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salesforcedocs
Last updated April
Copyright Salesforce Inc All rights reserved Salesforce is a registered trademark of Salesforce Inc as are other
names and marks Other marks appearing herein may be trademarks of their respective owners
CONTENTS
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Work With APIs
Write Code
Debug Your Code
Test Your Changes
Manage Scratch Orgs
Index
ENHANCE SALESFORCE WITH CODE
You can make your Salesforce org even more useful and responsive to your users by developing custom applications and integrating
your external applications
Its best to do your development in a sandbox so you can test your code changes before you deploy them Sandboxes contain copies
of your data code and configuration settings that are isolated from your production environment You can customize your organization
and test applications in a sandbox then deploy the changes to your production organization when ready In some cases you might
have several developers working in different sandboxes who then coordinate those changes for deployment
Work With APIs
Salesforce provides programmatic access to your orgs information using simple powerful and secure application programming
interfaces
Write Code
Write code using the Apex programming language to add business logic or use the Visualforce markup language to create the user
interface Integrate your application using APIs and authenticate your external applications
Debug Your Code
Use checkpoints logs and the View State tab to help debug the code youve written
Test Your Changes
Testing is key to the success of your application particularly if you deploy your application to customers If you validate that your
application works as expected with no unexpected behavior your customers are going to trust you more
Manage Scratch Orgs
The scratch org is a sourcedriven and disposable deployment of Salesforce code and metadata made for developers and automation
CICD A scratch org is fully configurable allowing developers to emulate different Salesforce editions with different features and
preferences
SEE ALSO
Sandbox Types and Templates
Complete Salesforce Developer Documentation
Work With APIs
Salesforce provides programmatic access to your orgs information using simple powerful and secure application programming interfaces
Which API Do I Use
Choose the right Salesforce API for your integration needs Review the selection of APIs Salesforce offers including the supported
protocols data formats and use cases
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Which API Do I Use
Give Integration Users API Only Access
Following the principle of least privilege we recommend creating and configuring one Salesforce user for every integration Assigning
a different user to each calling system use case domain or API resource restricts those users to a unique subset of data Creating
dedicated integration users gives you more control over operations and traceability of transactions and minimizes the impact if a
user or integration is compromised
Download API WSDL and Client Certificates
To integrate your applications with Salesforce using the API download a Web Services Description Language WSDL document
Manage API Usage Notifications
When you create a request usage notification you specify an administrator to receive an email notification whenever your organization
exceeds a specified limit for the number of API requests made in a specified span of hours
SEE ALSO
Write Code
Debug Your Code
Test Your Changes
Secure Your Code
Which API Do I Use
Choose the right Salesforce API for your integration needs Review the selection of APIs Salesforce
offers including the supported protocols data formats and use cases
API Name
API Type
Data Format
Communication
REST API
REST
JSON XML
Synchronous
SOAP API
SOAP WSDL
XML
Synchronous
Connect REST API
REST
JSON XML
Synchronous
photos are
processed
asynchronously
Apex REST API
REST
JSON XML Custom Synchronous
Apex SOAP API
SOAP WSDL
XML
Synchronous
Analytics REST API
REST
JSON XML
Synchronous
User Interface API
REST
JSON
Synchronous
GraphQL API
GraphQL
JSON
Synchronous
Tooling API
REST or SOAP
WSDL
JSON XML Custom Synchronous
Bulk API
REST
CSV
Asynchronous
Metadata API
SOAP WSDL
XML
Asynchronous
PubSub API
gRPC and protocol
buffers
Binary
Asynchronous
EDITIONS
Available in Salesforce
Classic not available in all
orgs and Lightning
Experience
Available in Professional
with API access enabled
Enterprise Performance
Unlimited and Developer
Editions
USER PERMISSIONS
To use the APIs
API Enabled
To use Apex classes and
methods as REST web
services
Note Enables access
to Apex REST services
even if API Enabled
permission is not
granted
Apex REST Services
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Which API Do I Use
When to Use REST API
REST API provides a powerful convenient and simple RESTbased web services interface for interacting with Salesforce Its advantages
include ease of integration and development and its an excellent choice of technology for use with mobile applications and web
projects For certain projects you can use REST API with other Salesforce REST APIs To build UI for creating reading updating and
deleting records including building UI for list views actions and dependent picklists use User Interface API To build UI for BB Commerce
on Lightning CMS managed content Experience Cloud sites or Chatter use Connect REST API If you have many records to process
consider using Bulk API which is based on REST principles and optimized for large sets of data
See REST API Developer Guide
When to Use SOAP API
SOAP API provides a powerful convenient and simple SOAPbased web services interface for interacting with Salesforce You can use
SOAP API to create retrieve update or delete records You can also use SOAP API to perform searches and much more Use SOAP API
