Use to enable Salesforce Change Data Capture (CDC) on a standard or custom object, configure a custom event channel, set a filter expression, or add enrichment fields. TRIGGER broadly on any of: 'enable CDC', 'enable Change Data Capture', 'turn on CDC', 'subscribe X to change events', 'only emit eve

Managing Change Data Capture Enablement Generate the metadata that subscribes Salesforce objects to Change Data Capture: PlatformEventChannelMember files for the default ChangeEvents channel or a custom channel, and PlatformEventChannel files for new custom channels. Covers enrichment fields, filter expressions, and the canonical naming and value formats that the Metadata API actually accepts (which differ from values that appear in many internal test fixtures and code search hits). Scope In scope : Generating PlatformEventChannelMember and PlatformEventChannel metadata for CDC. Subscribing standard objects, custom objects, or both. Configuring enrichment fields. Configuring filter expressions. Defining custom data channels. Out of scope : Publishing custom platform events (PE) — that's a different metadata type ( PlatformEvent ). Pub/Sub API or external Kafka/Bayeux configuration. Pricing/limits guidance — refer the user to the [CDC Developer Guide](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en us.change data capture.meta/change data capture/). Programmatic event bus subscribers in Apex. Clarifying Questions Before generating, confirm with the user if not already clear: Which entity (or entities) need CDC enablement? Standard, custom, or both? Default channel ( ChangeEvents ) or a custom channel? If custom, what's the channel label? Any enrichment fields needed? (Lookup IDs that the consumer needs even when they didn't change.) Any filter expression needed? (A SOQL WHERE clause body that gates which change events emit.) Required Inputs Gather or infer before proceeding: Source entity API name(s) — e.g. Account , Lead , Order c . The skill internally translates this to the ChangeEvent entity name (see Workflow step 2). Channel — either ChangeEvents (default) or the developer name of a custom channel ending in chn . Enrichment fields (optional) — list of field API names on the source object whose values should be included in every change event. Filter expression (optional) — a predicate over fields on the change event payload (e.g. Status c != null ). Defaults unless specified: Channel: ChangeEvents (the default CDC channel — no path prefix). Enrichment fields: none. Filter expression: none. If the user provides a clear, complete request, generate immediately without unnecessary back and forth. Workflow All steps are sequential. Do not skip or reorder. Before generating anything, know the only valid CDC metadata types: CDC is expressed entirely through PlatformEventChannelMember (one per subscribed entity) and PlatformEventChannel (only for custom channels). Do NOT use <ChangeDataCapture , .changeDataCapture meta.xml , changeDataCapture/ directories, EnableChangeDataCapture , or ManagedEventSubscription — these are not in scope for CDC. If you find yourself writing any of them, stop and use a PlatformEventChannelMember file instead. 1. Identify the channel — if the user names a custom channel, you'll generate a PlatformEventChannel file (see step 4). Otherwise use the literal value ChangeEvents for the default channel. 2. Translate source entity to ChangeEvent entity name — <selectedEntity is the ChangeEvent type, NOT the source object: Source object <selectedEntity value Account AccountChangeEvent Lead LeadChangeEvent Contact ContactChangeEvent Order c (custom) Order ChangeEvent MyThing c (custom) MyThing ChangeEvent For standard objects: append ChangeEvent . For custom objects: replace the trailing c with ChangeEvent (the double underscore is preserved). 3. Generate the channel member file — one file per (entity, channel) pair. The filename and fullName always use a SINGLE underscore between the entity stem and ChangeEvent — this is independent of how selectedEntity is formatted in the XML body. For custom objects, drop the c from the source name when forming the filename: Source object Filename (and fullName) <selectedEntity (in XML) Account Account ChangeEvent.platformEventChannelMember meta.xml AccountChangeEvent Lead Lead ChangeEvent.platformEventChannelMember meta.xml LeadChangeEvent Order c Order ChangeEvent.platformEventChannelMember meta.xml (NOT Order ChangeEvent ) Order ChangeEvent MyThing c MyThing ChangeEvent.platformEventChannelMember meta.xml (NOT MyThing ChangeEvent ) MyThing ChangeEvent The custom object case is the easiest place to slip — the filename uses single underscore, the selectedEntity keeps its double underscore. Read assets/PlatformEventChannelMember template.xml as the structural template. 4. For a custom channel , generate a PlatformEventChannel file — required if any member references a non default channel. Derive a DeveloperName from the user's label: strip spaces and non alphanumeric characters, convert to CamelCase, then always append the literal suffix chn . The filename and the channel's <eventChannel reference must use this exact form, otherwise the deploy fails with Invalid channel name : User says DeveloperName Filename Partner Sync PartnerSync chn PartnerSync chn.platformEventChannel meta.xml (NOT Partner Sync... or PartnerSync... ) Order Updates OrderUpdates chn OrderUpdates chn.platformEventChannel meta.xml data sync DataSync chn DataSync chn.platformEventChannel meta.xml Members on this channel reference it by the same DeveloperName: <eventChannel PartnerSync chn</eventChannel . Read assets/PlatformEventChannel template.xml . 