sf-schema

Schema Design & Permission Management

You are a Salesforce schema and metadata specialist. Generate valid SFDX source format metadata.

Custom Object

<!-- force-app/main/default/objects/Invoice__c/Invoice__c.object-meta.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<CustomObject xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <label>Invoice</label>
    <pluralLabel>Invoices</pluralLabel>
    <nameField>
        <label>Invoice Number</label>
        <type>AutoNumber</type>
        <displayFormat>INV-{000000}</displayFormat>
    </nameField>
    <deploymentStatus>Deployed</deploymentStatus>
    <sharingModel>Private</sharingModel>
    <enableActivities>true</enableActivities>
    <enableHistory>true</enableHistory>
    <enableReports>true</enableReports>
</CustomObject>

Custom Fields

<!-- force-app/main/default/objects/Invoice__c/fields/Amount__c.field-meta.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<CustomField xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <fullName>Amount__c</fullName>
    <label>Amount</label>
    <type>Currency</type>
    <precision>18</precision>
    <scale>2</scale>
    <required>true</required>
</CustomField>

Common Field Types

<!-- Text -->
<type>Text</type>
<length>255</length>

<!-- Long Text Area -->
<type>LongTextArea</type>
<length>32768</length>
<visibleLines>5</visibleLines>

<!-- Picklist -->
<type>Picklist</type>
<valueSet>
    <restricted>true</restricted>
    <valueSetDefinition>
        <sorted>false</sorted>
        <value><fullName>Active</fullName><default>true</default><label>Active</label></value>
        <value><fullName>Inactive</fullName><default>false</default><label>Inactive</label></value>
    </valueSetDefinition>
</valueSet>

<!-- Lookup -->
<type>Lookup</type>
<referenceTo>Account</referenceTo>
<relationshipLabel>Invoices</relationshipLabel>
<relationshipName>Invoices</relationshipName>

<!-- Master-Detail -->
<type>MasterDetail</type>
<referenceTo>Account</referenceTo>
<relationshipLabel>Invoices</relationshipLabel>
<relationshipName>Invoices</relationshipName>
<reparentableMasterDetail>false</reparentableMasterDetail>
<writeRequiresMasterRead>false</writeRequiresMasterRead>

<!-- Checkbox -->
<type>Checkbox</type>
<defaultValue>false</defaultValue>

<!-- Date -->
<type>Date</type>

<!-- DateTime -->
<type>DateTime</type>

<!-- Number -->
<type>Number</type>
<precision>18</precision>
<scale>0</scale>

<!-- Formula -->
<type>Text</type>
<formula>Account__r.Name &amp; ' - ' &amp; TEXT(Amount__c)</formula>

Validation Rules

<!-- force-app/main/default/objects/Invoice__c/validationRules/Amount_Required.validationRule-meta.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ValidationRule xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <fullName>Amount_Must_Be_Positive</fullName>
    <active>true</active>
    <errorConditionFormula>Amount__c &lt;= 0</errorConditionFormula>
    <errorDisplayField>Amount__c</errorDisplayField>
    <errorMessage>Amount must be greater than zero.</errorMessage>
</ValidationRule>

Permission Sets

<!-- force-app/main/default/permissionsets/Invoice_Manager.permissionset-meta.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<PermissionSet xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <label>Invoice Manager</label>
    <hasActivationRequired>false</hasActivationRequired>
    <objectPermissions>
        <object>Invoice__c</object>
        <allowCreate>true</allowCreate>
        <allowDelete>false</allowDelete>
        <allowEdit>true</allowEdit>
        <allowRead>true</allowRead>
        <modifyAllRecords>false</modifyAllRecords>
        <viewAllRecords>true</viewAllRecords>
    </objectPermissions>
    <fieldPermissions>
        <field>Invoice__c.Amount__c</field>
        <editable>true</editable>
        <readable>true</readable>
    </fieldPermissions>
    <fieldPermissions>
        <field>Invoice__c.Status__c</field>
        <editable>true</editable>
        <readable>true</readable>
    </fieldPermissions>
</PermissionSet>

Custom Permissions (for Flow Bypass)

<!-- force-app/main/default/customPermissions/Bypass_Automation.customPermission-meta.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<CustomPermission xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <label>Bypass Automation</label>
    <isLicensed>false</isLicensed>
</CustomPermission>

Additional Field Types

Formula Field:

<CustomField xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <fullName>FullName__c</fullName>
    <label>Full Name</label>
    <type>Text</type>
    <formula>FirstName__c &amp; ' ' &amp; LastName__c</formula>
    <formulaTreatBlanksAs>BlankAsZero</formulaTreatBlanksAs>
</CustomField>

Rollup Summary Field (master-detail only):

<CustomField xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <fullName>Total_Amount__c</fullName>
    <label>Total Amount</label>
    <type>Summary</type>
    <summarizedField>LineItem__c.Amount__c</summarizedField>
    <summaryOperation>sum</summaryOperation>
    <summaryForeignKey>LineItem__c.Order__c</summaryForeignKey>
</CustomField>

Geolocation Field:

<type>Location</type>
<displayLocationInDecimal>true</displayLocationInDecimal>
<scale>6</scale>

Global Value Set (Reusable Picklist):

<GlobalValueSet xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <masterLabel>Industries</masterLabel>
    <sorted>false</sorted>
    <customValue><fullName>Technology</fullName><default>false</default><label>Technology</label></customValue>
    <customValue><fullName>Healthcare</fullName><default>false</default><label>Healthcare</label></customValue>
</GlobalValueSet>

Relationship Types

Type	Delete Behavior	Rollup Summary	Reparenting	Max per Object
Master-Detail	Cascade delete	Yes	Configurable	2
Lookup	Block/Clear/Restrict	No	N/A	40 (25 std)
External Lookup	N/A	No	N/A	-
Hierarchical	N/A	No	N/A	1 (User only)
Junction (M2M)	Two master-details	On both parents	-	-

Record Types

<RecordType xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <fullName>Enterprise</fullName>
    <label>Enterprise</label>
    <active>true</active>
    <businessProcess>Enterprise Sales Process</businessProcess>
    <description>For enterprise accounts</description>
</RecordType>

Custom Metadata Types vs Custom Settings

Feature	Custom Metadata Types	Custom Settings (Hierarchy)
Deployable	Yes (metadata)	No (data)
SOQL required	Yes (or getInstance)	No (getOrgDefaults)
User/Profile override	No	Yes
Counts against SOQL limit	Yes	No
Use for	Org config, mappings	User preferences

Permission Set Groups

<PermissionSetGroup xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <label>Sales Team</label>
    <permissionSets>
        <permissionSet>Account_Manager</permissionSet>
        <permissionSet>Opportunity_Editor</permissionSet>
        <permissionSet>Report_Viewer</permissionSet>
    </permissionSets>
</PermissionSetGroup>

SFDX Source Directory Structure

force-app/main/default/
├── objects/
│   └── Invoice__c/
│       ├── Invoice__c.object-meta.xml
│       ├── fields/
│       │   ├── Amount__c.field-meta.xml
│       │   └── Status__c.field-meta.xml
│       ├── validationRules/
│       │   └── Amount_Must_Be_Positive.validationRule-meta.xml
│       └── listViews/
│           └── All.listView-meta.xml
├── permissionsets/
│   └── Invoice_Manager.permissionset-meta.xml
├── customPermissions/
│   └── Bypass_Automation.customPermission-meta.xml
└── layouts/
    └── Invoice__c-Invoice Layout.layout-meta.xml

Gotchas

• Max 40 custom relationships per object (25 for standard objects)
• Formula fields cannot reference LongTextArea, RichTextArea, MultiSelectPicklist, or Encrypted fields
• Rollup Summary fields work only on Master-Detail relationships — not Lookups
• Global Value Sets cannot be converted back to local picklists once shared
• Encrypted Text fields are not searchable or sortable
• Record type-dependent picklists require explicit value mapping per record type
• Permission Set Groups recalculate asynchronously — changes may take minutes to apply
• Custom Metadata Type records cannot be created/updated via DML in production — deploy only
• Profiles are notoriously merge-conflict-prone — prefer Permission Sets for everything

References

• Schema Reference — formula fields, rollup summaries, geolocation, Global Value Sets, record types, page layouts, FlexiPages, custom metadata, platform events, Big Objects, quick actions, custom labels

Workflow

1. Understand object/field requirements
2. Generate SFDX source format XML files
3. Generate permission set for new objects/fields
4. Deploy schema first, then code that references it
5. Verify with: sf org list metadata -m CustomObject --target-org myOrg