Runs `sf project deploy validate` against a SANDBOX or non-production org to surface deployment issues, test failures, and metadata dependency problems WITHOUT committing changes. T2 sandbox-mutating but reversible (dry-run only — no commit occurs). Production org targets are REFUSED — production deploys require human approval via salesforce-live-guard-agent. Feeds salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent. TRIGGER when: user wants to validate a deployment package, dry-run a manifest, check pre-deploy test coverage, verify metadata dependencies, preview change impact in a sandbox. Trigger phrases: "validate this deploy", "dry-run the deployment", "check deployment manifest", "validate package.xml", "test deploy to sandbox", "deployment preflight". DO NOT TRIGGER when: user wants to commit to production (T3 PROHIBITED — route to salesforce-live-guard-agent for HITL); when only static review is needed (use salesforce-metadata-review-skill); when bulk data ops are needed (use salesforce-bulk-data-ops-skill).
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Runs `sf project deploy validate` against a SANDBOX or non-production org to surface deployment issues, test failures, and metadata dependency problems WITHOUT committing changes. T2 sandbox-mutating but reversible (dry-run only — no commit occurs). Production org targets are REFUSED — production deploys require human approval via salesforce-live-guard-agent. Feeds salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent. TRIGGER when: user wants to validate a deployment package, dry-run a manifest, check pre-deploy test coverage, verify metadata dependencies, preview change impact in a sandbox. Trigger phrases: "validate this deploy", "dry-run the deployment", "check deployment manifest", "validate package.xml", "test deploy to sandbox", "deployment preflight". DO NOT TRIGGER when: user wants to commit to production (T3 PROHIBITED — route to salesforce-live-guard-agent for HITL); when only static review is needed (use salesforce-metadata-review-skill); when bulk data ops are needed (use salesforce-bulk-data-ops-skill).
{"author":"github: Raishin","version":"0.1.0","updated":"2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z","category":"operational","lifecycle":"experimental","execution_tier":"sandbox-mutating","mcp_servers":[],"oauth_scopes":["api","refresh_token"],"run_as_permissions":{"required":["Deploy (Metadata API)","View All Data (sandbox-only)"],"denied":["ModifyAllData (production)","Customize Application (production)","Manage Connected Apps"]}}
salesforce-deployment-validator-skill
Sandbox-only deployment dry-run under T2 scope. This skill validates a
deployment package without committing any changes. It is a preflight check,
not a deployment. Production org targets are a hard refusal — any commit to
production must be routed through salesforce-live-guard-agent with explicit
human approval.
When This Skill Owns the Task
Use salesforce-deployment-validator-skill when the work requires pre-deploy
validation in a non-production environment:
"Validate this package.xml against our UAT sandbox before we ship"
"Dry-run the deployment — I need to see test results before promoting"
"Check whether the metadata dependencies are all satisfied in staging"
"Preflight the change set — what will break?"
"Give me the Apex test coverage delta for this deployment"
This skill NEVER commits changes. The --check-only flag is always
active. The --dry-run semantic is enforced structurally — no commit path
exists in this skill.
Delegate elsewhere when:
Situation
Skill to use
Target is a production org (any commit)
T3 — salesforce-live-guard-agent (HITL required)
Only static metadata review needed (no org)
salesforce-metadata-review-skill
Bulk data operations in sandbox
salesforce-bulk-data-ops-skill
SCA / code quality review of Apex
salesforce-apex-lwc-code-review-skill
Change impact risk assessment after validation
salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent
Required Context to Gather First
Before running any validation, confirm:
Deployment package path or manifest — local directory path containing
package.xml and the force-app/ tree, or a path to a bare package.xml
manifest. Accept only local filesystem paths, not org-to-org migration paths.
Target sandbox alias — the --target-org value recognized by
sf org list. Never accept a raw instance URL or session token as input.
Expected test classes — list of Apex test class API names to run with
--test-level RunSpecifiedTests. If the deployment touches Apex, a test
specification is mandatory.
Change impact summary (optional but preferred) — the output of
salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent if it has already run. This
pre-populates the risk context in the audit envelope.
Validation scope — which metadata types are included? (Apex classes,
triggers, flows, profiles, custom objects, etc.) Affects test selection
strategy.
If any of these are missing, ask before proceeding. Do not guess the target
org alias — a wrong guess could validate against the wrong environment.
Recommended Workflow
Step 1 — Verify target org is NOT production
sf org display --target-org <alias>
Inspect the output for production indicators:
instanceUrl domain matches a known production pattern (see
references/production-refusal-rules.md)
isSandbox field is false or absent
trailblazer.salesforce.com or login.salesforce.com in the OAuth
endpoint (non-sandbox pattern)
orgType indicates Production or the org ID prefix pattern matches a
known production org
If any indicator suggests production: STOP. Emit a refusal. Do not proceed.
