platform-manifest-generate

Produce a Salesforce metadata manifest — package.xml (or one of the destructive variants) — from local source, an org, or an explicit component list. This skill is purely about authoring the manifest file. Hand off to platform-metadata-deploy or platform-destructive-deploy once the file exists.

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Tool Restrictions

Use ONLY the Bash tool to run sf project generate manifest, and the Write tool for the hand-built fallback path. Do NOT use MCP tools.

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When This Skill Owns the Task

Use platform-manifest-generate when the work involves any of:

• Building a package.xml from a source directory (e.g. force-app/main/default/classes/)
• Building a manifest from an explicit list of components (e.g. AccountService, ContactSelector, Account)
• Building a manifest by introspecting an org via --from-org
• Producing destructiveChanges.xml, destructiveChangesPre.xml, or destructiveChangesPost.xml for a deletion
• Producing both a package.xml and a destructive manifest in one operation

Delegate elsewhere when the user is:

• Running the deploy itself → platform-metadata-deploy
• Validating before a prod release → platform-deploy-validate
• Executing the destructive deploy → platform-destructive-deploy (that skill uses the manifest this skill generates)
• Retrieving metadata to local → platform-metadata-retrieve

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Two Generation Paths

Path A — CLI-driven (recommended)

Wrap sf project generate manifest. Always prefer this path; it knows about every metadata type and produces canonical XML — and never emits *, sidestepping the wildcard hazard entirely.

The CLI offers three input modes (mutually exclusive):

Input	Flag	Use when
Source directory	--source-dir (-p)	User points to a folder containing already-on-disk metadata
Component list	--metadata (-m)	User names specific components, e.g. ApexClass:AccountService CustomObject:Account
Org introspection	--from-org	User wants every component currently in an org (or a filtered subset)

You can specify either --source-dir or --metadata, not both. --from-org may be combined with --metadata (filter included types) or --excluded-metadata (filter out types).

Verified flags (do not invent flags — verify with sf project generate manifest --help if unsure):

Flag	Purpose
--source-dir, -p	Local source paths to scan
--metadata, -m	Component names to include (e.g. ApexClass:AccountService)
--from-org	Username or alias of org to introspect
--name, -n	Custom output filename (mutually exclusive with --type)
--type, -t	Predefined manifest kind: package | pre | post | destroy
--output-dir, -d	Directory to write the manifest into
--api-version	Override the API version for the request
--include-packages, -c	Include managed and/or unlocked package metadata when using --from-org
--excluded-metadata	Types to exclude when using --from-org
--json	Machine-readable output

Manifest filename by --type:

--type	Output file
package (default)	package.xml
pre	destructiveChangesPre.xml
post	destructiveChangesPost.xml
destroy	destructiveChanges.xml

You can specify either --type or --name, not both.

Canonical CLI examples

# Build package.xml from a source dir
sf project generate manifest \
  --source-dir force-app/main/default \
  --name package.xml \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

# Build package.xml from an explicit component list
sf project generate manifest \
  --metadata ApexClass:AccountService \
  --metadata ApexClass:ContactSelector \
  --metadata CustomObject:Account \
  --name package.xml \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

# Build destructiveChanges.xml from a component list
sf project generate manifest \
  --metadata CustomField:Account.OldField__c \
  --metadata CustomField:Account.OldStatus__c \
  --type destroy \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

# Build a manifest by introspecting an org (filtered)
sf project generate manifest \
  --from-org <alias> \
  --metadata ApexClass,CustomObject,CustomLabels \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

If both a package.xml and a destructive manifest are needed, run the CLI twice — once with --type package (or default), once with --type destroy / pre / post.

Path B — Hand-built fallback

Use this only when the CLI cannot express the user's intent — e.g. they want "just the Apex classes I changed today" and the change set is derived from git diff rather than a clean directory or component list. In that case:

1. Resolve the components yourself (e.g. parse git diff --name-only and map paths back to metadata types).
2. Group by metadata type.
3. Emit the XML inline using the schema below.
4. Always cross-check by running sf project deploy start --manifest <file> --dry-run (hand off to platform-metadata-deploy).

Manifest XML schema

Root element is <Package> in the metadata namespace. Each metadata type gets one <types> block containing one <members> per component plus a single <name>. The trailing <version> declares the API version for the manifest.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <types>
        <members>AccountService</members>
        <members>ContactSelector</members>
        <name>ApexClass</name>
    </types>
    <types>
        <members>Account</members>
        <name>CustomObject</name>
    </types>
    <types>
        <members>Account.Status__c</members>
        <name>CustomField</name>
    </types>
    <version>62.0</version>
</Package>

Notes:

• For component-bound types like CustomField, BusinessProcess, RecordType, Layout, ListView, ValidationRule, WebLink, members use Object.Name notation.
• destructiveChanges.xml, destructiveChangesPre.xml, and destructiveChangesPost.xml use the same XML structure — only the filename and intent differ.
• An empty manifest (no <types> blocks) is legal and is sometimes paired with a destructive manifest:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <version>62.0</version>
</Package>

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API Version Handling

The <version> element at the bottom of every manifest must reflect the project's API version.