in any language that supports web services
For example you can use SOAP API to integrate Salesforce with your orgs ERP and finance systems You can also deliver realtime sales
and support information to company portals and populate critical business systems with customer information
See SOAP API Developer Guide
When to Use Connect REST API
Connect REST API provides programmatic access to BB Commerce for Lightning CMS managed content Experience Cloud sites files
notifications topics and more Use Connect REST API to display Chatter feeds users and groups especially in mobile applications
See Connect REST API Developer Guide
When to Use Apex REST API
Use Apex REST API when you want to expose your Apex classes and methods so that external applications can access your code through
REST architecture Apex REST API supports both OAuth and Session ID for authorization
See Apex Developer Guide Exposing Apex Classes as REST Web Services
When to Use Apex SOAP API
Use Apex SOAP API when you want to expose Apex methods as SOAP web service APIs so that external applications can access your
code through SOAP
Apex SOAP API supports both OAuth and Session ID for authorization
See Apex Developer Guide Exposing Apex Methods as SOAP Web Services and SOAP API Developer Guide ApexRelated Calls
When to Use Analytics REST API
You can access CRM Analytics assets such as datasets lenses and dashboards programmatically using the Analytics REST API Send
queries and access datasets that have been imported into the analytics platform Create and retrieve lenses Access XMD information
Retrieve a list of dataset versions Create and retrieve CRM Analytics apps Create update and retrieve dashboards Retrieve a list of
dependencies for an application Determine what features are available to the user Work with snapshots Manipulate replicated datasets
See Analytics REST API Developer Guide
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Which API Do I Use
When to Use User Interface API
Build Salesforce UI for native mobile apps and custom web apps using the same API that Salesforce uses to build Lightning Experience
and Salesforce for Android iOS and mobile web Build user interfaces that let users work with records list views actions favorites and
more Not only do you get data and metadata in a single response but the response matches metadata changes made to the org by
Salesforce admins You dont worry about layouts picklists fieldlevel security or sharingall you do is build an app that users love
See User Interface API Developer Guide
When to Use GraphQL API
Build highly responsive and scalable apps by returning only the data a client needs all in a single request GraphQL API overcomes the
challenges posed by traditional REST APIs through field selection resource aggregation and schema introspection Field selection
reduces the size of the payload sending back only fields that were included in the query Aggregations reduce round trips between the
client and server returning a set of related resources within a single response Schema introspection enables a user to see the types
fields and objects that the user has access to
See GraphQL API Developer Guide
When to Use Tooling API
Use Tooling API to integrate Salesforce metadata with other systems Metadata types are exposed as sObjects so you can access one
component of a complex type This fieldlevel access speeds up operations on complex metadata types You can also build custom
development tools for Forcecom applications For example use Tooling API to manage and deploy working copies of Apex classes and
triggers and Visualforce pages and components You can also set checkpoints or heap dump markers execute anonymous Apex and
access logging and code coverage information
REST and SOAP are both supported
See Tooling API
When to Use Bulk API
Use Bulk API to query queryAll insert update upsert or delete a large number of records asynchronously Bulk API is designed
on the Salesforce REST framework
Any data operation that includes more than records is a good candidate for Bulk API to successfully prepare execute and
manage an asynchronous workflow that uses the Bulk framework Jobs with fewer than records should involve bulkified synchronous
calls in REST for example Composite or SOAP
When working with large volumes of data its the easiest way to create read update and delete CRUD records at scale If your job
includes just one sObject type or extracts up to TB of data per day Bulk API is your Salesforce API of choice
See Bulk API and Bulk API Developer Guide
When to Use Metadata API
Use Metadata API to retrieve deploy create update or delete customizations for your org The most common use is to migrate changes
from a sandbox or testing org to your production environment Metadata API is intended for managing customizations and for building
tools that can manage the metadata model not the data itself
The easiest way to access the functionality in Metadata API is to use the Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code or Salesforce CLI
Both tools are built on top of Metadata API and use the standard tools to simplify working with Metadata API
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Give Integration Users API Only Access
The Salesforce Extensions for Visual Studio Code includes tools for developing on the Salesforce platform in the lightweight extensible
VS Code editor These tools provide features for working with development orgs scratch orgs sandboxes and DE orgs Apex Aura
components and Visualforce
Salesforce CLI is ideal if you use scripting or the command line for moving metadata between a local directory and a Salesforce org
See Metadata API Developer Guide
When to Use PubSub API
You can use Pub Sub API to integrate external systems with events Event streams are based on custom payloads through platform
