Salesforce DX Developer Guide

How Salesforce Developer Experience (DX) Tooling Changes the Way You Work
Provide Developers Access to Salesforce DX Tools
Project Setup
Sample Repository on GitHub
Create a Salesforce DX Project
Salesforce DX Project Structure and Source Format
How to Exclude Source When Syncing
Create a Salesforce DX Project from Existing Source
Convert Files in Metadata Format to Source Format
Salesforce DX Usernames and Orgs
Link a Namespace to a Dev Hub Org
Salesforce DX Project Configuration
Multiple Package Directories
Replace Strings in Code Before Deploying or Packaging
Authorization
Metadata Coverage
Scratch Orgs
Sandboxes
Track Changes Between Your Project and Org
Work with Data
Salesforce DX MCP Server and Tools
Development
Build and Release Your App
Unlocked Packages
Continuous Integration
Troubleshoot Salesforce DX
Limitations for Salesforce DX
PDF

Create a Salesforce DX Project

A Salesforce DX project has a specific structure and a configuration file that identifies the directory as a Salesforce DX project.
  1. Change to the directory where you want the DX project located.
  2. Create the DX project. 
    1sf project generate --name MyProject
    If you don’t specify an output directory with the --output-dir flag, the project directory is created in the current location. You can also use the --default-package-dir flag to specify the default package directory to target when syncing source to and from the org. If you don’t indicate a default package directory, this command creates a default package directory, force-app.

    Use the --template flag to specify what your project initially looks like. Each template provides a complete directory structure that takes the guesswork out of where to put your source. If you choose --template empty, your project contains these sample configuration files to get you started.

    • .forceignore
    • config/project-scratch-def.json
    • sfdx-project.json
    • package.json

    If you choose --template standard, your project also contains these files that are especially helpful when using Salesforce Extensions for VS Code. If you don’t specify the --template flag, the project generate command uses the standard template.

    • .gitignore: Makes it easier to start using Git for version control.
    • .prettierrc and .prettierignore: Make it easier to start using Prettier to format your Aura components.
    • .vscode/extensions.json: Causes Visual Studio Code, when launched, to prompt you to install the recommended extensions for your project.
    • .vscode/launch.json: Configures Replay Debugger, making it more discoverable and easier to use.
    • .vscode/settings.json: By default, this file has one setting for excluding certain files and folders in searches and quick open. You can change this value or add other settings.

    If you choose --template analytics, you get all the helpful basic and VS Code files. But the default package directory contains fewer directories, such as for storing Analytics template bundles. /force-app/main/default/waveTemplates) and a few other metadata types, such as Apex classes and LWC components.

Example

1sf project generate --name mywork --template standard
1sf project generate --name mywork --default-package-dir myapp-source

Next steps:

  • (Optional) Register the namespace with the Dev Hub org.
  • Configure the project (sfdx-project.json). If you use a namespace, update this file to include it.
  • Create a scratch org definition that produces scratch orgs with the features you need for your project. The config directory of your new project contains a sample scratch org definition file (project-scratch-def.json).