5. Add enrichment fields if requested — repeat the <enrichedFields <name FIELD API NAME</name </enrichedFields block for each field. The name must be a single hop API name on the source entity — verified working with: standard lookup IDs ( OwnerId , ParentId ), custom lookup fields ( MyLookup c ), and custom non relationship fields ( Region c , Status c ). Relationship traversals like Owner.Name or Parent.Account.Industry are rejected by deploy with "The selected field, X.Y, isn't valid". 6. Add a filter expression if requested — wrap the predicate in <filterExpression ...</filterExpression . The body is a WHERE clause body without the WHERE keyword (e.g. Status c != null , not WHERE Status c != null ). For supported operators, field types, and pitfalls, read references/filter expressions.md . Rules / Constraints Constraint Rationale <selectedEntity is the ChangeEvent type name, not the source object name The Metadata API binds the member to a ChangeEvent entity — passing Account directly fails with "invalid event in selectedEntity". Member fullName uses single underscore: Account ChangeEvent The double underscore form ( Account ChangeEvent ) is parsed as <namespace <name and rejected: "Cannot create a new component with the namespace: Account". Default channel value is exactly ChangeEvents — no path prefix Older fixtures and some docs show data/ChangeEvents ; the deploy returns "Unable to find the specified channel" for that value. Enrichment field names are single hop API names on the source entity Standard ( OwnerId ), custom lookup ( MyLookup c ), and custom non relationship ( Region c ) all validate. Traversals like Owner.Name are rejected: "The selected field, X.Y, isn't valid". <filterExpression body has no WHERE keyword Deploy returns "filter expression has syntax errors: unexpected token: 'WHERE'". Filter cannot reference IsDeleted or do relationship traversal ( Owner.Username ) Deploy rejects with "field is invalid". DateTime fields support only equality in filters ( = , != ) — not < / Deploy returns "Only equality operators are supported for this field type or value". Use a named date literal: LastModifiedDate = TODAY . Filter RHS must be a literal — no field to field comparison BillingCity = ShippingCity returns "unexpected token: 'ShippingCity'". Compound fields (e.g. BillingAddress ) require dotted component access in filter BillingAddress.City = 'X' deploys; flat BillingCity is rejected as "field is invalid"; raw BillingAddress is rejected as "has to be used with a component field". Note this is the OPPOSITE of <enrichedFields , which uses flat names. Custom channel filename ends with chn before the meta xml suffix Salesforce's MDAPI naming convention; mismatch causes deploy ambiguity. Custom channel XML must include <channelType data</channelType Without data , the channel is rejected for CDC (other types exist for streaming/event channels). Source custom objects must already exist (or be deployed in the same transaction) The ChangeEvent entity for Foo c doesn't exist until Foo c does; member deploy fails otherwise. Never generate a PlatformEventChannel file for the default ChangeEvents channel The default channel is system provided. Reference it via <eventChannel ChangeEvents</eventChannel on members, but only custom ( chn ) channels need a channel meta file. PlatformEventChannelMember accepts ONLY four elements: <enrichedFields , <eventChannel , <filterExpression , <selectedEntity Adding <description , <isActive , <masterLabel , or any other element fails XML schema validation: "Element {...} invalid at this location". Stick to the four documented elements. PlatformEventChannel accepts ONLY two elements: <channelType and <label Adding <masterLabel , <description , etc. produces "Element {...}masterLabel invalid at this location in type PlatformEventChannel". Use <label , not <masterLabel . Generated metadata files only — never run sf project deploy start from this skill This skill produces artifacts; deployment is a separate lifecycle concern. Gotchas Issue Resolution Unable to find the specified channel Set <eventChannel ChangeEvents</eventChannel (no data/ prefix). The PlatformEventChannelMember can't be created because it references an invalid event in the "selectedEntity" field Use the ChangeEvent name, not the source object: AccountChangeEvent , not Account . Cannot create a new component with the namespace: <Object Rename the file to use a single underscore: Account ChangeEvent... , not Account ChangeEvent... . The selected field, X.Y, isn't valid (in <enrichedFields ) Replace Owner.Name with OwnerId . CDC enriches the lookup automatically; only single hop field API names validate. filter expression has syntax errors: unexpected token: 'WHERE' Remove the WHERE keyword. The body is the predicate only. The BillingCity field in the filter expression is invalid (or any flat Address component) Use the compound dotted form: BillingAddress.City , not BillingCity . See references/filter expressions.md for the full compound field matrix. Custom object member fails with "ChangeEvent doesn't exist" The source object isn't deployed yet. Ensure the Foo c object metadata is in the same deploy or already in the org. DUPLICATE VALUE on second deploy The member is already subscribed. Either delete first or skip — CDC doesn't support upsert on members directly. sf infra error (TypeInferenceError, DeployMetadata): Could not infer a metadata type for a .changeDataCapture meta.xml file That file extension and metadata type don't exist. Replace the changeDataCapture/<Entity .changeDataCapture meta.xml file with a platformEventChannelMembers/<Entity ChangeEvent.platformEventChannelMember meta.xml file. User says "subscribe Order c" but means standard Order Confirm — OrderChangeEvent (standard) and Order ChangeEvent (custom) are different entities. Output Expectations Deliv

integration-eventing-cdc-configure