sf-precise-deploy

Salesforce CLI plugin for surgical deployments with field-level delta detection.

Why?

Modern Salesforce deployment tools (SF CLI, sfdx-git-delta) detect changes at the file level. If you modify one field in an object with 200 fields, you deploy the entire object file.

sf-precise-deploy analyzes metadata at the field level, enabling surgical deployments:

• 🎯 Deploy only the fields that changed
• 🔪 Generate field-level destructive changes
• ⚡ Reduce deployment conflicts and time
• 🔄 Git-based or directory-based comparison
• 🛡️ Comprehensive error handling

Features

🎯 Field-Level Delta Detection

Parses metadata XML to detect changes within files:

• CustomField
• ValidationRule
• RecordType
• WorkflowRule
• And more...

🔪 Surgical Destructive Changes

Auto-generates destructiveChanges.xml with individual field deletions instead of entire objects.

🔄 Pre-Deploy Transformations

Apply transformations to metadata before deployment:

• Variable substitution
• Environment-specific modifications
• Profile/permission set sanitization

📊 Smart Comparison

Three modes to fit your workflow:

• Git-only: Fast, uses git history (file-level)
• Smart: Retrieves only changed files, field-level diffs
• Full audit: Complete org comparison

Installation

sf plugins install @flossware/sf-precise-deploy

Quick Start

Compare Directories (Field-Level)

sf precise delta \
  --source-dir force-app/main/default \
  --target-dir retrieved/main/default

Compare Git Refs (Field-Level)

sf precise git-delta --from origin/main --to HEAD

Deploy with Field-Level Delta

# Git-based
sf precise deploy --target-org myOrg --git-ref origin/main

# Directory-based
sf precise deploy \
  --target-org myOrg \
  --source-dir force-app \
  --target-dir retrieved

Commands

Command	Description
sf precise delta	Analyze field-level changes between directories
sf precise git-delta	Analyze field-level changes between git refs
sf precise deploy	Deploy with field-level delta detection

Run sf precise <command> --help for detailed options.

Supported Metadata Types

40+ metadata child element types across:

• Objects (fields, validation rules, record types, etc.)
• Workflows (alerts, field updates, rules)
• Flows (decisions, formulas, variables, etc.)
• Profiles & Permission Sets
• Custom Metadata

See DEVELOPMENT.md for the complete list.

Comparison

Feature	SF CLI	sfdx-git-delta	sf-precise-deploy
Git integration	❌	✅	✅
Auto destructiveChanges.xml	❌	✅ Files	✅ Fields
Field-level detection	❌	❌	✅
Modern TypeScript	✅	✅	✅
Error handling	✅	✅	✅

Key Differentiator: Field-level destructive changes - nobody else does this.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Development

git clone https://github.com/solenopsis/sf-precise-deploy
cd sf-precise-deploy
npm install
npm run build
npm test
sf plugins link .

Testing

npm test                    # Run all tests (40+ tests)
npm run lint                # Lint code
npm run build               # Compile TypeScript

Inspired By

This plugin preserves the field-level diff capabilities of Solenopsis, a pioneering Salesforce deployment tool, while modernizing the implementation for the SF CLI ecosystem.

License

GPL-3.0 - Same as Solenopsis

Author

Scot P. Floess

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