afv-library/skills/developing-agentforce/references/scaffold-reference.md

Scaffold -- Stub Generation Reference

Extracted from SKILL.md Section 17. This file is loaded on demand when scaffold details are needed.

Overview

Generates stub metadata files (Flow XML, Apex classes) for Agent Script targets that don't exist in the org, with SObject-aware field discovery when connected.

Usage

Generate stub metadata files directly using the type mapping and action classification rules below. Parse the .agent file to extract action targets and their I/O schemas, then generate Flow XML or Apex classes as appropriate.

For automated scaffold generation, see the Advanced section at the bottom.

What it does

1. Discovery Phase (unless --all)

• Runs discover to identify missing targets
• Extracts I/O schemas from the .agent file
• Maps Agent Script types to Salesforce types

2. Flow Generation (flow:// targets)

Generates complete Flow XML with input/output variables, assignment placeholders, and start element.

3. Apex Generation (apex:// targets)

Generates Apex class with @InvocableMethod, input/output wrapper classes, and test class with 75% coverage boilerplate.

4. Action Classification

Signal	Classification	Generated Files
"API", "HTTP", "REST", URL	callout	Apex + HttpCalloutMock test + Remote Site + Custom Metadata
"query", "record", "SOQL"	soql	Apex with SOQL logic + test
No special signals	basic	Standard placeholder Apex + test

5. SObject-Aware Generation

When connected to an org:

• Queries SObject metadata for referenced types
• Generates accurate SOQL queries in Apex stubs
• Creates proper field mappings in Flow elements

6. Type Mapping

Agent Script	Flow Type	Apex Type
string	String	String
number	Number	Decimal
boolean	Boolean	Boolean
date	Date	Date
id	String	Id
object	Apex (SObject)	SObject
list[string]	String (multipicklist)	List<String>

Output Structure

force-app/main/default/
  flows/
    Get_Order_Status.flow-meta.xml
  classes/
    OrderProcessor.cls
    OrderProcessor.cls-meta.xml
    OrderProcessorTest.cls
    OrderProcessorTest.cls-meta.xml
  permissionsets/
    Agent_Action_Access.permissionset-meta.xml

Best Practices

Stub Data Quality (CRITICAL for Grounding)

Scaffolded stubs MUST return realistic-looking data, not 'TODO' or empty strings. When the platform LLM invokes an action and gets 'TODO' back, it has no useful data to present — so it falls back to its training data (SMALL_TALK grounding) or fabricates results (hallucination).

Evidence: Comcast eval stubs returned realistic comparison data → 93% grounding rate. JPMorgan eval stubs returned 'TODO' → 40% grounding rate.

WRONG	CORRECT
res.status = 'TODO';	res.status = 'Shipped - In Transit';
res.summary = '';	res.summary = '23 cases open, 8 high-priority, avg resolution 2.3 days';
res.result = 'TODO: implement';	res.result = '{"match_score": 0.92, "case_id": "500ABC"}';

Guidelines for realistic stub data:

• Use the action description and output field names to infer plausible values
• Include the input values in the response (e.g., 'Order ' + req.order_id + ' is Shipped')
• For JSON outputs, return a valid JSON string with all expected fields populated
• For numeric outputs, return non-zero values that make business sense
• For list outputs, return 2-3 sample items

I/O Variable Matching

Scaffolded stubs MUST have I/O names that exactly match the .agent file. Case sensitivity matters: order_id != Order_Id != orderId.

Flow XML Element Ordering (CRITICAL)

All elements of the same type MUST be grouped together. Interleaved elements cause Metadata API rejection.

Recommended order: apiVersion -> description -> label -> variables -> assignments -> decisions -> recordLookups -> recordCreates -> recordUpdates -> start -> status -> processType

Post-Scaffolding Steps

1. Review generated code (stubs have TODO comments)
2. Add business logic
3. Update test classes with meaningful assertions
4. Add error handling and FLS/CRUD checks

Backing Logic Selection Criteria

Criteria	Choose Flow	Choose Apex
Data operations	Simple CRUD, record lookups	Complex queries, bulk ops, cross-object logic
External callouts	No callouts needed	REST/SOAP callouts, Named Credentials
Business logic	Simple branching, assignments	Complex algorithms, string manipulation
Existing assets	Flow already exists	Apex class already exists
Maintenance	Admins maintain	Developers maintain
Testing	Flow test coverage built-in	Requires Apex test class (75%+ coverage)

Rule of thumb: If the action does a single record lookup or update with no callouts, use Flow. If it involves callouts, complex logic, or bulk operations, use Apex. When in doubt, prefer Apex — it's more debuggable and less constrained.

Integration Workflow

# 1. Discover missing targets (CLI-native)
sf api request rest --json "/services/data/v63.0/tooling/query?q=SELECT+DeveloperName+FROM+Flow+WHERE+IsActive=true+AND+ProcessType='AutoLaunchedFlow'" -o myorg
sf api request rest --json "/services/data/v63.0/tooling/query?q=SELECT+Name+FROM+ApexClass+WHERE+Body+LIKE+'%25InvocableMethod%25'" -o myorg
# 2. Generate stubs for missing targets (use type mapping + action classification above)
# 3. Edit stubs with business logic
# 4. Deploy to org
sf project deploy start --json --source-dir force-app/main/default -o myorg
# 5. Verify targets exist
sf api request rest --json "/services/data/v63.0/tooling/query?q=SELECT+DeveloperName+FROM+Flow+WHERE+IsActive=true+AND+ProcessType='AutoLaunchedFlow'" -o myorg
# 6. Publish agent
sf agent publish authoring-bundle --json --api-name MyAgent -o myorg

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	All stubs generated
1	Some stubs failed
2	Critical failure

Advanced (requires ADLC repo clone)

The scaffold.py script automates stub generation with SObject-aware field discovery. It is NOT bundled with the skill — requires cloning the ADLC repo.

# From ADLC repo root — scaffold missing targets (runs discover first)
python3 scripts/scaffold.py \
  --agent-file path/to/Agent.agent -o <org-alias> --output-dir force-app/main/default

# Scaffold all targets without checking org
python3 scripts/scaffold.py \
  --agent-file path/to/Agent.agent --all --output-dir force-app/main/default