Struggling to keep track of platform events in your Salesforce org? The platform event trap is your secret weapon for capturing, analyzing, and troubleshooting events without missing a beat. Let’s dive into everything you need to know to implement it like a pro.
What Are Platform Events?
Platform events power real-time communication in Salesforce. They’re like a built-in messaging system where apps publish updates —say, when a lead converts, or an order ships, and subscribers react instantly.
This pub-sub model decouples your systems. Publishers fire events without waiting for responses, making everything scalable and resilient. No more polling APIs every few seconds.
Developers use them for integrations, notifications, and automation. Think order confirmations, triggering emails, or inventory updates syncing with warehouses.
Demystifying the Platform Event Trap
The platform event trap is part of Salesforce Event Monitoring. It silently captures published platform events, storing them as logs for later review. Perfect for debugging high-volume channels without disrupting live flows.
Key mechanics:
Capture Scope: Traps metadata like event name, timestamp, replay ID, payload size, and channel.
Storage: Events land in the EventLogFile object, retained for 30 days.
Access: Query via SOQL, no special permissions beyond Event Monitoring licenses.
Unlike Apex triggers (for immediate action), the trap focuses on persistence. It’s async, so it won’t slow your publishes.
Why Every Salesforce Admin Needs This
Picture this: Your e-commerce flow spikes during Black Friday, and events lag. The trap replays the sequence via replay IDs, revealing bottlenecks like oversized payloads.
Top benefits:
Debugging Superpower: Reconstruct event timelines down to milliseconds.
Compliance Gold: Audit trails for GDPR or SOX with full payloads logged.
Performance Insights: Track delivery latency and volume spikes.
Cost Savings: Cut unnecessary API calls by 50-70% in reactive apps.
In Winter ’27 (released Dec 2025), Salesforce boosted trap capacity by 2x for Enterprise orgs, handling 1M+ events daily without throttling.
Step-by-Step Setup Guide
Ready to trap? It’s admin-friendly, no code for starters.
Enable Event Monitoring: Setup > Quick Find > “Event Monitoring Settings.” Add licenses if needed ($10/user/month add-on).
Access Trap Config: Quick Find > “Platform Events” > “Event Trap.”
Choose Channels: Select /event/YourCustomEvent e or high-volume ones like /event/LeadConvert.
Activate: Save. Events start logging in ~5 minutes.
Verify Platform Event Logging
After enabling the Platform Event Trap, you should confirm that Salesforce is actually capturing events. This is done by querying the EventLogFile object, which stores all logged events.
How to Run the Query
- Open Developer Console or Query Editor
- Select SOQL Query
- Paste and run the following query:
SELECT Id, EventType, LogDate, LogFile
FROM EventLogFile
WHERE EventType = 'PlatformEvent'
What This Query Does
Id: Unique identifier for each log file record
EventType: Filters only platform event logs (ignores other log types like login or API events)
LogDate: Ensures you only see logs created today (fresh verification)
LogFile: Contains the actual event log file data that Salesforce generated
Real-World Use Cases
Salesforce MVPs swear by it. Here’s how teams deploy:
E-commerce: Track order events to monitor fulfillment SLAs. One retailer spotted a 40% latency drop after resizing payloads.
Service Cloud: Log case escalations for agent training dashboards.
Integrations: External systems query traps via REST API for reconciliation reports.
DevOps: CI/CD pipelines validate event schemas pre-deploy.
Case study: A fintech firm used traps to prove 99.9% event delivery during peak loads, acing their audit.
Code Examples: Hands-On Implementation
Query Trapped Events Using Apex
Once platform events are logged, you can programmatically access them using Apex. This is useful for monitoring, debugging, or exporting event data.
Below is an Apex example that retrieves the most recent platform event logs from the last 7 days and prints key details to the debug log.
List<EventLogFile> logs = [
SELECT Id, EventType, LogDate, Payload, ReplayId
FROM EventLogFile
WHERE EventType = 'PlatformEvent'
AND LogDate >= LAST_N_DAYS:7
ORDER BY LogDate DESC
LIMIT 100
];
for (EventLogFile log : logs) {
System.debug(
'Replay ID: ' + log.ReplayId +
', Payload Size: ' + log.Payload.size()
);
}
What This Code Does
- Fetches up to 100 recent platform event log files
- Filters logs to only include PlatformEvent types
- Limits results to the last 7 days to keep processing efficient
- Sorts logs by most recent first
Outputs:
- ReplayId (used for reprocessing or replaying events)
- Payload size (useful for detecting oversized events that cause latency)
- When to Use This
- Investigating event delivery issues
- Identifying payload size problems
- Verifying that events are being published correctly
- Preparing logs for export to external systems
This pulls recent traps extended with filters for your channel.
