CFML Execution

wheels cfml, wheels run, and wheels repl are three LuCLI-level entry points for executing CFML directly. None of them bootstrap a Wheels application — they give you a raw Lucee engine for quick experiments, script files, and interactive exploration. Because they ship with LuCLI itself, the wheels binary inherits them whether you installed LuCLI standalone or through the Wheels distribution.

You’ll use this for:

• Evaluating a one-off CFML expression from the shell and piping the result elsewhere.
• Running a reusable .cfm, .cfs, or .lucli script file with arguments.
• Dropping into an interactive CFML prompt to explore language behavior without a project.

Overview

These three commands all execute CFML without loading your Wheels app — no routes, no models, no ORM, no config/settings.cfm. They exist at the LuCLI layer, below the Wheels module. When you need to poke at models, services, or routes with the framework fully wired in, use the project-scoped wheels console instead.

wheels cfml

Execute a CFML expression (or short script fragment) supplied on the command line.

Synopsis

synopsis — illustrative

wheels cfml <expression> [<expression> ...]

All positional arguments are joined with a single space and handed to the Lucee script engine as one expression.

Description

cfml takes one or more tokens on the command line, joins them, and runs the result through the Lucee script engine. The return value of the expression becomes the command’s execution result but is not automatically printed to stdout — if you want visible output, wrap the expression in writeOutput() or writeDump().

Flags

wheels cfml takes no command-specific flags. It accepts the global flags inherited from the root wheels command (for example, --verbose, --debug, --timing).

Example

wheels cfml 'now()'

The expression runs through the Lucee engine and the process exits with code 0. To see the value, emit it explicitly:

wheels cfml 'writeOutput(1 + 2)'

Sample output:

sample output

3

Quoting

The CFML expression is a single argument from LuCLI’s perspective. Your shell still needs to protect parentheses, quotes, and operators — wrap the expression in single quotes whenever it contains anything the shell might interpret ((, ), <, >, |, &, $, *).

wheels run

Execute a CFML script file (.cfm, .cfs) or a LuCLI batch script (.lucli).

Synopsis

synopsis — illustrative

wheels run <script> [<arg> ...]

Description

run resolves the script path relative to the current working directory, dispatches on the file extension, and executes the file:

• .cfm — executed as a CFML template via the Lucee engine.
• .cfs — executed as a CFML script file via the Lucee engine.
• .lucli — executed as a LuCLI batch script (LuCLI’s own scripting DSL, not CFML).
• .cfc — not supported. Use a module entry point instead (e.g. wheels modules run <module>).

Any trailing arguments after the script path are passed through to the script. The root wheels command also accepts a bare script path as a shortcut: wheels hello.cfm behaves identically to wheels run hello.cfm.

Flags

wheels run takes no command-specific flags beyond the script path and its arguments. Global flags from the root wheels command (--verbose, --debug, --timing) still apply.

Example

illustrative — multi-command example

wheels run hello.cfm
wheels run script.cfs arg1 arg2
wheels run deploy.lucli

The first invocation executes hello.cfm as a CFML template. The second runs script.cfs with two trailing arguments (available to the script). The third dispatches to the LuCLI batch runner for a .lucli file.

Unsupported extensions

Any file whose name does not end in .cfm, .cfs, or .lucli is rejected with an error. run will not guess the language from content.

wheels repl

Start an interactive CFML read-eval-print loop. No Wheels app, no project context — just a prompt attached to the Lucee engine.

Synopsis

synopsis — illustrative

wheels repl [flags]

Description

repl drops you into a line-edited CFML prompt (cfml> by default — the prefix reflects the active LuCLI profile). Each line you enter is handed to the Lucee script engine; non-null results print to the terminal. History persists to ~/.lucli/repl_history (500 lines) so you can arrow-back through previous expressions across sessions.

Flags

Flag	Description
-h, --help	Show command help and exit.
-V, --version	Print LuCLI version and exit.

repl inherits the global flags from the root wheels command as well (for example, --verbose, --debug).

Special commands (inside the REPL)

Input	Behavior
help or ?	Show REPL help.
exit or quit	Exit the REPL.
Ctrl+C	Cancel the current input line.
Ctrl+D	Exit the REPL.

Example session

example REPL session — illustrative

$ wheels repl
🚀 CFML REPL - LuCLI 0.3.5
ℹ  Type CFML expressions to evaluate. Type 'exit' or Ctrl+D to quit.

cfml> 1 + 2
3
cfml> dateFormat(now(), 'yyyy-mm-dd')
2026-04-20
cfml> exit

👋 Goodbye!

Three modes compared

Command	Use when
cfml '<expr>'	One-off expression, pipe-friendly, no interactivity.
run script.cfm	Reusable script on disk; accepts trailing arguments.
repl	Interactive exploration, multiple expressions, history.

All three share the same execution surface (the Lucee script engine with no Wheels app bootstrapped). Pick the one that matches how you want to deliver input.

cfml / run / repl vs wheels console

Which one should I use?

• wheels cfml, wheels run, wheels repl — LuCLI-level CFML execution. No Wheels app is loaded. No model(), no routes, no filters, no services. Fast to start, ideal for language experiments, one-off scripts, and CFML debugging outside any particular project.
• wheels console — Wheels-aware. Boots the framework, wires up models, the DI container, routes, and application settings. Reach for it when you need to inspect real data or drive the application interactively. See Console & REPL.

If your question is about CFML the language, stay here. If your question is about your app’s behavior, switch to wheels console.

Related commands

Console & REPL wheels console — the Wheels-aware REPL with models, services, and routes loaded.

Server wheels server — LuCLI's native Lucee server manager for running full web apps.

Modules & Deps Manage LuCLI modules and CFML dependencies that back cfml, run, and repl.

Configuration lucee.json, profiles, and the settings LuCLI reads when resolving the Lucee engine.