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Defining Connected Apps

To authenticate using OAuth, you must define a connected app in Salesforce.

A remote access application is an application external to Salesforce that uses the OAuth protocol to verify both the Salesforce user and the external application. A remote access application is implemented as a connected app. When you develop a new external application that needs to authenticate with Salesforce, you need to define a new connected app that informs Salesforce of this new authentication entry point.

Use the following steps to create a new connected app.

  1. From Setup, click Create | Apps and click New.
  2. Enter the name of your application.
  3. Enter the contact email information, as well as any other information appropriate for your application.
  4. Select Enable OAuth Settings.
  5. Enter a Callback URL. Depending on which OAuth flow you use, this is typically the URL that a user’s browser is redirected to after successful authentication. As this URL is used for some OAuth flows to pass an access token, the URL must use secure HTTP (HTTPS) or a custom URI scheme.
  6. Add all supported OAuth scopes to Selected OAuth Scopes. These scopes refer to permissions given by the user running the connected app.
  7. Enter a URL for Info URL. This is where the user can go for more information about your application.
  8. Click Save. The Consumer Key is created and displayed, and the Consumer Secret is created (click the link to reveal it).

Once you define a remote access application, you use the consumer key and consumer secret to authenticate your application. See the Salesforce online help for more information about connected apps.