Salesforce Hello World

Overview

Minimal working example: connect to Salesforce, run a SOQL query, and perform basic CRUD on standard sObjects (Account, Contact, Lead).

Prerequisites

Completed salesforce-install-auth setup
jsforce installed (npm install jsforce)
Valid credentials in environment variables

Instructions

Step 1: Connect and Query Accounts

import jsforce from 'jsforce';

const conn = new jsforce.Connection({
  loginUrl: process.env.SF_LOGIN_URL || 'https://login.salesforce.com',
});

await conn.login(
  process.env.SF_USERNAME!,
  process.env.SF_PASSWORD! + process.env.SF_SECURITY_TOKEN!
);

// Your first SOQL query — fetch 5 Accounts
const result = await conn.query(
  "SELECT Id, Name, Industry, AnnualRevenue FROM Account LIMIT 5"
);

console.log(`Total records: ${result.totalSize}`);
for (const account of result.records) {
  console.log(`  ${account.Name} — ${account.Industry ?? 'N/A'}`);
}

Step 2: Create a Record

// Create a new Account
const newAccount = await conn.sobject('Account').create({
  Name: 'Acme Corporation',
  Industry: 'Technology',
  Website: 'https://acme.example.com',
  NumberOfEmployees: 250,
});

console.log('Created Account ID:', newAccount.id);
console.log('Success:', newAccount.success);

Step 3: Read a Record by ID

// Retrieve specific fields by record ID
const account = await conn.sobject('Account').retrieve(newAccount.id);
console.log('Account Name:', account.Name);

// Or use SOQL for more control
const result = await conn.query(
  `SELECT Id, Name, Industry, CreatedDate
   FROM Account
   WHERE Id = '${newAccount.id}'`
);

Step 4: Update a Record

const updateResult = await conn.sobject('Account').update({
  Id: newAccount.id,
  Industry: 'Software',
  Description: 'Updated via jsforce API',
});
console.log('Updated:', updateResult.success);

Step 5: Delete a Record

const deleteResult = await conn.sobject('Account').destroy(newAccount.id);
console.log('Deleted:', deleteResult.success);

Python Example

from simple_salesforce import Salesforce
import os

sf = Salesforce(
    username=os.environ['SF_USERNAME'],
    password=os.environ['SF_PASSWORD'],
    security_token=os.environ['SF_SECURITY_TOKEN']
)

# SOQL query
result = sf.query("SELECT Id, Name, Industry FROM Account LIMIT 5")
for record in result['records']:
    print(f"  {record['Name']} — {record.get('Industry', 'N/A')}")

# Create
new_account = sf.Account.create({'Name': 'Acme Corp', 'Industry': 'Technology'})
print(f"Created: {new_account['id']}")

# Update
sf.Account.update(new_account['id'], {'Industry': 'Software'})

# Delete
sf.Account.delete(new_account['id'])

Output

Successful SOQL query returning Account records
Created, read, updated, and deleted an Account sObject
Console output confirming each operation

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
`INVALID_FIELD`	Field name wrong in SOQL	Check field API names in Setup > Object Manager
`MALFORMED_QUERY`	SOQL syntax error	Verify quotes, field names, WHERE clause
`INVALID_TYPE`	sObject name wrong	Use API name (e.g., `Account`, not `Accounts`)
`REQUIRED_FIELD_MISSING`	Missing required field on create	Add required fields (e.g., `Name` for Account)
`ENTITY_IS_DELETED`	Record already deleted	Query with `isDeleted = true` to find in Recycle Bin

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to salesforce-local-dev-loop for development workflow setup.

salesforce-hello-world