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9. CRM Meta Data

Note: The video covers material not in the guide below — please watch in full.

Action Step

Complete this before moving on.

Watch the full video including both the HubSpot and Salesforce metadata walkthroughs. You are not expected to follow the download steps right now — the goal is to understand that this capability exists and how it works. When you're on the front lines and need to download metadata for real, check in with Jake or the engineering team in Slack for the latest method before running it.

Comment in Slack

Post your answer in your onboarding channel.

What was your biggest takeaway(s) from this training?

Training Guide

In the previous training you analyzed CRM metadata that was already downloaded and summarized for you. Now the question is: how does that metadata actually get out of the CRM and into VS Code?

This training plants the seed. You're not expected to do this yourself right now — the methods are evolving fast and the engineering team keeps the process current. But understanding that it's possible, and roughly how it works, changes how you think about what you can do on an engagement.

(Two walkthroughs: HubSpot first, then Salesforce)

HubSpot Metadata Download​

Kavean walks through the HubSpot Metadata Downloader — a tool built internally at LeanScale that lives in the Skills and SOPs folder.

The workflow:

  1. Open the Skills and SOPs folder in VS Code (fetch the latest version from GitHub Desktop first)
  2. Copy the path to the HubSpot metadata downloader and tell Claude Code to help you set it up
  3. Authenticate against the client's HubSpot portal — Claude runs the script, which takes you to HubSpot to authorize the connection
  4. Tell Claude to download the metadata — it pulls everything into a folder organized by portal ID

Once downloaded, you can ask Claude Code questions against the metadata the same way you did in the previous training. "Where is Lifecycle Stage used in this org?" "How's revenue recognition set up?" "How does attribution look?"

The connection uses an internal app called LeanScale Diagnostics — it has view-only permissions across most objects. Tickets have create and delete access because HubSpot doesn't offer read-only for that object.

Salesforce Metadata Download​

The Salesforce process uses the Salesforce Extension Pack for VS Code — about 14 extensions that give you direct access to a Salesforce org's metadata.

The workflow:

  1. Install the Salesforce Extension Pack in VS Code (if you hit a Java error, ask Claude to install the latest version)
  2. Create a new Salesforce DX Project from the cloud icon in VS Code
  3. Authorize the org — click "No default org set" at the bottom of VS Code, authorize production, sign in
  4. Generate a manifest file using a terminal command (provided in the video) — this tells Salesforce what metadata to fetch
  5. Right-click the manifest and retrieve source from org — this pulls everything down

The full download takes time. For day-to-day work, use the org browser (the cloud icon) to download specific pieces — Apex classes, flows, custom objects. The full download is most useful for diagnostic projects where you need a holistic view.

Key folder: Custom Objects contains both custom and standard objects plus all fields. Always download this one.

Use Cases​

Once metadata is in VS Code, the same pattern from the previous training applies — copy the path, paste it into Claude Code, ask questions:

  • "Where is this field used across flows, validation rules, and reports?"
  • "How is attribution set up in this org?"
  • "Tell me about revenue recognition on the Opportunity object"

Kavean's example: asking where a stage is used returned 69 files across 18 flows, formula fields, picklists, validation rules, UI components, reports, and Apex test classes. That's the kind of answer that would take hours to piece together manually.

The Bigger Picture​

This isn't limited to Salesforce and HubSpot. The same principle — download system metadata, feed it to Claude Code, ask questions — could apply to any system with exportable configuration. The methods will evolve. New APIs and MCPs are being developed. By the time you need this on a real engagement, the specific steps might be different.

What won't change: the ability to pull a system's blueprint into VS Code and have Claude analyze it. That's the capability to remember. The exact commands are just the current implementation.

(When you're ready to do this for real, check in with the engineering team for the latest method)