Salesforce metadata change logs

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.

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.

To access change log records for a metadata item, open the Org model and find the metadata you want to investigate. In the right panel, open the "Changes" tab.

Here you will see a history of changes made, if any, to this metadata. If the item was added to your Org after your 1st sync with Elements, you will see it appear with a "New" status. However, if the item was already part of your Org when you first synced to Elements, you will not see any status until the metadata is changed.

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.

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:

A node will be marked as "Deleted" if our system could not get the metadata from Salesforce. This can happen when:

Currently, we are unable to show any change logs for the following metadata types: