Set up a Salesforce integration using Connectors

Note: This article focuses on use cases involving application objects and third-party data (application requests). If you're just getting started with application objects, please review the general application objects article first.

This article will guide you through setting up a connector to your Salesforce instance. We'll cover the authentication steps and show you how to link a Salesforce object, such as an opportunity, to a conversation in Front.

Once linked, you'll:

• Have quick access to all related conversations for that opportunity right within Front.

• Gain instant context within each conversation on relevant details from Salesforce, helping your team work smarter and faster.

Step 1

In the Developers tab in your company settings, create an app. You might want to name your app ‘Salesforce’ or similar for easy reference.

Step 2

From your newly created app, head to the Servers tab then click Create server.

Step 3

Fill in the following fields:

• Origin: Enter the base URL of your Salesforce instance. It will typically follow the format https://{your company name}.my.salesforce.com 

• Authentication strategy: Select OAuth2

Step 4

Copy the redirect URL value to your clipboard.

Step 5

In Salesforce, create an app for Front using the steps here. Paste the redirect URL from Front in your app configuration in Salesforce. We'll need this for Front to authenticate with your Salesforce account.

Step 6

In the Salesforce app you just created, locate your client ID and client secret details. 

Step 7

Navigate back to Front, then fill in the following fields on the server setup page:

• Client ID: Paste client ID value from Salesforce

• Client secret: Paste client secret value from Salesforce

• Scope: Enter refresh_token api

• Authorization URL: Enter the URL where Front will send users to begin the authentication process. Typically in the format https://{your company name}.my.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/authorize

• Authorization method: Select Header and body

• Token URL: Enter the URL Front should use to retrieve an access token. Typically in the format https://{your company name}.my.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/token

• Token Introspection URL: Leave blank

Step 8

Click Create to finish.

Step 1

Navigate to the Features tab of your Salesforce application, then click See all connectors.

Step 2

Click Configure application object, then add the name for your object. In this case you might want to call it ‘Salesforce Opportunity’.

Click Next.

Step 3

On the Create reference page, select Transform URLs into an application object when, then paste a Salesforce opportunity URL from your Salesforce instance.

It should look something like https://acme.sandbox.lightning.force.com/lightning/r/Opportunity/006EXXXXCghONIAZ/view

Step 4

You’ll want to replace the opportunity ID (notated in green in Step 3) with a placeholder. To do this, delete the reference, click the ‘+’ sign, then select the Letters or digits option.

Click Next.

Step 5

On the Build request page, you’ll notice the base URL is already showing up from the information previously used to set up the server. You’ll need to then add the second part of your URL to complete the API request to your opportunity in Salesforce.

It should look something like this:

/services/data/v57.0/sobjects/Opportunity/{your opportunity ID}

For your opportunity ID, you’ll need to use Letters or digits as a placeholder (similar to Step 4).

Step 6

Test your request and confirm it works. Continue through the application object setup steps to save your object.

For more information on how to select fields to display in Front from the output returned, see this article.

Every time you paste a link to an opportunity in a conversation in Front, the final result should look something like this:

To view all conversations tagged with a given opportunity, you can click the link at the top of the conversation in Front, then select View conversations.

Application objects connected to third-party data are available on the Scale plan or above.