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This guide will show you how to register your application with Salesforce to obtain your own production OAuth credentials (client id & secret). Once you complete this guide, your users can grant your app access to their Salesforce account. You will have full access to the Salesforce REST API, which lets you read and write any data in the connected Salesforce accounts.

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Connected App vs. External Client Apps

Salesforce supports two methods to register your application: Connected App and external Client App. Connected App should be your default choice. It provides an easier end-user experience, and gives you full read and write access with the Salesforce REST API. Setup is free and no review is required to go to production.
1

Sign up for a free Salesforce developer edition account

If you don’t already have one, sign up for a Salesforce Developer Edition account.
2

Enable Connected Apps

Connected Apps are disabled by default in new Salesforce developer accounts.If your Salesforce developer account is new, follow these steps to enable them. If your organization has already enabled this setting, skip to Configure Connected App settings.
  1. Log in to your Salesforce account
  2. Navigate to Setup. In the left menu, go to Apps → External Client App Manager → Settings
  3. Find the Allow creation of connected apps option then toggle it to enable Connected Apps
3

Configure Connected App settings

  1. Log in to your Salesforce Developer Edition account
  2. Navigate to Setup. In the left menu, go to Apps → External Client App Manager → Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the page, then click New Connected App
  3. Fill in the required basic information:
    • Connected App Name: Your app’s name
    • API Name: This will auto-populate
    • Contact Email: Your email address
  4. Check the Enable OAuth Settings checkbox.
  5. For Callback URL, enter: https://api.nango.dev/oauth/callback
    • Use your custom callback URL if your Nango account has one set up.
  6. Under Selected OAuth Scopes, add the permissions your app needs. At minimum, add:
    • Access and manage your data (api)
    • Perform requests on your behalf at any time (refresh_token, offline_access)
  7. Check the Introspect All Tokens option
  8. Leave the rest of the default settings unchanged.
  9. Click Save, then Continue.
    Changes can take up to 10 minutes to take effect
4

Obtain API credentials

  1. After saving your changes, you’ll be redirected to the Connected App detail page.
  2. You may need to wait a few minutes for the app to be fully created.
  3. Click Manage Consumer Details to view your credentials. You may be required to verify your identity.
  4. Copy the Consumer Key to the “Client Id” field in your Salesforce integration in Nango
  5. Copy the Consumer Secret to the “Client Secret” field in your Salesforce integration in Nango
  6. In Nango, add the api and refresh_token scopes to your Salesforce integration.
    • api lets you read & write any data from the Salesforce account on the REST API
5

Configure token settings

  1. Under the Connected Apps dropdown, click Manage Connected Apps, then click the Edit button next to the application you just created.
  2. Under OAuth Policies, set Refresh Token Policy to Refresh token is valid until revoked for long-lived access.
  3. Click Save.
6

You are all set

Test the OAuth flow in your Nango dashboard.You are now ready to let your customers connect their account and access any data from the Salesforce API.Follow the Quickstart to integrate Nango in your app.

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External Client Apps

In the summer of 2025, Salesforce released External Client Apps, an alternative authentication method that allows external applications to connect to Salesforce orgs. Nango fully supports this as well. Compared to connected apps, external client apps have two drawbacks:
  1. They require packaging (custom code bundle you have to create)
  2. End-users must install them in their Salesforce org before users can connect their accounts
For the most frictionless integration experience, Nango recommends using Connected Apps. External client apps may be a good option if you need to deploy custom code to your customer’s Salesforce instance. For a detailed comparison, check out Salesforce’s comparison guide. To learn how to create External Client Apps, see Salesforce’s creation guide.