Security & governance

Configuration as code (export/import)

Move your custom objects and fields from one environment to another with a JSON file.

Under Settings → Configuration as code (DevOps) you export your organization's configuration (custom objects and fields) as a JSON file and import it into another environment (for example, from a test environment to production).

Export

Click "Export JSON". The downloaded file contains your custom objects and all custom fields (including those you added to standard objects such as Contact or Company). System fields are not exported.

Review the diff and promote (test → prod)

Select the file (or paste the JSON) and click "Review plan". The system shows the DIFF before applying: what will be CREATED (objects/fields missing in the destination) and what will CHANGE (objects/fields that already exist but whose attributes differ from the file, for example label, help text, required, list visibility, or a select field's options). Nothing is deleted. Re-importing with no differences produces no change (idempotent).

This is how you PROMOTE configuration from a test environment to production: adjust and validate in the test environment, export, and in the destination review the diff before applying, with no retyping and no surprises.

Export the configuration in the source environment (test).
In the destination environment (production), open Configuration as code and select the file.
Click "Review plan" and check what will be created and what will change (the diff).
Click "Apply import".

💡 The diff only changes safe attributes (label, required, help text, list visibility and configuration). A field's API Name and TYPE never change on import, which protects existing data.

💡 If a custom field in the file belongs to a STANDARD object that does not exist in the destination, it is skipped with a warning, since standard objects come from the system itself. Fields that fail validation (e.g. a formula with a missing dependency) are reported in the result, not silenced.

💡 A fully isolated test environment (its own database/hosting) is infrastructure and depends on your operations. This tool delivers the SOFTWARE layer of test/prod separation: export, compare (diff) and promote configuration between environments.

💡 Only administrators (profiles with access to settings) can export and import. Every export and import is recorded in the Audit trail.

Open this article inside the system →

Configuration as code (export/import)

Export

Review the diff and promote (test → prod)

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