Salesforce · Setup guide

How to set up Salesforce in Claude (Claudeforce)

To use Salesforce in Claude you need Claude Enterprise and a supported Salesforce edition. A Salesforce admin activates the Salesforce MCP Server and creates an External Client App; a Claude admin then connects the Salesforce - Beta connector, installs the Sales Cloud in Claude plugin, keeps the beta read-only and rolls it out.

Get help setting it up Jump to the steps

By Jean-Sé Dorais, Founder of 21 Knots

Last updated September 17, 2026 · Salesforce in Claude is in beta, so steps may change.

What is Salesforce in Claude?

Salesforce in Claude brings your Salesforce data and sales workflows into Claude. Sellers and sales leaders ask Claude about their accounts, deals and pipeline, and use prebuilt skills to research prospects, prep for calls, review forecasts and draft follow-ups, without opening Salesforce.

You'll see several names for it. Claudeforce is the Salesforce and Anthropic partnership announced at Dreamforce 2026. Salesforce in Claude is its first product line, and Sales Cloud in Claude is the Claude plugin that delivers it. It connects through Salesforce's hosted MCP server, part of what Salesforce now calls AIforce (formerly Headless 360).

What do you need to use Salesforce in Claude?

Claude plan: Claude Enterprise.
Salesforce edition: Group, Essentials, Starter Suite, Pro Suite, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited or Developer. Works in Lightning Experience, Salesforce Classic and the Salesforce mobile app.
Beta access: Request access with your Salesforce production org ID and your Anthropic organization ID.
Admins: Someone who can administer Salesforce Setup, and someone who can manage your Claude organization settings.
What it does in beta: Reads data and drafts. Nothing is created, updated or deleted in Salesforce unless a person does it.

How do you join the beta?

Salesforce's Claudeforce page has a Join the beta link to a request form on AgentExchange. Have these ready:

The name, company and email of the primary admin for the beta.
Your Salesforce production org ID. In Salesforce, it's in Setup under Company Information.
Your Anthropic organization ID, the ID of your Claude Enterprise organization.
Agreement to Salesforce's program terms. The plugin and connector are beta services under Salesforce's Beta Services Agreement.

Submitting the form is a request, not a confirmation. Salesforce verifies the org before activating access.

How do you set up Salesforce in Claude?

Setup has two halves: a Salesforce admin prepares the org, then a Claude admin connects and rolls it out. Getting the permissions right is the part worth slowing down for.

In Salesforce

Activate the Salesforce MCP Server

In Setup, search Quick Find for MCP Servers, open Salesforce MCP Server and click Activate.
Create a permission set (recommended)

In Setup → Permission Sets, create one for the people who should use Salesforce in Claude. It's optional, but without it every user in the org is authorized.
Create the External Client App

In Setup → External Client App Manager, click New External Client App and name it Salesforce - Beta. Then:
- Enable OAuth and set the callback URL to https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback.
- Add two OAuth scopes: Access Salesforce hosted MCP servers (mcp_api) and Perform requests at any time (refresh_token, offline_access).
- On the app's Policies tab, set Permitted Users to Admin approved users are pre-authorized, add your permission set, and assign that permission set to the right users.
- Under OAuth Settings → Security, turn on Issue JSON Web Token (JWT)-based access tokens for named users.
- Copy the app's Consumer Key and Consumer Secret for the Claude admin.
Watch out: don't pick a self-authorization option. It lets users connect without being authorized by your permission set.

In Claude

Connect Claude to your org

In Claude, go to Organization Settings → Connectors, find Salesforce - Beta, and enter the Consumer Key and Secret.
Install the plugin

In Organization Settings → Plugins, install Sales Cloud in Claude. This installs it for you only; rolling it out to others is a separate step.

Set tool restrictions to keep the beta read-only

In Organization Settings → Connectors → Salesforce - Beta, open the … menu and choose Tool Restrictions:

Tool	Setting
Dispatch API	Deny (blocks creating, updating and deleting records)
Dispatch read-only API	Always Allowed
Discover	Always Allowed
Describe	Always Allowed
Display Widget (if listed)	Always Allowed
Everything else	No Restriction

Roll out the plugin

Back in Organization Settings → Plugins, choose how users get it: Installed by Default for everyone in the beta, Available to Install so people add it themselves, or User groups, for example on by default for the sales team only.
Each user signs in

Users go to Customize → Connectors, find Salesforce - Beta, click Connect and sign in with their Salesforce credentials. To confirm it works, ask Claude something tied to your own access, such as "What accounts do I own?"

Want it set up right the first time?

