salesforce-architecture-variants

name	salesforce-architecture-variants
description	Choose and implement Salesforce integration architecture patterns for different scales. Use when designing new Salesforce integrations, choosing between polling/event-driven/Heroku Connect, or planning migration paths for Salesforce applications. Trigger with phrases like "salesforce architecture", "salesforce integration pattern", "how to structure salesforce integration", "salesforce event-driven", "salesforce Heroku Connect".
allowed-tools	Read, Grep
version	1.7.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","crm","salesforce"]
compatibility	Designed for Claude Code

Salesforce Architecture Variants

Overview

Three validated architecture blueprints for Salesforce integrations: Direct API (simple), Event-Driven (scalable), and Middleware/iPaaS (enterprise). Each pattern addresses different scale, latency, and complexity requirements.

Prerequisites

• Understanding of your data volume and sync frequency requirements
• Decision on unidirectional vs bidirectional data flow
• Knowledge of Salesforce edition (affects available features like CDC)

Variant A: Direct API Integration (Simple)

Best for: MVPs, < 50K records/day, single-direction sync

┌─────────────┐     jsforce       ┌─────────────┐
│   Your App  │ ──── REST API ──▶ │  Salesforce  │
│ (Node.js)   │ ◀── SOQL/SOSL ── │     Org      │
└─────────────┘                   └─────────────┘

Data flow:
- App queries SF via SOQL (polling or on-demand)
- App writes to SF via sObject CRUD
- Scheduled cron for periodic sync

Key Characteristics

• Single jsforce connection per process
• Polling-based reads (cron schedule)
• Direct REST writes
• In-memory or Redis caching for describe/metadata
• Suitable for: internal tools, admin dashboards, simple data sync

Code Pattern

// Cron-based sync — runs every 15 minutes
import cron from 'node-cron';

cron.schedule('*/15 * * * *', async () => {
  const conn = await getConnection();

  // Fetch recently modified accounts
  const accounts = await conn.query(`
    SELECT Id, Name, Industry, AnnualRevenue
    FROM Account
    WHERE LastModifiedDate >= ${fifteenMinutesAgo}
  `);

  // Sync to local database
  for (const account of accounts.records) {
    await localDb.upsert(, (account));
  }
});