events or changes in Salesforce records through Change Data Capture In Salesforce you can publish and subscribe to events with Apex
triggers Process Builder and Flow Builder
PubSub API is built for high scale bidirectional event integration with Salesforce Use PubSub API to efficiently publish and subscribe
to binary event messages in the Apache Avro format PubSub API is based on gRPC and HTTP and uses a pullbased model so that
you can control the subscription flow With PubSub API you can use one of the programming languages that gRPC supports
Use the type of streaming event that suits your needs
Change Data Capture Event
Receive changes to Salesforce records with all changed fields Change Data Capture supports more standard objects than PushTopic
events and provides more features such as header fields that contain information about the change
Platform Event
Publish and receive custom payloads with a predefined schema The data can be anything you define including business data such
as order information Specify the data to send by defining a platform event Subscribe to a platform event channel to receive
notifications
Legacy Events PushTopic and Generic Event
PushTopic and generic events are firstgeneration events They have limited support and are no longer updated with new features
We recommend that you use Change Data Capture events instead of PushTopic events and Platform Events instead of Generic
events
See the PubSub API documentation
SEE ALSO
Work With APIs
Give Integration Users API Only Access
Following the principle of least privilege we recommend creating and configuring one Salesforce
user for every integration Assigning a different user to each calling system use case domain or
API resource restricts those users to a unique subset of data Creating dedicated integration users
gives you more control over operations and traceability of transactions and minimizes the impact
if a user or integration is compromised
EDITIONS
Available in Enterprise
Unlimited Performance
and Developer Editions
The Salesforce Integration user license supports this best practice by offering a set of permissions
restricted to API access ideal for systemtosystem integration users This license makes the Salesforce
API Only System Integrations profile and the Salesforce API Integration permission set license available The Salesforce API Only System
Integrations profile ensures that the API is enabled and that the associated user is limited to interacting with Salesforce exclusively
through the API The Salesforce API Integration permission set license makes available many of the same user and object permissions
typically granted to Salesforce admins
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Download API WSDL and Client Certificates
Assign a dedicated integration user the Salesforce Integration user license and Salesforce API Only System Integrations profile to enable
and restrict access to the API Assign the Salesforce API Integration or other permission set licenses to make individual permissions
available Create permission sets to group a subset of the permissions made available via any assigned permission set licenses and assign
the permission set group to the integration user Follow the standard process in your Salesforce app to set up this user configuration
Combining the Salesforce Integration user license Salesforce API Only System Integrations profile Salesforce API Integration permission
set license and relevant permission sets grants the integration user access to the org and data while restricting that access exclusively
to API operations Its possible to assign various permission set licenses to a user with the Salesforce Integration user license However
the Salesforce API Integration permission set license is only available to users assigned the Salesforce Integration user license
Users assigned the Salesforce Integration user license and related permissions are not authorized to access Salesforce data or features
through any user interface The individual permissions granted through the Salesforce Integration license and the related Salesforce API
Only System Integrations profile cant be turned off including on any clones of the profile
By default orgs in supported editions are granted a limited number of Salesforce Integration user licenses Contact a Salesforce account
executive for information on how to purchase addon licenses
As a part of integration planning or after assigning permissions to an integration user learn how a user is authorized and authenticated
via the API so they can log in to an org For integrations using a RESTbased API create a connected app and use an OAuth flow For
integrations using a SOAPbased API use the SOAPspecific login call
SEE ALSO
Salesforce Developer Integration Patterns and Practices
Licenses Overview
Standard Profiles
Which API Do I Use
REST API Developer Guide Authorization Through Connected Apps and OAuth
SOAP API Developer Guide login
Download API WSDL and Client Certificates
To integrate your applications with Salesforce using the API download a Web Services Description
Language WSDL document
EDITIONS
Enterprise WSDL Use this WSDL document to build an integration for a single org The
enterprise WSDL is strongly typed which means that it contains objects and fields with specific
data types such as int and string You must download and reconsume the enterprise
WSDL document when changes are made to the custom objects or fields in an org or when
you want to use a different version of the API
Available in both Salesforce
Classic and Lightning
Experience
Partner WSDL Use this WSDL to build an integration that works across multiple Salesforce
orgs regardless of their custom objects or fields Typically partners and ISVs use this WSDL Its
loosely typed which means that you work with namevalue pairs of field names and values
instead of specific data types The partner WSDL document needs to be downloaded and
consumed only once per version of the API
Apex WSDL Use this WSDL to run or compile Apex in another environment
Metadata WSDL Use this WSDL to migrate configuration changes between orgs or work with
the customizations in your org as XML metadata files
To download a WSDL document
From Setup enter API in the Quick Find box then select API
Available in Professional
Enterprise Developer and
Databasecom Editions
USER PERMISSIONS
To download a WSDL
Customize Application
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Manage API Usage Notifications
Download the appropriate WSDL
If youre downloading an enterprise WSDL and you have managed packages installed in your org click Generate Enterprise
WSDL Select the version of each installed package to include in the generated WSDL By default it is set to the latest installed
versions of the packages
Otherwise rightclick the link for the appropriate WSDL document to save it to a local directory In the menu Internet Explorer
users can choose Save Target As while Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox users can choose Save Link As
On your computer import the local copy of the WSDL document into your development environment
Note You can also select the default package versions without downloading a WSDL in the Package Version Settings section
Optionally you can download a certificate to authenticate Salesforce orgs Use this certificate for workflow outbound messaging This
certificate identifies that the request comes from Salesforce not a specific user If you want to use certificates to ensure secure connections
using other Salesforce features such as Apex callouts use Salesforce certificates and key pairs
To download a certificate
From Setup enter API in the Quick Find box then select API
In Client Certificate section click Manage API Client Certificate
In the API Client Certificate section click the API Client Certificate
Click Download Certificate The crt file is saved in the download location specified in your browser
You can then import the downloaded certificate into your application server and configure your application server to request the
client certificate
SEE ALSO
Certificates and Keys
Work With APIs
Apex Developer Guide
Metadata API Developer Guide
Manage API Usage Notifications
When you create a request usage notification you specify an administrator to receive an email
notification whenever your organization exceeds a specified limit for the number of API requests
made in a specified span of hours
The API usage notifications list includes details such as who is getting notified how often and at
what thresholds You can create up to ten notifications per organization
EDITIONS
Available in both Salesforce
Classic and Lightning
Experience
Create an API Usage Notification
On the API Usage Notifications page you can supply the required values for a ratelimiting
notification
Available in Enterprise
Performance Unlimited
Developer and
Databasecom Editions
View API Usage Notifications
You can view edit delete or clone information about a API usage notification
USER PERMISSIONS
To view create edit or
delete notifications
Modify All Data
SEE ALSO
Work With APIs
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Manage API Usage Notifications
Create an API Usage Notification
On the API Usage Notifications page you can supply the required values for a ratelimiting
notification
EDITIONS
To create an API usage notification
Available in both Salesforce
Classic and Lightning
Experience
From Setup enter API Usage Notifications in the Quick Find box then select
API Usage Notifications
Click New
Enter the details
Notification Recipient The Salesforce user who will receive the notifications
Threshold The percentage of the rate limit that once exceeded in the specified notification
interval triggers a notification to be sent to the specified user Value must be between
and
Notification Interval Hours The time period for which the number of requests is measured
in hours For example if the interval is the rate must be exceeded in the past hours
for a notification to be sent
Available in Enterprise
Performance Unlimited
Developer and
Databasecom Editions
USER PERMISSIONS
To view create edit or
delete notifications
Modify All Data
If you change the time period the new time period does not take effect until after the next
notification of the existing time period For example assume you have set the time period to send notifications every hour Then
at pm you set the time period to send notifications every hours A last notification from the old time period is sent at
pm The next notification would be sent at pm the next day
SEE ALSO
View API Usage Notifications
Manage API Usage Notifications
View API Usage Notifications
You can view edit delete or clone information about a API usage notification
EDITIONS
Notification Recipient The username for the person to whom the email notification is sent
Threshold The percent of the usage limit that when reached triggers an email notification
Notification Interval Hours The frequency at which the notifications are sent For example if
the notification interval is four hours a notification is sent only if the last notification was sent
at least four hours ago Due to the asynchronous nature of the notification process Salesforce
cant guarantee the notification interval
Created By The user who created the notification request and the time it was created
Modified By The user who last edited the notification
You can also create a new notification based on the values of the notification being displayed Click
Clone to create a new notification with the current values populated in the new notification You
can edit the values before saving
SEE ALSO
Create an API Usage Notification
Manage API Usage Notifications