Salesforce in Claude answers from your org exactly as it is. If ownership is out of date, stages don't mean the same thing to every rep, or permissions are looser than you think, Claude's answers will reflect it. Our Claudeforce Readiness Check, from $2,500, finds those problems before your team starts relying on Claude, and we can handle the setup and rollout with you.

See the Readiness Check Book a free call with Jean-Sé

What can Salesforce in Claude do?

The beta includes 37 prebuilt skills. You don't need to know their names: Claude picks the right skill from a plain request like "prep me for my Acme call tomorrow," or you can call one directly by typing / and the skill's ID.

Account intelligence and research

See account context
Research new prospects
Build account plans
Prioritize your accounts
Map deal stakeholders
Find expansion opportunities

Deals and opportunities

Review deal health
See what’s blocking a deal
Track deal signals
See what happens if a deal slips
Build close plans
Update opportunities
Handle objections

Pipeline and forecasting

Review my pipeline
Review team pipeline
Write my forecast story
Audit CRM hygiene
Wrap up the week
Analyze win/loss patterns

Customer success and renewals

Check customer health
Track renewals
Surface customer feedback

Leads and prospecting

Triage inbound leads
Assign contacts and leads to an agent
Draft prospect outreach

Meetings and calls

Prep for customer calls
Follow up after calls
Summarize call transcripts
Schedule meetings
View my calendar

Daily workflow

Start my day
Sweep my inbox
Log customer activity
See activity history
Prep for rep one-on-ones
Find internal answers

Personalization

Set up my voice profile

Where can you learn more on Trailhead?

Salesforce's Trailhead modules are a good way to understand Salesforce in Claude and AIforce. They explain the concepts and how the pieces connect, but none of them walk through setting it up in your own org. For that, use the steps above.

Sales Cloud in Claude: Quick Look Module · about 10 minutes
What Salesforce in Claude is and how the plugin connects Claude to Salesforce and your other tools. Concepts and a quiz; no setup steps.
Introduction to AIforce Module · about 40 minutes
What “headless” Salesforce means and the vocabulary behind AIforce.
Get Started with AIforce Trail · about 3.5 hours
The bigger picture of running Salesforce from AI tools: MCP, APIs, data foundation, security and use cases.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Claudeforce, Salesforce in Claude and Sales Cloud in Claude?

Claudeforce is the name of the Salesforce and Anthropic partnership. Salesforce in Claude is its first product line, for sellers and revenue teams. Sales Cloud in Claude is the Claude plugin that delivers it. Salesforce also groups this under AIforce, its umbrella for bringing Salesforce into AI interfaces like Claude and Slack.

Is Salesforce in Claude the same as Agentforce Coworker?

No. They are two different ways to use AI with Salesforce. Salesforce in Claude is a Claude plugin: it connects Claude Enterprise to your org, and during the beta it only reads data and drafts. Agentforce Coworker is Salesforce’s own AI assistant, turned on inside Salesforce. At Dreamforce 2026, Salesforce said Coworker can draw on data sources beyond Salesforce, take actions like updating records, and appear in tools including Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Teams, desktop and mobile. Its licensing and requirements aren’t covered in this guide.

How is Claudeforce different from Agentforce, Agentforce Coworker and Slackforce?

They are parts of one strategy that Salesforce calls AIforce: bringing Salesforce data, workflows and permissions into the tools people already work in. Claudeforce brings Salesforce into Claude, starting with Salesforce in Claude for sales teams. Slackforce does the same in Slack, where Slackbot can answer questions and update Salesforce records. Agentforce Coworker is Salesforce’s own AI assistant, turned on inside Salesforce. Agentforce is the platform for AI agents that do work on your behalf, including prebuilt agents such as Hunter for outbound prospecting, Piper for website leads and Casey for customer help. They can work together: at Dreamforce 2026, Salesforce showed a seller planning accounts in Claude and handing outreach to Hunter.

Does Salesforce in Claude require Claude Enterprise?

Yes. Salesforce’s help documentation lists Claude Enterprise as a requirement. The connector and plugin are installed from Claude’s Organization Settings, which an Enterprise admin manages.

Which Salesforce editions support Salesforce in Claude?

Group, Essentials, Starter Suite, Pro Suite, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited and Developer editions, according to Salesforce’s help documentation.

Do I need Data 360 or Agentforce licenses?

Salesforce’s requirements for Salesforce in Claude don’t list Data 360 or Agentforce. One skill hands leads to an Agentforce agent, which only applies if you use that agent.

How do I join the Salesforce in Claude beta?

