When to Use This Skill Use this skill when you need to: Create new custom objects Generate custom object metadata XML Configure object sharing and security settings Set up object features and capabilities Troubleshoot deployment errors related to custom objects Specification 1. Overview and Purpose This document defines the mandatory constraints for generating CustomObject metadata XML ( .object-meta.xml file). The agent must verify these constraints before outputting XML to prevent Metadata API deployment errors. File extension: .object-meta.xml 2. Syntactic Essentials (Tier 1) The following constraints must be true for the XML body to deploy successfully. Note: The API Name (fullName) is NOT a tag; it is the filename (e.g., Vehicle__c.object-meta.xml ). Required Elements Element Requirement Notes
< label
Order Line Item </ label
< pluralLabel
Order Line Items </ pluralLabel
< sharingModel
ReadWrite </ sharingModel
< deploymentStatus
Deployed </ deploymentStatus
</ CustomObject
✅ CORRECT: < CustomObject xmlns = " http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata "
< label
Order Line Item </ label
< pluralLabel
Order Line Items </ pluralLabel
< sharingModel
ControlledByParent </ sharingModel
- <
- deploymentStatus
- >
- Deployed
- </
- deploymentStatus
- >
- </
- CustomObject
- >
- 3. Smart Defaults & Decision Logic (Tier 2)
- The agent must choose which features to enable based on the object's intended use case.
- A. The Name Field Decision
- Type
- When to Use
- Additional Requirements
- Text
- Default for human-named entities (Projects, Locations, Teams)
- None
- AutoNumber
- Use for transactions, logs, or IDs (Invoices, Requests, Tickets)
- Must include
- (e.g.,
- INV-{0000}
- ) and
1 - Text Name Field Example:
- <
- nameField
- >
- <
- label
- >
- Project Name
- </
- label
- >
- <
- type
- >
- Text
- </
- type
- >
- </
- nameField
- >
- AutoNumber Name Field Example:
- <
- nameField
- >
- <
- label
- >
- Invoice Number
- </
- label
- >
- <
- type
- >
- AutoNumber
- </
- type
- >
- <
- displayFormat
- >
- INV-{0000}
- </
- displayFormat
- >
- <
- startingNumber
- >
- 1
- </
- startingNumber
- >
- </
- nameField
- >
- B. Object Description
- Mandatory. Every object must contain a professional summary.
If the intent is vague, generate a summary:
"Object used to track and manage [Intent] within the organization."
C. Junction Object Naming
If the object is a many-to-many link between two parents, name the object by combining the two parent entities to ensure the schema remains intuitive.
Examples:
Position_Candidate__c
(links Position and Candidate)
Job_Application__c
(links Job and Application)
D. Feature Enablement (Clean XML)
To maintain "Clean XML," only include optional tags when deviating from the Salesforce platform default of
false
.
Scenario A: User-Facing Objects (Apps, Trackers, Business Entities)
Trigger: The object is intended for direct user interaction
Action: Set
, , , and to true Scenario B: System-Facing Objects (Junctions, Background Logs) Trigger: The object exists for technical associations or background data Action: Omit these tags to keep the UI clean and the XML lean 4. Critical Constraints & Common Failures Reserved Words Never use reserved words as API names for Custom Objects or Custom Fields: Category Reserved Words (Do Not Use as API Names) SOQL/SQL Select , From , Where , Limit , Order , Group System User , External , View , Type Temporal Date , Number Relationship Cap Do not create more than 2 Master-Detail relationships for a single object. If a third relationship is required, use a Lookup instead. XML Root Element Do NOT include the tag at the root of the .object-meta.xml file. The API name is derived from the filename. ❌ INCORRECT: < CustomObject xmlns = " http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata " < fullName
Vehicle__c </ fullName
< label
Vehicle </ label
</ CustomObject
✅ CORRECT: < CustomObject xmlns = " http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata "
< label
Vehicle </ label
</ CustomObject
Validation Rule Naming Convention Validation rule names follow different conventions than custom fields. Rules: Must contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores Must begin with a letter Cannot end with an underscore Cannot contain two consecutive underscores Must NOT end with __c (unlike custom fields) ❌ INCORRECT: < validationRules
< fullName
Require_Start_Date__c </ fullName
< active
true </ active
< errorMessage
Start Date is required. </ errorMessage
< formula
ISBLANK(Start_Date__c) </ formula
</ validationRules
Error: The validation name can only contain alphanumeric characters, must begin with a letter, cannot end with an underscore... ✅ CORRECT: < validationRules
< fullName
Require_Start_Date </ fullName
< active
true </ active
< errorMessage
Start Date is required. </ errorMessage
< formula
ISBLANK(Start_Date__c) </ formula
</ validationRules
Naming Pattern Reference: Metadata Type Naming Pattern Example Custom Fields Ends with __c Start_Date__c Validation Rules No suffix Require_Start_Date Custom Objects Ends with __c Vehicle__c 5. Verification Checklist Before generating the Custom Object XML, verify: Syntactic Checks Are both