CustomObject

Represents a custom object that stores data unique to your org or an external object that maps to data stored outside your org.

This type extends the Metadata metadata type and inherits its fullName field.

Specify all relevant fields when you create or update a custom object. You can’t update a single field on the object. For more information about custom objects, see Store Information That’s Unique to Your Organization in Salesforce Help.

You can also use this metadata type to work with customizations of standard objects, such as accounts. For an example, see the section on Standard Objects in Sample package.xml Manifest Files in the Metadata API Developer Guide

All metadata components have a fullName field, which must be fully specified for any custom object.

For example, the following are fully specified names for a standard object and a custom object respectively:

And the following is a fully specified name for an external object:

For sample Java code that creates a custom object, see Step 3: Walk Through the Java Sample Code.

Declarative Metadata File Suffix and Directory Location

Custom object names are automatically appended with __c. The file suffix is .object for the custom object or standard object file.

External object names are automatically appended with __x. The file suffix is .object for the external object file.

Custom, standard, and external objects are stored in the objects folder in the corresponding package directory.

Retrieving a component of this metadata type in a project makes the component appear in any Profile and PermissionSet components that are retrieved in the same package.

Note

Version

Custom objects are available in API version 10.0 and later. External objects are available in API version 32.0 and later.

Fields

Unless otherwise noted, all fields are creatable, filterable, and nillable.

