModelContent.txt) and the LuCLI template (cli/lucli/templates/app/app/snippets/ModelContent.txt) contain the {{enums}} placeholder. The LuCLI generator renders it: cli/lucli/services/CodeGen.cfc:53 (enums: buildModelEnums(...)).

Impact

A user who installs the CLI via ForgeBox/CommandBox gets a wheels g model that emits broken code, while a user on the brew/LuCLI CLI gets valid code. More broadly, two wheels-cli install paths exist with no signpost that ForgeBox ships the legacy generation.

Suggested direction (decision for maintainer)

Either (a) stop publishing the legacy CommandBox-module CLI to ForgeBox and point box install wheels-cli users to the LuCLI distribution, or (b) if it must stay published, patch the {{enums}} gap in TemplateService.cfc and add a deprecation banner clarifying the relationship to the LuCLI CLI. At minimum the {{enums}} leak is a standalone bug in cli/src/ worth fixing regardless.

[wheels-bot]

Wheels Bot — Triage

Classified as bug.

The report mixes a maintainer direction question ("stop publishing the legacy ForgeBox CLI vs. patch it") with a defect, but the {{enums}} leak is reproducible in isolation, so per the mixed-report rule this triages as a bug. Confirmed in-repo: the legacy template cli/src/templates/ModelContent.txt:9 carries {{enums}}, but cli/src/models/TemplateService.cfc only substitutes {{belongsToRelationships}}, {{hasManyRelationships}}, and {{validations}} — there is no {{enums}} branch, so the placeholder leaks into the generated config() body as invalid CFML.

Suspected layer

cli — see .ai/wheels/cli/ for canonical patterns. (Specifically the legacy CommandBox-module generator under cli/src/, not the LuCLI generator at cli/lucli/services/CodeGen.cfc which already renders enums.)

Fix sketch

Add an {{enums}} replacement branch in cli/src/models/TemplateService.cfc, mirroring the existing {{validations}} branch around line 129: substitute rendered enum code when enum metadata is present, and strip the placeholder to empty otherwise (matching the no-validations fallback at line 131). The one design call propose-fix must make is render-vs-strip — the minimal, safe fix is to strip when no enum support exists in this legacy path, so a stray placeholder never reaches the file. Single-file mechanical change; the broader "deprecate the ForgeBox legacy CLI" question is out of scope for the fix PR.

Confidence: medium

The defect and target file are unambiguous, but there is a render-vs-strip judgment for the enum branch and the report is entangled with a larger maintenance decision — medium, not high.

[wheels-bot]

Wheels Bot — Fix proposed

Draft PR: #3191

Spec: cli/lucli/tests/specs/services/LegacyTemplateServiceEnumsSpec.cfc — failing → passing
Implementation: cli/src/models/TemplateService.cfc (adds the missing {{enums}} strip branch)

Scope note: this PR addresses only the standalone {{enums}} leak, exactly as triaged. The broader maintainer decision — keep publishing the legacy CommandBox-module CLI to ForgeBox vs. point box install wheels-cli users at the LuCLI distribution — is intentionally out of scope, so the PR uses Refs #3180 (not Fixes) and will not auto-close this tracking issue.

A human review is required before merge. The Reviewer will weigh in shortly. Doc updates (MDX guides, .ai/wheels/, CLAUDE.md) are handled separately by bot-update-docs.yml.

[bpamiri]

Resolved by the maintainer decision implemented in #3197 (merged): the deprecated CommandBox wheels-cli ForgeBox publish is FROZEN (release pipeline no longer republishes it; a deprecation README points users at the supported brew/scoop/apt CLI + wheels new). The strategic 'what is wheels-cli' question is answered — it's the frozen legacy module; the supported CLI ships via the package managers.