How to Create Bulk Custom Metadata Records?

I recently worked on a project, which is a Railway Ticket Booking System application using Salesforce. In that application, I wanted to handle "FROM" and "TO" locations using Custom Metadata Types, because I wanted it to be dynamic. I had the scenario that I wanted to add the Railway Stations between Chennai and Mumbai, but there are almost 150+ locations, and how tough it is to add this many records manually is a high-effort and time-consuming task, so I struggle a lot. I know there are no free data manipulation tools in Salesforce, but none of these tools will allow me to insert records in Custom Metadata Types.

It is a little tough logic to handle. After multiple searches, I found a way to handle it better, and I have succeeded multiple times on that, so I have decided to share that secret with you. Let's dive into this blog. 

Steps to be Involved

As I said, I have referred multiple forums and I didn't get any clear steps to load bulk metadata records into Salesforce system. For that, I have provided the clear steps to below to rectify the challenges that I faced.

Step 1: Creating the custom metadata to store the From & To location details.

• Create a Custom Metadata called Destination to store the From & To Location details which i need to use in the application. 

• Create a Text field named Location to store the location details.

By creating the records manually like below,

Adding a single record manually. Now, it is a single location, but I have more than 150+ locations. You know adding the records one by one is how much difficult. So, I have worked some days and found this approach. The below steps make it easier for you. 

Step 2: Open the VS Code IDE and follow the steps for project creation.

•  Select the folder you want to create the project in. 

• Command: >SFDX: Create Project with Manifest 

• Give a meaningful project name for your new project. 

Step 3: Then you must Authorize your Org, Choose the org carefully that you have created a Custom Metadata type. 

• If you want to choose an alias name or else leave it blank, it will redirect you to the Salesforce login page. 

• Org Authorized successfully.

Step 4: You must retrieve your existing data first. (SFDX: Retrieve Source in Manifest from Org)

•  For the Custom Metadata Retrieve you need an extension in VS Code. I have used the Org Browser Extension.

• Custom Metadata folder retrieved successfully.

Step 5: Prepare your .csv file, clean it, and store it in the folder where you want it or else in the project folder.

• Give the column name the same as the field's API name.
• Keep the label name as Name API name must be unique, and sometimes it contains underscores and alphanumeric characters.
• If your column name contains any space, it means just replace it with the underscore.
• Here I am dealing with the Text data type. If you are using a picklist, the values must be unique. It must be there in the picklist values.
• And the label names also must be unique. Custom metadata doesn't accept the duplicate values.

Step 6: Open Terminal in the VS Code and follow the steps.

Execute these cmd commands.

sf project retrieve start --metadata CustomObject:Destination__mdt

• Execute this command compulsorily because it will retrieve Custom Metadata Information and field information. Here in this example, I have used my Metadata obj Destination__mdt, you can replace it with yours.

• Here, I am giving my file source command as an example; you can replace your file path and use the command.

Example:

sf cmdt record insert --filepath "E:\Project\New Salesforce Project\Ticket Booking System\StationDetails.csv" --typename Destination__mdt

Step 7: All Custom Metadata Records created locally you can view in the project folder. Now you need to deploy this through org.

• Deploy the created Custom Metadata to your org.

Step 8: Finally, review the created Custom Metadata records in your org. 

Step 9: Finally, I am able to get those From & To values in the picklist which I have used in my booking application, please see the below-mentioned GIF image, which shows that.

Conclusion

This blog provided an overview of how to create bulk Custom Metadata records using Salesforce functionality, which can help the Salesforce Admin/Developer to save their time. These tools & techniques improve the management and manipulation of large amounts of metadata. It helps you be more efficient and effective with your workflows.

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