Field Name	Field Type	Description
actionOverrides	ActionOverride[]	A list of action overrides on the object. This field is available in API version 18.0 and later.
allowInChatterGroups	boolean	Indicates whether records of this custom object type can be added to Chatter groups. This field is available in API version 34.0 and later.
businessProcesses	BusinessProcess[]	A list of business processes associated with the object. This field is available in API version 17.0 and later.
compactLayoutAssignment	string	The compact layout assigned to the object. This field is available in API version 29.0 and later. This field is available for external objects in API version 42.0 and later.
compactLayouts	CompactLayout[]	A list of compact layouts associated with the object. This field is available in API version 29.0 and later. This field is available for external objects in API version 42.0 and later.
customHelp	string	The s-control that contains the help content if the object has customized help content. This field is available in API version 14.0 and later.
customHelpPage	string	The Visualforce page that contains the help content if the object has customized help content. This field is available in API version 16.0 and later.
customSettingsType	CustomSettingsType (enumeration of type string)	When this field is present, this component isn’t a custom object, but a custom setting. This field returns the type of custom setting. The following string values are valid: `List`—static data stored in cache, accessed as part of your application, and available org-wide. `Hierarchy`—static data stored in cache, accessed as part of your application, and available based on a hierarchy of user, profile, or org. This value is the default. This field is available in API version 17.0 and later.
customSettingsVisibility	CustomSettingsVisibility (enumeration of type string)	When this field is present, this component isn’t a custom object, but a custom setting. This field returns the visibility of the custom setting. The following string values are valid: `Public`—if the custom setting is packaged, it’s accessible to all subscribing orgs. `Protected`—if the custom setting is in a managed package, it’s accessible only to the developer org. Subscribing orgs can’t access it. This value is the default. This field is available in API versions 17.0 through 33.0. In versions 34.0 and later, use the visibility field instead of this field.
dataStewardGroup	string	Removed in API version 47.0.
dataStewardUser	string	Removed in API version 47.0.
deploymentStatus	DeploymentStatus (enumeration of type string)	Indicates the deployment status of the object.
deprecated	boolean	Reserved for future use.
description	string	A description of the object. Maximum of 1000 characters.
enableActivities	boolean	Indicates whether the object is enabled for activities (`true`) or not (`false`). Not available for external objects.
enableBulkApi	boolean	When enabled, the object is classified as an Enterprise Application object for usage tracking. When enabled, enableSharing and enableStreamingApi must also be enabled. This field is available in API version 31.0 and later.
enableDivisions	boolean	Indicates whether the object is enabled for divisions (`true`) or not (`false`). See Division in the Salesforce Object Reference. .
enableEnhancedLookup	boolean	Indicates whether the object is enabled for enhanced lookups (`true`) or not (`false`). The custom object must be searchable for enableEnhancedLookup to work. Set enableSearch as `true` before setting enableEnhancedLookup as `true`. In API version 28.0 and later, this field can also be used for the Account, Contact, and User objects. Enhanced lookups provide an updated lookup dialog interface that lets users filter, sort, and page through search results and customize search result columns. For more information about enhanced lookups, see “Enable Enhanced Lookups” in Salesforce Help.
enableFeeds	boolean	Indicates whether the object is enabled for feed tracking (`true`) or not (`false`). For more information, see “Customize Chatter Feed Tracking” in Salesforce Help. This field is available in API version 18.0 and later.
enableHistory	boolean	Indicates whether the object is enabled for history tracking (`true`) or not (`false`). Also available for standard objects in API version 29.0 and later. History tracking on the Account object includes person account history tracking.
enableLicensing	boolean	Indicates whether this object is licensed by Salesforce and users require a permission set license for it (`true`) or not (`false`). This field is available in API version 45.0 and later.
enableReports	boolean	Indicates whether the object is enabled for reports (`true`) or not (`false`). Support for external objects is available in API version 38.0 and later.
enableSearch	boolean	Indicates whether the object’s records can be found via SOSL and Salesforce searches. Corresponds to Allow Search in the user interface. By default, search is disabled for new custom objects. This field is available for custom objects in API version 35.0 and later. To enhance Einstein Search performance, searchability is disabled for custom objects that haven't been searched for more than 120 days. To enable object and field searchability, contact your admin. By default, search is disabled for new external objects. However, you can validate and sync an external data source to automatically create external objects. Syncing always enables search on the external object when search is enabled on the external data source, and vice versa.This field is available for external objects in API version 37.0 and later.
enableSharing	boolean	When enabled, the object is classified as an Enterprise Application object for usage tracking. When enabled, enableBulkApi and enableStreamingApi must also be enabled. This field is available in API version 31.0 and later.
enableStreamingApi	boolean	When enabled, the object is classified as an Enterprise Application object for usage tracking. When enabled, enableBulkApi and enableSharing must also be enabled. This field is available in API version 31.0 and later.
eventType	PlatformEventType (enumeration of type string)	This field applies only to platform events. Indicates the event type. The values are: HighVolume—For a high-volume platform event. StandardVolume—Deprecated. Creating a platform event with this event type is supported and returns an error. This field is available in API version 41.0 and later.
externalDataSource	string	Required and available for external objects only. The name of the external data source that stores the data for the external object. The data source is represented by the ExternalDataSource component. This field is available in API version 32.0 and later.
externalName	string	Required and available for external objects only. The name of the table in the external data source that contains the data for the external object. This field is available in API version 32.0 and later.