Resolution order:

1. Read sourceApiVersion from sfdx-project.json at the project root.
2. If --api-version was passed by the user, use that instead.
3. If neither is available, fall back to the value reported by sf --version (the CLI's bundled API version) — but warn the user and recommend they set sourceApiVersion in sfdx-project.json for reproducibility.
4. Never silently hardcode a value (e.g. 62.0) into output without surfacing the source.

# Quick read of sourceApiVersion
jq -r '.sourceApiVersion' sfdx-project.json

When using the CLI path, omit --api-version unless the user explicitly overrides — the CLI already reads sourceApiVersion.

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Wildcard Members (<members>*</members>)

A wildcard member matches every component of that metadata type. It is not legal for every type. Using * for a disallowed type causes deploy/retrieve errors like Wildcards are not supported for this metadata type.

Wildcard NOT allowed (must enumerate)

These types require explicit member names. Common examples: Profile, PermissionSet, PermissionSetGroup, CustomLabels, CustomObjectTranslation, Layout, Workflow (in some package configurations), SharingRules, StandardValueSet, ManagedTopics, and most "container" types whose contents are object-bound (CustomField, RecordType, BusinessProcess, ListView, ValidationRule, WebLink, CompactLayout).

For these, enumerate explicitly:

<types>
    <members>Admin</members>
    <members>Standard User</members>
    <name>Profile</name>
</types>

Wildcard generally allowed

Most "self-contained" component types accept *. Examples: ApexClass, ApexTrigger, ApexComponent, ApexPage, AuraDefinitionBundle, LightningComponentBundle, CustomApplication, CustomTab, StaticResource, EmailTemplate, Report, Dashboard, Flow, FlexiPage, CustomMetadata. See references/wildcard-allowlist.md for the full enumeration and edge cases.

Rule of thumb: if you are not certain, list the components explicitly. The CLI path (--source-dir / --metadata) sidesteps this problem because it never emits *.

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Examples

Example 1 — Build package.xml from a directory

"Generate package.xml from force-app/main/default/classes/"

sf project generate manifest \
  --source-dir force-app/main/default/classes \
  --name package.xml \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

Result: manifest/package.xml listing every Apex class in that folder.

Example 2 — Build a manifest covering specific components

"Build a manifest covering AccountService, ContactSelector, and the Account custom object"

sf project generate manifest \
  --metadata ApexClass:AccountService \
  --metadata ApexClass:ContactSelector \
  --metadata CustomObject:Account \
  --name package.xml \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

Result: manifest/package.xml containing exactly those three components.

Example 3 — Generate both package.xml and destructiveChanges.xml for deletions

"Create both package.xml and destructiveChanges.xml for these deletions: Account.OldField__c, Account.OldStatus__c"

# Empty/minimal package.xml (deletion-only deploy still needs a package descriptor)
sf project generate manifest \
  --metadata CustomLabels \
  --name package.xml \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

# destructiveChanges.xml
sf project generate manifest \
  --metadata CustomField:Account.OldField__c \
  --metadata CustomField:Account.OldStatus__c \
  --type destroy \
  --output-dir manifest \
  --json

After generation, hand off to platform-destructive-deploy to validate and execute the deletion.

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Failure Modes

Symptom	Likely cause	Recovery
Path does not exist: <dir>	--source-dir points at a missing folder	Confirm the path; use ls to verify; default to force-app/main/default if the user is vague
Generated manifest is empty	Source dir contained no recognizable metadata, or all files were ignored	Check .forceignore; verify the path actually contains metadata files (*.cls, *-meta.xml, etc.)
Wildcards are not supported for this metadata type at deploy time	Hand-built manifest used * for a disallowed type	See the wildcard allowlist above; enumerate the components explicitly
<version> missing or mismatched	sfdx-project.json lacks sourceApiVersion	Add sourceApiVersion to sfdx-project.json, or pass --api-version to the CLI
You can specify either --type or --name, but not both	CLI invocation passed both flags	Drop one; use --type for predefined names, --name for a custom one
You can specify either --source-dir or --metadata, but not both	CLI invocation passed both	Pick one input mode
Components missing from --from-org output	Org introspection batched too aggressively, or the type is in a managed package	Set SF_LIST_METADATA_BATCH_SIZE lower; add --include-packages managed if intended

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Cross-Skill Integration

Need	Delegate to	Reason
Run a deploy with the generated manifest	platform-metadata-deploy	This skill stops at file generation
Validate before a prod release	platform-deploy-validate	Pre-flight test against prod
Actually delete the components in the destructive manifest	platform-destructive-deploy	That skill validates and executes the destructive deploy
Retrieve metadata listed in the manifest	platform-metadata-retrieve	Pulls org metadata to local
Author the metadata being listed in the manifest	Other platform-* generators (e.g. platform-custom-object-generate)	The manifest just lists what already exists on disk

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Completion Format

Manifest goal: <package | pre | post | destroy>
Input mode: <source-dir | metadata list | from-org | hand-built>
Output: <path/to/manifest.xml>
API version: <value> (source: sfdx-project.json | --api-version | CLI default)
Component count: <N> across <M> metadata types
Next step: <platform-metadata-deploy | platform-deploy-validate | platform-destructive-deploy>