Managing ManagedEventSubscription

Create, read, update, and delete ManagedEventSubscription metadata — the Salesforce construct for durably subscribing to platform event channels with managed replay tracking.

Scope

• In scope: Generating and modifying .managedEventSubscription-meta.xml files for create, read, update, and delete operations
• Out of scope: Creating the underlying platform event (__e) channel itself; Flow-based or Apex-based event subscriptions; deploying metadata to an org
• Only generate one file — the .managedEventSubscription-meta.xml file. Do NOT generate the referenced platform event object or any other metadata type.

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Clarifying Questions

Before generating, confirm if not already clear:

• What is the topic name? (see format table in references/topic-name-formats.md)
• What is the developer name? (required for Create — alphanumeric and underscores only, no spaces; optional for Read/Update/Delete if Id is known)
• What is the label (human-readable name)?
• What default replay preset — LATEST (default) or EARLIEST?
• What error recovery replay preset — LATEST (default) or EARLIEST?
• What should the initial state be — RUN (active) or STOP (inactive)? (default: RUN)

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Required Inputs

Gather or infer before proceeding:

• Operation: create, read, update, or delete
• DeveloperName: required for Create (becomes the filename); optional for Read/Update/Delete if Id is provided instead
• Id: Tooling API record Id — can be used to identify the subscription for Read/Update/Delete instead of DeveloperName
• label: human-readable label (can include spaces)
• topicName: event channel path — read references/topic-name-formats.md for valid formats (platform events, change events, custom channels)
• defaultReplay: LATEST or EARLIEST (default: LATEST)
• errorRecoveryReplay: LATEST or EARLIEST (default: LATEST)
• state: RUN or STOP (default: RUN) — PAUSE is reserved for internal platform use and will be rejected with INVALID_INPUT
• version: Metadata API version (default: match org API version, e.g. 67.0)

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Workflow

Create

1. Gather inputs — confirm DeveloperName, label, topicName, defaultReplay, errorRecoveryReplay, state, version. Apply defaults for any omitted fields. If DeveloperName is not provided, ask the user — do not derive it from the label.
2. Confirm the topic exists — ask the user to confirm the event channel already exists in the org before proceeding. Do NOT generate the platform event object yourself — that is out of scope for this skill. If the user says it doesn't exist yet, stop and direct them to create it first using the platform-custom-object-generate skill, then return here.
3. Read the template — load assets/managed-event-subscription-template.xml as the starting structure.
4. Generate the file — produce managedEventSubscriptions/<DeveloperName>.managedEventSubscription-meta.xml filled with user-provided values.
5. Verify — run the checklist below before presenting output.
6. Guide the user on subscribing — after deployment, the subscription can be identified for Pub/Sub API ManagedSubscribe RPC calls using either the DeveloperName or the record Id. To retrieve the Id, run: SELECT Id, DeveloperName FROM ManagedEventSubscription WHERE DeveloperName='<DeveloperName>' via the Tooling API.

Read

1. Identify the subscription — accept either Id or DeveloperName; prefer Id if provided.
2. Show the file path — managedEventSubscriptions/<DeveloperName>.managedEventSubscription-meta.xml (if DeveloperName known).
3. Retrieve and display — read and present the current XML content.

Update

1. Identify the subscription — accept either Id or DeveloperName; prefer Id if provided.
2. Read the existing file — load current content before modifying.
3. Apply changes — update only the specified fields; preserve all others.
4. Read references/update-constraints.md for fields that cannot be changed after creation.
5. Verify — run the checklist below before presenting output.

Delete

1. Identify the subscription — accept either Id or DeveloperName; confirm with the user before proceeding.
2. Warn — deleting a ManagedEventSubscription permanently removes replay tracking state.
3. Produce deletion instructions — explain how to remove the file and deploy the destructive change using destructiveChanges.xml.
4. Read references/delete-guide.md for the destructive deployment procedure.

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Rules / Constraints

Constraint	Rationale
<topicName> must use a valid path prefix	Platform events use /event/Name__e; change events use /data/Name; see references/topic-name-formats.md for all formats
<defaultReplay> and <errorRecoveryReplay> must be LATEST or EARLIEST	These are the only valid enum values; any other value fails metadata validation
<state> must be RUN or STOP	PAUSE is reserved for internal platform use — the API rejects it with INVALID_INPUT: You can create a managed event subscription state field only to RUN or STOP
All six required elements must be present	topicName, defaultReplay, errorRecoveryReplay, label, state, version are all required; omitting any causes a deploy error
DeveloperName must be unique within the org	Duplicate names cause DUPLICATE_DEVELOPER_NAME errors
Do not include <namespacePrefix>, <id>, or <createdDate>	Read-only platform fields; including them causes deployment failures in unpackaged orgs

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Gotchas

Issue	Resolution
The topicName field is invalid on deploy	Wrong format or the event doesn't exist in the org — read references/topic-name-formats.md for correct path
Replay state lost after delete + recreate	Deleting discards stored replay position; recreating starts from defaultReplay — avoid reusing the same DeveloperName after delete
INVALID_TYPE on SOQL query	ManagedEventSubscription is only queryable via Tooling API, not standard SOQL
EARLIEST replay on high-volume channels	Can trigger up to 72 hours of backlog replay on activation; always confirm with the user
Metadata not supported in older orgs	ManagedEventSubscription requires API v60.0+; check org API version
eventChannel or isActive in generated XML	These are wrong field names — use topicName and state (RUN/STOP) instead
PAUSE state in generated XML	PAUSE is reserved for internal platform use and will be rejected with INVALID_INPUT — only use RUN or STOP
User unsure how to identify subscription for Pub/Sub API	Both DeveloperName and record Id can be used with ManagedSubscribe RPC — retrieve the Id via Tooling API if needed: SELECT Id FROM ManagedEventSubscription WHERE DeveloperName='<name>'
Changes not reflected immediately in Pub/Sub API	After create/update/delete, the Pub/Sub API can take up to ~2 minutes to reflect the new config; if ManagedSubscribe returns NOT_FOUND, wait and retry

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Verification Checklist

Before presenting any generated XML:

• Does <topicName> follow a valid path format per references/topic-name-formats.md? (/event/Name__e, /data/NameChangeEvent, /data/ChangeEvents, /event/Name__chn, /data/Name__chn)
• Is <defaultReplay> exactly LATEST or EARLIEST?
• Is <errorRecoveryReplay> exactly LATEST or EARLIEST?
• Is <state> exactly RUN or STOP? (PAUSE is invalid for user-created subscriptions)
• Is <label> populated?
• Is <version> present (e.g. 67.0)?
• Are read-only fields (<id>, <createdDate>, <namespacePrefix>) absent?
• Does the filename match the DeveloperName exactly?

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Output Expectations

• Create / Update: managedEventSubscriptions/<DeveloperName>.managedEventSubscription-meta.xml — this is the only file to generate
• Delete: instructions to remove the file and deploy via destructiveChanges.xml
• Read: display of existing file contents

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Cross-Skill Integration

Need	Delegate to
Create the platform event channel (__e) being subscribed to	platform-custom-object-generate skill
Subscribe via Flow (Process Automation)	automation-flow-generate skill
Deploy metadata to org	platform-metadata-deploy skill

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Reference File Index

File	When to read
assets/managed-event-subscription-template.xml	Before generating any new subscription — use as starting structure
references/topic-name-formats.md	When setting <topicName> — covers platform events, change events, and custom channels
references/update-constraints.md	During Update workflow — to check which fields are immutable post-creation
references/delete-guide.md	During Delete workflow — for destructive change deployment procedure