externalRepository	string	Available for Salesforce Connect external objects only. Corresponds to Display URL Reference Field in the user interface. The external object’s Display URL standard field values are automatically generated from the external system. For example, with the OData 2.0 adapter for Salesforce Connect, the value is based on the `link href` that’s defined on the OData producer. You can override the default values with the values of a custom field on the same external object. Select the field name, and make sure that the custom field’s values are valid URLs. This field is available in API version 32.0 and later.
externalSharingModel	SharingModel (enumeration of type string)	Indicates the external org-wide defaults for the object, which determines the access level for external users. This field is available in API version 31.0 and later.
fields	CustomField[]	Represents one or more fields in the object.
fieldSets	FieldSet	Defines the field set that exists on this object.
fullName	string	Inherited from Metadata, this field is defined in the WSDL for this metadata type. It must be specified when creating, updating, or deleting. See `createMetadata()` to see an example of this field specified for a call. This value can't be `null`.
gender	Gender	Indicates the gender of the noun that represents the object. This is used for languages where words need different treatment depending on their gender.
household	boolean	This field supports relationship groups, a feature available only with Salesforce for Wealth Management. For more information, see “Salesforce for Wealth Management” in Salesforce Help.
historyRetentionPolicy	HistoryRetentionPolicy	Reserved for future use.
indexes	Index[]	Defines the index for a custom big object.
label	string	Label that represents the object throughout the Salesforce user interface. We recommend that you make object labels unique across all standard, custom, and external objects in the org.
listViews	ListView[]	Represents one or more list views associated with the object.
namedFilter	NamedFilter[]	Represents the metadata associated with a lookup filter. This metadata type is used to create, update, or delete lookup filter definitions. This component has been removed as of API version 30.0 and is only available in previous API versions. The metadata associated with a lookup filter is now represented by the lookupFilter field in the CustomField component. This field is available in API version 17.0 and later. This field has been removed as of API version 30.0 and is only available in prior versions. The metadata associated with a lookup filter is now represented by the lookupFilter field in the CustomField component.
nameField	CustomField	Required for custom objects. On external objects, the name field can instead be specified by setting isNameField to `true` in the CustomField component. The field that this object's name is stored in. Every custom object must have a name, usually a string or autonumber. Identifier for the custom object record. This name appears in page layouts, related lists, lookup dialogs, search results, and key lists on tab home pages. By default, this field is added to the custom object page layout as a required field.
pluralLabel	string	Plural version of the label value. Custom objects require a plural version of the label to ensure that object names are localizable.
profileSearchLayouts	ProfileSearchLayouts	Represents a user profile’s search results layouts for an object. With profile-specific layouts, each user profile can have a different search results layout for an object. Available in API version 47.0 and later.
publishBehavior	PlatformEventPublishBehavior (enumeration of type string)	This field applies only to platform events. Indicates when platform event messages are published in a Lightning Platform transaction. This field applies to event messages published through the Lightning Platform, such as Apex, Process Builder, and Flow Builder, but not through Salesforce APIs. Valid values are: `PublishAfterCommit`—The event message is published only after a transaction commits successfully. If the transaction fails, the event message isn't published. `PublishImmediately`—The event message is published when the publish call executes, regardless of whether the transaction succeeds. If you don’t specify this field, the default value used is `PublishImmediately`. This field is available in API version 46.0 and later.
recordTypes	RecordType[]	An array of one or more record types defined for this object.
recordTypeTrackFeedHistory	boolean	Indicates whether the record type is enabled for feed tracking (`true`) or not (`false`). To set this field to `true`, the enableFeeds field on the associated CustomObject must also be `true`. For more information, see “Customize Chatter Feed Tracking” in Salesforce Help. This field is available in API version 19.0 and later.
recordTypeTrackHistory	boolean	Indicates whether history tracking is enabled for this record type (`true`) or not (`false`). To set recordTypeTrackHistory to true, the enableHistory field on the associated custom object must also be `true`. This field is available in API version 19.0 and later.
searchLayouts	SearchLayouts	The Search Layouts related list information for the object.
sharingModel	SharingModel(enumeration of type string)	Indicates the org-wide defaults for the object. Using API version 29.0 and earlier, this field is read-only and can’t be set using the Metadata API; you must use the Salesforce user interface. Using API version 30.0 and later, you can set this field for internal users using the API and the Salesforce user interface. Note
sharingReasons	SharingReason[]	The reasons why the object is being shared.
sharingRecalculations	SharingRecalculation[]	A list of custom sharing recalculations associated with the object.
startsWith	StartsWith (enumeration of type string)	Indicates whether the noun starts with a vowel, consonant, or is a special character. This is used for languages where words need different treatment depending on the first character. Valid values are listed in StartsWith.
validationRules	ValidationRule[]	An array of one or more validation rules on the object.
visibility	SetupObjectVisibility (enumeration of type string)	This field returns the visibility of the custom object, custom setting, or custom metadata type. The following values are valid. `Public`—If the custom object, custom setting, or custom metadata type is packaged, it’s accessible to all subscribing orgs. `Protected`—If the custom object, custom setting, or custom metadata type is in a managed package, it’s accessible only to the developer org. Subscribing orgs can’t access it. `PackageProtected`— (Custom metadata type only) If the custom metadata type is `PackageProtected`, it’s only accessible by the custom Apex code in the package. Use this value to secure secrets such as API access keys and security tokens. Available in API version 47.0 and later. The default value is `Public`. This field is available in API version 34.0 and later. For custom settings, this field replaces the customSettingsVisibility field.
webLinks	WebLink[]	An array of one or more weblinks defined for the object.

