Agent-based solutions are becoming a must-have for Salesforce customers. But for pro-code developers building on Agentforce, this means leaving behind familiar pro-code workflows and navigating new org-based builders.
If you’re a developer who lives in your IDE and relies on the Salesforce CLI, you know how frustrating it can be to switch back and forth between pro-code tools and browser-based builders. Every context switch adds overhead, increases the chance of errors, and disrupts your rhythm.
With the general availability of Agentforce DX pro-code tools, that is all starting to change.
Agentforce DX pro-code tools are now GA
On May 21, 2025, Salesforce launched a suite of tools purpose-built for developers who prefer to work in code, not clicks.
These tools are designed to support every stage of the agent development lifecycle, directly inside VS Code, Code Builder, and the Salesforce CLI. They include:
- A new
agentsplugin for the Salesforce CLI, allowing you to build, test, and preview AI-powered agents - A new Agentforce DX extension for VS Code and Code Builder, including the ability to run complex agent tests from the IDE
- New developer artifacts, tailored for Agentforce DX, that simplify complex agent metadata using human-readable YAML
Whether you’re integrating agent tests into CI pipelines or previewing an agent from the CLI in Code Builder, these tools bring the power to work with Agentforce into your existing pro-code workflows.
Why this matters for developers
Agentforce DX pro-code tools were built in direct response to what we’ve heard from developers like you, for example: “Let me stay in my IDE. Don’t make me learn a whole new point-and-click interface to try something new.”
With these new tools, you can:
- Stay in your flow: Work with Agentforce metadata without leaving your development environment
- Move faster: Generate, modify, and validate agent test configurations using YAML, optimized for readability and easier source control tracking
- Test with confidence: Preview agent conversations while making changes to underlying Apex classes, all without switching to an org
- Automate everything: Integrate agent testing and evaluation directly into CI/CD pipelines using the CLI
Note: These tools were designed specifically for developers who already know how to work with Salesforce metadata. If you’re coming from a low-code background, other tools may be a better fit.
Get started in three steps
Here’s how to get up and running with Agentforce DX pro-code tools:
- Update your Salesforce CLI
- Run any agent command to trigger installation of the Agentforce DX plugin
- Install the updated IDE extensions
- For VS Code: Install from the VS Code Marketplace
- For Code Builder: Use the Open VSX Marketplace
Need a test environment? You can get a completely free developer environment that includes Data Cloud, Agentforce, and everything you need to build and test agents. No setup required.
Learn more and dive deeper
If you’re ready to start building, these resources can help:
- Agentforce DX Developer Guide: Learn how to create, test, and preview agents using pro-code tools
- Agent Commands Reference: Explore CLI syntax and command options for the new
agentsplugin
Agentforce DX pro-code GA Demo video
What’s next?
Agentforce has amazing features coming this year — and so do we! Over the next few months, we’ll be adding pro-code support for:
- Quickly and easily working with topics and actions
- Advanced agent testing, including conversation history and multi-turn tests
- Enhanced conversation preview with session debug/trace info
- Apex debugging invoked from IDE-based conversation preview
We’re building these tools in the open with feedback from the developer community. If you’re using Agentforce DX pro-code tools, we’d love to hear what’s working, what’s confusing, and what you want next. Reach out to us on GitHub.
About the author
Vivek Chawla is a Product Management Director on the Developer Experience team at Salesforce. You can follow him on LinkedIn.