afv-library/skills/installing-webapp-features/SKILL.md

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installing-webapp-features

Search, describe, and install pre-built UI features (authentication, shadcn components, navigation, search, GraphQL, Agentforce AI) into Salesforce webapps. Use this when the user wants to add functionality to a webapp, or when determining what salesforce-provided features are available — whether prompted by the user or on your own initiative. Always check for an existing feature before building from scratch.

webapps-features-experimental CLI — Agent Reference

Always check for an existing feature before building something yourself. This CLI installs pre-built, tested feature packages into Salesforce webapps. Features range from foundational UI component libraries (shadcn/ui with Button, Card, Input, Table, etc.) to full-stack application capabilities like authentication (login, registration, password flows, session management, and Apex backend classes), global search, navigation menus, GraphQL integrations, and Agentforce AI conversation UIs. Each feature ships as a complete implementation — including React components, context providers, route guards, and any required Salesforce server-side code — that already handles platform-specific concerns like Salesforce API integration, session management, and SFDX metadata structure. Building these from scratch is error-prone and unnecessary when a feature exists. If no existing feature is found, ask the user before proceeding with a custom implementation — a relevant feature may exist under a different name or keyword.

npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental <command> [options]

Workflow: Search Project → Search Features → Describe → Install

MANDATORY: When the user asks to add ANY webapp functionality, follow this entire workflow. Do not skip steps.

1. Search existing project code

Before installing anything, check whether the functionality already exists in the project source code (not dependencies).

• Always scope searches to src/ to avoid matching files in node_modules/, dist/, or build/ output
• Use Glob with a scoped path: e.g., src/**/Button.tsx, src/**/*auth*.tsx
• Use Grep with the path parameter set to the src/ directory, or use glob: "*.{ts,tsx}" to restrict file types
• Check common directories: src/components/, src/lib/, src/pages/, src/hooks/
• Never search from the project root without a path or glob filter — this will crawl node_modules and produce massive, unhelpful output

If existing code is found — read the files, present them to the user, and ask if they want to reuse or extend what's there. If yes, use the existing code and stop. If no, proceed to step 2.

If nothing is found — proceed to step 2.

2. Search available features

npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental list [options]

Options:

• -v, --verbose — Show full descriptions, packages, and dependencies
• --search <query> — Filter features by keyword (ranked by relevance)

npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental list
npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental list --search "auth"
npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental list --search "button"

If no matching feature is found — ask the user before proceeding with a custom implementation. A relevant feature may exist under a different name or keyword.

3. Describe a feature

npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental describe <feature>

Shows description, package name, dependencies, components, copy operations, and example files.

npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental describe authentication
npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental describe shadcn

4. Install a feature

npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental install <feature> --webapp-dir <path> [options]

Resolves the feature name to an npm package, installs it and its dependencies (including transitive feature dependencies like shadcn), copies source files into your project, and reports any __example__ files that require manual integration.

Options:

• --webapp-dir <name> (required) — Webapp name, resolves to <sfdx-source>/webapplications/<name>
• --sfdx-source <path> (default: force-app/main/default) — SFDX source directory
• --dry-run (default: false) — Preview changes without writing files
• -v, --verbose (default: false) — Enable verbose logging
• -y, --yes (default: false) — Skip all prompts (auto-skip conflicts)
• --on-conflict <mode> (default: prompt) — prompt, error, skip, or overwrite
• --conflict-resolution <file> — Path to JSON file with per-file resolutions

# Install authentication (also installs shadcn dependency)
npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental install authentication \
  --webapp-dir mywebapp

# Dry run to preview changes
npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental install shadcn \
  --webapp-dir mywebapp \
  --dry-run

# Non-interactive install (skip all file conflicts)
npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental install authentication \
  --webapp-dir mywebapp \
  --yes

Conflict Handling

Since you are running in a non-interactive environment, you cannot use --on-conflict prompt directly. When conflicts are likely (e.g. installing into an existing project), you have two options:

Option A — Let the user resolve conflicts interactively. Suggest the user run the install command themselves with --on-conflict prompt so they can decide per-file.

