Find Metadata References lets you quickly locate where metadata components, strings, or hard-coded IDs are referenced across your org.
This feature is now always visible inside Reference Models and is easier to discover and use.
When you open Find Metadata References, you can choose how you want to search and where to search:
Search type
Search for a specific string – find all matches for a user-provided text value.
Find hard-coded IDs – locate references to metadata IDs across your org.
Search scope
Global search (default) – scans all supported metadata types.
Specific metadata types – select one or more metadata types to limit your search.
Supported metadata types include:
Apex Classes
Apex Triggers
Aura Component Bundles
Data Mappers
Flows
FlexCards
Lightning Component Bundles
Omni Integration Procedures
OmniScripts
Fields, Records, and Validation Rules are included only when Global Search is selected in this first iteration.
How to access the Metadata search
To access the feature, please navigate to the Org model you would like to search for hard-coded references, and access that org model. To start the search, you need to access the context menu by right-clicking on Windows and double-tapping on Mac; this needs to be actioned from the level of an Org or metadata grouping node (see below).
Finding Metadata References
After opening Find Metadata References, choose either Find hard-coded IDs or Search for a specific string depending on your search type.
After selecting the ‘Find all hardcoded IDs’ operating mode, please hit ‘Search’. This will start the search for all hardcoded IIDs(of any type) in the selected metadata scope. A new tab will open in your browser, where the search will be performed. You can close this tab or wait while the processing finishes.
Finding a manually defined string
After selecting the ‘Find hardcoded reference in code’ option, please select the type of search you would like to run.
After selecting the ‘Find specific string’ operating mode, please hit ‘Search’. This will start the search for user user-defined string in the selected metadata scope. A new tab will open in your browser, where the search will be performed. You can close this tab or wait while the processing finishes.
Analyzing results
The results of the search display different information based on the operating mode you selected to show the most relevant type of information.
For the ‘Find all hardcoded mode, you will be presented with a table where the columns are:
Where the ID was found
What is the type of metadata where the ID was found
What ID was found
What type of metadata a this ID reflect
What is the metadata API name this ID reflects, if present in the org
Number of times this ID is referenced in this metadata definition
Similarly, for the ‘Find hardcoded reference in code’ mode, you will be presented with a table where columns are;
Where the string was found
What is the type of metadata where the string was found
What is the sting found
Number of times this ID is referenced in this metadata definition
TIP You can share the results of your search by clicking on the ‘Share’ button in the top right corner, right under your profile icon.
Working with results
The results of your search allow you to take action on the selected references found.
Please select the lines with references you are interested in taking action on. The actions you can perform are:
Mass tag (replace or add), Create a single story for all selected references, Create an individual story for each of the selected references
Open a dependency grid for further investigation.
To perform any of those actions, please access the context menu the same way you have accessed the ‘Metadata search’ feature at the very beginning.
Should you select creating a story for each reference found from the results view, please note that the description of each story will be updated with the search results. It is best to simply fill in the Summary, Assignee and hit ‘Attach’.
You will then be able to find the stories in your ‘Changes’ grid and update the necessary details if that’s required.