sf-setup

Salesforce Commerce Development Setup

Before Writing Code

Fetch live docs before setting up a project.

1. Web-fetch: https://github.com/SalesforceCommerceCloud/sfcc-ci for sfcc-ci CLI commands
2. Web-search: "site:developer.salesforce.com sf cli getting started 2026" for sf CLI setup
3. Web-search: "site:developer.salesforce.com SFRA getting started 2026" for SFRA project setup
4. Web-fetch: https://github.com/SalesforceCommerceCloud/storefront-reference-architecture for SFRA reference
5. Web-search: "site:developer.salesforce.com commerce cloud b2c b2b documentation 2026"

Conceptual Architecture

Prerequisites

B2C Commerce (SFCC) requires:

• Business Manager account (provided by Salesforce or your org)
• Sandbox instance (e.g., dev01-realm-customer.demandware.net)
• API client credentials (client ID + secret) for sfcc-ci authentication
• Account Manager credentials for WebDAV/OCAPI

B2B Commerce (Lightning) requires:

• Salesforce org (Developer Edition, sandbox, or production) with B2B Commerce license
• sf CLI installed (npm install -g @salesforce/cli)
• Scratch org or sandbox for isolated development

CLI Tools

Tool	Platform	Install	Auth
sfcc-ci	B2C	npm install -g sfcc-ci	sfcc-ci client:auth (client ID + secret)
sf CLI	B2B	npm install -g @salesforce/cli	sf org login web or sf org login jwt

Key sfcc-ci Commands:

• sfcc-ci code:deploy -- upload code to sandbox
• sfcc-ci code:activate -- activate a code version
• sfcc-ci sandbox:create / sandbox:list -- manage on-demand sandboxes
• sfcc-ci job:run -- execute Business Manager jobs

Key sf CLI Commands:

• sf project deploy start -- deploy metadata to org
• sf org create scratch -- create scratch org
• sf apex run test -- run Apex tests
• sf data import tree -- import sample data

Project Structures

B2C SFRA Cartridge Project:

sfra-project/
  cartridges/
    app_storefront_base/       # Base (never modify)
    app_custom_storefront/     # Custom overlay
      cartridge/
        controllers/, models/, scripts/
        templates/, client/ (js, scss)
  dw.json, package.json, webpack.config.js

B2C PWA Kit Project:

pwa-kit-project/
  app/
    components/, pages/, hooks/, utils/
    commerce-api/              # Commerce Cloud API client
  config/
    default.js, production.js
  package.json, .env

B2B Lightning Project:

b2b-lightning-project/
  force-app/main/default/
    lwc/, classes/, triggers/
    objects/, flexipages/
    experiences/, permissionsets/
  config/project-scratch-def.json
  sfdx-project.json, .forceignore

Configuration Files

dw.json (B2C):

• Placed in project root; configures hostname, code-version, cartridge list, excludes
• Never commit with credentials -- use environment variables or .env excluded from VCS

sfdx-project.json (B2B):

• Placed in project root; defines packageDirectories, sourceApiVersion, namespace, login URL

.forceignore (B2B):

• Excludes files from deployment (jsconfig.json, .eslintrc.json, logs, OS files)

Key Configuration Fields

B2C dw.json fields:

• hostname -- sandbox domain
• username / password -- credentials (prefer env vars)
• code-version -- target code version
• cartridges -- array of cartridge names to upload
• exclude -- files/directories to skip

B2B sfdx-project.json fields:

• packageDirectories -- array of source paths (typically force-app)
• sourceApiVersion -- Salesforce API version (e.g., "61.0")
• namespace -- package namespace (empty for unmanaged)
• sfdcLoginUrl -- org login URL

Sandbox and Org Types

Type	Platform	Purpose
Development sandbox	B2C	Developer-specific feature work
Staging sandbox	B2C	Pre-production validation
On-demand sandbox	B2C	Temporary, via sfcc-ci sandbox:create
Scratch org	B2B	Short-lived, disposable dev org
Developer sandbox	B2B	Partial copy of production
Full sandbox	B2B	Full copy of production for UAT

Environment Variables

Store credentials as environment variables, never in committed files.

B2C: SFCC_CLIENT_ID, SFCC_CLIENT_SECRET, SFCC_HOSTNAME, SFCC_USERNAME, SFCC_PASSWORD, SFCC_CODE_VERSION

B2B: SF_USERNAME, SF_ORG_ALIAS, SF_CLIENT_ID, SF_JWT_KEY_FILE (for CI/CD connected app auth)

Deprecated Technologies

Deprecated	Replacement
dwupload	sfcc-ci
sfdx CLI (old)	sf CLI (unified)
Prophet Debugger	Official Salesforce VS Code extensions

Best Practices

B2C Commerce

• Use sfcc-ci for all deployments; never use manual WebDAV upload
• Never modify app_storefront_base directly; always overlay in custom cartridge
• Build assets (npm run compile:js, npm run compile:scss) before deployment
• Keep dw.json out of version control (add to .gitignore)

B2B Commerce

• Use sf project deploy start for metadata deployment; avoid Change Sets
• Create scratch orgs for feature development; keep them isolated
• Use source tracking (sf project deploy preview) to review changes before deploy
• Use Permission Sets for access control; avoid modifying profiles directly

Both Platforms

• Use environment variables for all secrets and instance-specific configuration
• Set up CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment
• Use linting (ESLint, Prettier for JS; Apex PMD for Apex)

Fetch the sfcc-ci documentation, SFRA getting-started guide, and sf CLI reference for exact commands and latest project structures before setting up.