Agentforce

Salesforce's AI agent platform. Since September 2026 it comes included in Core, Advanced and Max and consumes Flex Credits.

Agentforce 1

Salesforce's all-in edition until September 2026, at $550 per user per month. Existing customers can move to Max at no extra cost, according to Salesforce.

Apex

Salesforce's programming language, similar to Java. Used for what a Flow cannot handle: triggers, integrations and complex calculations.

AppExchange

Salesforce's app marketplace. Each installed package usually comes with its own license and its own vendor.

Bulk API 2.0

The API for reading and writing large volumes of records in batches. The standard tool for migrations.

Claudeforce

Salesforce's partnership with Anthropic, announced in August 2026, to use Claude, Anthropic's AI, with Salesforce data. Its first product is Salesforce in Claude, which started as a pilot with selected customers.

Core, Advanced and Max

The Sales Cloud and Service Cloud editions Salesforce announced on 3 September 2026. They take the place of Enterprise, Unlimited and Agentforce 1 on the price list.

CPQ

Configure, Price, Quote. The quoting module with pricing rules, discounts and approvals. Its successor is Revenue Cloud.

Custom Object

An object your company creates on top of the standard ones. Its API name ends in __c.

Data Cloud

Salesforce's data platform for unifying customer information from several sources. Sold separately.

Data Export Service

The Setup export that produces a ZIP with one CSV per object, every week on Enterprise, Unlimited and Performance, or every 29 days on Professional.

Data Loader

Salesforce's desktop app for importing and exporting records as CSV.

Edition

The product tier you buy: Starter Suite, Pro Suite, Core, Advanced or Max. It sets the price, limits and features.

Experience Cloud

The product for customer, partner or employee portals. Licensed separately.

Field History Tracking

The change log for the fields you choose: old value, new value, who and when.

Flex Credits

The consumption unit for Agentforce. The new editions include an annual pool per org that expires at the end of the term.

Flow

Salesforce's automation tool. It replaces Workflow Rules and Process Builder.

Governor limits

Salesforce's per-transaction limits: queries, records, CPU time. They shape how Apex is written and how Flows are designed.

Lightning Web Components

The framework for building custom UI components inside Salesforce. Short form: LWC.

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

An open standard that lets AI agents read and update other applications, such as a CRM, securely.

Metadata API

The API for reading and deploying an org's configuration: objects, fields, layouts, Flows and permissions.

MSA

Master Subscription Agreement. The master contract with Salesforce: renewals, notice, data and liability.

Notice period

The number of days before the contract end date by which you must give written notice that you won't renew. It's in your Order Form or master agreement.

Order Form

The document for each purchase: products, quantities, price, discount, term and renewal terms.

Org

Your Salesforce instance: your data, your configuration and your users.

OWD

Organization-Wide Defaults. The default access to each object: private, read only or read/write.

Page Layout

The arrangement of fields, sections and related lists on a record page.

Permission Set

A set of permissions added on top of a user's profile. The recommended way to grant access.

Premier Success Plan

Salesforce's paid support plan. Since September 2026 it's included in Core, Advanced and Max.

Process Builder

Legacy process-based automation tool. Unsupported since December 31, 2025.

Profile

The user's profile. It defines their base permissions: objects, fields, apps and system settings.

Record Type

A variant of an object with its own picklist values, layouts and processes.

Role Hierarchy

The role hierarchy. Whoever sits higher up sees the records of whoever sits below.

Sandbox

A copy of your org for building and testing. It ranges from Developer, configuration only, to Full, which also copies all the data.

Sharing Rules

Rules that open access to records beyond the OWD, by role, group or criteria.

SOQL

Salesforce Object Query Language. The language for querying Salesforce data, similar to SQL.

Tooling API

The API for querying development metadata: Apex classes, triggers, custom objects, Workflow Rules.

Validation Rule

A rule that blocks saving a record if it does not meet a condition.

Workflow Rule

Legacy criteria-based automation. Unsupported since December 31, 2025.