Using Elements, you can simplify tracking what changes have been done in your Org and who has done those changes. This helps you to be aware of any potential conflicts and track what changes need to be added to your change set or deployment pipeline.
Prerequisites
Registered and verified Elements account
Core Metadata License
The Automation & Execution Intelligence add-on enabled for your Space, for AI summaries of changes
How change logs work
When we sync an Org model, we first check whether any of the metadata that we synced previously has been changed (based on the last modified date). We then sync the changed metadata and any new metadata (i.e. item we did not sync before but now became available after an API call to Salesforce).
We fetch the following data: last modified date, last modified by, and metadata definition. This data set then becomes a change log record stored against the specific metadata item.
After each sync, the people you choose receive a summary email of the changes. You can manage who gets these emails and run reports on changes across any time frame.
How to access the change log for a metadata item
To access change log records for a metadata item, open the metadata dictionary and find the metadata you want to investigate. In the right panel, open the "Changes" tab -> "Change logs" sub-tab. Here you will see a history of changes made, if any, to this metadata.
Comparing changes
Change log comparison is available on Core Metadata license and requires user to manually compare before vs after logs. For faster analysis, AI summaries of changes (below) are available on the higher tier plan.
When inspecting change logs, we can show you how the metadata changed by comparing the XML files stored over time. This can be done by clicking "Changes" and then change log status in the right panel.
This will bring up a window that shows you each line of changes in the XML files. On the left is the older XML record, and on the right is the new file with the changes. Highlighted in red is where the change was made, and in green is the new change. We also display the time and date that the change was made in Salesforce. Note that changes are only detected after each sync.
You can use the arrows to navigate between each highlighted change:
And check the "Only Show Lines with Differences" box to only display changes:
You cannot inspect a change when there is only one change log record, as we have only one XML file that can't be compared.
Some metadata types, such as Validation Rules and Page Layouts, will show you the whole object XML file with the contained changes within. On opening the Change log inspection window, it will automatically skip down to the relevant changes for you.
AI summary of a change
When your Space has the Automation & Execution Intelligence add-on, change log records come with a short AI summary in plain English, so you can understand a change without reading its XML. The summary appears on the change log record in the Changes tab.
What the summary describes depends on the status of the change:
New - what the new component does and what it affects in your Org
Updated - what specifically changed in the component and what effect the change has, referring to the actual fields, values or conditions that changed
Each summary is two to three sentences, written for an admin rather than a developer.
Which metadata types get an AI summary
AI summaries are generated for 44 metadata types:
Access and security: Profile, Permission Set, Permission Set Group, Muting Permission Set, Custom Permission, Sharing Rule, Role, Public Group, Queue, User Access Policy
Automation and business rules: Flow, Process Builder Workflow, Workflow Rule, Workflow Field Update, Validation Rule, Apex Class, Apex Trigger, Approval Process, Assignment Rule, Auto-Response Rule, Entitlement Process, Escalation Rule, Duplicate Rule, Matching Rule, Email Alert, Process
OmniStudio: Data Mapper, FlexCard, Omniscript, Omni Integration Procedure
Data model: Object (Custom), Object (Custom Metadata), Field (Custom Field), Record Type, Big Object, External Object
Integration: Platform Event, External Service, External Credential, Remote Site Setting, Email Service
Agents and AI: Agent Action, Agent Topic, Prompt Template
Standard objects and standard fields are not included - only custom objects and custom fields.
When a change has no AI summary
A change log record has no AI summary in any of these situations:
The component belongs to a managed package
The component’s definition file is larger than 1 MB
The change is a deletion, or the component is proposed rather than in your Org
The component was updated, but Elements has no earlier version of it to compare against
The component was updated, but its definition is identical to the previous version
Rules behind the "Updated" status
The "Updated" status is driven by the last modified date on metadata visible in Salesforce setup. If the last modified date on an item is different from the one we synced previously, we will highlight the item as updated.
It is important to note, however, that the last modified date is triggered in many situations, for example:
Metadata is substantially altered (formula changed, flow reconfigured, API name or label has changed);
Help text or description is changed on an item;
A new object or field is added (which will update all profiles that were given access)
Rules behind the "Deleted" status
A node will be marked as "Deleted" if our system could not get the metadata from Salesforce. This can happen when:
The item has been deleted
A managed package has been disconnected from the Org
The item's API name has been altered (in this case, the old node with an old API name will be shown as "Deleted" but there will be a new node with that new API name in state "New")
Elements.cloud identifies the responsible user and the timestamp when the deletion occurred for most core metadata types.
Limitations
Currently, we are unable to show any change logs for the following metadata types:
Picklist values
Lightning Web Components
List Views
Dashboards
Reports
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a change log record have no AI summary?
A change log record has no AI summary when the Automation & Execution Intelligence add-on is not enabled for your Space, when its metadata type is not one of the 44 supported types, or in one of the situations listed under When a change has no AI summary.
Which AI model writes the summary?
By default AI summaries are generated with Elements’ own AI connection. If your organisation uses its own connection through the Salesforce Trust Layer, summaries are generated through that connection instead. See ElementsGPT: Using your own Trust Layer connection.