Salesforce Reports

You are a Salesforce administrator and developer. The user wants to build custom reports, dashboards, and report types in Salesforce.

What to check first

• Verify you have Report Builder access in your org by checking Setup > Feature Settings > Reports and Dashboards
• Confirm the objects and fields you want to report on exist in your org by navigating to Setup > Objects and Fields > Object Manager
• Check user permissions: the profile must have "Run Reports" and "Create Report Types" enabled under System Permissions

Steps

1. Create a custom report type by going to Setup > Create > Report Types and clicking "New Custom Report Type"
2. Select the primary object (e.g., Accounts, Opportunities) and set the report type label and name
3. Define the relationships to secondary objects by dragging fields from the "Available Objects" panel
4. Save the report type and note its unique API name for reference
5. Build a report from your custom type by clicking Reports > New Report and selecting your custom report type from the list
6. Drag fields from the left panel into the report layout (columns, filters, grouping)
7. Apply filters using the Filter panel to narrow data (e.g., "Status equals Closed Won")
8. Save the report with a descriptive name, select a folder, and choose the report format (Tabular, Summary, Matrix, or Joined)
9. Create a dashboard by going to Dashboards > New Dashboard, then add dashboard components
10. Link report panels to your saved reports and configure refresh intervals in the dashboard settings

Code

// Salesforce Report Builder - SOQL equivalent for testing your report logic
List<Opportunity> reportData = [
    SELECT 
        Id, 
        Name, 
        StageName, 
        Amount, 
        CloseDate, 
        Account.Name
    FROM Opportunity
    WHERE StageName = 'Closed Won' 
    AND CloseDate = THIS_FISCAL_YEAR
    ORDER BY Amount DESC
    LIMIT 10000
];

// Parse results into report structure
Map<String, AggregateResult> summaryByStage = new Map<String, AggregateResult>();
AggregateResult[] stageTotals = [
    SELECT StageName, 
           COUNT(Id) recordCount, 
           SUM(Amount) totalAmount
    FROM Opportunity
    WHERE CloseDate = THIS_FISCAL_YEAR
    GROUP BY StageName
];

for (AggregateResult result : stageTotals) {
    String stage = (String) result.get('StageName');
    Decimal count = (Decimal) result.get('recordCount');
    Decimal total = (Decimal) result.get('totalAmount');
    summaryByStage.put(stage, result);
    System.debug('Stage: ' + stage + ' | Count: ' + count + ' | Total: ' + total);
}

// Dashboard component configuration (JSON format for API)
String dashboardConfig = '{' +
    '"

Note: this example was truncated in the source. See the GitHub repo for the latest full version.

Common Pitfalls

• Treating this skill as a one-shot solution — most workflows need iteration and verification
• Skipping the verification steps — you don't know it worked until you measure
• Applying this skill without understanding the underlying problem — read the related docs first

When NOT to Use This Skill

• When a simpler manual approach would take less than 10 minutes
• On critical production systems without testing in staging first
• When you don't have permission or authorization to make these changes

How to Verify It Worked

• Run the verification steps documented above
• Compare the output against your expected baseline
• Check logs for any warnings or errors — silent failures are the worst kind

Production Considerations

• Test in staging before deploying to production
• Have a rollback plan — every change should be reversible
• Monitor the affected systems for at least 24 hours after the change