Integration Interview Questions
REST, SOAP, platform events, CDC, middleware, and event-driven architecture.
114 unique questions in this topic
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Showing 114 of 114 Integration questions
What is a REST API integration with Salesforce?
An external ERP must create Accounts in Salesforce nightly. You explain REST at a high level.
What is OAuth for Salesforce integrations?
Middleware needs long-running access to Salesforce without a human logging in daily. You explain OAuth flows simply.
What is SOAP API and when is it still used?
A legacy billing system only supports SOAP. You explain why Salesforce still offers it.
What are Platform Events?
Order shipped in ERP should notify Salesforce without polling every minute. You introduce Platform Events.
What is Change Data Capture (CDC)?
Data warehouse needs near-real-time Salesforce Account changes. You explain CDC basics.
What is middleware and why use MuleSoft with Salesforce?
Five systems need Account updates. Point-to-point integrations become messy. You explain middleware role.
What is an external ID and why use it in integrations?
Same Contact syncs from marketing tool daily. You prevent duplicate Contacts with external ID.
What are callouts in Apex integrations?
Salesforce must POST order status to external shipping API from a trigger. You explain callout basics.
What is idempotency in integrations?
Network blip causes the same invoice POST twice. Finance sees duplicate Opportunities. You explain idempotency.
What is the Composite REST API?
Mobile app needs Account, Contact, and Opportunity created in one user action with one round trip.
How do you monitor integration failures?
Overnight sync failed silently last week. You list basic monitoring a junior should know.
What is an API rate limit in Salesforce?
Marketing platform hits API limit and CRM updates stop midday. You explain API limits simply.
Design REST vs SOAP API strategy for enterprise integrations
A 15-year enterprise has 40 SOAP integrations from legacy ERP while new mobile apps prefer REST. Leadership wants a unified API strategy without big-bang migration.
Implement OAuth connected app patterns for secure integrations
Integration users with System Administrator profiles were used for MuleSoft connections until security audit flagged excessive privileges.
Architect event-driven integration with Platform Events and CDC
Nightly batch exports of Account changes cannot keep warehouse analytics current for same-day personalization.
Design middleware layer with MuleSoft Anypoint for Salesforce hub
Point-to-point integrations between Salesforce, SAP, Snowflake, and Workday created 28 fragile connections with duplicated transformation logic.
Handle Salesforce API limits and bulk processing at scale
Nightly product catalog sync of 800k SKUs exceeds daily API limit and REST composite timeouts.
Implement idempotent integration patterns for financial transactions
Payment confirmation webhook retries caused duplicate Payment__c records and double revenue recognition.
Design bi-directional sync between Salesforce and external MDM
Customer golden record lives in Informatica MDM but sales reps edit Account addresses in Salesforce. Conflicts arise weekly.
Integrate Salesforce with ERP order-to-cash flow
Quotes won in Salesforce must create sales orders in SAP, return order numbers, and sync invoice status back for rep visibility.
Implement Salesforce Connect for external data virtualization
Inventory levels live in external SQL database. Team debates copying into Salesforce nightly vs real-time lookup.
Design webhook and outbound message patterns from Salesforce
Case status changes must notify Slack, Jira, and custom warehouse within seconds of update.
Architect file and document integration with external DMS
Legal documents must stay in iManage DMS with metadata synced to Salesforce Case for matter management.
Implement ETL vs ELT patterns for Salesforce analytics warehouse
Analytics team wants Snowflake as enterprise warehouse feeding Tableau. Debate Fivetran ELT vs Informatica ETL transformations.
Design integration error handling and dead letter queue patterns
Failed SAP order integrations logged inconsistently; ops discovers backlog of 400 unprocessed orders after two weeks.
Secure integration secrets and credential management
Developers stored API keys in Custom Labels and Flow hardcoded URLs until leaked in sandbox refresh to contractor org.
Plan integration testing strategy across environments
Integrations pass in dev sandbox but fail in full sandbox due to data volume and profile differences.
Design Salesforce Marketing Cloud Connect integration
Sales and service data in Sales Cloud must trigger Journey Builder emails with consent-aware personalization.
Implement composite and batch composite API patterns
Mobile app makes 12 sequential REST calls loading account dashboard causing poor UX on 3G networks.
Architect real-time integration with Apache Kafka and Salesforce
Fraud detection requires sub-second propagation of Case updates from Salesforce to Kafka consumers scoring transactions.
