sf-deployment

Salesforce Deployment Strategies

Reference: @../_reference/DEPLOYMENT_CHECKLIST.md

When to Use

• Deploying Apex, LWC, or metadata changes to a sandbox or production org
• Planning deployment order for metadata with dependencies
• Setting up validation-then-quick-deploy workflows for zero-downtime production releases
• Troubleshooting deployment errors, coverage failures, or metadata conflicts
• Choosing between Change Sets, SF CLI source deploy, or Unlocked Packages

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Deployment Method Comparison

Method	Speed	Rollback	Best For	Tracking
Change Sets	Slow	Manual	Admin-managed, simple orgs	None
SF CLI (Source)	Fast	Manual	Developer workflow, CI/CD	Git
Metadata API	Medium	Manual	Automated scripts, complex manifests	External
Unlocked Package	Fast	Version	Modular orgs, ISV, internal products	Version
Managed Package	Slow	Version	AppExchange ISV, protected IP	Version

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SF CLI Deploy Commands

Basic Deployments

# Deploy entire source directory
sf project deploy start \
    --source-dir force-app \
    --target-org myOrg \
    --wait 30

# Deploy specific metadata types
sf project deploy start \
    --metadata ApexClass \
    --target-org myOrg

# Deploy specific components
sf project deploy start \
    --metadata "ApexClass:AccountService,ApexClass:AccountServiceTest" \
    --target-org myOrg

# Deploy using package.xml manifest
sf project deploy start \
    --manifest manifest/package.xml \
    --target-org myOrg \
    --wait 60

# Deploy with test execution
sf project deploy start \
    --source-dir force-app \
    --test-level RunLocalTests \
    --target-org myOrg \
    --wait 60

# Deploy specific tests
sf project deploy start \
    --source-dir force-app \
    --test-level RunSpecifiedTests \
    --tests AccountServiceTest,OpportunityServiceTest \
    --target-org myOrg

Deploy Flags Reference

Flag	Description
--source-dir	Local source directory to deploy
--manifest	package.xml manifest file path
--metadata	Specific metadata types or components
--test-level	Test level: NoTestRun/RunSpecifiedTests/RunLocalTests/RunAllTestsInOrg
--tests	Comma-separated test class names (with RunSpecifiedTests)
--wait	Minutes to wait for async deploy (default: 33)
--ignore-errors	Ignore deploy errors (use with caution)
--ignore-conflicts	Ignore source tracking conflicts
--async	Run deploy asynchronously, return job ID
--verbose	Show detailed output

Note: There is no --dry-run on deploy start. Use sf project deploy validate instead.

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Test Level Guide

NoTestRun

sf project deploy start --test-level NoTestRun --source-dir force-app --target-org sandbox

Use for sandbox deployments of non-Apex metadata. Allowed for production only when the deployment contains no Apex code.

RunSpecifiedTests

sf project deploy start \
    --test-level RunSpecifiedTests \
    --tests AccountServiceTest,ContactTriggerTest \
    --source-dir force-app \
    --target-org myOrg

Runs only the named test classes. Sufficient for production if coverage >= 75% for deployed classes.

RunLocalTests (Recommended for most deployments)

sf project deploy start \
    --test-level RunLocalTests \
    --source-dir force-app \
    --target-org myOrg

Runs all tests in the org except managed package tests. Required standard for production deployments.

RunAllTestsInOrg

sf project deploy start \
    --test-level RunAllTestsInOrg \
    --source-dir force-app \
    --target-org myOrg

Runs every test including managed package tests. Use for major releases or full org validation.

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package.xml (Manifest) Format

Targeted Component Deployment

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <types>
        <members>AccountService</members>
        <members>AccountServiceTest</members>
        <name>ApexClass</name>
    </types>
    <types>
        <members>AccountTrigger</members>
        <name>ApexTrigger</name>
    </types>
    <types>
        <members>accountCard</members>
        <name>LightningComponentBundle</name>
    </types>
    <types>
        <members>Account.Status__c</members>
        <name>CustomField</name>
    </types>
    <version>66.0</version>
</Package>

<members>*</members> deploys ALL components of that type, including test classes. For production, prefer listing specific members when you need to exclude certain components.

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Validation-Then-Quick-Deploy Workflow

Validation separates test execution from the actual deployment. Use this for production to minimise downtime.

Step 1: Validate (runs tests, does not deploy)

sf project deploy validate \
    --source-dir force-app \
    --test-level RunLocalTests \
    --target-org prod \
    --wait 60

# Capture the Job ID from output
JOB_ID=0Af5e00000BnXXX

Step 2: Wait for Tests to Pass

sf project deploy report --job-id $JOB_ID --target-org prod
sf project deploy resume --job-id $JOB_ID --target-org prod --wait 60

Step 3: Quick Deploy (no tests re-run)

sf project deploy quick \
    --job-id $JOB_ID \
    --target-org prod \
    --wait 10

Quick deploy window: 10 days after successful validation, but only if no Apex code modifications have been made to the org since the validation.

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Destructive Changes (Removing Metadata)

Deploy a destructiveChanges.xml alongside an empty package.xml.

<!-- destructiveChanges.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <types>
        <members>OldAccountService</members>
        <name>ApexClass</name>
    </types>
    <types>
        <members>Account.LegacyField__c</members>
        <name>CustomField</name>
    </types>
    <version>66.0</version>
</Package>

sf project deploy start \
    --manifest deploy-package/package.xml \
    --post-destructive-changes deploy-package/destructiveChanges.xml \
    --test-level RunLocalTests \
    --target-org myOrg

--pre-destructive-changes runs before deployment; --post-destructive-changes after. Use post for removing replaced components.

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Rollback Strategies

Salesforce does not have native one-click rollback. Plan ahead.

Full Commit Revert (Preferred)

git revert HEAD
sf project deploy start --source-dir force-app --test-level RunLocalTests --target-org prod

Single-file rollback is only safe for isolated, dependency-free components. For coupled changes, revert the full git commit and deploy the complete set of changed files.

Pre-Deployment Snapshot

sf project retrieve start \
    --manifest manifest/package.xml \
    --target-org prod \
    --output-dir backup/pre-deploy-$(date +%Y%m%d)

Package Version Rollback (Unlocked Packages)

sf package install \
    --package "04t5e000000XXXXX" \
    --target-org prod \
    --wait 30

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Common Deployment Errors and Fixes

Error	Cause	Fix
"Test coverage of selected Apex Trigger is 0%"	Trigger has no test class	Write and include a test class
"Average test coverage below 75%"	Org-wide coverage insufficient	Add tests for uncovered classes
"Entity of type X not found"	Component missing in target org	Deploy dependency first or check name
"CANNOT_INSERT_UPDATE_ACTIVATE_ENTITY"	Trigger or validation rule blocking deploy	Check error details for the specific rule
"duplicate value found"	Unique field constraint violation	Check for existing records or duplicate picklist values
"Object X not available in this org"	Feature not enabled in target org	Enable the feature flag or include org setting

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Related

• Constraints: sf-deployment-constraints -- deployment safety rules
• Agent: sf-architect -- interactive, in-depth guidance