Salesforce Platform MCP Server

Create a powerful Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Salesforce in minutes with our AI Gateway. This guide walks you through setting up seamless Salesforce integration with enterprise-grade security and instant OAuth authentication.

About Salesforce Platform API

Salesforce is the world's #1 CRM platform, serving over 150,000 companies globally. The Salesforce Platform API provides comprehensive access to your Salesforce org:

• Object Management: Create, read, update, and delete any standard or custom object
• SOQL Queries: Execute Salesforce Object Query Language for complex data retrieval
• Bulk Operations: Process large volumes of records efficiently
• Metadata API: Manage customizations and deployments programmatically
• Composite Resources: Combine multiple operations in a single request
• Event Streaming: Subscribe to real-time data changes
• Analytics API: Access reports, dashboards, and Einstein Analytics
• Workflow & Process: Trigger flows, approval processes, and automation

Key Features

• REST API: RESTful interface with JSON/XML support
• API Versions: Multiple API versions for backward compatibility
• Governor Limits: Daily API request limits based on edition
• Bulk API 2.0: Process millions of records asynchronously
• Composite API: Execute multiple operations in one call
• Multi-tenant: Secure isolation between organizations
• Event-Driven: Platform events and Change Data Capture
• OAuth 2.0: Industry-standard authentication

What You Can Do with Salesforce MCP Server

The MCP server transforms Salesforce's API into a natural language interface, enabling AI agents to:

Data Management & Analytics

• Smart Data Operations

  • "Find all opportunities closing this quarter worth over $100k"
  • "Update all contacts from Acme Corp with the new email domain"
  • "Create a new lead from the business card I just uploaded"
  • "Show me accounts that haven't been contacted in 90 days"

• Complex Queries

  • "List accounts with open cases older than 30 days"
  • "Find opportunities with products but no signed contracts"
  • "Show contacts who attended events but aren't in any campaigns"

• Bulk Operations

  • "Import these 10,000 contacts from the CSV file"
  • "Update territory assignments for all accounts in California"
  • "Archive all closed opportunities from last fiscal year"

Sales Operations

• Pipeline Management

  • "Move all stalled opportunities to needs analysis stage"
  • "Create follow-up tasks for opportunities closing next month"
  • "Clone the successful opportunity structure for new deals"

• Lead Processing

  • "Score and route incoming leads based on company size"
  • "Convert qualified leads with matching email domains"
  • "Merge duplicate leads from the trade show list"

• Territory & Assignment

  • "Reassign accounts based on new territory model"
  • "Balance opportunities across sales team members"
  • "Create account teams for enterprise deals"

Reporting & Intelligence

• Business Insights

  • "Generate pipeline forecast for next quarter"
  • "Analyze win/loss reasons by product category"
  • "Compare team performance against quotas"

• Data Quality

  • "Find and merge duplicate records across all objects"
  • "Identify incomplete records missing key fields"
  • "Standardize phone numbers and addresses"

• Executive Dashboards

  • "Create a dashboard showing key metrics by region"
  • "Export weekly sales activity report"
  • "Track customer satisfaction scores by account"

Process Automation

• Workflow Enhancement

  • "Trigger approval process for all discounts over 20%"
  • "Auto-create renewal opportunities 90 days before close"
  • "Send alerts for accounts with declining engagement"

• Integration Workflows

  • "Sync new Salesforce contacts to marketing automation"
  • "Create service tickets from case escalations"
  • "Update ERP when opportunities close"

System Administration

• User Management

  • "Create user accounts for new sales team members"
  • "Update profile permissions for marketing team"
  • "Audit user login history for security review"

• Customization

  • "Add custom fields to track customer preferences"
  • "Create validation rules for data quality"
  • "Deploy new page layouts for service team"

Prerequisites

• Access to Cequence AI Gateway
• Salesforce organization (Developer, Sandbox, or Production)
• System Administrator profile or API-enabled user
• Connected App creation permissions
• OAuth 2.0 setup capability

Step 1: Create Salesforce Connected App

Before setting up the MCP server, you need to create a Connected App in Salesforce.

