Default and Salesforce: what syncs, what triggers, which permissions

Default connects to Salesforce through the Default managed package and a Salesforce sign-in. Once connected, Default workflows start when Salesforce records are created or updated, read and write standard and custom objects, and set record owners from Default queues. Default can also import Salesforce records into its own data every hour.

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What Default supports in Salesforce

Data sync and triggers only read from Salesforce. Default changes Salesforce records only when a workflow node writes to them, or when someone confirms a crm_write update through the MCP server (Beta).

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Connect Salesforce to Default

Salesforce needs the Default managed package installed in your org before you authorize the connection. No Connected App or developer setup is needed.

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The Default managed package

Default checks the package when it loads the Salesforce connection: whether it is installed, its version, and whether it was installed for all users. When the package is missing right after you authorize, Default removes the new connection and asks you to install the package and connect again. After the connection exists, the Salesforce page shows an alert when the package needs attention:

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Salesforce permissions Default needs

Default’s reads and writes go through the connection that Salesforce user authorized. Give that user access to every object and field your workflows read or write.

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Salesforce objects Default supports

Create Activity, Match Activity, and Update Activity work with Salesforce Task and Event records. For every node’s fields, see CRM nodes.

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Workflow triggers from Salesforce

2 triggers start a workflow from a Salesforce record. Both appear once Salesforce is connected and use the same fields:

• CRM Record Created fires when a new record of that object appears in Salesforce.
• CRM Record Updated fires when an existing record changes. A Condition that uses Fields Updated limits it to changes in the fields you name. For triggers delivered by a Flow, Fields Updated only contains fields the trigger’s Condition proves changed. See Flow delivery.

For Salesforce, the Record list shows Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity, plus the other standard and custom objects in your org that support Salesforce Change Data Capture or record-triggered Flows and Outbound Messages. Deleting a record in Salesforce does not start a workflow.

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How Salesforce changes reach Default

Salesforce sends record changes to Default through Salesforce Change Data Capture, or through a record-triggered Flow when Change Data Capture can’t serve the object (see Flow delivery). When you publish a workflow with a Salesforce trigger, Default subscribes to change events for that object and the fields the workflow needs, before the new version goes live.

• No Setup step for Change Data Capture. Default selects the objects for Change Data Capture when you publish, so there is nothing to turn on in Salesforce Setup. The selection can sit on a custom channel, so it might not appear on the Change Data Capture page in Setup.
• Publishing can need an admin. If a publish needs Default to watch a new object or field, or to set up or change a Flow, the person publishing must be an admin who can manage integrations in Default. Otherwise the publish stops with a message asking an admin to publish the workflow once.
• A failed setup blocks the publish. If Default can’t set up change delivery, the workflow is not published and the previously published version keeps running.

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Flow delivery

Salesforce limits how many objects an org can select for Change Data Capture. Without Salesforce’s Change Data Capture add-on, the limit is 5 objects, shared with every other tool in your org that uses Change Data Capture. Salesforce doesn’t count the selections an AppExchange app makes for itself. Each object your published Default workflows trigger on uses 1 selection. When Change Data Capture has no room for an object, or the object has no change event, Default delivers that trigger with a record-triggered Flow and an Outbound Message in your Salesforce org instead. Default deploys both when you publish, and turns them on after the publish.

• Prerequisites. Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, or Developer Edition, the editions with Outbound Messaging. The Salesforce user connected to Default needs API Enabled, Manage Flow, and Customize Application.
• Some objects can’t use a Flow. Salesforce can’t send Outbound Messages for some objects, such as Attachment and Note. Default offers them as triggers only when they support Change Data Capture, and publishing one stops with a message when your org has no Change Data Capture selection left.
• Don’t edit the Flow or Outbound Message. They appear in Setup under Flows and Outbound Messages, with names that start with Default_Flow_. One that Default set up before it used that name keeps an older name that also starts with Default_. To stop one, pause or unpublish the workflow. If one is switched off, replaced, or deleted in Salesforce, Default finds out when you open the workflow, and the trigger’s panel shows a warning. Publish the workflow again once that warning appears to restore it. A publish before then can succeed without restoring the Flow.
• Deleting a field a Condition uses. Salesforce may refuse to delete a field that a Flow-delivered trigger’s Condition uses, saying a Flow version references it. Remove the field from the Condition and publish the workflow first.
• Fields Updated is partial. On a Flow-delivered CRM Record Updated trigger, Fields Updated only contains fields the trigger’s Condition proves changed.
• Outbound Message limits. Each save that matches the Flow’s entry formula sends 1 Outbound Message, which counts toward your org’s Outbound Message limits. A trigger with an empty Condition sends every create or update on the object.
• Conditions the Flow can’t check. A Flow can’t filter on a long or rich text area, or on a formula field that reads another record, such as a related record’s field, the running user, or a roll-up summary. It can only approximate a work or company domain check, some multi-select picklist comparisons, and text that looks like a number or a Salesforce ID. For those parts of a Condition, the Flow filters loosely or not at all, and Default checks the full Condition before it starts the workflow. Such a trigger sends more Outbound Messages.
• Retries. Salesforce retries an Outbound Message for up to 24 hours. Default deduplicates retries, so each change starts the workflow once.

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Data sync

Data sync on the Salesforce page imports Salesforce records into Default. It lists Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity. How Data sync works:

• The first sync imports every existing record of the object. For Opportunity, the first import covers open opportunities only.
• After that, Default refreshes the object every hour.
• Adding fields to an object that is already syncing imports those fields for existing records too.
• Accounts become Company records in Default, Contacts and Leads become Person records, and Opportunities become Opportunity records. To choose which source fills each Company or Person field, see Objects.

Data sync and workflow triggers are separate. Starting or stopping a sync doesn’t change which workflows run, and triggers work with Data sync off.

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Watched fields

Watched fields shows what Default monitors in Salesforce for your workflow triggers. It carries a Managed by workflows badge and is read-only: your published workflows with CRM Record Created or CRM Record Updated triggers set it. Select View workflows to open them. Each object shows its current state: The list covers Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity. Triggers on other objects work the same way but don’t appear here.

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What Default writes to Salesforce

Default writes to Salesforce only from the workflow nodes you add, and from confirmed crm_write calls through the MCP server (Beta): When a node writes Owner ID, Default converts the chosen Default user into their Salesforce user ID through that user’s mapping. A write for a user without a mapping fails.

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Map Default users to Salesforce users

Every Default user who owns Salesforce records needs a Salesforce user mapping.

• Automatic mapping. When Salesforce connects, Default matches each member’s email to a Salesforce user and saves the mapping. It does the same when a new member joins. The Salesforce page shows the result, for example “Auto-mapping complete. Matched 12 out of 14 members by email to Salesforce users.”
• Manual mapping. For members whose Salesforce email differs, set their Salesforce User ID in Settings → Users: the User ID field on the Salesforce card of the member’s Connections page, or the Mappings tab.
• Invite from Salesforce. When inviting teammates in Settings → Users, Add from Salesforce adds people from your Salesforce users.

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Limits and behavior to know

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Disconnect Salesforce

Select Disconnect on the Salesforce page. Related: Default integrations