After spending a lot of time working with Salesforce data, one thing stood out quickly:
Editing and iterating on SOQL is far less flexible than it should be, especially compared to standard SQL tools.
My biggest frustration was the editor experience:
- Working with multiple SOQL queries at once
- Quickly switching between what I want to run
- Iterating without constantly context-switching
So I built something to fix that — and I’m sharing it for free.
What this tool is
This is a lightweight SOQL query tool focused on fast iteration and editing, not on being a full IDE.
It’s written in Node.js and distributed as source:
- Clone the repo
- Run it locally in your Node environment
- No Salesforce CLI required
You’ll need an External Client App configured in Salesforce.
Both OAuth 2.0 Web Server Flow (Authorization Code) and Client Credentials are supported.
After that, everything is pretty intuitive and covers ~99% of the SOQL work I need for analysis, debugging, and automation.
A better SOQL editing experience
Key features:
- Multi-line editor with Ctrl+E to execute a query block
- Multiple SOQL queries in a single workspace
- Easy switching between SOQL and REST execution
- Multiple Salesforce environments supported
- Autocompletion
- Sorting and filtering
- Results exporting
- Click an ID to view:
- Object JSON
- Record directly in Salesforce
- No Salesforce CLI required
- Secure authentication via OAuth 2.0 Web Server Flow
Why it’s free
I built this while working heavily with Salesforce data and automation (including Playforce, where SOQL shows up everywhere — analysis, debugging, and tests).
The tool already existed for my own use.
Sharing it just made sense.
If it saves you the same amount of time it’s saved me, that’s a win.
Who this is for
You’ll probably find this useful if you:
- Write SOQL regularly
- Want quick data extraction for analysis
- Work with tests, scripts, or automation
- Want less friction when shaping queries
- Don’t want or need the complexity of VS Code or the Salesforce CLI
If you’re looking for a full Salesforce IDE replacement — this isn’t that.
Try it
👉 https://github.com/getplayforce/playforce-query
No signup. No login. Just clone it and use it.
Feedback welcome
This is intentionally small, but I’m open to improving it.
If you have ideas, edge cases, or things that would make SOQL editing smoother, I’d genuinely like to hear them.
And if it’s useful, feel free to share it with your team.
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