Syndication Feeds
Syndication Feeds in Salesforce are Atom or RSS web feeds that publish record data from a Salesforce Site or Experience Cloud page so that external applications, blog readers, and news aggregators can subscribe to updates without making direct API calls into the org.
Definition
Syndication Feeds in Salesforce are Atom or RSS web feeds that publish record data from a Salesforce Site or Experience Cloud page so that external applications, blog readers, and news aggregators can subscribe to updates without making direct API calls into the org. The feature wraps a SOQL query in a feed channel definition and exposes the result at a public URL with the Salesforce-managed RSS or Atom XML structure.
Syndication Feeds were a heavier-used feature in the late 2000s and early 2010s when RSS was a primary content-distribution channel. In 2026 they remain in the platform but are a low-investment area. Most modern integrations replace Syndication Feeds with REST API endpoints, Platform Events, or Salesforce Connect external objects, since those technologies offer authentication, finer access control, and richer payloads. Existing feeds continue to serve and rarely need attention; new use cases rarely justify them.
How Syndication Feeds work, where they still fit, and what to use instead
How Syndication Feeds connect to Salesforce data
Each Syndication Feed in Salesforce is a configuration record under the parent Site or Experience Cloud network. The feed has a name, a description, a Channel URL prefix, and a SOQL query that drives what gets returned. The platform runs the SOQL against the public guest user (the unauthenticated visitor identity for the Site or community) and renders the result as an RSS or Atom XML document. Standard mapping rules turn record fields into feed entries: typically Title, Description, Pub Date, Author, and Link. The mapping can be customized per feed so that any text or URL field on the source object maps to the corresponding RSS element. Each feed has its own URL, and visitors do not need a Salesforce login to consume it.
Where Syndication Feeds make sense and where they do not
The feature was designed for content distribution: blog posts published from a Salesforce Knowledge article, news items from a Custom Object, product announcements from a public-facing record, or job listings from a Recruiting object. RSS and Atom subscribers (Feedly, NetNewsWire, browser plugins, partner news sites) poll the feed URL periodically and surface new entries to readers. The feature stops making sense as soon as the use case requires authentication, structured payloads beyond what RSS supports, real-time push delivery, or fine-grained access control. Those needs are better served by REST API endpoints, Platform Events, or Salesforce Connect. Syndication Feeds remain a fit only for genuinely public, polling-based content distribution.
Security, guest user, and public exposure
Syndication Feeds run as the guest user on the parent Site or Experience Cloud network. Whatever records the guest user can read are eligible to appear in the feed. This means feed exposure is gated by guest user sharing rules and field-level security, not by per-subscriber authentication (RSS does not authenticate). Misconfiguring guest user sharing can leak internal records into public feeds. The standard mitigation is to put the source object behind a strict sharing rule that only shares Public-flagged records with the guest user, and to flag each record explicitly for syndication through a Boolean field. This avoids accidentally exposing internal data when a new record is created.
Format details, polling, and consumer behavior
Syndication Feeds support RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0. Salesforce renders the feed with the correct content-type header and includes the standard channel-level metadata (title, description, link, last build date). Consumers poll the URL on whatever schedule they choose, from every few minutes (high-traffic readers) to once an hour (most aggregators). Salesforce does not push updates and does not throttle polling at the per-feed level, but the parent Site or Experience Cloud network has overall request limits that apply. If a popular feed exceeds the network request limit, the site degrades for all consumers, not just feed subscribers. Treat the request limit as a budget when planning feed promotion.
How Syndication Feeds compare to modern alternatives
Three modern Salesforce features cover the same general space and usually replace Syndication Feeds for new builds. REST API endpoints (custom Apex REST services or standard sObject endpoints) authenticate, return JSON, and support fine-grained field filtering. Platform Events push real-time messages to subscribed external systems through CometD or the Pub/Sub API. Salesforce Connect exposes external data sources as virtual objects without copying data. Each fits a different need: REST is right for request-response integrations, Platform Events for event-driven push, Salesforce Connect for federated queries. RSS still fits the narrow case of public content distribution to RSS readers, but that case is shrinking as the RSS reader population shrinks.
