Project Settings

Project settings control application runtime behavior, server configurations, language settings, and workflow configuration. MDL provides commands to inspect and modify all settings categories.

Inspecting Settings

-- Overview of all settings
LIST SETTINGS;

-- Full MDL output (round-trippable)
DESCRIBE SETTINGS;

ALTER SETTINGS

Settings are organized into categories. Each ALTER SETTINGS command targets one category.

Model Settings

Runtime-level settings such as the after-startup microflow, hashing algorithm, and Java version:

ALTER SETTINGS RUNTIME ( <Key>: <Value>, ... );

Examples:

mdl 1;
ALTER SETTINGS RUNTIME ( AfterStartupMicroflow: 'MyModule.ACT_Startup' );
ALTER SETTINGS RUNTIME ( HashAlgorithm: 'BCrypt' );
ALTER SETTINGS RUNTIME ( JavaVersion: '17' );

Mendix renamed the Java version property between versions — up to 11.6 it is stored as JavaVersion = Java21, from 11.12 as JavaMajorVersion = 21. Write either spelling ('17' or 'Java17'): mxcli stores the value in whichever dialect the project already uses.

Configuration Settings

Server configuration settings like database type, URL, and HTTP port. Each configuration is identified by name (commonly 'default'):

ALTER SETTINGS CONFIGURATION '<Name>' ( <Key>: <Value>, ... );

Examples:

mdl 1;
ALTER SETTINGS CONFIGURATION 'default' ( DatabaseType: 'POSTGRESQL' );
ALTER SETTINGS CONFIGURATION 'default' ( DatabaseUrl: 'jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp' );
ALTER SETTINGS CONFIGURATION 'default' ( HttpPortNumber: '8080' );

Constant Overrides

Override a constant value within a specific configuration:

ALTER SETTINGS CONSTANT @<Module.Constant> VALUE '<value>' IN CONFIGURATION '<cfg>';

Example:

ALTER SETTINGS CONSTANT @MyModule.ApiBaseUrl VALUE 'https://staging.example.com' IN CONFIGURATION 'default';

Language Settings

A project’s enabled languages are the only ones a build emits translations for. A translation written for any other language is stored in the model, passes mx check, and is silently discarded at build time — so enabling the language is the step that makes translating an app do anything.

ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ( <Key>: <Value>, ... );
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ADD [OR MODIFY] '<code>' [( <option>: <value>, ... )];
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE MODIFY '<code>' ( <option>: <value>, ... );
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE DROP '<code>';

mdl 1;
-- enable a language; the defaults match Studio Pro's Add Language dialog
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ADD 'de_DE';

-- with options
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ADD 'ar_SD' (CheckCompleteness: true, CustomDateFormat: 'yyyy-MM-dd');

-- change one that is already enabled (only the options named are touched)
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE MODIFY 'de_DE' (CheckCompleteness: true);

-- make it the default (it must already be enabled)
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ( DefaultLanguageCode: 'de_DE' );

-- disable it
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE DROP 'de_DE';

A language is identified by its code alone — Studio Pro’s “Arabic, Sudan” is derived from ar_SD for display and is not stored in the model.

ADD OR MODIFY is the upsert — it enables a language that is not there and changes one that is. It is what DESCRIBE SETTINGS emits, so a described project replays onto one that already has some of its languages.

Two things to know about removal:

• The default language cannot be removed — every missing translation falls back on it. Change DefaultLanguageCode first.
• Removing a language does not delete its translations. They stay in the model and stop being built; the run reports how many source strings are affected. To remove them, use CREATE OR REPLACE TRANSLATIONS FOR '<code>' ( );.

Set the default language before authoring content

The default language is not only a fallback — it is the language a new caption is written in. Caption: 'Opslaan' has to be stored under some language code (Mendix has no language-neutral text), and mxcli uses the project’s DefaultLanguageCode.

So the order of these two statements changes the result:

-- right: the page's texts are stored as nl_NL
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ADD 'nl_NL';
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ( DefaultLanguageCode: 'nl_NL' );
CREATE PAGE MyModule.Opslaan ( Title: 'Opslaanpagina', ... ) { ... }

-- wrong: the page is authored while en_US is still the default, so its texts
-- are stored as en_US and stay there
CREATE PAGE MyModule.Opslaan ( Title: 'Opslaanpagina', ... ) { ... }
ALTER SETTINGS LANGUAGE ( DefaultLanguageCode: 'nl_NL' );

Changing DefaultLanguageCode does not move text that already exists — it would be rewriting content you authored. Nothing reports the mismatch either: mx check gives 0 errors both ways, and the symptom only appears in Studio Pro, as the empty-caption placeholder plus a “no translation for this language” warning.

If you get the order wrong, re-run the CREATE statements. With the new default in place the texts are stored under it; the old language’s copy stays alongside as a harmless extra translation.

-- recovery: same script, run again after the default is correct
CREATE OR MODIFY PAGE MyModule.Opslaan ( Title: 'Opslaanpagina', ... ) { ... }

CREATE TRANSLATIONS FOR '<the default>' is not the way out — it is refused, because the default is the source language every other translation is keyed on.

LIST LANGUAGES lists languages that have translations, which is not the same list — a stock app reports eight while one is enabled. For the enabled list use DESCRIBE SETTINGS.

Workflow Settings

Configure workflow behavior such as the user entity and task parallelism:

ALTER SETTINGS WORKFLOWS ( <Key>: <Value>, ... );

Examples:

mdl 1;
ALTER SETTINGS WORKFLOWS ( UserEntity: 'Administration.Account' );
ALTER SETTINGS WORKFLOWS ( DefaultTaskParallelism: '5' );

See Also

• Navigation and Settings – overview of navigation and settings
• Navigation Profiles – navigation profile configuration
• Workflows – workflow definitions