1.1 Access Salesforce Setup

1. Log in to your Salesforce org
2. Navigate to Setup (gear icon)
3. In Quick Find, search for "App Manager"
4. Click App Manager

1.2 Create Connected App

1. Click New Connected App

2. Fill in Basic Information:

   • Connected App Name: "AI Gateway MCP Integration"
   • API Name: Auto-populated
   • Contact Email: Your admin email

3. Enable OAuth Settings:

   • Check Enable OAuth Settings
   • Callback URL:

     https://auth.aigateway.cequence.ai/v1/outbound/oauth/callback

4. Select OAuth Scopes (see Available Scopes section)

5. Configure additional settings:

   • Require Secret for Web Server Flow: Check this
   • Require Secret for Refresh Token Flow: Check this
   • Enable Client Credentials Flow: Optional

6. Click Save

1.3 Get OAuth Credentials

1. After saving, click Manage Consumer Details
2. Verify your identity if prompted
3. Note down:
   • Consumer Key (Client ID)
   • Consumer Secret (Client Secret)

1.4 Configure OAuth Policies

1. Click Manage on your Connected App

2. Click Edit Policies

3. Set OAuth policies:

   • Permitted Users: All users may self-authorize
   • IP Relaxation: Relax IP restrictions (if needed)
   • Refresh Token Policy: Refresh token is valid until revoked

4. Click Save

Step 2: Access AI Gateway Apps

1. Log in to your Cequence AI Gateway dashboard
2. Navigate to Apps in the left sidebar
3. You'll see the list of available third-party applications

Step 3: Find and Select Salesforce API

1. In the Apps section, browse through the Third-party category
2. Look for Salesforce Platform or use the search function
3. Click on the Salesforce API card to view details

The Salesforce API card shows:

• Number of available endpoints
• Integration capabilities
• Quick description of functionality

Step 4: Create MCP Server

1. Click the Create MCP Server button on the Salesforce API card
2. You'll be redirected to the MCP Server creation wizard

Step 5: Configure API Endpoints

In the App Configuration step:

1. Base URL will be configured as: https://{instance}.salesforce.com
2. Select API endpoints to expose to your MCP server based on your needs
3. Click Next to proceed

Step 6: MCP Server Basic Setup

Configure your MCP server details:

1. MCP Server Name: Enter a descriptive name

   • Example: "Salesforce CRM Automation"
   • This name will identify your server in the dashboard

2. Description (Optional): Add details about the server's purpose

   • Example: "Automated CRM operations for sales and service teams"

3. Production Mode: Toggle based on your needs

   • ON for production environments
   • OFF for development/testing

4. Click Next to continue

Step 7: Configure Authentication

This is where you'll use your Salesforce Connected App credentials:

1. Authentication Type: Select OAuth 2.0

2. Fill in the OAuth configuration:

   • Authorization URL:

     https://login.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/authorize

     For sandboxes:

     https://test.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/authorize

   • Token URL:

     https://login.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/token

   • Client ID: Paste Consumer Key from Connected App
   • Client Secret: Paste Consumer Secret from Connected App
   • Redirect URI:

     https://auth.aigateway.cequence.ai/v1/outbound/oauth/callback

3. Scopes: Select from the available Salesforce scopes (see next section)

Available Salesforce OAuth Scopes

Configure the appropriate scopes based on your application needs:

Core Access

• api

  • Access and manage Salesforce data
  • Execute SOQL and SOSL queries
  • Access REST API resources
  • Required for most operations

• refresh_token

  • Obtain refresh token for long-lived access
  • Essential for automation scenarios
  • Allows token renewal without re-authentication

Extended Capabilities

• full

  • Full access including exclusive app features
  • Includes all standard permissions
  • Access to all data and functionality
  • Use with caution in production

• id

  • Access identity URLs
  • Retrieve user profile information
  • Verify user identity

Specialized Access

• custom_permissions

  • Access custom permissions in the org
  • Required for custom security models
  • Manage app-specific permissions

• chatter_api

  • Access Chatter REST API
  • Post to feeds, create groups
  • Manage collaboration features

• visualforce

  • Access Visualforce pages
  • Required for custom UI integration
  • Manage page-level operations

• web

  • Access to application via web browser
  • Required for web-based flows
  • Includes basic app access

Recommended Scope Combinations

For Data Integration:

api
refresh_token

For Full CRM Automation:

api
refresh_token
full
id

For Custom Applications:

api
refresh_token
custom_permissions
visualforce

Step 8: Configure Security

Set up API protection features:

1. API Protection: Toggle ON to enable

   • Protects against bot attacks, DDoS, and threats
   • Monitors for suspicious activity
   • Rate limiting and anomaly detection

2. Protection Features (when enabled):

   • Auto-scaling protection
   • Managed infrastructure
   • Built-in monitoring
   • Zero maintenance required

3. Click Next to continue

Step 9: Choose Deployment Method

Select your deployment preference:

Option A: Deploy to Cequence Cloud (Recommended)

• Fully managed deployment
• Automatic scaling and monitoring
• Built-in high availability
• Features included:
  • Auto-scaling
  • Managed infrastructure
  • Built-in monitoring
  • Zero maintenance

Option B: Deploy with Helm Chart

• Self-managed Kubernetes deployment
• Full control over infrastructure
• Requires:
  • Kubernetes cluster
  • Helm 3.x installed
  • Container registry access

Click Next after selecting your deployment method.

Step 10: Review and Deploy

Review your MCP server configuration:

• MCP Server Name: Your chosen name
• Base URL: https://{instance}.salesforce.com
• Selected Endpoints: Number of endpoints selected
• Authentication: OAuth 2.0 (Configured)
• API Protection: Enabled/Disabled
• Deployment: Cequence Cloud or Helm

Click Create & Deploy to finalize the setup.

Step 11: Post-Deployment Setup

After successful deployment:

1. Note the MCP Server URL provided

2. Test the OAuth flow:

   • Click "Test Connection"
   • You'll be redirected to Salesforce login
   • Log in and authorize the app
   • Confirm successful connection

3. Configure AI Agents:

   • The MCP server is now available for AI agent connections
   • Use the provided server URL in your AI agent configuration

Using Your Salesforce MCP Server

With Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop settings

2. Add your MCP server:

   {
     "servers": {
       "salesforce": {
         "url": "your-mcp-server-url",
         "auth": {
           "type": "oauth2",
           "client_id": "your-consumer-key"
         }
       }
     }
   }

3. Start using natural language commands:

   • "Show me all opportunities closing this month"
   • "Create a task to follow up with Acme Corp next week"
   • "Update the stage for all stalled opportunities"
   • "Find duplicate contacts and suggest merges"
   • "Generate a report of accounts by industry"

API Integration Example

// Initialize MCP client
const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
  serverUrl: 'your-mcp-server-url',
  auth: {
    type: 'oauth2',
    token: 'user-access-token'
  }
});

// Query opportunities
const opportunities = await mcpClient.salesforce.query({
  q: "SELECT Id, Name, Amount, CloseDate FROM Opportunity WHERE StageName = 'Negotiation' AND CloseDate = THIS_QUARTER"
});

// Create a contact
const contact = await mcpClient.salesforce.sobjects.Contact.create({
  FirstName: 'John',
  LastName: 'Doe',
  Email: 'john.doe@example.com',
  AccountId: '001xx000003DHPh'
});

// Update multiple records
await mcpClient.salesforce.composite.sobjects({
  allOrNone: true,
  records: [
    {
      attributes: { type: 'Account' },
      id: '001xx000003DHPh',
      NumberOfEmployees: 500
    },
    {
      attributes: { type: 'Contact' },
      id: '003xx000003DHPh',
      Title: 'VP of Sales'
    }
  ]
});

// Execute anonymous Apex
await mcpClient.salesforce.tooling.executeAnonymous({
  body: "List<Account> accounts = [SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE CreatedDate = TODAY]; System.debug(accounts.size());"
});

Common Use Cases

Sales Operations

• Pipeline management and forecasting
• Lead scoring and routing
• Opportunity automation
• Territory management
• Quote generation

Service Excellence

• Case routing and escalation
• SLA monitoring
• Knowledge base management
• Customer satisfaction tracking
• Service analytics

Marketing Automation

• Campaign management
• Lead nurturing
• Email marketing integration
• Event management
• ROI tracking

Data Management

• Data quality improvement
• Duplicate management
• Mass updates
• Data migration
• Backup and archival

Security Best Practices

1. OAuth Security:

   • Use Connected App IP restrictions
   • Implement session timeout policies
   • Regular token rotation
   • Monitor OAuth usage

2. API Limits:

   • Monitor daily API request limits
   • Implement efficient querying
   • Use bulk API for large operations
   • Cache frequently accessed data

3. Data Security:

   • Respect field-level security
   • Honor sharing rules
   • Implement row-level security
   • Audit data access

4. Profile Management:

   • Use minimum required permissions
   • Regular permission audits
   • Separate integration user
   • Monitor user activity

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Invalid Session ID

   • Token expired - implement refresh logic
   • Session timeout - re-authenticate
   • IP restrictions - check Connected App settings

2. API Limit Exceeded

   • Check org limits in System Overview
   • Implement request batching
   • Use Bulk API for large operations
   • Consider purchasing additional API calls

3. Insufficient Privileges

   • Verify user profile permissions
   • Check field-level security
   • Ensure object access
   • Validate sharing rules

4. SOQL Errors

   • Check field API names
   • Verify object relationships
   • Respect SOQL limits
   • Use proper date literals

Getting Help

• Documentation: AI Gateway Docs
• Support: support@cequence.ai
• Community: AI Gateway Forum
• Salesforce Developer Docs: developer.salesforce.com
• API Reference: Salesforce REST API

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