Salesforce CLI Environment Variables

You can set environment variables to configure certain values that Salesforce CLI uses.

How you set an environment variable depends on your operating system and whether you want it to apply to only the current session or always. The exact steps are beyond the scope of this document, but here are some hints.

• Windows: Use the Control Panel (System > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables) or the command-line set command. See the Windows documentation for details.

• macOS or Linux: Open a terminal and use the export command to set it for your current shell session:

  1export SF_MDAPI_TEMP_DIR=/users/myName/myDXProject/metadata

  To set an environment for all shell sessions, edit your shell configuration files like .bashrc or .zshrc.

Environment variables override Configuration Variables. To set an environment variable for only the command you’re running, prepend the variable:

1SF_ORG_API_VERSION=57.0 sf org create scratch -<options>

Specifies the web page that opens in your browser when you run org open. For example, to open Lightning Experience, set to lightning.

Equivalent to the --path flag of org open.

Set to true to show a spinner animation on the command line when running asynchronous CLI commands. Default is false.

Specifies the speed of the spinner in milliseconds. The default value is 60.

Specifies an access token when using the org login access-token command. If you don’t set this environment variable, the command prompts you for the access token. Useful for continuous integration (CI) scripts.

Set to true to test string replacement without actually deploying files to the org. Instead, run project convert source to convert the files to metadata format and then inspect the files to see what will be deployed.

See Replace Strings in Code Before Deploying for details.

Overrides the aud (audience) field used for JWT authentication so that it matches the expected value of the authorization server URL for the org you’re logging into. For example, https://MyDomainName.my.salesforce.com or https://login.salesforce.com for a production org, and https://MyDomainName--SandboxName.sandbox.my.salesforce.com or https://test.salesforce.com for a sandbox.

Example:

1SF_AUDIENCE_URL=https://MyDomainName.my.salesforce.com

Specifies whether Salesforce CLI capitalizes the first letter of a default record type when it creates a scratch org. Valid values are true or false. The default value is true.

Default record types are defined in the objectSettings option of a scratch org definition file, as described in Scratch Org Definition File Options. The setting is required before installing a package that creates record types.

Example:

1SF_CAPITALIZE_RECORD_TYPES=false

Defines how frequently a CLI command repeats the last status message if no new update is received from the org. This environment variable applies only to commands that produce multi-stage output in continuous integration (CI) environments.

Some commands, such as org create scratch and project deploy start, display the stages they are going through as they interact with the org. In a CI job, if no new status is received within 5 minutes, then the command displays the last status message again. Use this environment variable to change this interval.

The default value is 300000 (5 minutes).

For example, to specify a 10-minute interval:

1SF_CI_HEARTBEAT_FREQUENCY_MS=600000

Specifies the wait time between CLI command status updates. This environment variable applies only to commands that produce multi-stage output in continuous integration (CI) environments.

Some commands, such as org create scratch and project deploy start, display the stages they are going through as they interact with the org. In a CI job, the command might attempt to update the output 10 times within a 5-second interval (for example), but the command actually displays only one of the updates. Use this environment variable to change the interval.

The default value is 5000 (5 seconds).

For example, to specify a 10-second interval:

1SF_CI_UPDATE_FREQUENCY_MS=10000

When set to true, certain commands change their behavior when run in a headless environment. Specifically, the org open command returns a one-time URL rather than open a browser. The org login web command outputs authentication alternatives that don’t require opening a browser.

When set to false (the default value), the two commands open the org in a browser.

This environment variable is useful in headless environments, such as Docker or continuous integration.

When set to JSON, specifies that all CLI commands output results in JSON format. If you set the environment variable to any other value, or unset it, the CLI commands output their results as specified by the flags.

Example:

1SF_CONTENT_TYPE=JSON

Used to enable 256-bit encryption of internal Salesforce CLI files, such as the authorization (auth) files associated with the orgs you’ve logged into. Salesforce CLI uses 128-bit encryption by default.

For more information, see Enable 256-Bit Encryption of Authorization Files.

Specifies either a local directory or a cloned GitHub repository that contains the default custom code templates used by the project create command. The GitHub URL points to either the root directory that contains your templates or to a subdirectory on a branch in the repo that contains your templates.

Example:

1SF_CUSTOM_ORG_METADATA_TEMPLATES=https://github.com/mygithubacct/salesforcedx-templates

Salesforce CLI displays a warning when you run project deploy start and either the total size of the metadata or the number of metadata files is over 80% of the corresponding Metadata API limit. Use this environment variable to change the threshold by setting it to a number from 1 through 100. The default value is 80.

This example sets the threshold to 70%, which means that you get the warning when you try to deploy metadata that’s over 70% of the limit.

