A practical guide for Salesforce architects to choose and apply the right APIs—REST, SOAP, Bulk, GraphQL, Streaming, Metadata, Tooling, and AI/Analytics—to build reliable, scalable integrations across the enterprise.
What is an API in Salesforce?
An API (Application Programming Interface) defines how systems communicate. In Salesforce, APIs let external applications and services perform CRUD operations, trigger business logic, and access configuration without needing to understand Salesforce internals.
Core API Categories
Use the right API based on data volume, latency requirements, and contract or tooling needs:
- REST APIs — Lightweight, ideal for mobile/web apps and modern integrations.
- SOAP API — Contract-based, best for enterprise systems that rely on WSDL and strong typing.
- Bulk API (v1 & v2) — For high-volume data loads; v1 gives batch control, v2 emphasizes simplicity.
- GraphQL — Request precisely the fields you need across objects in a single call.
Event-Driven & Streaming APIs
Event-driven patterns reduce polling and support near-real-time synchronization:
- Platform Events — Publish business-level events and subscribe from Apex, Flows, or external systems.
- Change Data Capture (CDC) — Stream record-level create/update/delete events for sync scenarios.
- PushTopic — Subscribe to notifications based on SOQL-defined criteria.
Specialized APIs
- Metadata API — Deploy metadata and configuration between orgs; used heavily by CI/CD tools.
- Tooling API — Programmatic access to development artifacts, logs, and IDE-like operations.
- Connect REST & Apex REST — Access social/collaboration features or build custom REST endpoints with Apex.
Analytics & AI APIs
Salesforce provides Analytics and Einstein APIs to embed analytics, refresh datasets, and add vision/language capabilities to apps.
Selection Checklist (Quick)
- Does the external system require a strict contract? → Consider SOAP or WSDL-based integration.
- Is low latency and real-time sync required? → Use Platform Events / CDC.
- Are you moving millions of records? → Use Bulk API v1 or v2 depending on control needs.
- Do front-end apps need fewer round-trips? → Use GraphQL or UI API for optimized payloads.
Best Practices
- Document an API selection matrix that maps business use cases to preferred APIs.
- Implement rate-limiting and exponential backoff in client-side integration logic.
- Use Named Credentials and connected apps for secure authentication and token management.
- Prefer event-driven approaches for decoupling and scalability where possible.
Pro Tip for Architects
Maintain an integration catalog (endpoints, auth model, SLAs, data contract) and include contact/owner information so teams can troubleshoot and evolve integrations confidently.
Why this matters: Well-chosen APIs reduce operational risk, improve performance, and make integrations more maintainable—critical at enterprise scale.
As a Salesforce architect, your API strategy becomes the backbone of a connected, scalable platform that supports growth and agility.