Tools
Tools is the umbrella section in Salesforce Setup that consolidates developer and administrator utilities for building, deploying, debugging, and monitoring customizations.
Definition
Tools is the umbrella section in Salesforce Setup that consolidates developer and administrator utilities for building, deploying, debugging, and monitoring customizations. The section is not a single page but rather a category that groups together the Developer Console, the Apex Test Execution view, the Debug Log Setup, Email Logs, the Deployment Status page, Change Sets, the Workbench-style API tools, and the various tooling pages for working with metadata and runtime behavior.
The Tools section exists in two forms across the platform: the Classic Setup tree had a clearly labeled Tools section under Develop, while Lightning Setup has dispersed the same utilities across multiple search-accessible pages. Most experienced admins and developers now reach these utilities through the Setup Quick Find search rather than by navigating a Tools menu, but the conceptual grouping is still useful when discussing or documenting what tooling the platform exposes.
The tools every Salesforce builder eventually uses
Developer Console
The Developer Console is the in-browser IDE for writing and executing Apex, SOQL, SOSL, and anonymous code. It opens in a separate window from Setup and gives developers a fast loop for experimentation: run a single SOQL query, execute a piece of anonymous Apex, view the resulting debug log, and iterate. The Console also displays running test results, performance traces, and heap dumps. It is not a replacement for VS Code with the Salesforce Extensions pack for serious development work, but it is the right tool for quick troubleshooting, running one-off scripts, and inspecting recent debug logs without leaving the browser.
Debug Log Setup and the Log Viewer
Debug Logs capture detailed information about what happens during a transaction: the Apex executed, the SOQL queries fired, the field updates committed, the limits consumed, and any errors thrown. The Tools section includes pages for configuring which users have debug logs captured, setting the log levels for each category (Apex Code, Database, Workflow, Validation), and viewing the captured logs. The Log Viewer page shows recent logs as a list with timestamps and lets developers open each one to inspect the trace. Debug logs auto-expire after 24 hours and are subject to a cap on total storage per org per day.
Apex Test Execution and Code Coverage
Apex code requires 75% test coverage org-wide to deploy to production. The Tools section includes the Apex Test Execution page for running tests on demand, the Test History for reviewing past results, and the Code Coverage page that shows current org-wide and per-class coverage. The Test Execution page lets developers run a single class, a suite of classes, or all tests in the org. Test failures display with stack traces and the assertion that failed. For continuous integration pipelines, the same tests are runnable through the metadata API and the SFDX CLI, which is the standard way to enforce coverage as part of every deploy.
Change Sets and the Deployment Status
Change Sets are the classic point-and-click deployment tool for moving metadata between linked sandboxes and production. The Tools section exposes the Outbound Change Sets page for creating and uploading change sets, the Inbound Change Sets page for accepting and deploying them, and the Deployment Status page for monitoring active and historical deployments. Change Sets cover most metadata types, but they lack support for some newer types (Lightning App Builder visibility filters, certain Setup configurations), and they cannot delete metadata. For modern DevOps workflows, SFDX with source-tracked sandboxes has replaced Change Sets in most enterprise orgs.
Email Logs and the Deliverability page
The Tools section includes Email Logs (an on-demand log capture of outbound email for the last 30 days) and the Email Deliverability page that controls whether the org sends email at all. Email Logs are not always-on; admins request a specific time window and Salesforce generates a CSV file with one row per sent email, including the recipient, subject, status, and any bounce reason. The capture takes minutes to hours depending on volume. Deliverability is the master switch: All Email for production, System Email Only for sandboxes, or None for fully blocked. Both pages are critical for diagnosing why an automation appears not to send.
Schema Builder and the Object Manager
Schema Builder is the graphical view of the org's object model with drag-and-drop creation of new objects, fields, and relationships. It is one part visualization tool, one part editor. For real schema work, most admins use the Object Manager (a faster, list-based view of every object and its metadata), but Schema Builder is the right surface for presenting an org's data model to a non-technical stakeholder during a design review. The visual layout is hand-arranged and persists across sessions, so an architect can curate a schema diagram showing just the objects relevant to a specific use case for documentation purposes.
Apex Flex Queue and Async Job monitoring
The Tools section also covers the Apex Flex Queue (a list of queued asynchronous jobs waiting to run), the Apex Jobs page (currently running and recently completed async jobs), and the Bulk Data Load Jobs page (Bulk API jobs by status). These pages are essential for diagnosing why a scheduled job did not run, why a batch is stuck, or why an integration is taking longer than expected. Each row links to detail showing the job's runtime metadata: when it started, when it finished, how many records succeeded versus failed, and any errors. Cancel and abort actions are available where applicable, with appropriate warnings about the consequences.
Find and use the right Tool for the job
The Tools utilities are not a single page to configure; they are a set of capabilities to know about and reach quickly. The workflow below explains how to find each tool and the typical situations that send you to it. Most experienced builders develop muscle memory for the four or five tools they use weekly and reach the others through Quick Find when needed.
- Use Setup Quick Find to navigate quickly
The fastest way to reach any Tools utility is the Quick Find search box at the top of the Setup menu. Type Developer Console, Debug Logs, Apex Test Execution, Deployment Status, Email Logs, or Apex Jobs and the search returns the matching Setup pages. Bookmark the URLs of the pages you reach most often, because the search is fast but bookmarking removes the search step entirely for daily use.
- Configure debug logs before reproducing an issue
From Setup, open Debug Logs. Add the user whose transaction you want to capture (often the integration user, your test user, or yourself) to the Monitored Users list. Set the log level per category (FINER for Apex Code is the common starting point). Reproduce the issue. Return to Debug Logs and open the captured log. The Apex events, SOQL queries, and field updates are visible in chronological order. Most production issues become obvious from one well-captured log.
- Run Apex tests before every deployment
From Setup, open Apex Test Execution. Select All Tests (for a final pre-deploy check) or a specific class or suite (for iterative work). Click Run. The test results page shows passes, failures, code coverage by class, and overall org coverage. Address any failure before deploying. Code coverage below 75% blocks production deployment; the page tells you which classes are uncovered. Continuous integration pipelines run the same tests automatically, but the manual surface is useful for quick verification.
- Use Email Logs to diagnose delivery problems
When an automation appears not to send email, open Email Logs from Setup. Request a log for the last hour or last day, and wait the few minutes it takes to generate. Open the resulting CSV. Each outbound email is a row with delivery status: Sent, Bounced, Suppressed, Rejected, or other. The bounce reason column tells you exactly what happened. Cross-reference the timestamps against your Flow or Apex execution to confirm the message was generated. Most "email did not arrive" tickets resolve in five minutes with this page.
- Debug Logs auto-expire after 24 hours and the total per-day storage is capped per org. Download important logs immediately rather than relying on them being available later.
- Apex Test Execution from the UI runs synchronously by default. For large test suites, use the Async option or trigger from the metadata API to avoid timeouts.
- Change Sets do not support every metadata type and cannot delete metadata. For modern DevOps, evaluate SFDX or DevOps Center as the replacement.
- Email Logs request only the most recent 30 days of email data. For older traffic, the logs are not available through Setup and require a Salesforce Support case.
- Schema Builder and Object Manager can both edit metadata. Stick to Object Manager for production schema changes; Schema Builder is better for visualization and design review.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Developer ConsoleSalesforce Help
- Set Up Debug LogsSalesforce Help
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Tools.
- Apex Developer GuideSalesforce Developer Docs
- Change SetsSalesforce Help
- Email LogsSalesforce Help
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Tools.
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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