Design Heroku Connect vs API integration for Postgres sync
Team needs Salesforce data in Postgres for custom mobile app offline cache debating Heroku Connect vs nightly API export.
Handle Salesforce multi-org integration with event hub pattern
Global company has 8 regional Salesforce orgs; HQ needs consolidated customer view and cross-region case escalation.
Implement Salesforce External Services for OpenAPI integrations
Admins want Flow to call REST API without Apex using imported OpenAPI spec.
Design SOAP API bulk query and partner WSDL usage
Legacy Java app uses partner WSDL query() polling 2M records daily.
Integrate e-signature DocuSign with Salesforce CPQ
Quote PDF must auto-send for signature on approval with status synced to Opportunity.
Implement Salesforce to Slack integration patterns
Sales team wants Opportunity won alerts in Slack channel with record link.
Design payment gateway integration with Stripe and Salesforce
B2B portal collects payment on Order via Stripe with receipt stored on Salesforce Payment record.
Handle polymorphic lookups in integration mappings
Task WhoId polymorphic field breaks warehouse ETL expecting Contact foreign key only.
Implement Salesforce Shield Event Monitoring for integration audit
Compliance requires proof of which integration user accessed Contact records hourly.
Design Azure AD SSO integration with Salesforce
Enterprise mandates Azure AD SAML SSO for all Salesforce users with MFA enforced at IdP.
Integrate telephony CTI with Service Cloud Voice
Contact center migrates from legacy CTI adapter to Service Cloud Voice with Amazon Connect.
Architect API rate limiting for Experience Cloud public APIs
Public guest API abused by scrapers hitting Salesforce API limits affecting paying members.
Implement workato vs MuleSoft vs Flow integration selection
Business units bought Workato licenses while IT standardized MuleSoft causing duplicate integrations.
Design Salesforce to data lake ingestion with Apache Iceberg
Data platform team wants open table format Iceberg fed from Salesforce for ML feature store.
Handle integration with Salesforce encrypted fields
Integration cannot filter warehouse sync on encrypted SSN field breaking match logic.
Implement GraphQL API for mobile BFF layer
Mobile team wants single GraphQL query replacing 8 REST calls for home screen dashboard.
Design NetSuite Salesforce integration for subscription billing
SaaS company uses Salesforce for CRM and NetSuite for billing and revenue recognition.
Integrate IoT device telemetry with Salesforce IoT or custom
Industrial equipment sends telemetry triggering Case creation when threshold exceeded.
Implement SCIM provisioning for user lifecycle
HR system deprovisions employees but Salesforce licenses remain active 30 days creating security gap.
Design cross-cloud Salesforce to AWS Lambda patterns
Image processing on ContentVersion upload exceeds Apex heap limits; team proposes Lambda trigger.
Handle timezone and datetime integration consistently
Global meetings synced to external calendar off by one hour during DST transition.
Architect Salesforce Inbound Email integration for case creation
Support aliases from 5 brands must route to correct queues with spam filtering before Case create.
Design integration observability with distributed tracing
Support cannot trace why order failed across Salesforce MuleSoft SAP in under 5 minutes mean time to diagnose.
Implement Salesforce to Google BigQuery export patterns
Analytics on GCP needs Salesforce data in BigQuery for Looker dashboards refreshed hourly.
Design partner API onboarding and developer portal
50 partners need self-service API keys documentation and sandbox access without manual IT tickets per partner.
Handle soft delete and archive sync to external systems
Deleted Salesforce Accounts still active in external MDM causing duplicate re-create on next sync.
Integrate Salesforce with ServiceNow incident management
Enterprise IT uses ServiceNow for internal incidents but Salesforce Cases used for customer support—executives want unified reporting.
Design asynchronous callback pattern for long external processes
Credit check external service takes 30 seconds; Salesforce Flow cannot wait synchronously.
Implement field-level integration mapping with transformation rules
SAP customer number format differs from Salesforce Account external ID causing sync mismatches.
Architect Salesforce Pub/Sub API for external subscribers
External analytics needs gRPC stream of Change Data Capture events without middleware polling.
Design integration for Salesforce release upgrade regression
Spring release deprecated API breaking 3 integrations discovered production day one.
Implement loyalty platform integration with Salesforce
Salesforce Loyalty Management points balance must sync with external coalition partner API.
Handle large attachment migration to external storage
10TB legacy Attachments must migrate to S3 with Salesforce Files pointers without storage limit breach.
Design anti-corruption layer for legacy system integration
1960s mainframe terminology and codes leak into Salesforce confusing users and breaking reports.
Handle Salesforce REST API 20-second timeout in synchronous integrations
A checkout Flow calls REST Composite synchronously to reserve inventory; ERP responses exceed 20 seconds causing UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW and abandoned carts during peak hours.
Design JWT bearer OAuth flow for machine-to-machine Salesforce API access
Kubernetes microservices need Salesforce API access without storing refresh tokens; security mandates certificate-based headless authentication.
Migrate legacy Outbound Messages to Platform Events without downtime
Twelve production workflows send Outbound Messages to aging middleware; Salesforce roadmap deprecates OM and team needs zero-delivery-gap migration.
Implement CDC high-volume event filtering to reduce subscriber noise
Change Data Capture on Account fires 400k events daily but warehouse only cares about billing address and credit tier changes, wasting Kafka throughput.
Design retry policies with exponential backoff for MuleSoft Salesforce connectors
Transient Salesforce 503 errors during maintenance cause MuleSoft flows to fail permanently; ops manually replays 200 failed orders nightly.
Handle Salesforce SOAP API session timeout and automatic re-authentication
Legacy .NET integration using Enterprise WSDL fails INVALID_SESSION_ID every 2 hours stopping payroll sync mid-batch.
Architect transactional outbox pattern for reliable Salesforce event publishing
Platform Event publish succeeds but Salesforce DML rolls back leaving external subscribers acting on phantom order-created events.
Design circuit breaker pattern when external systems fail during Salesforce callouts
Credit bureau API outage causes thousands of Apex callout exceptions filling debug logs and blocking loan application Flows.
Implement REST sObject Collections API for bulk create and update
Mobile offline sync replays 200 locally queued Account updates; sequential PATCH calls exceed daily API limit.
Handle duplicate Platform Event delivery in event-driven subscribers
Payment-completed Platform Event processed twice creates duplicate shipment orders in warehouse system.
Design Change Data Capture envelope schema evolution without breaking consumers
Adding custom fields to Account CDC breaks downstream Avro schema consumers in production Kafka pipeline.
Implement OAuth refresh token rotation for long-running Salesforce integrations
Integration refresh tokens never rotated; leaked token from 2019 backup grants API access until discovered in audit.
Architect event sourcing audit trail using Platform Events
Regulator requires immutable history of Quote discount approvals; Field Audit Trail insufficient for cross-system narrative.
Design REST Composite tree requests for parent-child record creation
Order API must create Order, OrderItems, and Payment in one atomic REST call from ecommerce middleware.
Handle Salesforce Concurrent API Request Limits during peak integration loads
Black Friday triggers 25 parallel MuleSoft workers; org hits concurrent request limit causing cascading integration failures.
Implement SOAP describeGlobal caching for metadata-heavy integrations
Dynamic SOAP integration calls describeGlobal and describeSObjects on every batch adding 30 seconds overhead per run.
Design saga pattern for distributed transactions across Salesforce and ERP
Order creation requires Salesforce Opportunity update, SAP order create, and inventory reserve; any step failure must compensate prior steps.
Align Apex HTTP callout timeout with middleware and external SLA
Apex callout timeout 10 seconds but MuleSoft route timeout 60 seconds causing orphaned MuleSoft transactions when Apex already failed.
Implement semantic locking for bi-directional Salesforce MDM sync conflicts
Sales rep and MDM steward simultaneously update Account industry field; last-write-wins loses compliance-approved MDM value.
Design Platform Event replay recovery after subscriber extended outage
Kafka consumer down 18 hours misses Platform Events; on restart earliest replay reprocesses week of events duplicating warehouse loads.
Architect Salesforce Event Relay to AWS EventBridge integration
Enterprise standardizes on AWS EventBridge; team wants Salesforce Change Data Capture without custom Kafka middleware.
Implement REST If-Unmodified-Since optimistic concurrency control
Two integration jobs update same Opportunity amount; second overwrites first without detecting stale read causing incorrect forecast.
Design webhook HMAC signature verification for inbound Salesforce integrations
Public REST endpoint receives purported Salesforce webhooks; attacker forged payload creates fraudulent refund records.
Handle UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW in high-concurrency integration upserts
Flash sale inventory sync from 10 workers upserting same Product2 external ID causes UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW failures and oversell.
