Run Salesforce Code Analyzer from VS Code: A Complete Guide

Salesforce development is rapidly evolving, and maintaining high-quality, optimized code is essential for delivering robust applications. One of the best ways to ensure code quality is by using Salesforce Code Analyzer, which helps detect issues, enforce best practices, and improve maintainability. In this blog, we’ll walk you through running Salesforce Code Analyzer directly from Visual Studio Code (VS Code), a popular IDE for Salesforce developers.

What is Salesforce Code Analyzer?

Salesforce Code Analyzer is a tool that helps developers identify security vulnerabilities, code inefficiencies, and maintainability issues in Apex code. It’s built to work seamlessly with Salesforce DX (SFDX) and integrates directly into development workflows. By using it in VS Code, you can:

Detect potential bugs early
Enforce Salesforce coding best practices
Improve code performance and security
Maintain clean and organized Apex classes and triggers

Prerequisites

Before running Salesforce Code Analyzer, ensure you have the following setup:

Salesforce CLI (SFDX) installed
Download and install the Salesforce CLI from here.
VS Code installed
You can download VS Code from here.
Salesforce Extension Pack for VS Code
Install the Salesforce Extension Pack from the VS Code marketplace. It includes tools like Salesforce CLI Integration, Apex, and Visualforce support.
Salesforce Project
You should have a Salesforce DX project or connected org in VS Code.

Step 1: Open Your Salesforce Project in VS Code

Open VS Code and navigate to your Salesforce project folder:

Make sure your project is recognized by VS Code as a Salesforce project (look for sfdx-project.json in the root directory).

Step 2: Authorize Your Org

Before running the analyzer, you need to connect your project to a Salesforce org:

-a MyOrgAlias assigns an alias for easier reference.
Log in through the browser when prompted.

Step 3: Install Salesforce Code Analyzer

If not already installed, you can install the Salesforce Code Analyzer (PMD) plugin. Salesforce uses PMD under the hood to detect issues in Apex, Lightning Web Components, and Visualforce code.

Install it via npm:

Or check if it’s already installed:

Step 4: Run Code Analyzer

You can run the code analyzer in VS Code in a few ways:

Using the Terminal

Open the VS Code terminal (Ctrl + ~) and run:

--target points to the folder you want to scan.
--format can be json, html, csv, etc.
--engine specifies the language engine (apex, lwc, visualforce).
--output specifies the folder to store results.

Using the VS Code Command Palette

Press Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) to open the Command Palette.
Type SFDX: Run Code Scanner and select it.
Choose your target folder (e.g., classes, triggers).
Select the output format (html or json).

Step 5: Review Results

After running the analyzer:

JSON format results can be opened in VS Code to see all warnings and errors.
HTML format results can be opened in a browser for a more visual report.

Typical findings include:

Security issues: SOQL injection, CSRF vulnerabilities
Code smells: Large classes, unused variables, long methods
Best practices violations: Hardcoded IDs, DML inside loops, etc.

Step 6: Fix Issues and Re-run

Go through the reported issues in your Apex classes or LWC components.
Fix the problems based on Salesforce best practices.
Re-run the analyzer to ensure your code is clean and maintainable.

Tips for Using Salesforce Code Analyzer Efficiently

Integrate with CI/CD: Run the analyzer as part of your deployment pipeline using Jenkins or GitHub Actions.
Exclude Generated or Third-Party Code: Avoid scanning auto-generated files to reduce noise.
Customize Rules: You can configure PMD rules using sfdx-scanner to match your org’s coding standards.

Conclusion

Running Salesforce Code Analyzer from VS Code is a powerful way to improve your Salesforce development workflow. It helps detect security vulnerabilities, code inefficiencies, and ensures best practices are followed. By integrating it into your development process, you can maintain cleaner, safer, and more maintainable Salesforce code.