dataDicGen

Improve the governance of your Salesforce implementation with this Salesforce CLI plugin that generates a Data Dictionary from any authenticated org — in Excel, HTML, JSON, or Markdown — plus an interactive schema map you can filter to as few or as many objects as you want.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18
• The unified Salesforce CLI (sf). Legacy sfdx invocations still work via a deprecated alias.
• An authenticated org (sf org login web) before running the command.

Installation

$ sf plugins install sfdxdatadicgen

Or from this repo:

$ sf plugins install https://github.com/marsson/dataDicGen

Usage

Default — Excel only:

$ sf data-dictionary generate --target-org myOrg@example.com

Every format at once (the schema map is embedded inside <base>.html):

$ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrg --format xlsx,html,json,md

HTML report only, with a custom output base:

$ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrg -f ./out/dict --format html

Include extra standard objects and a managed-package namespace:

$ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrg -m -s Case,Opportunity -l npsp__

Default selection

Every run always includes:

• All custom objects (__c), excluding managed-package objects.
• The standard objects Account, Contact, and User.

Anything else is opt-in.

Adding more standard objects (e.g. Opportunity and Lead)

Use the -s (--includestandardsobjects) flag with a comma-separated list of API names:

$ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrg -s Opportunity,Lead --format md

This produces a Markdown dictionary containing Account, Contact, User, Opportunity, Lead plus all of your custom objects. The flag accepts as many objects as you want — repeat or extend the list:

$ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrg -s Opportunity,Lead,Case,Product2 --format html,md

If any name in the list isn't present in the org, the command fails fast with a clear error so you don't end up with a half-empty dictionary.

Backwards compatibility. The previous command name dataDictionary:generate is still accepted and prints a deprecation notice. -o is now --target-org (the SF CLI standard); the old -o output short was moved to -f. The long --output flag is unchanged.

Output formats

Pick one or many with --format / -t (default xlsx). Outputs are written to the directory of --output using its basename (or to the current directory using the org username when --output is omitted).

Format	File	What it is
xlsx	<base>.xlsx	The classic multi-sheet Excel workbook (one sheet per object).
html	<base>.html	Self-contained interactive HTML report with the schema map embedded (Reference / Schema map tabs).
json	<base>.json	Single JSON document with every object, field, picklist, and relationship.
md	<base>.md	Markdown reference with an index and one section per object.

HTML report highlights

A single <base>.html file with a top tab bar that switches between two views:

Reference

• Sticky sidebar with searchable object list and per-object field counts.
• Hero header with object / custom / field totals.
• Sticky table headers, color-coded type badges, expandable picklist & formula details.
• One-click filter pills for Custom only / Standard only.
• Light / dark theme toggle (preference saved in localStorage).

Schema map

• Force-directed D3 graph rendered as rounded rectangles sized to fit each API name.
• Sidebar checkbox list — pick as few or as many objects as you want, or use bulk buttons:
  • All — every object selected.
  • None — clear the canvas.
  • Connected — only objects that participate in at least one relationship.
  • Custom / Standard — quick partition.
• Live search to narrow the sidebar.
• Drag nodes, scroll to zoom, click a node for details (label, description, incoming/outgoing relationships).
• Bottom legend distinguishing standard objects, custom objects, lookups, and master-detail.
• Edge styling: dashed gray for lookups, solid orange (thicker) for master-detail.

The HTML file is fully self-contained — D3.js is bundled inline, so there are no external assets and no internet connection is required to open it.

• sf data-dictionary generate
• sf dataDictionary generate

sf data-dictionary generate

Generate a data dictionary for the selected org in one or more formats.

USAGE
  $ sf data-dictionary generate -o <value> [--json] [--flags-dir <value>] [-f <value>] [-m] [-s <value>...] [-l <value>...]
    [-t <value>...]

FLAGS
  -f, --output=<value>                      Destination directory and base file name (extension is appended per format).
  -l, --includemanagedpackages=<value>...   Comma-separated namespaces of managed packages whose objects should be
                                            included.
  -m, --includemanaged                      Include objects from all managed packages.
  -o, --target-org=<value>                  (required) Username or alias of the target org. Not required if the
                                            `target-org` configuration variable is already set.
  -s, --includestandardsobjects=<value>...  Additional standard objects to include (Account, Contact, and User are
                                            included by default).
  -t, --format=<value>...                   Output formats to generate. One or more of: xlsx, html, json, md.

