What is an API in Salesforce? An API is an Application Programming Interface offered by Salesforce, a leading cloud-based CRM platform. The API allows developers to integrate Salesforce functionality into other applications and business systems, enabling streamlined workflows, automated processes, and greater productivity. In essence, the API is a messenger that pulls information from one place and feeds it to another. APIs are everywhere and have many different faces and capabilities. For example, when your car’s navigation system uses Google Maps to direct you to the airport, that’s an API. Google allows navigation systems to use its popular mapping software — for a price (more on that later). Likewise, if there are share buttons at the bottom of your company’s blog posts, those are also APIs. Each one allows users to easily share content with their Facebook friends, Twitter followers, or Instagram feed. API stands for Application Programming Interface and it’s simply another way of sending commands to Salesforce, only this time there’s no graphical UI to work through, instead developers use the APIs to send commands like View or Save to Salesforce programmatically by writing platform code. Salesforce provides a handy tool for determining which API to use in different situations. API NAME API TYPE DATA FORMAT COMMUNICATION REST API REST JSON, XML Synchronous SOAP API SOAP (WSDL) XML Synchronous Connect REST API REST JSON, XML Synchronous (photos are processed asynchronously) Apex REST API REST JSON, XML, Custom Synchronous Apex SOAP API SOAP (WSDL) XML Synchronous Analytics REST API REST JSON, XML Synchronous User Interface API REST JSON Synchronous GraphQL API GraphQL JSON Synchronous Tooling API REST or SOAP (WSDL) JSON, XML, Custom Synchronous Bulk API 2.0 REST CSV Asynchronous Metadata API SOAP (WSDL) XML Asynchronous Pub/Sub API gRPC and protocol buffers Binary Asynchronous When to Use REST API REST API provides a powerful, convenient, and simple REST-based web services interface for interacting with Salesforce. Its advantages include ease of integration and development, and it’s an excellent choice of technology for use with mobile applications and web projects. For certain projects, you can use REST API with other Salesforce REST APIs. To build UI for creating, reading, updating, and deleting records, including building UI for list views, actions, and dependent picklists, use User Interface API. To build UI for B2B Commerce on Lightning, CMS managed content, Experience Cloud sites, or Chatter, use Connect REST API. If you have many records to process, consider using Bulk API, which is based on REST principles and optimized for large sets of data. See REST API Developer Guide. When to Use SOAP API SOAP API provides a powerful, convenient, and simple SOAP-based web services interface for interacting with Salesforce. You can use SOAP API to create, retrieve, update, or delete records. You can also use SOAP API to perform searches and much more. Use SOAP API in any language that supports web services. For example, you can use SOAP API to integrate Salesforce with your org’s ERP and finance systems. You can also deliver real-time sales and support information to company portals and populate critical business systems with customer information. See SOAP API Developer Guide. When to Use Connect REST API Connect REST API provides programmatic access to B2B Commerce for Lightning, CMS managed content, Experience Cloud sites, files, notifications, topics, and more. Use Connect REST API to display Chatter feeds, users, and groups, especially in mobile applications. See Connect REST API Developer Guide. When to Use Apex REST API Use Apex REST API when you want to expose your Apex classes and methods so that external applications can access your code through REST architecture. Apex REST API supports both OAuth 2.0 and Session ID for authorization. See Apex Developer Guide: Exposing Apex Classes as REST Web Services. When to Use Apex SOAP API Use Apex SOAP API when you want to expose Apex methods as SOAP web service APIs so that external applications can access your code through SOAP. Apex SOAP API supports both OAuth 2.0 and Session ID for authorization. See Apex Developer Guide: Exposing Apex Methods as SOAP Web Services and SOAP API Developer Guide: Apex-Related Calls. When to Use Analytics REST API You can access CRM Analytics assets such as datasets, lenses, and dashboards programmatically using the Analytics REST API. Send queries and access datasets that have been imported into the analytics platform. Create and retrieve lenses. Access XMD information. Retrieve a list of dataset versions. Create and retrieve CRM Analytics apps. Create, update, and retrieve dashboards. Retrieve a list of dependencies for an application. Determine what features are available to the user. Work with snapshots. Manipulate replicated datasets. See Analytics REST API Developer Guide. When to Use User Interface API Build Salesforce UI for native mobile apps and custom web apps using the same API that Salesforce uses to build Lightning Experience and Salesforce for Android, iOS, and mobile web. Build user interfaces that let users work with records, list views, actions, favorites, and more. Not only do you get data and metadata in a single response, but the response matches metadata changes made to the org by Salesforce admins. You don’t worry about layouts, picklists, field-level security, or sharing—all you do is build an app that users love. See User Interface API Developer Guide. When to Use GraphQL API Build highly responsive and scalable apps by returning only the data a client needs, all in a single request. GraphQL API overcomes the challenges posed by traditional REST APIs through field selection, resource aggregation, and schema introspection. Field selection reduces the size of the payload, sending back only fields that were included in the query. Aggregations reduce round trips between the client and server, returning a set of related resources within a single response. Schema introspection enables a user to see the types, fields, and objects that the user has access to. See GraphQL API Developer Guide. When to Use Tooling API Use Tooling API to integrate Salesforce metadata with other systems. Metadata types are exposed as sObjects, so
