Platform Metadata Retrieve

This pulls Salesforce metadata from an org to your local project using the sf CLI. It handles all the common retrieval patterns: grabbing all remote changes, pulling specific directories or metadata types, working from a package.xml manifest, or retrieving by package name. The workflow is straightforward, just runs sf project retrieve start through the Bash tool with the right flags. One thing to remember is that production orgs don't support source tracking, so you can't use the "retrieve all changes" mode there. You'll need to fall back to explicit metadata types or manifests instead. Good coverage of the gotchas like wildcard quoting and flag conflicts.

skills.sh installs: 6.9K
GitHub stars: 1.2K
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add forcedotcom/sf-skills --skill platform-metadata-retrieve --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

platform-metadata-retrieve

Retrieves metadata from a Salesforce org to your local project using sf project retrieve start. Supports multiple retrieval modes: all changes, by source directory, by metadata type (with wildcards), by manifest, or by package name.

Tool Restrictions

Use ONLY the Bash tool to execute sf project retrieve start. Do NOT use MCP tools — ignore them completely.

Scope

In scope: Retrieving metadata via sf project retrieve start in all supported modes (all changes, source-dir, metadata type, manifest, package name), source and metadata format output
Out of scope: Deploying metadata (use platform-metadata-deploy), listing metadata types, generating package.xml files, source tracking commands (sf project retrieve preview)

Required Inputs

Infer from the user's request:

Retrieval mode: all changes | source directory | metadata type | manifest | package name
Target org: org alias/username (uses default if not specified)
Output format: source format (default) | metadata format (ZIP)
Additional options: ignore conflicts, output directory, wait time, API version