1SF_DEPLOY_SIZE_THRESHOLD=70

Salesforce CLI always attempts to deploy the metadata when you run the project deploy start command, even if it determines that the metadata size or file count is likely over the limit.

Set to true to disable the auto-update feature of the CLI. By default, the CLI periodically checks for and installs updates.

Set to true to stop the Salesforce CLI commands that require an org to check whether the org is connected. For example, the org create scratch command requires a Dev Hub org. The default value is false (always check.)

This environment variable is useful if you get this error when running certain Salesforce CLI commands.

1DomainNotFound: The org cannot be found

First try setting the SF_DNS_TIMEOUT environment variable to increase the number of seconds that Salesforce CLI waits for a response. If that doesn’t work, try disabling the check entirely with the SF_DISABLE_DNS_CHECK environment variable.

Set to true to disable polling of your org’s SourceMember object when you run the project deploy|retrieve commands.

The commands poll the SourceMember object to track what’s changed between your local source and the org after the deploy or retrieve completes. If you have a large metadata deployment, however, the polling can take a while, or even time out. Sometimes you don’t require source tracking at all, such as in a continuous integration (CI) job. These use cases are good candidates for setting this environment variable.

The environment variable works with both scratch orgs and sandboxes.

Set to true to disable the source mobility feature.

With source mobility you can move source files within your local Salesforce DX project without the source-tracking feature determining that you’ve deleted and then recreated a metadata component.

The default value of this environment variable is false, which means that source mobility is enabled by default.

Set to true to disable the CLI from collecting usage information, user environment information, and crash reports.

Specifies the number of seconds that Salesforce CLI commands that require an org wait for a response when checking whether the org is connected. For example, the org create scratch command requires a Dev Hub org. If the commands don’t receive a response in that time, they time out. The default value is 3.

This environment variable is useful if you get this error when running certain Salesforce CLI commands.

1DomainNotFound: The org cannot be found

First try setting the SF_DNS_TIMEOUT environment variable to increase the number of seconds that Salesforce CLI waits for a response. If that doesn’t work, try disabling the check entirely with the SF_DISABLE_DNS_CHECK environment variable.

Specifies the time, in seconds, that the CLI waits for the Lightning Experience domain to resolve and become available in a newly created scratch org.

The default value is 240 (4 minutes). Set the variable to 0 to bypass the Lightning Experience domain check entirely.

Set to true to silence the automatic display of the release notes when you run sf update. The default value is false.

Example:

1SF_HIDE_RELEASE_NOTES=true

Set to true to silence the boilerplate footer about displaying the release notes when you run sf update. The default value is false.

Example:

1SF_HIDE_RELEASE_NOTES_FOOTER=true

Scopes Apex test results to the classes entered during a test run when running apex run test and apex get test. Set to true to improve code coverage.

Sends messages when Salesforce CLI commands fail to stdout instead of stderr. Setting this environment variable to true is helpful for scripting use cases.

Example:

1SF_JSON_TO_STDOUT=true

Specifies the number of concurrent API requests that the project generate manifest --from-org command makes when discovering the metadata that exists in an org and using it to generate a manifest. Set the environment variable to a batch size that works best for your org and environment. The default value is 500.

This example limits the number of concurrent API calls to 20:

1SF_LIST_METADATA_BATCH_SIZE=20

If you experience timeouts or inconsistent manifest contents, then setting this environment variable can improve accuracy when running project generate manifest. However, the command takes longer to run because it sends fewer requests at a time.

Sets the level of messages that the CLI writes to the log file.

Example:

1SF_LOG_LEVEL=debug

Time period after which Salesforce CLI rotates the log file. Rotating the log file refers to making a backup copy of the file and then clearing out the current log file to start afresh. For example, if set to 1d, Salesforce CLI rotates the log file daily at midnight.

You can set this variable to 1h (one hour) or 1m (one minute) if you want more, but smaller, log files. Any other value is treated as 1d, which is the default value.

Example:

1SF_LOG_ROTATION_PERIOD=1h

Directory that holds the retrieved, deployed, or converted metadata files when you run these CLI commands:

• project retrieve start
• project deploy start
• project delete source
• project convert mdapi|source

If you don’t set this environment variable, the commands automatically delete the directory after they finish executing.

Retaining these files can be useful for several reasons. You can debug problems that occur during command execution. You can use the generated package.xml when running subsequent commands, or as a starting point for creating a manifest that includes all the metadata you care about.

For more information, see Debug Errors When Deploying or Retrieving Source.