Available in both Salesforce
Classic and Lightning
Experience
Available in Enterprise
Performance Unlimited
Developer and
Databasecom Editions
USER PERMISSIONS
To view create edit or
delete notifications
Modify All Data
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Write Code
Write Code
Write code using the Apex programming language to add business logic or use the Visualforce markup language to create the user
interface Integrate your application using APIs and authenticate your external applications
Salesforce Development Tools
Salesforce provides various tools for all phases of app development
Developer Console
The Developer Console is an integrated development environment with a collection of tools you can use to create debug and test
applications in your Salesforce org
Work with Code
This section contains information about the tools and techniques you can use when making changes to your organization by using
code
Custom Metadata Types
You can create your own declarative developer frameworks for internal teams partners and customers Rather than building apps
from data you can build apps that are defined and driven by their own types of metadata Metadata is the information that describes
the configuration of each customers organization
Canvas App Previewer
Canvas App Previewer is a development tool that lets you see what your canvas apps will look like before you publish them
Remote Access Application
Connected apps have replaced remote access apps Use connected apps for apps that require integration with Salesforce to verify
users and control security policies for external apps
Secure Identity for the Internet of Things
Asset tokens are an openstandardsbased JWT authentication token for verifying and securing requests from connected devices
They identify the device to a backend service that processes the stream of data and events from the device They allow registration
of device data with the Salesforce platform and linking it to Salesforce CRM data about the customer account or contact helping
you to act on behalf of the customer You can even support custom business processes using asset token events Asset tokens enable
more proactive support and more predictive engagement with your customers on an unprecedented scale
SEE ALSO
Work With APIs
Debug Your Code
Test Your Changes
Secure Your Code
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Salesforce Development Tools
Salesforce Development Tools
Salesforce provides various tools for all phases of app development
EDITIONS
This table summarizes the functionality of the various Salesforce development tools
Tool
Code
Debug Test
Deploy Available From
Salesforce Extensions for Visual
Studio Code
Visual Studio Code
Marketplace
Salesforce CLI
developersalesforcecom
DevOps Center
Setup
Developer Console
Your Name or the
Available in Salesforce
Classic or Lightning
Experience depends on tool
The available tools vary
according to which
Salesforce Edition you have
quick access menu
Visualforce development mode
footer
Setup or your personal
settings
Code editor
Setup
Apex Test Execution
Setup
Change Sets
Setup
Ant Migration Tool
developersalesforcecom
SEE ALSO
Developer Console Functionality
Choose Your Tools for Developing and Deploying Changes
Enable Development Mode
Personalize Your Salesforce Experience
Developer Console
The Developer Console is an integrated development environment with a collection of tools you can use to create debug and test
applications in your Salesforce org
Open the Developer Console
It takes only a couple of clicks to open the Developer Console from Salesforce Classic or Lightning Experience The Developer Console
is an integrated development environment with a collection of tools you can use to create debug and test applications in your
Salesforce org
Developer Console Functionality
The Developer Console can help with many of your development tasks
Enhance Salesforce with Code
Developer Console
Developer Console Query Editor
You can use the Query Editor in the Developer Console to execute a SOQL query or SOSL search on the data in your organization A
SOQL query retrieves data from a single object or multiple related objects in the database You can execute a SOQL query immediately
after data is added to the database A SOSL query is a freeform text search that retrieves multiple related or unrelated objects and
fields Using SOSL you can retrieve data for a specific term that exists within a field And SOSL can tokenize multiple terms to find
relevant records It can take several minutes for data to be indexed before you can execute a query and get results
The Developer Console User Interface
The Developer Console includes a collection of useful tools for coding debugging and testing applications
Open the Developer Console
USER PERMISSIONS
EDITIONS
To use the Developer Console
API Enabled AND View All Data
To view retain and delete debug logs
View All Data
To execute anonymous Apex
Author Apex
To use code search and run SOQL or SOSL
on the query tab
API Enabled
To save changes to Apex classes and
triggers
Author Apex
To save changes to Visualforce pages and
components
Customize Application
To save changes to Lightning resources
Customize Application
Available in Salesforce
Classic not available in all
orgs and Lightning
Experience
Available in Enterprise
Performance Unlimited
Developer and
Databasecom Editions
It takes only a couple of clicks to open the Developer Console from Salesforce Classic or Lightning Experience The Developer Console
is an integrated development environment with a collection of tools you can use to create debug and test applications in your Salesforce
org
To open the Developer Console from Salesforce Classic
Click Your Name
Click Developer Console
To open the Developer Console from Lightning Experience
Click the quick access menu
Click Developer Console