MktDataModelAttributes

This type is a Data 360 subtype of CustomObject.

Field Name	Field Type	Description
creationType	DefinitionCreationType enumeration	Indicates how this object is added. Valid values availble in API version 62.0 and later are: `Activation_Audience` `Ad_Audience_Insights` `ADG` `Calculated_Insight` `CG_Audience` `Chunk` `Directory_Table` `External` `Problem_Records` `Segment_Membership` `Semantic` `Transform` `Vector_Embedding`
dataModelTaxonomy	string	When the model is a Standard Data 360 model, a Reference to the Data Model from which this Object was started. Currently only supports the following strings: if the creationType is Standard, it must be Reference, if creationType is Custom, it must be View.
description	string	A description of the object. This field can contain a maximum of 521 characters. This field is available in API version 55.0 and later.
isEnabled	boolean	True indicates that the Data Model Object is enabled.
isSegmentable	boolean	True indicates that the Data Model Object can be used as a target for segmentation.
isUsedForMetrics	boolean	Indicates whether the Data Model Object is used for metrics (`true`) or not (`false`). This field is used to include additional attributes on the objects that are not present in the Data Model Object POJO. This field is available in API version 55.0 and later.
objectCategory	string	Reference to the Object Category. For modeling, the value is Profile, Engagement, or Other.
referenceEntityGroup	string	When this is a Standard Object, the Entity Group of the Object from the Reference Model.
referenceEntityName	string	When this is a Standard Object, the Name of the Object from the Reference Model.
referenceEntitySubjectArea	string	When this is a Standard Object, the Subject Area of the Object from the Reference Model.

MktDataLakeAttributes

Represents how Data 360 receives the data. MktDataLakeAttributes is a Data 360 subtype of CustomObject. Its components are available in API version 50.0 and later.

Special Access Rules

You need an org with a Data Cloud license to access this object.

Field Name	Description
creationType	Field Type DefinitionCreationType enumeration of type string Description Indicates how this object is added. Values are: `Activation_Audience` `Bridge` `Curated` `Custom` `Derived` `Ml_Prediction` `Segment_Membership` `Standard` `System` Valid values availble in API version 62.0 and later are: `Activation_Audience` `Ad_Audience_Insights` `ADG` `Calculated_Insight` `CG_Audience` `Chunk` `Directory_Table` `External` `Problem_Records` `Segment_Membership` `Semantic` `Transform` `Vector_Embedding`
isEnabled	Field Type boolean Description Indicates whether the Landing Object is enabled.
objectCategory	Field Type string Description Reference to the Object Category. For landing object, these would be Profile, Behavioral, Other.

Declarative Metadata Additional Components

CustomObject definitions can include additional components defined in the custom object for declarative metadata. The following components are defined in the CustomObject:

Declarative Metadata Sample Definition

The following is the metadata definition of an external object for Salesforce Connect.

Wildcard Support in the Manifest File

This metadata type supports the wildcard character * (asterisk) in the package.xml manifest file for Field Sets and Record Types but not for other components. For information about using the manifest file, see Deploying and Retrieving Metadata with the Zip File.

Metadata API Developer Guide