Salesforce is a Cloud-based Software that allows you to connect your external app to your Salesforce org. The custom app feature that allows this is called Connect App Salesforce. Connecting external apps to Salesforce can be key to automating some business processes by integrating services for any organization.
This article will discuss what the Connected Apps feature in Salesforce is and how to use it to Connect Apps in Salesforce. This article assumes you are familiar with Salesforce. This article assumes you are familiar with Salesforce. But if you are totally new to it and you’re reading this, Connected Apps is the name of the feature provided by Salesforce. To know more, keep reading!
Table of Contents
Introduction to Connect App Salesforce
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Connected Apps is the name of the feature provided by Salesforce. Connected App Salesforce is a framework that allows the infusion of external apps using APIs and other standard protocols including SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect. These standard protocols are used for authentication and authorization for external apps.
SAML, OAuth and OpenID connect are security protocols used to verify the identity of an end-user on a client’s network. The client network in this case is Salesforce.
For more information on Connect App Salesforce, click here.
Authorization and Authentication of Connect App Salesforce
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Salesforce collects information about your external app. This information/metadata includes the Auth protocol (SAML, OAuth, or OpenID) that the external app is using and where it runs. Follow the steps below to take access to these protocols in Connected App Salesforce:
Auth protocol from metadata > Salesforce >Access granted
Salesforce uses the authorization protocol information to grant the external app access to its data platform. This also provides access to Salesforce data which explains why a standard authentication protocol has to be involved. Another thing Salesforce implements when granting access is
- Access restrictions based on policies.
- Connected App Salesforce usage auditing.
Salesforce allows users to access connected apps by default, but access can be restricted based on permissions and policies.
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Use Cases for Connect App Salesforce
Following are the use cases for Connected App Salesforce:
1) Integration of External Apps using Salesforce API
Salesforce comes in a well-documented form of integration with both web-based and mobile applications. This integration could be as simple as pulling data about your organization and storing it somewhere for visualization and analysis.
2) Integration of Service Providers into your Salesforce Org
Salesforce allows the integration of 3rd-party service providers into your Salesforce organization while implementing the appropriate policies. It is more secure to use the SAML Single-Sign-On when connecting your Salesforce organization to 3rd-party services.
These are just general examples of how to integrate custom/external apps into your Salesforce org. If you are a developer, you can build an application on top of Salesforce API and integrate it to your company’s Salesforce org via Connected App Salesforce.
Steps to Integrate Connect App Salesforce
Now that you have a basic understanding of Connect App Salesforce, let’s go through the steps to integrate Connect App Salesforce:
Step 1: Log In to your Salesforce Account
Log in to your Salesforce org as an admin as shown in the image below.
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Step 2: Create a New Connect App Salesforce
Select “Setup” from the dropdown menu. Once done go to App Setup > Create > Apps.
You should see the connected Apps pane by now. This should take you to the “New Connected App” page.
Step 3: Fill in the Required Details
Fill in the required fields asked on the “New Connected App” page.
- Connected App name
- API name
- Contact Email.
Other fields can always be modified later. Following best practices, you should fill in the description and Icon URL to have something professional as shown in the image below.
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Step 4: Enable OAuth Settings
Go to the next section i.e. “API”. Enable “OAuth” settings.
OAuth lets the external app access some of your data/resources on Salesforce. It provides a secure means of communication between the client app and your Salesforce org. Enabling OAuth requires you to input a “Callback URL” as shown in the image below.
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Callback URL: Input https://login.salesforce.com
The Callback URL is called after authorization between the external app and Salesforce has taken place.
Steps to Select OAuth Scopes Field for Connect App Salesforce
In this section, you will be walked through the steps to decide/select the OAuth Scopes field for Connect App Salesforce. This is a manual process and demands technical proficiency. Follow the steps below to decide OAuth Scope Field for Connect App Salesforce:
Step 1: Select Access and Manage your Data (API)
Select “Access and Manage your Data (API)” from the available OAuth scopes and click “Add”.
This lets you determine how much of your Salesforce org information you are willing to share. It also provides an option for how much access you want to give to the external appl If you are integrating with a web app, you can also select “Provide access to your data via web” if you feel the first option is not enough.
Step 2: Select OAuth Policies
Under OAuth Policies, select “All users may self-authorize from the permitted user list”. Once done, click “Save”.
Step 3: Copy the Consumer Key and Consumer Secret
Find the Connected App you just created in the Connected Apps list and click “Manage”. Scroll down to the “API (Enable OAuth Settings)”.
Copy the “Consumer Key” and “Consumer Secret” somewhere safe. These credentials will be used for the organization in the Configuration Management Database (UCMDB).
The “Consumer Key” and “Consumer Secret” are like the username and password needed by the external app to link with Connect App Salesforce.
Conclusion
The article introduced you to Connect App Salesforce. It also provided the steps to integrate Connect App Salesforce and the steps to decide OAuth Scope Field for Connect App Salesforce. Connected App Salesforce feature provides a very straightforward way as seen in this article to connect custom applications built by developers to your Salesforce organization while providing maximum security.
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Share your experience of understanding Connect App Salesforce in the comments section below!