grzmol Salesforce Setup automation
When to use
- A setting has to change in an org and you are not sure whether the Metadata API covers it.
- An org preference or feature switch has no metadata type at all, so no deploy can carry it.
- A deploy failed because a feature it depends on is not enabled in the target org.
- You need evidence that a Setup change happened, not a screenshot that looks convincing.
- Not for anything with a metadata type - that is
sf-deployment-strategiesplus/vf-deploy. - Not for scratch org shape, which belongs in a definition file:
sf-scratch-orgs-sandboxes.
Where a configuration change belongs
Work down the table. Only the last two rows involve a browser.
| The change | Route | Why |
|---|---|---|
Object, field, layout, flow, permission set, profile, settings area with a Settings type |
sf project retrieve start → edit → /vf-deploy |
Versioned, reviewable, repeatable in every org |
| A feature a scratch org needs | features in config/*-scratch-def.json |
The org is created with it; no click survives a recreate |
An org preference exposed as a Settings member (Case.settings-meta.xml) |
Deploy the Settings component |
The guide: "Settings can be accessed using the specific component member or via wildcard" |
| A preference with no metadata type, org-specific and one-off | /vf-setup browser hand-off, then SetupAuditTrail |
Nothing else can do it; make it auditable |
| A feature only Salesforce Support can enable | A case with Salesforce | Not in the API and not in Setup |
The Metadata API Developer Guide does not publish the unsupported-type list; it names the Metadata Coverage Report as "the ultimate source of truth for metadata coverage". Do not keep a private list either - ask the org.
1. Ask the org what it can deploy
sf org list metadata-types returns DescribeMetadataResult for that org and API version:
"Display details about the metadata types that are enabled for your org." metadataObjects[].xmlName
plus childXmlNames is the authoritative set.
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" check flows --target-org acme-dev
# verdict: deploy -> exit 1, with the retrieve/deploy commands in the output
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" check --path lightning/setup/CompanyProfileInfo/home -o acme-dev
# verdict: unknown -> say what you are changing, then check the Coverage Report
The verdict lands in .vibeforce/state/setup-gate.json, which the MCP guard reads: a browser
navigation to a lightning/setup/ URL with no gate record is annotated on every call.
Requires Modify All Data or Modify Metadata Through Metadata API Functions on the connected user.
2. Hand the browser a session, not a credential
sf org open --url-only mints a single-use frontdoor URI through the UI Bridge endpoint
/services/oauth2/singleaccess and prints, verbatim: "This command will expose sensitive information
that allows for subsequent activity using your current authenticated session. Sharing this
information is equivalent to logging someone in under the current credential."
A tool argument is transcript, so that URL must never be one. vf-setup serve keeps it in process
memory and hands out a loopback ticket instead:
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" serve setup-home --target-org acme-dev --ttl 180 --json
# {"handoff":"http://127.0.0.1:53137/vf-setup/54f6...","destination":"lightning/setup/SetupOneHome/home",...}
| Property | Enforced by |
|---|---|
Binds 127.0.0.1 only, non-loopback Host gets 421 |
handoffRefusal in scripts/lib/setup-session.js |
| 48 hex token, length-independent compare | tokenMatches |
| Serves exactly one redirect, then the server closes | consumed flag, 410 afterwards |
Expires on --ttl (10-900 s, default 120) |
410, and the tool exits 1 so nobody thinks it worked |
| Frontdoor URL only ever printed redacted | redactUrl |
Two things that look like alternatives and are not, both checked against @playwright/mcp 0.0.80:
a local launcher file (Access to "file:" protocol is blocked unless
--allow-unrestricted-file-access, which also lifts the workspace-root restriction on file reads),
and --secrets (resolved only by browser_fill_form for textbox and slider values).
3. Drive Setup from the accessibility tree
browser_navigate <handoff> # redirects once, lands on the Setup page already logged in
browser_snapshot # refs come from here; screenshots are evidence, not input
browser_fill_form / browser_click # one change at a time
browser_snapshot # re-read: Lightning re-renders and invalidates refs
browser_take_screenshot # the saved state
browser_close
Rules that matter more in Lightning than anywhere else: wait on a condition, never on a timer;
re-snapshot after every action that navigates or saves; treat a stale ref as a re-render, not a bug.
