Tooling API
A synchronous API for working with individual metadata components, used by IDEs and CLI tools for fast, single-file operations.
Definition
The Tooling API is a SOAP and REST API distinct from the Metadata API, built for working with individual metadata components synchronously rather than deploying a whole package asynchronously. It's what powers features like editing a single Apex class, running one test method, or executing anonymous Apex from an IDE, operations that would be slow and heavyweight through the Metadata API's deploy-and-poll model. Salesforce CLI and editors like VS Code use the Tooling API for exactly this kind of fast, targeted interaction, while falling back to the Metadata API for full retrieves and deploys. The two APIs overlap in what they can touch, but they're built for different jobs: the Tooling API for quick, single-component work, the Metadata API for complete deployments. Our Salesforce CLI guide covers how these APIs sit underneath everyday CLI commands.
How it works in Serpent
The Serpent VS Code extension uses the same class of fast, targeted operations the Tooling API is built for, so a developer's save-and-test loop stays quick instead of triggering a full package deploy for a one-line change.
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