Salesforce Advanced Troubleshooting

Overview

Deep debugging techniques for complex Salesforce issues: Apex debug log analysis, SOQL query plan optimization, governor limit diagnosis, and EventLogFile forensics.

Prerequisites

• Salesforce CLI authenticated
• Access to Setup > Debug Logs
• Understanding of Apex governor limits
• Enterprise+ for EventLogFile access

Instructions

Step 1: Enable Debug Logging

# Set up debug logging for a specific user
sf apex log list --target-org my-org

# Create a trace flag for detailed logging
# Setup > Debug Logs > New Trace Flag
# - Traced Entity: your integration user
# - Debug Level: SFDC_DevConsole (or create custom)
# - Start: now, Expiration: +2 hours

# Tail logs in real-time
sf apex log tail --target-org my-org --debug-level SFDC_DevConsole

Step 2: Analyze Debug Log for Governor Limits

// Key governor limits to watch in debug logs:
const GOVERNOR_LIMITS = {
  'Number of SOQL queries':          { limit: 100, trigger: 'per transaction' },
  'Number of query rows':            { limit: 50000, trigger: 'per transaction' },
  'Number of DML statements':        { limit: 150, trigger: 'per transaction' },
  'Number of DML rows':              { limit: 10000, trigger: 'per transaction' },
  'Maximum CPU time':                { limit: 10000, trigger: 'ms per transaction' },
  'Maximum heap size':               { limit: 6000000, trigger: 'bytes (sync), 12MB (async)' },
  'Number of callouts':              { limit: 100, trigger: 'per transaction' },
  'Number of future calls':          { limit: 50, trigger: 'per transaction' },
};

// Parse debug log for limit consumption
// Look for lines like:
// Number of SOQL queries: 45 out of 100
// Number of query rows: 23456 out of 50000
// Maximum CPU time on the Salesforce servers: 8500 out of 10000

# Download and analyze debug log
sf apex log get --number 1 --target-org my-org > debug.log

# Search for limit warnings
grep -n "LIMIT_USAGE_FOR_NS" debug.log
grep -n "out of" debug.log | tail -20

# Search for slow SOQL
grep -n "SOQL_EXECUTE_BEGIN" debug.log
grep -n "SOQL_EXECUTE_END" debug.log
# Compare timestamps — queries > 1000ms need optimization

Step 3: SOQL Query Plan Analysis

// Use the Query Plan tool in Developer Console:
// Developer Console > Query Editor > Query Plan button

// Or via REST API (Tooling API)
const conn = await getConnection();

const queryPlan = await conn.request({
  method: 'GET',
  url: `/services/data/v59.0/query/?explain=SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Technology'`,
});

// Analyze the plan
for (const plan of queryPlan.plans) {
  console.log({
    cardinality: plan.cardinality,         // Estimated result rows
    fields: plan.fields,                    // Fields used in filter
    leadingOperationType: plan.leadingOperationType, // Index | TableScan
    relativeCost: plan.relativeCost,        // Lower is better (0-1)
    spikeError: plan.spikeError,            // True if selective threshold exceeded
  });
}

// GOOD: leadingOperationType = "Index" and relativeCost < 0.3
// BAD: leadingOperationType = "TableScan" — needs index or different filter

// Selective filters (use indexed fields):
// - Id, Name, OwnerId (always indexed)
// - CreatedDate, LastModifiedDate, SystemModstamp
// - Lookup/Master-Detail fields
// - Custom fields marked as External ID or Unique
// - Custom indexes (request via Salesforce Support)

Step 4: Diagnose UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW

// UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW occurs when:
// 1. Multiple processes update the same record simultaneously
// 2. Bulk operations trigger cascading updates via triggers/flows
// 3. Parent record locked by child DML (implicit lock)

// Diagnostic query — find records with heavy automation
const triggers = await conn.query(`
  SELECT Name, TableEnumOrId, Body
  FROM ApexTrigger
  WHERE Status = 'Active'
  ORDER BY TableEnumOrId
`);

console.log('Active triggers:', triggers.records.map(
  (t: any) => `${t.Name} on ${t.TableEnumOrId}`
));

// Mitigation: Use Bulk API with serial mode
await conn.bulk2.loadAndWaitForResults({
  object: 'Account',
  operation: 'update',
  input: csvData,
  lineEnding: 'LF',
  // Bulk API processes in parallel by default
  // For lock issues, reduce concurrency or use smaller batches
});

Step 5: EventLogFile Forensics (Enterprise+)

// EventLogFile stores detailed API usage data for 30 days
const conn = await getConnection();

// Find heavy API consumers
const apiEvents = await conn.query(`
  SELECT Id, EventType, LogDate, LogFileLength
  FROM EventLogFile
  WHERE EventType = 'API'
    AND LogDate >= LAST_N_DAYS:1
  ORDER BY LogFileLength DESC
  LIMIT 5
`);

for (const event of apiEvents.records) {
  // Download the CSV log file
  const csvContent = await conn.request(
    `/services/data/v59.0/sobjects/EventLogFile/${event.Id}/LogFile`
  );

  // CSV columns include:
  // TIMESTAMP, USER_ID, URI, METHOD, STATUS_CODE, RUN_TIME, CPU_TIME, DB_TOTAL_TIME
  // Parse to find slow queries, high CPU operations, etc.
  console.log(`${event.EventType} log (${event.LogDate}): ${event.LogFileLength} bytes`);
}

// Login forensics
const loginEvents = await conn.query(`
  SELECT Id, LogDate, LogFileLength
  FROM EventLogFile
  WHERE EventType = 'Login'
    AND LogDate >= LAST_N_DAYS:7
`);

Step 6: Minimal Reproduction

// Strip to absolute minimum to isolate the issue
async function minimalRepro(): Promise<void> {
  const conn = new jsforce.Connection({
    loginUrl: process.env.SF_LOGIN_URL,
    version: '59.0', // Pin version
  });

  await conn.login(process.env.SF_USERNAME!, process.env.SF_PASSWORD! + process.env.SF_SECURITY_TOKEN!);

  // Test with simplest possible operation
  try {
    // 1. Can we query at all?
    const result = await conn.query('SELECT Id FROM Account LIMIT 1');
    console.log('Basic query works:', result.totalSize);

    // 2. Can we create?
    const created = await conn.sobject('Account').create({ Name: 'Debug Test' });
    console.log('Create works:', created.success);

    // 3. Clean up
    await conn.sobject('Account').destroy(created.id);
    console.log('Delete works');
  } catch (error: any) {
    console.error('FAILURE:', {
      errorCode: error.errorCode,
      message: error.message,
      fields: error.fields,
    });
  }
}

Output

• Debug logging enabled with trace flags
• Governor limit consumption identified
• SOQL query plan analyzed for performance issues
• EventLogFile data retrieved for API forensics
• Minimal reproduction created for support escalation

Error Handling

SOQL_EXECUTE_LIMIT

Resources

• Debug Log Reference
• SOQL Query Plan
• Governor Limits
• EventLogFile

Next Steps

For load testing, see

salesforce-load-scale