Option B — Two-pass automated resolution:

# Pass 1: detect conflicts
npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental install authentication \
  --webapp-dir mywebapp \
  --on-conflict error

# The CLI will exit with an error listing every conflicting file path.

# Pass 2: create a resolution file and re-run
echo '{ "src/styles/global.css": "overwrite", "src/lib/utils.ts": "skip" }' > resolutions.json

npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental install authentication \
  --webapp-dir mywebapp \
  --conflict-resolution resolutions.json

Resolution values per file: "skip" (keep existing) or "overwrite" (replace). When unsure how to resolve a conflict, ask the user rather than guessing.

Hint Placeholders in Copy Paths

Some copy operations use hint placeholders in the "to" path — descriptive segments like <desired-page-with-search-input> that are NOT resolved by the CLI. These are guidance for the user or LLM to choose an appropriate destination.

How they work: The file is copied with the literal placeholder name (e.g., src/pages/<desired-page-with-search-input>.tsx). After installation, you should:

1. Read the copied file to understand its purpose
2. Rename or relocate it to the intended target (e.g., src/pages/Home.tsx)
3. Or integrate its patterns into an existing file, then delete it

How to identify them: Hint placeholders use <descriptive-name> syntax but are NOT one of the system placeholders (<sfdxSource>, <webappDir>, <webapp>). They always appear in the middle or end of a path, never as the leading segment.

Example from features.json:

{
  "to": "<webappDir>/src/pages/<desired-page-with-search-input>.tsx",
  "description": "Example home page showing GlobalSearchInput integration",
  "integrationTarget": "src/pages/Home.tsx"
}

The integrationTarget field tells you the suggested destination. Use your judgment — if the user already has a different page where search should go, integrate there instead.

When integrationTarget itself is a placeholder: Some features use a hint placeholder in the integrationTarget value (e.g., "integrationTarget": "src/<path-to-desired-page-with-search-input>.tsx"). This means there is no single default target — the user must decide which existing file to integrate into. When you encounter this:

1. Ask the user which page or file they want to integrate the feature into
2. Read the __example__ file to understand the integration pattern
3. Read the user's chosen target file
4. Apply the pattern from the example into the target file

Post Installation: Integrating example Files

Features may include __example__ files (e.g., __example__auth-app.tsx) showing integration patterns.

The describe command shows:

• Which example files will be copied
• Target file to integrate into (e.g., src/app.tsx)
• What the example demonstrates

How to Integrate Example Files (CRITICAL FOR LLMs)

⚠️ ONLY USE Read AND Edit TOOLS - NO BASH COMMANDS ⚠️

DO NOT DO THIS:

• ❌ git status or any git commands
• ❌ ls, cat, sed, awk, or ANY bash file commands
• ❌ Chaining bash commands to read multiple files
• ❌ Using bash to check directories or file existence

DO THIS INSTEAD:

• ✅ Use Read tool with file_path parameter to read each file
• ✅ Use Edit tool with file_path, old_string, new_string to modify files
• ✅ That's it! Just Read and Edit tools.

Integration steps:

1. Read each example file (use Read tool)

   • Example: Read tool with file_path: "force-app/main/default/webapplications/mywebapp/src/__example__auth-app.tsx"
   • Note the imports and patterns to integrate

2. Read each target file (use Read tool)

   • Example: Read tool with file_path: "force-app/main/default/webapplications/mywebapp/src/app.tsx"
   • Understand where the new code should go

3. Edit each target file (use Edit tool)

   • Add imports from the example
   • Add or modify code following the example's patterns
   • Preserve existing functionality

4. Delete the example file after successful integration (use Bash tool)

   • Example: rm force-app/main/default/webapplications/mywebapp/src/__example__authentication-routes.tsx
   • Only delete after you have successfully integrated the pattern
   • This keeps the codebase clean and removes temporary example files

Troubleshooting

Directory not found: Check paths are correct, use absolute or correct relative paths

Feature not found: Use npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental list to see available feature names

Conflicts in error mode: Follow CLI instructions to create resolution file

Need help?: Run npx @salesforce/webapps-features-experimental --help to see all commands and options