1SF_MDAPI_TEMP_DIR=/users/myName/myDXProject/metadata

A number that specifies the frequency that a warning message is displayed about the availability of a new Salesforce CLI version. By default, every CLI command execution checks whether there’s a new Salesforce CLI version available, and prints out a warning message if it finds one. Use this environment variable with SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ_UNIT to change the frequency that the message is displayed. To disable the version check completely, use SF_SKIP_NEW_VERSION_CHECK.

The default value is 0, which means that the warning message is displayed each time a new version is found.

For example, to see the warning message one time a day:

1SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ=1
2SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ_UNIT=days

The unit of time for the frequency that a warning message is displayed about the availability of a new Salesforce CLI version. By default, every CLI command execution checks whether there’s a new Salesforce CLI version available, and prints out a warning message if it finds one. Use this environment variable with SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ to change the frequency that the message is displayed. To disable the version check completely, use SF_SKIP_NEW_VERSION_CHECK.

Possible values are days, hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. The default value is minutes.

For example, to see the warning message one time a day:

1SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ=1
2SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ_UNIT=days

Specifies the local network server’s port when you set SF_USE_NETWORK_MUTEX to true to enable the yarn --mutex network option when installing or updating Salesforce CLI.

This variable affects your environment only if you also set SF_USE_NETWORK_MUTEX. The default value is 31997.

Set to true to remove all stylings, such as borders and colors, from command output presented in table format. An example of a command that produces table output is org list limits. The default value is false.

Example:

1SF_NO_TABLE_STYLE=true

Sets the URL to a private npm server, where all packages that you publish are private. We support only repositories that don’t require authentication.

Example:

1SF_NPM_REGISTRY=http://mypkgs.myclient.com/npm/my_npm_pkg

Verdaccio is an example of a lightweight private npm proxy registry.

The API version for a specific project or all projects. Normally, the Salesforce CLI assumes that you’re using the same version of the CLI as your Dev Hub.

The URL of the Salesforce instance that’s hosting your org. The default value is https://login.salesforce.com. We recommend that you set this value to the My Domain login URL for your org. You can find the My Domain login URL on the My Domain page in Setup.

The maximum number of Salesforce records returned by a CLI command. The default value is 10,000.

Example:

1SF_ORG_MAX_QUERY_LIMIT=200000

Set to true to make Salesforce CLI use the Metadata REST API for deployments. By default, Salesforce CLI uses SOAP. Deployments using REST aren’t bound by the 39-MB .zip file size limit that applies to SOAP deployments.

Set to true to enable Apex pre-compile before the tests are run. This variable works with the apex run test command. Default is false.

For package create, disables automatic updates to the sfdx-project.json file.

For package version create, disables automatic updates to the sfdx-project.json file.

Set to true to disable Salesforce CLI version checking. By default, every CLI command execution checks whether there’s a new Salesforce CLI version available, and prints out a warning message if it finds one. While this message is useful, it’s often unwanted, especially in continuous integration (CI) environments. Default is false.

To continue checking for a new CLI version, but change the frequency of the displayed warning message, use the SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ and SF_NEW_VERSION_CHECK_FREQ_UNIT environment variables.

Set to the number of seconds you want the project deploy start command to keep polling the SourceMember object before the command times out. The project deploy start command polls the SourceMember object to track what’s changed between your local source and the org after the deploy completes. Salesforce CLI calculates a time-out for each project deploy start command run based on the number of components it deploys. Use this environment variable to override the calculated time-out.

For example, if the deployment times out after 3 minutes, try setting a time-out of 5 minutes (300 seconds):

1SF_SOURCE_MEMBER_POLLING_TIMEOUT=300

Set to true to skip the local filesystem scan when you synchronize (deploy or retrieve) your DX project with a source-tracking-enabled org.

This environment variable is useful when you know that your org is fully synchronized with your DX project. For example, by using an org that’s been pre-seeded with your project’s metadata. Skipping the source-tracking scan that normally happens when you deploy or retrieve can save time—60+ minutes for large projects.

Example:

1SF_SOURCE_TRACKING_ASSUME_SYNCED=true

Sets the source-tracked file batch size during a deploy or retrieve. The default value is 8,000 (Windows) or 15,000 (Linux/macOS).

This environment variable is useful when deploying or retrieving a large project that contains many source-tracked files, and you exceed your operating system open file limit. While the deploy or retrieve likely complete successfully, source-tracking can run into errors in this case. Either increase your open file limit, such as with the ulimit -Hn <number> command (Linux/macOS), or set the SF_SOURCE_TRACKING_BATCH_SIZE environment variable to a number significantly lower than the output of ulimit -Hn.

Specifies how to handle text in table-formatted command output that is too wide for its column. An example of a command that produces table output is org list limits. Valid values are:

• wrap: Wrap text within a cell.
• truncate: Truncate the end of the text; same as truncate-end.
• truncate-middle: Truncate the middle of the text.
• truncate-start: Truncate the start of the text.
• truncate-end: Truncate the end of the text; same as truncate.