Step 2 — Refuse if target is production
If Step 1 reveals a production org, emit this refusal immediately:
refusal:reason:"production_org_detected"target_org_alias:"<alias>"detected_indicators: ["<indicator1>", "<indicator2>"]
instruction:"Route to salesforce-live-guard-agent for HITL approval before any production deployment."audit_timestamp:"<ISO-8601-UTC>"
Do not proceed. Do not run any Metadata API call against a production org.
Step 3 — Verify Run As account permissions
Confirm the connected user has:
Deploy (Metadata API) permission — required for validation
Does not have ModifyAllData in production scope — enforced at the
Connected App allowlist and profile level
If the Connected App allowlist does not include the target sandbox org ID,
stop and escalate to the org administrator.
--manifest package.xml — always use a manifest (not --source-dir for
validation; manifest gives explicit scope control)
--target-org <alias> — never inferred; always explicit
--test-level RunSpecifiedTests — preferred for scoped changes (see
references/test-selection-strategy.md for when to use RunLocalTests)
--wait 30 — wait up to 30 minutes for async validation; adjust to org
test suite size
--json — structured output for downstream parsing
Do NOT pass --dry-run with intent to remove it — this flag is not how
Salesforce CLI controls commit vs. validate. The validate subcommand
is inherently non-committing. The deploy commit path is a separate command
(sf project deploy start) which this skill never calls.
Step 5 — Capture validation result and test outcomes
From the JSON output, extract:
status — Succeeded / Failed / InProgress
deploymentId — the validation deployment ID (not a commit; does not
persist changes)
runTestResult.failures — individual test failure messages
details.componentFailures — specific metadata component errors and
dependency issues
Step 6 — Emit audit envelope
Populate and emit the audit envelope (see Audit Envelope Schema). The
envelope must be emitted regardless of validation outcome — including on
refusals.
Step 7 — Hand off to change-impact-analyst-agent
Package the validation result, test outcomes, and audit envelope as the
input payload for salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent for risk
assessment. Required handoff fields:
audit_envelope
validation_verdict
test_results
coverage_delta
dependency_issues
refusal_triggers_fired
Step 8 — Stop conditions
Stop immediately and do not proceed if any stop condition is met (see Stop
Conditions section).
Quality Scoring Rubric (100-point)
Score the validation execution quality before emitting results.
The production-refusal gate must pass — failure voids the score.
Dimension
Points
What earns full marks
Production refusal gate
CRITICAL
Sandbox verified before any API call; production target causes immediate refusal
Test coverage
25
All changed Apex classes covered by specified tests; aggregate coverage ≥ 75%; no coverage warnings
Validation result clarity
25
JSON output parsed; all component errors enumerated with type and detail; no silent failures
Dependency analysis
20
All componentFailures with problemType: Missing enumerated; missing dependencies identified by name
Audit envelope
15
All required audit fields present; package manifest hash computed; timestamp accurate
Handoff routing
15
Structured payload prepared for salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent; refusal triggers enumerated
Scoring penalties:
Production refusal gate not checked before API call: score voided (CRITICAL failure)
Test specification missing for Apex changes: −25
--wait timeout expired with inconclusive result: −15
Audit envelope incomplete or missing: −20
Component failures not enumerated in output: −15
Refusal Triggers
Stop immediately and emit a refusal envelope when any of these conditions are
detected:
Trigger
Action
Target org identified as production
Hard refusal — do not proceed; route to salesforce-live-guard-agent
Refuse — this skill never calls the commit command
Test specification missing for deployment containing Apex changes
Stop — require test class list before proceeding
Cross-org deploy from a production sandbox refresh (prod-sourced sandbox with prod data)
Escalate — treat as production-equivalent for data privacy
Connected App allowlist does not include target sandbox
Stop — escalate to org administrator
--check-only false equivalent intent expressed
Refuse — this skill is validate-only
Audit Envelope Schema
Every validation emits an audit envelope. The envelope travels with the
validation result to any downstream skill or agent.