Classic Setup pages sit in an iframe and appear in the snapshot as a frame - refs resolve inside it.
Tables and long forms: references/browser-loop.md.
4. Prove it, or it did not happen
SetupAuditTrail "[r]epresents changes you or other admins made in your org's Setup area for at
least the last 180 days", API 15.0+, query() and retrieve() only, no aggregate on count(Id).
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" audit --target-org acme-dev --since 30m
Action is the category (PermSetCreate), Display the sentence ("Created permission set ..."),
Section the Setup area ("Manage Users"). Exit 1 means the org recorded nothing: the click did not
take. More queries, including how to diff a setting before and after:
references/verification-recipes.md.
5. Make the next time a deploy
After the change, try to retrieve it. If anything comes back, commit it and the next org gets it from
a deploy. If nothing does, write the destination into .vibeforce/config.json so the path is a fact
next time rather than a search:
{ "setup": { "destinations": {
"einstein-activation": { "path": "lightning/setup/EinsteinSetup/home", "metadata": [], "summary": "Einstein activation toggle" }
} } }
Paths come out of the address bar of a real org, not out of a guess. vf-setup list ships only paths
verified in an official artefact, and says where each one came from.
Anti-patterns
| Anti-pattern | Why it hurts | Instead |
|---|---|---|
browser_navigate with the frontdoor URL from sf org open --url-only |
Writes a live admin session into the transcript; the browser-credential-url guard denies it |
vf-setup serve, then navigate the loopback ticket |
| Clicking a field, layout or flow change in Setup | Produces drift no branch contains and no deploy reproduces | vf-setup check first; it exits 1 and prints the retrieve/deploy path |
browser_evaluate to flip the setting faster |
Arbitrary script inside a logged-in admin session, and no auditable action | browser_click / browser_fill_form; the browser-page-script guard asks first |
| Driving production Setup because "it is only a preference" | Unversioned production change; the tool refuses and the guard denies | Sandbox, then deploy the metadata if a type exists |
| Reporting success from the screenshot | Lightning renders a saved-looking page on validation failure | vf-setup audit --since 30m |
| Keeping a hardcoded list of "unsupported" types | Goes stale every release | vf-setup check, which asks the org |
| Reusing a hand-off URL for a second page | Frontdoor URLs are single-use; the second request gets 410 | One serve per navigation |
Verification
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" list
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" check <dest> --target-org <alias> # 0 browser/unknown, 1 deploy
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" serve <dest> --target-org <alias> # 0 consumed, 1 unused
node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/vf-setup.js" audit --target-org <alias> --since 30m
node --test tests/setup.test.mjs # gate, hand-off and guard rules
Guard behaviour without a session:
echo '{"hook_event_name":"PreToolUse","tool_name":"mcp__playwright__browser_navigate",
"tool_input":{"url":"https://acme.my.salesforce.com/secur/frontdoor.jsp?sid=x"}}' \
| node "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/hooks/pre-mcp-guard.js" | jq -r '.hookSpecificOutput.permissionDecision'
# -> deny
References
- references/browser-loop.md - the Playwright MCP tool set, waiting rules for Lightning, iframes, forms, and what each guard rule does.
- references/verification-recipes.md -
SetupAuditTrailqueries, retrieve-after-click patterns, state file shapes. - Sibling skills:
sf-deployment-strategies(the deploy route),sf-scratch-orgs-sandboxes(featuresandsettingsin a definition file),sf-security-model(permission sets and profiles, which are always a deploy),sf-ui-test-automation(browser tests, not configuration). - Metadata Coverage Report: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/metadata-coverage
sf org list metadata-types: https://github.com/salesforcecli/plugin-org/blob/main/messages/metadata-types.mdsf org openand its security warning: https://github.com/salesforcecli/plugin-org/blob/main/messages/messages.md- Single-use frontdoor: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=xcloud.frontdoor_singleaccess.htm
SetupAuditTrail: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference/sforce_api_objects_setupaudittrail.htm