Event Relays
Event Relays is a Setup page where administrators configure the forwarding of Salesforce platform events and change data capture events to external event buses like Amazon EventBridge.
Definition
Event Relays is a Setup page where administrators configure the forwarding of Salesforce platform events and change data capture events to external event buses like Amazon EventBridge. Event relays enable real-time data streaming from Salesforce to external systems without building custom polling integrations.
In plain English
“Here's a simple way to think about it: Event Relays bridge Salesforce events to your real event bus - Amazon EventBridge, Apache Kafka, Azure Event Grid. Events forward to your shared infrastructure where every other system already publishes and subscribes.”
Worked example
The integration team at NexGen Logistics configures an Event Relay to forward all Change Data Capture events on the Shipment object to Amazon EventBridge. When a shipment status changes in Salesforce, the event is instantly relayed to AWS, where it triggers a Lambda function that updates the customer-facing tracking portal in real time.
Why Event Relays bridge Salesforce events to your real event bus
Salesforce platform events are a useful internal mechanism, but most organizations also run a wider event infrastructure - Amazon EventBridge, Apache Kafka, Azure Event Grid - that handles events from many systems together. Event Relays is the configuration that bridges the two. Salesforce events get forwarded to your external bus in near-real-time, where downstream systems consume them alongside events from every other source.
The reason this matters is that Salesforce-specific integrations don't scale past a handful of consumers. The third or fourth system that needs to know when an Account changes shouldn't have to subscribe directly to the Salesforce event channel; it should consume from your shared bus where every other source publishes. Event Relays is how you make that architecture work without rebuilding integrations from scratch. Plan it alongside any non-trivial event-driven build.
How to set up Event Relays
Event Relays forward Salesforce Platform Events and Change Data Capture events to external event buses — Amazon EventBridge, Confluent Kafka, etc. — without writing polling integrations. Real-time, push-based streaming. Setup involves a Connected App on the external side, then configuring the relay endpoint in Salesforce.
- Confirm licensing
Event Relay is part of Salesforce's event-streaming offering. Some editions include a baseline; high-volume usage requires add-on capacity.
- Set up the destination event bus first
For AWS EventBridge: in your AWS account, create a Partner Event Source for Salesforce. AWS provides a Source ARN you'll paste back into Salesforce.
- Open Setup → Event Relays
Setup gear → Quick Find: Event Relays → Event Relays.
- Click New Event Relay
Top-right.
- Set Name and Description
Convention: per-destination ("AWS Prod EventBridge").
- Pick the source channel
Which Salesforce events to relay — Change Data Capture event types, Platform Events. Per-channel config.
- Set the destination ARN / endpoint
Paste from the destination event bus's setup.
- Activate
Inactive relays don't forward events. Activate when ready.
- Verify by triggering a Salesforce event
Update a record (CDC), or publish a Platform Event. Confirm the event appears in the destination event bus within seconds.
CDC / Platform Event. Per-channel relay.
AWS EventBridge / Kafka / other event-bus partners.
Per-edition limits on events per minute.
- Event Relays count against your Platform Event delivery quota. High-volume CDC streaming (millions of events / day) hits limits — confirm capacity before scoping.
- Destination side must be configured first. Salesforce-side relay setup fails if the AWS / Kafka partner event source isn't ready.
- Failed event delivery doesn't automatically retry indefinitely. Salesforce keeps a small retry buffer; persistent destination failures result in dropped events. Monitor relay health.
How organizations use Event Relays
Migrated 12 point-to-point integrations into Event Relays + EventBridge; the architecture became maintainable and adding new consumers is now a configuration step.
Event Relays into Kafka feeds the data warehouse and ML pipelines simultaneously - one Salesforce event powers multiple downstream consumers.
Real-time inventory events relay to the e-commerce platform; out-of-stock displays update across channels within seconds of Salesforce changes.
Test your knowledge
Q1. How does Salesforce's multi-tenant model affect Event Relays?
Q2. Who can benefit from understanding Event Relays?
Q3. What architecture concept is Event Relays an example of?
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