DTS Salesforce COE Meta Reader

A powerful Salesforce CLI plugin that makes it super easy to read and export Profile metadata from your Salesforce orgs. Perfect for Salesforce developers who want to backup, analyze, or compare Profile configurations!

  

---

🎯 What Does This Plugin Do?

This plugin helps you:

✅ Read Profile Metadata - Easily extract Profile configuration from any Salesforce org
✅ Export to XML - Get your Profile data in standard XML format
✅ Backup Profiles - Create backup copies of your Profile configurations
✅ Analyze Permissions - Review all permissions, object access, and field-level security in one file

Think of it as a super-powered way to download and view Profile details without using the Salesforce UI!

---

📋 Prerequisites

Before you can use this plugin, make sure you have:

1. Node.js (version 18 or higher) - Download here
- If you're not sure if you have Node.js, open PowerShell and run: node --version
2. Salesforce CLI - Installation guide

- If already installed, verify with: sf --version

3. An authenticated Salesforce org - Learn how to authenticate

> New to CLI? Don't worry! We'll walk you through each step below. 👇

---

🚀 Installation Guide

$3

1. Visit nodejs.org
2. Download the LTS (Long Term Support) version
3. Run the installer and follow the prompts
4. Open PowerShell and verify: node --version

$3

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator
2. Run this command:
``powershell
npm install --global @salesforce/cli
`
3. Verify installation: sf --version

$3

Once you have Salesforce CLI installed, install this plugin:

`powershell
sf plugins install dts-sf-coe-meta-reader
`

Verify the plugin is installed:

`powershell
sf plugins
`

You should see dts-sf-coe-meta-reader in the list of installed plugins.

---

🔗 Authentication: Connect to Your Salesforce Org

Before you can use the plugin, you need to authenticate with your Salesforce org.

$3

`powershell
sf auth web login --alias my-org
`

This will:

1. Open your browser
2. Ask you to log in to Salesforce
3. Ask for permission to connect Salesforce CLI
4. Click "Allow" and you're done!

Replace my-org with any name you want for this org (example: sf auth web login --alias production or sf auth web login --alias sandbox)

$3

If you need to authenticate without a browser:

`powershell
sf auth device login --alias my-org
`

Then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the authentication.

---

📖 How to Use This Plugin

$3

Before running any commands, see which orgs you have authenticated:

`powershell
sf org list
`

You'll see something like:

`
Alias Username Type
───────────── ──────────────────── ─────
my-org admin@mycompany.com Production
my-sandbox dev@mycompany.com Sandbox
`

---

💡 Main Command: Read Profile Metadata

$3

Extract a Profile from your Salesforce org:

`powershell
sf read profile --profile "Admin" --targetOrg my-org
`

What this does:

1. Connects to the org named my-org
2. Reads the Profile named "Admin"
3. Asks for confirmation
4. Creates a file called Admin-profile.xml in your current folder
5. The XML file contains all Profile details (permissions, object access, field-level security, etc.)

$3

| Parameter | Short Flag | Required? | Description |
| ------------- | ---------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| --profile | -p | ✅ Yes | The exact name of the Profile to read (e.g., "Admin", "Standard User", "System Administrator") |
| --targetOrg | -o | ✅ Yes | The alias of the org you authenticated (from sf org list) |
| --name | -n | ❌ No | Optional custom name for the output file |

$3

Example 1: Export Admin Profile from Production

`powershell
sf read profile --profile "System Administrator" --targetOrg production
`

Creates: System Administrator-profile.xml

Example 2: Export Custom Profile from Sandbox

`powershell
sf read profile --profile "Custom Sales User" --targetOrg my-sandbox
`

Creates: Custom Sales User-profile.xml

Example 3: Export with Custom Output Name

`powershell
sf read profile --profile "Admin" --targetOrg my-org --name "admin-backup-2024"
`

Creates: admin-backup-2024.xml

---

📁 Where Does the Output Go?

The exported Profile XML file is saved in your current working directory (the folder you're in when you run the command).

$3

`powershell

Navigate to your desired folder first

cd C:\Users\YourUsername\Desktop

Then run the command

sf read profile --profile "Admin" --targetOrg my-org
`

The file will now be saved to your Desktop!

---

🛠️ Common Issues & Solutions

$3

Solution: Check the exact Profile name in Salesforce:

1. In Salesforce, go to Setup > Users > Profiles
2. Find the exact name of the Profile
3. Use that exact name in the command (names are case-sensitive!)

$3

Solution: The plugin wasn't installed. Run:

`powershell
sf plugins install dts-sf-coe-meta-reader
`

$3

Solution: You need to authenticate first. Run:

`powershell
sf auth web login --alias my-org
`

$3

Solution: Salesforce CLI isn't installed or not in your PATH. Reinstall it:

`powershell
npm install --global @salesforce/cli
`

---

📝 Understanding the Output XML File

When you export a Profile, you get an XML file that looks like this:

`xml



MyApexClass
true



true
true
true
false



`

You can:

- 📖 Read it - Understand what permissions the Profile has
- 💾 Backup it - Keep a version history of Profile changes
- 📊 Compare it - Diff two profiles to see what changed
- 📤 Deploy it - Use it with Salesforce CLI to update profiles in other orgs

---

🤝 Support & Feedback

Found a bug? Have a feature request? Create an issue or contact the development team.

---

📚 Learn More

- Salesforce CLI Documentation: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.sfdx_cli_reference.meta/sfdx_cli_reference/cli_reference.htm
- Profile Metadata Reference: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.meta_api_meta.meta/meta_api_meta/meta_profiles.htm
- Salesforce DX Guide: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.sfdx_dev_guide.meta/sfdx_dev_guide/sfdx_dev_guide_intro.htm

---

📄 License

BSD-3-Clause License - See LICENSE file for details

---

Happy developing! 🚀

Made with ❤️ for Salesforce developers

---

For Developers: Contributing & Building

$3

This repository provides a template for creating a plugin for the Salesforce CLI. To convert this template to a working plugin:

1. Please get in touch with the Platform CLI team. We want to help you develop your plugin.
2. Generate your plugin:

`
sf plugins install dev
sf dev generate plugin

git init -b main
git add . && git commit -m "chore: initial commit"
``

3. Create your plugin's repo in the salesforcecli github org
4. When you're ready, replace the contents of this README with the information you want.

---

$3

This plugin uses several Salesforce development packages:

- @salesforce/core
- @salesforce/sf-plugins-core
- @salesforce/dev-config
- @salesforce/dev-scripts

Read more about Salesforce CLI plugin development.