The default value is truncate, unless the table implementation for that command specifically overrides that default.

For example, to specify that you want the end of the text to be wrapped:

1SF_TABLE_OVERFLOW=wrap

Specifies how to display the borders of table-formatted command output, such as whether the table has an outline or vertical lines between columns. An example of a command that produces table output is org list limits. Valid values are:

• all: Display all vertical and horizontal lines, giving every cell a complete border.
• headers-only: Display a border around the headers only.
• headers-only-with-outline: Display a border around the headers and the entire table.
• headers-only-with-underline: Display a horizontal line between the headers and the table content, but no other borders.
• horizontal: Display horizontal lines between all rows, including headers, but no vertical lines.
• horizontal-with-outline: Display horizontal lines between all rows, including headers, and a border around the entire table.
• none: Don’t display any lines or borders.
• ouline: Display a border around the entire table, but no other lines.
• vertical: Display vertical lines between table columns only.
• vertical-with-outline: Display vertical lines between columns, a line between headers and content, and a border around the entire table.

The default value is vertical-with-outline.

For example, to specify that tables display a border around the headers and the entire table:

1SF_TABLE_BORDER_STYLE=headers-only-with-outline

Specifies the username of your default Dev Hub org so you don’t have to use the --target-dev-hub flag. Overrides the value of the target-dev-hub configuration value.

Example of setting it to an alias:

1SF_TARGET_DEV_HUB=myDevHub

Example of setting it to an org username:

1SF_TARGET_DEV_HUB=mydevhuborg@example.com

Specifies the username of your default org so you don’t have to use the --target-org flag. Overrides the value of the target-org configuration variable.

Example of setting it to an alias:

1SF_TARGET_ORG=myscratchorg

Example of setting it to a username:

1SF_TARGET_ORG=test-xhquykly9fhl@example.com

(Linux and macOS only) Set to true if you want to use the generic UNIX keychain instead of the Linux libsecret library or macOS keychain. Specify this variable when using Salesforce CLI with ssh or “headless” in a CI environment.

Set to true to enable the yarn --mutex network option when installing or updating Salesforce CLI. The default value is false (which enables the --mutex file option.)

Salesforce CLI plugin installs use yarn under the hood. If you run into errors during installs or updates, try setting this environment variable to true to open a local network to manage the concurrent yarn instances. This behavior is more reliable and can sometimes fix install errors. The default port for this local network server is 31997. Set the SF_NETWORK_MUTEX_PORT environment variable to use a different port.

See the yarn documentation for more information.

Specifies the number of milliseconds that the org login web command waits for an org login issue to resolve itself before it times out. The default value is 120000 (two minutes).

This example shows how to set the time out to three minutes (180,000 milliseconds).

1SF_WEB_OAUTH_SERVER_TIMEOUT=180000

These environment variables aren’t specific to Salesforce CLI but are general variables that you might want to set.

If you receive an error when you install or update the Salesforce CLI on a computer that’s behind a firewall or web proxy, set this environment variable. Use the URL and port of your company proxy, for example:

1http://username:pwd@proxy.company.com:8080

If you receive an error when you install or update the Salesforce CLI on a computer that’s behind a firewall or web proxy, set this environment variable. Use the URL and port of your company proxy, for example:

1http://username:pwd@proxy.company.com:8080

Installs your self-signed certificate. Indicate the fully qualified path to the certificate file name. Then run sf update.

See NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=file for more details.

To allow Node.js to use the self-signed certificate in the certificate chain, indicate 0.

See Also

• Log Messages and Log Levels
• Support for JSON Responses

j

Quick Start

System Requirements

Move from sfdx (v7) to sf (v2)

Install Salesforce CLI

Update Salesforce CLI

Salesforce CLI Configuration and Tips

Autocomplete Salesforce CLI Commands and Flags

Use Salesforce CLI from Behind a Company Firewall or Web Proxy

Windows Performance Suggestions

Configuration Variables

Salesforce CLI Environment Variables

How API Version and Source API Version Work in Salesforce CLI

CLI Parameter Resolution Order

Support for JSON Responses

Specify Topics and Commands in Any Order

Customize the Colors in Help Output

Specify Flag Values in Files

Log Messages and Log Levels

Enable 256-Bit Encryption of Local Authorization Files

Disable Salesforce CLI Data Collection and Metrics

Uninstall Salesforce CLI or Plugins

Run Salesforce CLI Using a Docker Image

Salesforce CLI Plugins

Troubleshoot Salesforce CLI

CLI Deprecation Policy

Next Steps

Release Notes

Previous PDF Versions