Salesforce app setup

This article covers the technical details of the Salesforce app. For an overview of the features, see Salesforce app overview. 

Usage configuration options

This app has two usage configurations depending on your enabled scopes:

Key capabilities with crm enabled:

• Manage and test the SOQL queries configured to sync contacts and accounts from Salesforce into Ren

Key capabilities with crm_alerts enabled:

• View alerts on Contact and Account records as well as Ren feeds on the Salesforce Home
• Compose AI-assisted reach-out emails directly from an alert
• Share alert links with colleagues
• Sync Contacts and Accounts to Ren via configurable SOQL queries

Note: This package is an API-only architecture. No Ren alert data is stored in Salesforce. All alerts are fetched live from the Ren API and rendered on-demand. The only data the app writes locally are optional error logs and optional email activity Task records.

How It Works

Authentication

The app includes a built-in OAuth app, so there is no need for your organization to create a Connected App or share OAuth credentials — Ren handles this automatically. The app uses Salesforce Named Credentials and External Credentials to securely communicate with the Ren API.

• Ren API keys (X-Ren-Access-Key-ID and X-Ren-Secret-Access-Key) are stored in an External Credential in your Salesforce instance— encrypted and platform-managed by Salesforce
• All API calls go over HTTPS to the configured Named Credential URL
• Each request is automatically scoped to the logged-in user's email address

How Users Connect

Each end-user must also have a active Salesforce ↔ Ren OAuth connection. This is a one-time setup where the user connects via Ren Settings → Integrations → Connect Salesforce in the Ren web app. This OAuth connection allows Ren to sync Contacts and Accounts from Salesforce.

Data Access

Read from Salesforce

All SOQL queries run with WITH USER_MODE, meaning they respect your org's field-level security and sharing rules.

Data Written to Salesforce

The app does NOT create or modify Contact or Account records, create custom fields on standard objects, or write to any standard object besides Task (and only when opted in).

Sent to Ren:

• User email (for scoping requests to the correct user)
• Contact/Account IDs and names (when syncing entities to Ren or composing reach-out emails)
• SOQL sync query configuration (admin-defined queries that determine which Contacts/Accounts to sync from Salesforce to Ren)

Permission Model

The package ships with two permission sets:

Tip: Use a Salesforce Flow to auto-assign the Ren Alerts User permission set to new users, so you don't have to do it manually each time.

Prerequisites

• Salesforce Enterprise Edition or higher (Lightning Experience required)
• A Ren organization account with CRM API keys (provided by Ren)

Installation & Setup

Step 1: Install the Package

Install the RenAlerts managed package via the install URL provided by your Ren account team. On install, the Ren Alerts Admin permission set is automatically assigned to all active System Administrators.

Step 2: Post-Install Configuration

After installation, navigate to the Ren Alerts Setup tab. A wizard guides you through:

Optional Settings

Configure in Setup → Custom Metadata Types → Ren Alerts Settings → Defaults:

• Email Preference — Salesforce (send via Apex) or Mailto (open user's email client; default)
• Track Email Activity — Creates Task records for emails sent through Ren Alerts
• Enable Error Logging — Captures API errors in the Error Logs tab

Troubleshooting

Error Diagnostics

1. Enable error logging: Custom Metadata → Ren Alerts Settings → Enable_Error_Logging__c = true
2. View logs in the Error Logs tab (Admin only) — filterable by date range and user email
3. Export up to 2,000 log records as CSV