Q: What is the most important tip for working with Article Type?

Audit by object name, not field name. Search metadata for __kav : report types, list views, and packaged code all name the concrete object. Knowledge__kav is the live one.

Question 1

What is Article Type in Salesforce?

Accepted Answer

An Article Type is a retired Salesforce Knowledge construct that defined one kind of article, such as an FAQ, a How-To, or a Procedure. Each one was a separate custom object with a __kav suffix, carrying its own fields, page layouts, and object permissions.
Lightning Knowledge replaced the design with standard Record Types on a single Knowledge object. Salesforce enforced the migration release update in Summer '25 and ended support for the Classic Knowledge data model on March 1, 2026.
You will still meet the phrase in older Help pages, certification material, and untidied org metadata. Read i

Question 2

Can you explain Article Type in plain English?

Accepted Answer

Imagine a filing cabinet where every category of document needed its own separate cabinet. Adding a category meant buying another cabinet. Salesforce swapped that for one big cabinet with labelled drawers. The old cabinets are gone, and the labels do the same job.

Question 3

What is a real example of Article Type?

Accepted Answer

A regional insurance carrier ran Classic Knowledge with three Article Types: FAQ__kav, Procedure__kav, and Release_Note__kav. An Apex controller queried SELECT Id, Title FROM FAQ__kav WHERE PublishStatus = 'Online'. Running the Lightning Knowledge Migration Tool collapsed the three objects into Knowledge__kav. Each old type became a Record Type: FAQ, Procedure, and Release Note. The query stopped resolving, so the controller was rewritten to target Knowledge__kav and filter on RecordType.DeveloperName = 'FAQ'. The support team also lost article type filtering on their article lists, which R...

Question 4

What is the most important tip for working with Article Type?

Accepted Answer

Audit by object name, not field name. Search metadata for __kav: report types, list views, and packaged code all name the concrete object. Knowledge__kav is the live one.

Question 5

Summer '25 is when Salesforce enforced the Lightning Knowledge migration release update. What date does Salesforce publish as the formal end of support for the Classic Knowledge data model?

Accepted Answer

Salesforce's retirement listing carries an entry titled Classic Knowledge Data Model End of Support, dated March 1, 2026. Enforcement of the release update in Summer '25 is a separate milestone, and quoting it alone is the mistake most third-party write-ups make.

Question 6

In Classic Knowledge, how was each Article Type represented in the data model?

Accepted Answer

Each Article Type resolved to a distinct object such as FAQ__kav, which is why SOQL, report types, and Apex all had to name the concrete type. Lightning Knowledge folded those objects into Knowledge__kav and distinguishes kinds with Record Types instead.

Question 7

After an org migrates to Lightning Knowledge, what happens to Apex that queries the ArticleType field?

Accepted Answer

Salesforce documents that the Article Type field is not accessible through SOQL or the API once Lightning Knowledge is enabled. Point those queries at the Knowledge object and filter on RecordType.DeveloperName instead.

Article Type

Definition

In plain English

Worked example

How Article Types worked and why they are gone

One custom object per kind of article

Two dates, only one a release

What Record Types took over

Translating the term in old material

Trust & references

About the Author

Test your knowledge

Discussion