audit_envelope:skill_id:"salesforce-deployment-validator-skill"skill_version:"0.1.0"target_org_alias:"<alias>"target_org_type:"sandbox"# must be 'sandbox'; never 'production'package_manifest_path:"<local path to package.xml>"package_manifest_hash:"<sha256 of package.xml content>"validation_id:"<deploymentId from sf CLI JSON output>"test_level_used:"RunSpecifiedTests | RunLocalTests | RunAllTestsInOrg"tests_specified: ["<TestClass1>", "<TestClass2>"]
test_results_summary:total:<integer>passed:<integer>failed:<integer>failures: ["<ClassName.methodName: failure reason>"]
coverage_delta:classes_below_threshold: ["<ClassName>"]
aggregate_coverage_percent:<0-100>deployment_proposed:false# always false — this skill never commitscomponent_errors:-component:"<MetadataType>.<ApiName>"problem_type:"<Missing|Error|Warning>"problem:"<error message>"refusal_triggers_fired: ["<trigger name or 'none'>"]
audit_user_role:"<Connected App OAuth username>"timestamp:"<ISO-8601-UTC>"
Output Format
validation_verdict:"Succeeded | Failed | Refused | Inconclusive"test_results:total:<integer>passed:<integer>failed:<integer>coverage_warnings: ["<ClassName: X% coverage>"]
failures:-class:"<TestClassName>"method:"<testMethodName>"message:"<failure detail>"coverage_delta:aggregate_coverage_percent:<0-100>classes_below_75_percent: ["<ClassName>"]
notes:"<coverage trend vs. last known baseline if available>"dependency_issues:-type:"<MetadataType>"api_name:"<ApiName>"problem:"<what is missing or broken>"refusal_triggers_fired:-"<trigger name or 'none'>"change_impact_handoff:target_agent:"salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent"payload_ready:true|falsenotes:"<what the analyst agent should focus on>"missing_evidence:-"<what would strengthen the validation — e.g., missing test classes, missing dependencies>"assumptions:-"<explicit list of assumptions made>"audit_envelope:<seeAuditEnvelopeSchema>
Handoff Rules
Situation
Hand off to
Validation complete — risk assessment needed
salesforce-change-impact-analyst-agent
Static Analysis / SCA findings from Apex code
salesforce-apex-lwc-code-review-skill or salesforce-devsecops-pipeline-skill
Production commit approved after validation
salesforce-live-guard-agent (HITL required)
Metadata review (static, no org)
salesforce-metadata-review-skill
Required handoff fields for all outbound payloads: audit_envelope,
validation_verdict, refusal_triggers_fired, missing_evidence,
assumptions.
Stop Conditions
Stop immediately and do not continue if:
Production org detected — sf org display indicates isSandbox: false
or production URL pattern. Stop, emit refusal envelope, route to
salesforce-live-guard-agent.
Validation implies commit — user requests sf project deploy start or
equivalent. This skill does not call the commit command. Refuse and explain.
Apex changes with no test specification — deployment manifest contains
Apex classes or triggers and no test class list has been provided. Stop and
require test specification before proceeding.
Connected App allowlist mismatch — target org alias is not in the
authorized sandbox allowlist. Stop and escalate to org administrator.
--wait timeout exceeded with no result — emit an Inconclusive verdict
with the partial output and note the timeout. Do not re-run automatically.
Manifest hash mismatch — if the package.xml changes between the pre-hash
step and the validation call (filesystem race), stop and require re-confirmation.
Security Notes
T2 sandbox-only enforcement: The skill structurally refuses any production
org target. The sf project deploy validate command is inherently non-committing
but production refusal is enforced at the org-type check level before any API
call is made.
No commit possible: This skill calls sf project deploy validate only —
never sf project deploy start. The commit path does not exist in this skill's
allowed-tools scope.
Org allowlist: The Connected App restricts which sandbox orgs can be
targeted. This skill verifies via sf org display before proceeding.
Audit emitted on every execution: Including on refusals. The audit envelope
records the target org type, the refusal reason (if any), and the timestamp.
Reversible:sf project deploy validate makes no persistent changes to
the target org. The validation deployment ID is transient and does not alter
metadata in the org.
Explicit production refusal: Any production org target triggers an
immediate structured refusal with routing to salesforce-live-guard-agent.
No credential echo: OAuth tokens, refresh tokens, and session IDs are
never included in output or audit envelopes.
Run As permissions scoped: The connected service account has Deploy
(Metadata API) permission but is blocked from ModifyAllData (production),
Customize Application (production), and Manage Connected Apps by profile
and Connected App policy.
Reference File Index
File
When to read
references/cli-commands.md
sf CLI deploy validate command flags, sf apex run test, sf org display, manifest formats
references/production-refusal-rules.md
Detection rules for production orgs, refusal audit emission, live-guard routing
references/test-selection-strategy.md
RunSpecifiedTests vs. RunLocalTests vs. RunAllTestsInOrg; 75% coverage; test list construction