GLOBAL FLAGS
  --flags-dir=<value>  Import flag values from a directory.
  --json               Format output as json.

DESCRIPTION
  Generate a data dictionary for the selected org in one or more formats.

  Connects to the target org, describes its sObjects, and produces a data dictionary in the requested formats: Excel
  (.xlsx), HTML report, JSON, or Markdown. The HTML report includes an interactive schema map (Reference / Schema map
  tabs) embedded in the same self-contained file.

ALIASES
  $ sf dataDictionary generate

EXAMPLES
  $ sf data-dictionary generate --target-org myOrg@example.com

  $ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrgName -m -s Case,Opportunity,Product2

  $ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrgName -f ./out/dict --format xlsx,html,json,md

  $ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrgName -f ./out/dict --format html

See code: src/commands/data-dictionary/generate.ts

sf dataDictionary generate

Generate a data dictionary for the selected org in one or more formats.

USAGE
  $ sf dataDictionary generate -o <value> [--json] [--flags-dir <value>] [-f <value>] [-m] [-s <value>...] [-l <value>...]
    [-t <value>...]

FLAGS
  -f, --output=<value>                      Destination directory and base file name (extension is appended per format).
  -l, --includemanagedpackages=<value>...   Comma-separated namespaces of managed packages whose objects should be
                                            included.
  -m, --includemanaged                      Include objects from all managed packages.
  -o, --target-org=<value>                  (required) Username or alias of the target org. Not required if the
                                            `target-org` configuration variable is already set.
  -s, --includestandardsobjects=<value>...  Additional standard objects to include (Account, Contact, and User are
                                            included by default).
  -t, --format=<value>...                   Output formats to generate. One or more of: xlsx, html, json, md.

GLOBAL FLAGS
  --flags-dir=<value>  Import flag values from a directory.
  --json               Format output as json.

DESCRIPTION
  Generate a data dictionary for the selected org in one or more formats.

  Connects to the target org, describes its sObjects, and produces a data dictionary in the requested formats: Excel
  (.xlsx), HTML report, JSON, or Markdown. The HTML report includes an interactive schema map (Reference / Schema map
  tabs) embedded in the same self-contained file.

ALIASES
  $ sf dataDictionary generate

EXAMPLES
  $ sf data-dictionary generate --target-org myOrg@example.com

  $ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrgName -m -s Case,Opportunity,Product2

  $ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrgName -f ./out/dict --format xlsx,html,json,md

  $ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrgName -f ./out/dict --format html

Behavior

• Every custom object (__c, excluding managed-package objects) is always included.
• The standard objects Account, Contact, and User are always included. Use --includestandardsobjects to add more.
• --includemanaged includes every managed-package object — use --includemanagedpackages to scope by namespace prefix.
• --format accepts a comma-separated list. Repeating the flag works too: -t xlsx -t html.

Development

$ git clone https://github.com/marsson/dataDicGen.git
$ cd dataDicGen
$ npm install
$ npm run build
$ npm test
$ npm run lint

Run the plugin locally without installing:

$ ./bin/dev.js data-dictionary generate -o myOrg@example.com --format html,json,md

Or link it into your global sf CLI:

$ sf plugins link .
$ sf data-dictionary generate -o myOrg@example.com --format xlsx,html,json,md

Project layout

• src/commands/data-dictionary/generate.ts — the SF command (sf-plugins-core).
• src/shared/filter.ts — pure helpers for sObject selection.
• src/shared/dictionary.ts — describe + metadata loader, relationship extraction.
• src/shared/builders/jsonBuilder.ts — JSON output.
• src/shared/builders/mdBuilder.ts — Markdown output.
• src/shared/builders/htmlBuilder.ts — interactive HTML report (combines the reference view and the embedded schema map).
• src/shared/builders/schemaViewer.ts — schema-map render helpers consumed by htmlBuilder (CSS, JS, embedded data, inlined D3).
• src/includes/*.cjs — CommonJS modules implementing config, downloader, and Excel generation.
• messages/generate.json — command summary, descriptions, examples, and error templates.
• test/ — Mocha + Chai tests, runnable with npm test.

Donation

This plugin is based on the SFDC Data Dictionary Generator by @gavignon.

If this project helps you, you can buy me a coffee: