Nested IF/ELSE generates ugly microflow layout with excessive decision splits

[engalar]

Problem

When a microflow uses a single RETURN at the end with a result variable (instead of multiple RETURN statements in each branch), mxcli still generates nested IF/ELSE decision diamonds. This produces a microflow layout in Studio Pro with many crossing/diverging sequence flows that is hard to read.

Example

CREATE OR REPLACE MICROFLOW OrderManagement.ChatContext_ActionMicroflow (
  $ChatContext: ConversationalUI.ChatContext
)
RETURNS Boolean AS $Success
FOLDER 'Chat'
BEGIN
  DECLARE $Success Boolean = false;

  $Request = CALL MICROFLOW ConversationalUI.ChatContext_Preprocessing("ChatContext" = $ChatContext);

  IF $Request != empty THEN
    RETRIEVE $Agent FROM AgentCommons.Agent
      WHERE Title = 'SupplyChainOrderAgent'
      LIMIT 1;

    IF $Agent != empty THEN
      $Response = CALL JAVA ACTION AgentCommons.Agent_Call_WithHistory(...);

      IF $Response/GenAICommons.Response_Message != empty THEN
        $Message = CALL MICROFLOW ConversationalUI.ChatContext_UpdateAssistantResponse(...);
        SET $Success = true;
      END IF;
    ELSE
      LOG ERROR NODE 'OrderManagement' 'SupplyChainOrderAgent not found';
    END IF;
  END IF;

  RETURN $Success;
END;

This MDL is logically clean — one entry, one exit, a single RETURN $Success at the end. But the generated microflow in Studio Pro has 3 nested decision diamonds with sequence flows that zigzag across the canvas, making it visually cluttered.

Expected behavior

Nested IF blocks that converge to a single exit point should produce a clean layout where the "false" branches merge back into the main flow without excessive crossings. Ideally the layout engine would:

1. Keep the happy path on the main horizontal/vertical axis
2. Route false/empty branches as short side-paths that rejoin the main flow
3. Minimize sequence flow crossings

Screenshot

(To be added manually)

Environment

• mxcli: 0.1.0
• Mendix: 11.6.4

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Copied from engalar#47

Comments from original issue

@engalar (2026-04-08T01:59:23Z):

[github-actions]

Issue Triage

Summary:
The issue reports that mxcli generates overly nested decision diamonds for microflows that use a single RETURN at the end, resulting in a cluttered layout in Studio Pro.

Checklist (bug report):

• ✅ mxcli version: 0.1.0
• ✅ Mendix version: 11.6.4
• ✅ Scenario: processing an MDL script with a single RETURN statement at the end of a microflow
• ✅ Expected output: a clean layout where false/empty branches rejoin the main flow with minimal crossings
• ✅ Experienced output: nested IF/ELSE decision diamonds producing many crossing/diverging sequence flows
• ❌ AI bug report: output of mxcli diag --bundle or at least the session log

Missing information:
Please provide the diagnostic bundle (mxcli diag --bundle) or the relevant session log so we can investigate the exact behavior of the layout generation. Thank you!

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