Use the Join the beta link on Salesforce’s Claudeforce page. At Dreamforce 2026, Salesforce announced the beta is open to all customers. The request form asks for a primary admin contact, your Salesforce production org ID, your Anthropic organization ID and acceptance of Salesforce’s program agreement. Submitting is a request for access, not a confirmation.

What happens when the Salesforce MCP server leaves beta?

At Dreamforce 2026, Salesforce said the Salesforce MCP server is planned to become generally available in November 2026. It will move to a new generally available version with a new server URL, so existing connections will need a short migration. Salesforce said the functionality stays the same. Roadmap dates can change, so plan for a reconnect step rather than counting on a specific date.

Can Claude change records in Salesforce during the beta?

Not with the setup Salesforce documents. During the beta, skills only read data or prepare drafts for review, and admins keep it that way by setting the connector’s Dispatch API tool to Deny. Salesforce’s Dreamforce 2026 demos did show Claude updating records, which the connection is capable of, so treat write access as a deliberate decision for later rather than something to switch on during the beta.

Will Claude see data a user isn’t allowed to see?

No. Salesforce in Claude uses the same permission model Salesforce already uses, so Claude only sees what the signed-in user can see. That also means gaps or errors in your permissions show up in Claude’s answers.

What is Zero Data Retention (ZDR), and does it apply to Salesforce in Claude?

Traditionally, Zero Data Retention (ZDR) means the AI provider deletes your prompts as soon as it answers and never trains on them. For Claudeforce, Salesforce and Anthropic describe an evolution of ZDR called Enterprise Frontier Safeguards. At Dreamforce 2026, Anthropic explained that a history of activity against the model is kept so that attacks like stolen credentials can be spotted over time, but that history is stored in the customer’s own cloud account, encrypted with the customer’s own keys. Anthropic runs automated checks for serious misuse, and any flag goes to the customer. Anthropic also said it has never trained on enterprise customers’ data unless they explicitly ask, and that this isn’t changing. Salesforce’s Claudeforce page lists ZDR on Claude’s Sonnet, Opus and Haiku models, with Enterprise Frontier Safeguards rolling out in fall 2026, and its help documentation says data that reaches Anthropic is governed by your organization’s own contract with Anthropic. If strict ZDR is a requirement for your business, ask Anthropic how Enterprise Frontier Safeguards applies to your Claude Enterprise agreement before connecting production data.

What should we check before connecting sensitive Salesforce data to Claude?

Confirm your data handling terms with Anthropic, including ZDR and Enterprise Frontier Safeguards. Create a permission set so only approved users can connect, and never allow self-authorization on the External Client App. Keep the Dispatch API tool set to Deny so Claude can’t change records during the beta. Review field-level security and sharing on sensitive fields, because Claude can see whatever each signed-in user can see. If you use Data 360, Salesforce showed at Dreamforce 2026 how to tag sensitive fields like tax IDs as confidential and apply a masking policy, so agents working in Claude see only the last four characters. Security Center Essentials, which Salesforce now includes for every customer at no additional cost, is a good starting view of your org’s security settings and connected apps. Salesforce also said at Dreamforce 2026 that Event Monitoring logs, including the free tier, record the connected app behind each API call, so you can tell work done through Claude apart from work done by people.

Should we create a permission set?

Salesforce marks it optional but recommended. Without one, every user in the org is authorized to use the connection. With one, only users you assign get access.

How much does Salesforce in Claude cost?

Salesforce hasn’t announced pricing. Its announcements say pricing and packaging are subject to change. You do need Claude Enterprise, which is priced separately by Anthropic.

Does it work with Slack?

Yes. Slack is the one extra connector built into the plugin, used for internal context and drafted Slack summaries. Email, calendar and file connectors can be added separately in Claude.

Can we customize the skills?

Yes. Salesforce publishes the plugin on GitHub as open source. Teams can add their own context, such as ideal customer profile, qualification framework, competitors and writing style, and adapt skills to their sales process. Salesforce also said at Dreamforce 2026 that custom skills built in Agentforce Studio are planned to become generally available around October 2026 and will be added to the Salesforce MCP server, so skills your team creates can run from Claude and update centrally instead of being installed on each person’s computer. Skills are private by default, follow each user’s existing permissions, and admins decide who can create, run and share them. Salesforce hasn’t said which licenses custom skills require.

Is it only for Sales Cloud?

For now. The beta covers sales and revenue teams. Salesforce lists other areas, including Service, Marketing, Commerce and Data 360, as coming soon.

Sources

Compiled by 21 Knots, a Salesforce partner, from Salesforce's documentation and Dreamforce 2026 announcements. We'll keep it current as the beta changes.