Maintenance, deprecation risk, and what to do about existing feeds
Salesforce has not announced a deprecation date for Syndication Feeds, but the feature has not received meaningful investment in years. The realistic expectation is that the feature continues to work indefinitely with maintenance-level support but will not gain new capabilities or modern features. For existing feeds, audit them annually: confirm the feed URL is still consumed (Salesforce request logs show consumer activity), confirm the data exposed still matches privacy and security policy, and confirm the SOQL query still returns the right shape after schema changes. For any new content-distribution requirement, evaluate REST or Platform Events first; only fall back to Syndication Feeds if the consumer truly is an RSS reader and authentication is undesired.
Creating and protecting a Syndication Feed
Creating a Syndication Feed is a small configuration job: enable the parent Site or Experience Cloud network, define the feed record with the source object and SOQL query, map fields to RSS or Atom elements, and publish the feed URL. Most of the risk is on the sharing side rather than the configuration side, since the feed exposes data to the unauthenticated guest user. Plan the sharing rules and the explicit syndication flag before you click Save on the first feed.
- Confirm the parent Site or Experience Cloud network is set up
Syndication Feeds live under a Salesforce Site or an Experience Cloud network. The parent has to be active, the guest user has to be configured with appropriate sharing rules, and the public access settings have to allow the source object the feed will query. From Setup, open Sites (or Experience Cloud), find the parent, and confirm Active is checked. Open the Guest User profile and confirm it has Read on the source object. Without the parent network, there is no place to attach the feed.
- Create the Syndication Feed record
From the parent Site or Experience Cloud network settings, open the Syndication Feeds section and click New. Name the feed (visible in the feed channel metadata), enter a description (visible in the channel description element), select the source object, and write the SOQL query that filters records into the feed. Add a WHERE clause that includes the Boolean syndication flag on the source object so only explicitly-flagged records appear. Save the feed. The URL is generated automatically and visible in the feed configuration.
- Map fields to RSS or Atom elements
In the feed configuration, set the mappings for Title (typically a Name or Subject field), Description (a long text field or formula), Link (a URL field that points to the public-facing detail page), Pub Date (a Date or DateTime field), and Author (an email or name field). For Atom feeds, add the Atom-specific elements (id, summary, content). Save the mappings and test the feed by opening the public URL in an RSS reader; confirm entries appear with the right values and the right ordering. Iterate on the mapping until the feed looks right.
- Restrict exposure and monitor consumption
Add a Boolean field to the source object (named Publish to Feed or similar) and update the SOQL WHERE clause to require this field to be True. Train record editors that only flagged records appear in the public feed. Configure the guest user sharing rules to only share Publish-to-Feed records with guest users. Add the feed URL to your Salesforce site monitoring dashboard so you can see polling rate, response time, and any errors. Annual audit: confirm the feed is still consumed and still appropriate; retire any feed with zero recent activity.
- Syndication Feeds expose data to the unauthenticated guest user. Misconfigured sharing rules can leak internal records into a public feed. Always restrict with both a SOQL filter and a sharing rule.
- RSS readers poll the feed URL on their own schedule. A popular feed can exceed the parent site request limit and degrade service for every consumer of that site, not just feed subscribers.
- The feature has not received meaningful investment in years. For new content distribution needs, evaluate REST API or Platform Events first; fall back to Syndication Feeds only when the consumer truly is an RSS reader.
- Atom and RSS have different element names. Configure the right format on the feed record before publishing; switching format after consumers subscribe can break their parsers.
- Schema changes on the source object can break the feed without warning. Add a Salesforce monitor on feed response time and error rate so silent breakage surfaces quickly.
Trust & references
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Syndication Feeds.
- Syndication Feeds for Salesforce SitesSalesforce Help
- Salesforce Sites OverviewSalesforce Help
- Experience Cloud OverviewSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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