Flow Integration (No Code Automation)
You can also automate monitoring using Salesforce Flow, without writing Apex.
How to Set It Up
- Create a Record-Triggered Flow
- Object: EventLogFile
Trigger condition:
- EventType equals PlatformEvent
- Trigger when a record is created
Add actions such as:
- Create a Task when the payload size exceeds a threshold
- Send an email alert to admins with the Replay ID
- Log anomalies to a custom object for reporting
Why This Is Useful
- Non-developers can monitor events
- Instant alerts for failures or abnormal payloads
- Works well for operational monitoring and audits
- No impact on live event publishing
External Access (Python Snippet)
import requests
from simple_salesforce import Salesforce
simple_salesforce = Salesforce(
username='your_user',
password='pass',
security_token='token'
)
query = "SELECT Id, ReplayId FROM EventLogFile WHERE EventType = 'PlatformEvent' LIMIT 10"
results = simple_salesforce.query(query)
print(results['records'])
Pipe to Splunk or Power BI for visuals.
Platform Event Trap vs. Alternatives
| Feature | Platform Event Trap | Change Data Capture (CDC) | Apex Triggers | Outbound Messages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Log & analyze events | Stream object changes | React in real-time | Simple SOAP notifications |
| Retention | 30 days | Streaming only | Transactional | 24 hours |
| Cost | Event Monitoring license | Included in Platform | Free | Free (limits apply) |
| Best For | Audits, debugging | Goldengate-style replication | Business logic | Legacy integrations |
| Latency | Near-real-time (seconds) | Milliseconds | Immediate | 1-5 minutes |
| Scalability | 1M+/day (post-Winter ’27) | Unlimited streams | Governor limits | 100/day/org |
Best Practices for Scaling
Maximize ROI with these:
1. Filter Ruthlessly
What it means: Only trap events that are critical for your monitoring or business logic.
Example: Instead of trapping every event, select only /event/Critical__e.
Why: Reduces storage usage, prevents log noise, and makes analysis faster.
2. Automate Exports
What it means: Export trapped event data regularly to a safe storage location.
How: Use Scheduled Apex jobs to export EventLogFile data to CSV or an external system.
Why: Salesforce automatically deletes logs after 30 days, so exporting ensures historical data is preserved for audits or analysis.
3. Monitor Quotas
What it means: Keep an eye on EventLogFile storage usage.
Key numbers:
- Maximum storage per org: 50 GB
- Recommended alert threshold: 80% usage
Why: Prevents failed logs or data loss due to hitting storage limits.
4. Secure Payloads
What it means: Protect sensitive information in event payloads.
How:
- Apply field-level security in Salesforce
- Mask or remove PII (Personally Identifiable Information) before trapping the event
Why: Ensures compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, or other data privacy regulations.
5. Visualize
What it means: Make your event logs actionable by visualizing trends.
How: Feed exported logs into Tableau, Power BI, or other analytics tools.
Example: Latency heatmaps can show slow event delivery times across channels or peak hours.
Why: Helps quickly identify performance issues or patterns in event delivery.
6. Replay Magic
What it means: Use EventBus.replay() to reprocess trapped events when needed.
Use Cases:
- Recover from failures or missed events
- Ensure critical processes are re-executed
Why: Guarantees the delivery and processing of events even if something went wrong initially.
Combine with Platform Event ReplaySystem for zero-loss architectures.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Hit a snag? Fixes:
No Logs Appearing: Check channel spelling; wait 10 mins post-activation.
Storage Full: Query SELECT COUNT() FROM EventLogFile—purge old via Bulk API.
Payload Missing: Trap captures metadata only; enable full logging in Setup.
License Errors: Verify “View Event Log Files” permission set.
High Volume Crash: Throttle publishes or upgrades to the Unlimited edition.
Always tail logs live: SELECT FOR UPDATE in Developer Console.
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FAQs
How does the platform event trap differ from standard subscriptions?
Platform Event Traps are designed for logging and post-analysis of events. They persist events in the EventLogFile for auditing, debugging, and monitoring. In contrast, standard subscriptions (via Apex triggers or CometD clients) react immediately to events in real time. Subscriptions are ideal for triggering workflows, automations, or notifications as events happen, but they don’t store events for later analysis.
What’s the EventLogFile retention period?
EventLogFile records created by the trap are automatically retained for 30 days. After this period, Salesforce deletes the logs.
Is Event Monitoring required?
Yes, Event Monitoring must be enabled to use the Platform Event Trap. It is a Salesforce add-on that starts at approximately $10 per user per month, which unlocks the ability to capture platform-level logs and access EventLogFile records.
