> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://bxorm.ortusbooks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://bxorm.ortusbooks.com/reference/cli-tools.md).

# CLI Tools

Command-line tooling for debugging entity mapping generation

## GenerateMappings

`GenerateMappings` is a standalone command-line tool for generating Hibernate `.hbm.xml` mapping files from your entity classes, without booting a full BoxLang application or web request. It's most useful for:

* Debugging why an entity fails to generate a mapping, in isolation from your application's startup process
* Pre-generating and committing `.hbm.xml` files to disk so you can set `generateMappings = false` in production (see [Performance](/getting-started/performance.md))

It runs the same `MappingGenerator` used internally at ORM startup, so its output matches what your application generates automatically.

### Usage

Run it with both `boxlang.jar` and the bx-orm module jar on the classpath:

```bash
java -cp "boxlang.jar:bx-orm-1.6.8.jar" ortus.boxlang.modules.orm.cli.GenerateMappings --path models
```

This generates a `{entityName}.hbm.xml` file alongside each entity class file found under `models`.

### Options

| Option                | Description                                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--path PATH`         | **Required** (repeatable). Relative path to a directory of entity files to scan. Pass it multiple times to scan more than one directory.                          |
| `--mapping NAME:PATH` | Registers a BoxLang module/directory mapping (equivalent to a runtime mapping) before scanning, so entity paths that reference it resolve correctly. Repeatable.  |
| `--failFast`          | Abort mapping generation on the first entity that fails to parse. Without this flag, unparseable entities are skipped (equivalent to `ignoreParseErrors = true`). |
| `--debug`             | Enable debug-level logging for the `orm` log category.                                                                                                            |

### Example

```bash
java -cp "boxlang.jar:bx-orm-1.6.8.jar" ortus.boxlang.modules.orm.cli.GenerateMappings \
    --path models \
    --path modules/contentbox/models \
    --failFast \
    --debug
```

{% hint style="warning" %}
This tool is intended for local debugging and CI mapping-generation checks. It always generates mappings with `saveMapping = true`, writing `.hbm.xml` files directly next to your entity source files.
{% endhint %}


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