The Essential Guide to Salesforce Scratch Orgs | saasguru

Updated:

October 27, 2023

⏱️ 5 minutes

In Salesforce development, introducing Scratch Orgs has revolutionized how developers create, test, and iterate on customizations and applications. A Scratch Org is a fresh and isolated Salesforce environment that can be rapidly created and discarded. This innovative concept addresses various challenges faced in traditional development processes, offering a range of benefits to development teams.

What will you learn:

You will get a basic understanding of Salesforce Scratch Org and why you should use it.
Discover the difference between Scratch org and Non-scratch org.
Learn about the limitations of Scratch org.

What is Scratch org?

A Scratch Org is a fundamental concept in Salesforce development, offering a dynamic and isolated environment for developers to craft, test, and fine-tune applications and customizations. Unlike traditional sandboxes or production environments, Scratch Orgs are temporary, short-lived instances emphasizing agility and flexibility.

The core concept revolves around a “clean slate” – a fresh environment that mirrors specific business needs. Developers can define various parameters when creating a Scratch Org, including Salesforce edition, features, data, etc. This customization empowers them to closely mimic real-world scenarios and tackle development tasks in a controlled, isolated setting.

Why Use Scratch Orgs in Salesforce?

Using Scratch Orgs in Salesforce development offers several advantages that enhance the development process and improve the overall efficiency of development teams. Here are the key benefits:

Accelerated Development Speed: Scratch Orgs enable rapid creation and disposal, leading to faster development cycles and quicker time-to-market for new features and enhancements.
Efficient Iteration: The disposable nature of Scratch Orgs encourages frequent iteration, allowing developers to experiment, implement changes, and refine features without the constraints of production environments.
Isolated Development: Each developer can work in their dedicated Scratch Org, preventing conflicts and ensuring changes made in one environment don’t affect others. This supports parallel development efforts and collaboration.
Customizable Testing Environments: Developers can create Scratch Orgs with specific configurations to simulate various scenarios, ensuring thorough testing of different use cases.
Clean Testing Slate: Scratch Orgs provide a fresh start for testing, eliminating the potential interference of remnants from previous tests. This ensures accurate testing results.
Improved Quality: With isolated testing environments, developers can identify and rectify issues early in the development cycle, leading to higher-quality code and fewer defects in production.
Reduced Risk: Since Scratch Orgs are disposable, there’s no risk of polluting production data or causing unintended consequences. This safeguards the integrity of critical business data.
Efficient Collaboration: Teams can collaborate seamlessly by sharing configuration files to recreate Scratch Orgs with consistent settings, fostering a unified development environment.
Enhanced Training and Demos: Scratch Orgs are excellent for training sessions and demonstrations as they provide controlled, tailored environments without the permanence of sandboxes.
Resource Efficiency: The ability to spin up Scratch Orgs as needed reduces the need for maintaining multiple long-lived sandboxes, optimizing resource utilization.

Incorporating Scratch Orgs into the Salesforce development workflow aligns with agile methodologies and modern development practices. These advantages collectively contribute to increased developer productivity, faster feature delivery, and a more responsive approach to customer needs.

How Do to Get a Salesforce Scratch Org?

Getting a Salesforce Scratch Org involves a series of steps using the Salesforce CLI (Command Line Interface). Here’s a breakdown of the process:

Install Salesforce CLI: Download and install the Salesforce CLI on your local machine.
Authenticate with Dev Hub: Use the CLI to authenticate with your Salesforce Dev Hub org (an org that manages Scratch Orgs).
Set Default Dev Hub: Specify your Dev Hub org using the CLI command to set it as the default hub for managing Scratch Orgs.
Create a Scratch Org:
- Define a configuration file (usually in JSON format) specifying the attributes of the Scratch Org, like edition, features, and duration.
- Run the CLI command to create a new Scratch Org using the configuration file and assigning an alias for easy reference.
Access the Scratch Org:
- Once the Scratch Org is created, the CLI will provide a username and password.
- Using CLI commands, you can also use the provided alias to manage the Scratch Org.
Develop and Test: Use the Scratch Org for development, testing, and experimentation according to your requirements.
Dispose of the Scratch Org:
- When the Scratch Org is no longer needed, use the CLI command to delete it.
- This ensures that resources are released, and the environment is properly discarded.
Repeat as Needed: Repeat the process as necessary for different development tasks, creating new Scratch Orgs with tailored configurations.

Utilizing the Salesforce CLI to create and manage Scratch Orgs streamlines the development process, allowing developers to work in isolated, customizable environments without affecting other team members or production data.

Also Read – Salesforce Deployment Tools 2023

Scratch vs Non-Scratch Org in Salesforce

Aspect	Scratch Org	Non-Scratch Orgs
Nature	Temporary, disposable	Persistent, long-lived
Purpose	Development, testing, experimentation	Business operations, testing, staging
Isolation	Isolated, changes don’t affect others	Shared environment
Customization	Highly customizable	Customizable, but within limitations
Data	Limited, can’t mirror complete production data	Contains production data (sandboxes) or real business data (production)
Iteration Speed	Faster due to quick creation and disposal	Slower due to setup time and refreshes

Scratch Org Limitations

- Feature Limitations: Not all features available in production or sandbox environments may be supported in Scratch Orgs.
- Data Limitations: Scratch Orgs typically have limited data storage and might need to reflect the data complexity of production environments fully.
- Limited Lifespan: Scratch Orgs are short-lived and have a predefined duration, after which they are automatically deleted.
- Limited Metadata Retention: After a Scratch Org is deleted, the metadata and changes made within it are lost.
- Customization Complexity: Complex or extensive customization might not be suitable for Scratch Orgs due to their disposable nature.
- External Integrations: Testing integrations with external systems might require more stable environments like sandboxes.

Summing Up

Scratch Orgs has emerged as a dynamic solution for reshaping Salesforce development. Their temporary and customizable nature fosters agility, enabling rapid iteration and parallel development. While features and data are limited, the benefits of accelerated growth, clean testing slates, and isolated collaboration far outweigh the drawbacks. Scratch Orgs offers a controlled environment for experimentation and testing, facilitating higher code quality and reduced risks.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How to use Scratch Orgs in Salesforce?

Installation Requirement: Salesforce CLI is necessary for managing Scratch Orgs.
Environment Setup: A Salesforce DX project setup is required.
Dev Hub’s Role: Essential for creating and managing Scratch Orgs.
Creating Scratch Orgs: Involves defining a configuration file and using Salesforce CLI.
Purpose of Scratch Orgs: Ideal for isolated development and testing.
Deleting Scratch Orgs: They are temporary and can be deleted post-use.

2. Is there any way to copy one scratch org to another (scratch, org, salesforce)?

No, because Scratch orgs are invariably created empty and are intended to be populated with metadata from your source code repository. This aligns with the core purpose of Salesforce DX, where the source code in your version control system is the definitive truth. It’s essential to ensure that all finalized elements, including Apex classes, custom metadata, and custom settings, are thoroughly tested and checked into the source version control.

3. What is the difference between Sandbox and Scratch Org in Salesforce?

Sandbox: A replica of your production environment used for testing and development. It contains the data and configurations from your production org. Different types of sandboxes (e.g., Full, Partial, Developer) vary in data volume and refresh intervals.
Scratch Org: A disposable, source-driven, and short-lived Salesforce environment used to develop and test your latest code and configuration. It aligns with Salesforce DX development practices and is typically created empty without production data.