Filter CDC ChangeEventHeader changedFields in Apex and middleware subscribers
Subscriber processes every Account CDC event but only BillingCity changes matter; CPU cost triples processing irrelevant field updates.
Design MuleSoft API autodiscovery linked to Salesforce connected app governance
Fifty MuleSoft apps each created own connected app; security audit cannot map API traffic to business owner.
Handle Bulk API 2.0 failed records retrieval and partial job success
Nightly Contact load job succeeds with 400 failed records buried in unprocessed CSV; sales starts day with missing leads.
Implement OAuth SAML bearer flow for enterprise SSO to Salesforce API
Enterprise IdP issues SAML assertions; batch jobs need Salesforce API token without interactive login or stored password.
Design dead letter topic pattern for failed Platform Event processing
Malformed Platform Event payloads crash consumer; infinite retry loop blocks entire partition processing valid events.
Handle REST API URI length limits for large SOQL IN clause queries
Integration queries 800 Account Ids via GET /query?q=... IN clause; 414 URI Too Long errors abort sync.
Implement Salesforce Streaming API for real-time operational dashboards
NOC dashboard needs live Case escalation count; polling REST every 30 seconds hits API limits with 50 dashboards.
Design integration payload JSON schema versioning with backward compatibility
Partner API v2 adds required field; v1 partners break until coordinated upgrade causing production outage.
Handle Salesforce API maintenance windows with graceful integration degradation
Salesforce instance maintenance returns 503; integrations retry aggressively extending outage impact to warehouse.
Implement SOAP AssignmentRuleHeader for automated lead integration routing
Inbound lead SOAP API creates Lead without assignment rules; leads sit in default queue missing SLA.
Design event-driven order fulfillment with Platform Events and MuleSoft
Order placed in Commerce Cloud must trigger inventory check SAP allocation shipment label without synchronous 45-second chain.
Recover missed Change Data Capture events with gap detection batch
Subscriber ReplayId gap detected 5000 Account changes missing from warehouse during Kafka broker failure.
Implement REST PATCH partial update semantics for integration efficiency
Integration sends full Account 80-field JSON on every address change wasting bandwidth and triggering unnecessary validation rules.
Design OAuth PKCE flow for mobile Salesforce Experience Cloud integrations
Mobile app uses implicit OAuth flow; security audit mandates PKCE and prohibits client secret in app binary.
Handle MuleSoft Salesforce connector token refresh failures in production
Connected app secret rotated; MuleSoft flows fail INVALID_SESSION_ID until manual redeploy causing 4-hour order outage.
Implement request deduplication cache for REST webhook storm protection
Partner retries same Order webhook 50 times in 2 minutes; duplicate Order records created despite idempotency intent.
Design Salesforce CDC to Apache Pulsar enterprise streaming pipeline
Enterprise messaging standard is Pulsar not Kafka; data platform requires Account CDC in multi-tenant Pulsar namespace.
Handle SOAP INVALID_SESSION_ID automatic recovery in batch integrations
Overnight SOAP batch fails at hour 3 with INVALID_SESSION_ID; 2 hours of processed records not committed due to batch rollback design flaw.
Implement integration health check endpoint for Salesforce dependency monitoring
PagerDuty alerts only when orders fail; no early warning Salesforce auth or limit degradation.
Design compensating rollback when ERP succeeds but Salesforce update fails
SAP creates sales order successfully; Salesforce Opportunity update fails leaving SAP order orphaned without CRM link.
Handle Platform Event publish failure after database commit edge cases
Apex after insert publishes Platform Event; publish throws exception but Account already committed leaving subscribers never notified.
Implement REST queryAll for archived deleted records in compliance sync
Warehouse must reflect Salesforce deletes for GDPR; standard query excludes deleted records causing resurrected customers in analytics.
Design MuleSoft scatter-gather for parallel Salesforce API aggregation
Customer 360 API needs Account Contacts Cases Opportunities; sequential MuleSoft calls exceed 8 second Experience Cloud timeout.
Evaluate OAuth connected app IP relax vs certificate pinning tradeoffs
MuleSoft CloudHub dynamic IPs conflict with connected app IP whitelist; team debates IP relax vs cert-based auth.
Implement CDC soft delete propagation to warehouse within one-hour SLA
Salesforce Account deleted; warehouse still shows active customer 24 hours later causing duplicate marketing sends.
Design integration chaos engineering tests for Salesforce failure modes
Integrations never tested for Salesforce 503 or limit exhaustion; first real outage exceeds RTO by 6 hours.