Under eOSUserBased galaxy security mode the LMXProxyServer raises
ArgumentException("Value does not fall within the expected range")
for bad credentials instead of silently returning 0 like permissive
(eNone) galaxies do. Both shapes mean "auth failed"; MxSession.Authenticate
now normalizes them into a 0 return so WriteCommand reports a clean
"authentication-failed" envelope and exits 1 — instead of crashing
with a stack trace.
Verified live against the ZB galaxy in eOSUserBased mode:
bad password -> ok=false, error="authentication-failed", exit 1
good password -> ok=true, auth_user_id=1, exit 0
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Wraps LMXProxyServer.AuthenticateUser at the session level
(MxSession.Authenticate) and surfaces three new options on the
write command:
-u, --username <name> galaxy / OS user
--domain <name> composed as <domain>\<username>; omit for
galaxy-authenticated logins or UPN forms
-p, --password <pwd> redacted to "***" in the JSON query echo
The CLI calls AuthenticateUser before AddItem so an auth failure
(userId == 0) bails out cleanly without leaving a half-set-up item.
On success the resolved userId flows into Write(hServer, hItem,
value, userId) and is reflected in:
- human output: "[OK ] write <tag> = <val> (as <verify-user>, userId=N)"
- LLM-JSON results[]: { "authenticated": true, "auth_user_id": N }
Verified live against TestChildObject.TestInt with credentials
DESKTOP-6JL3KKO\dohertj / Sonamu89:
read -> 99
write 7 with --username/--domain/--password -> ok, auth_user_id=1
read -> 7
write 99 with same auth -> ok
read -> 99 (restored)
Important behavior surfaced and documented in docs/usage.md
"Authentication" section: on a galaxy configured in permissive
(Free Access) mode, AuthenticateUser returns a non-zero userId
regardless of credentials — verified by intentionally passing a
wrong password and an unknown user, both of which still resolved
to userId=1 and the write went through. The CLI's auth path is
wired correctly; the galaxy just isn't strict. To exercise real
authentication, target a galaxy with galaxyAuthenticationMode and
attribute-level security above Free Access.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
New tool wrapping ArchestrA.MxAccess.LMXProxyServerClass (the same COM
proxy aaObjectViewer / WindowViewer use) as a CliFx CLI for LLM-driven
debugging.
Commands:
- mxa info — loaded MxAccess assembly identity, supported value
types, MxStatusCategory enum.
- mxa read — fetch one or more tag values; subscribes briefly,
captures first OnDataChange per tag, tears down.
- mxa write — write a value with optional --type coercion; advises
first to resolve the attribute type, then waits for
OnWriteComplete with a per-call timeout.
- mxa subscribe — stream OnDataChange events for --seconds; JSON Lines
under --llm-json for piped agent consumption.
- mxa diag — minimal smoke test on a private STA thread; bypasses
the CliFx pipeline for diagnosing apartment / pump
issues.
Implementation notes documented in docs/api-notes.md (reverse-engineered
because AVEVA does not publish a single canonical MxAccess reference):
- Net48 / x86 / [STAThread] are non-negotiable. The CLI runs the entire
CliFx pipeline on a dedicated STA thread.
- COM events are dispatched as Win32 messages; AutoResetEvent.WaitOne
alone does not pump them on this configuration. MxSession.WaitForUpdate
loops Application.DoEvents() + drain + Sleep(20ms) instead.
- Write requires the target attribute's type to be resolved first.
WriteCommand advises and waits for the initial OnDataChange before
calling LMXProxyServerClass.Write to avoid ArgumentException
"Value does not fall within the expected range".
- Errors carry the full MXSTATUS_PROXY[] from MxAccess (Success,
Category, DetectedBy, Detail) so an agent can tell exactly which
layer rejected a request.
Verified against the live ZB galaxy with a writeable tag identified
via grdb (TestChildObject.TestInt, mx_attribute_category=10):
read: 99 (q=192, MxCategoryOk)
write 7: round-tripped — read returned 7 — written back to 99
write str: TestChildObject.TestString round-tripped a timestamp
subscribe: captured initial value plus subsequent change from a
separate process
The vendored ArchestrA.MxAccess.dll is gitignored — it is copied from
C:\Program Files (x86)\ArchestrA\Framework\Bin\ on any System Platform
install per the README.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Joseph Doherty