BoxLang Home Configuration

The BoxLang Homes panel — manage BoxLang Home directories, modules, logs, and class files from the VS Code sidebar.

The BoxLang Homes panel provides a central interface for managing BoxLang Home directories directly within VS Code. It appears in the BoxLang sidebar alongside the Servers and Help panels.

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What is BoxLang Home?

BoxLang Home (~/.boxlang by default) is the directory where BoxLang stores:

• Configuration — boxlang.json runtime settings

• Modules — Installed BoxLang modules from ForgeBox

• Class files — Compiled BoxLang classes (cache)

• Logs — Runtime and application log files

• Custom tags — User-defined custom tag libraries

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Panel Structure

The BoxLang Homes tree view displays:

🏠 Default Home (~/.boxlang)
├── 📄 boxlang.json (Config File)
├── 📁 modules/
│   └── 📦 bx-compat-cfml (Module)
├── 📁 logs/
│   └── 📄 boxlang.log
└── 📁 classes/

Each registered BoxLang Home appears as a top-level item with nested folders and files.

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Actions

Top-Level Home Actions

Hover over a BoxLang Home to reveal action buttons:

Action	Description
Clear Class Files 🗑️	Delete all compiled .class files. Useful after upgrading BoxLang or when experiencing class caching issues.
Open BoxLang Home 📂	Open the BoxLang Home directory in your system file manager.
Delete Home 🗑️	Remove a registered BoxLang Home. Cannot delete the default home.
Open Config File ✏️	Open boxlang.json for editing.

Log Actions

Hover over a log file in the tree:

Action	Description
Open Log 📄	Open the log file in the editor. Useful for inspecting runtime errors and warnings.
Clear Log 🗑️	Clear the log file contents. Useful for focusing on recent activity.

Module Actions

The modules directory and individual modules have their own actions.

On the modules directory:

Action	Description
Install Module ➕	Install a BoxLang module from ForgeBox. Prompts for the module slug (e.g., bx-compat-cfml).

On an installed module:

Action	Description
Remove Module 🗑️	Uninstall the module from this BoxLang Home.
Open Module Home Page 🌐	Open the module's ForgeBox page or documentation in your browser.

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Installing Modules

Modules extend BoxLang with additional functionality — compatibility layers, premium features, framework integrations, and more.

From the Panel

1. In the BoxLang Homes panel, expand a BoxLang Home.

2. Hover over the modules folder and click ➕ Install Module.

3. Enter the module slug when prompted (e.g., bx-compat-cfml).

4. The module is downloaded from ForgeBox and installed.

Common Modules

Module	Slug	Purpose
CFML Compatibility	bx-compat-cfml	Compatibility layer for CFML code
PDF	bx-pdf	PDF generation and manipulation
Redis	bx-redis	Redis cache and session provider
CSV	bx-csv	CSV file processing
Spreadsheet	bx-spreadsheet	Excel/Spreadsheet operations

Modules installed in the default BoxLang Home are available to all projects. To install project-specific modules, use a workspace-scoped BoxLang Home or boxlang.json modulesDirectory.

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Managing Multiple Homes

You can register multiple BoxLang Home directories:

1. Click the ➕ button in the BoxLang Homes tree view title bar.

2. Select or enter the path to a BoxLang Home directory.

3. The new home appears in the tree view with its own modules, logs, and config.

Use cases for multiple homes:

• Project isolation — Separate homes for different projects

• Version testing — Test against different BoxLang configurations

• Team environments — Shared home directory with pre-installed modules

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Related Pages

Settings ReferenceCommands ReferenceProject ConfigurationMiniServer