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Hello There!
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Valence is a tool designed to make your life easier when it comes to building data integrations with Salesforce. We're happy to get you started with it.

The first thing you should understand is that Valence installs into a single Salesforce org and does all of its magic from inside that org. There is no external middleware server involved, which means data moves directly between your Salesforce instance and whatever system you want to exchange information with.

We've designed Valence to be intuitive for admins to use, and easy to extend when custom functionality is needed.

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Concepts
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Start here to develop a basic understanding of the component parts of the Valence engine.

* :doc:`/concepts/overview` — Learn about the basic building blocks of Valence and how data movement happens.
* :doc:`/concepts/metadata-files` — Learn how Valence configurations can be moved between Salesforce environments.
* :doc:`/concepts/external-systems` — Read about what you can connect to and how the connection is made.
* :doc:`/concepts/delta-sync` — Understand how Valence fetches records based on time since the last fetch.
* :doc:`/concepts/testing-mode` — Learn about doing test runs that don't change your target system.
* :doc:`/concepts/handling-errors` — How does Valence help you when things go awry?
* :doc:`/concepts/invoking-valence` — What are ways to start Link runs other than scheduling?
* :doc:`/concepts/release-notes` — Valence release notes.

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Advanced Concepts
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Once you're comfortable with the basics, dig into some wonky stuff with our advanced topics.

* :doc:`/advanced-concepts/schema` — Understand how Valence discovers record shapes and ensures schema accuracy.
* :doc:`/advanced-concepts/multidimensional-data` — Tackle more complex data shapes that have nested objects and arrays.
* :doc:`/advanced-concepts/link-splits` — Start delivering records to more than one target.

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Extension Development
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Thinking about writing your own Adapter or Filter extension to add custom functionality to Valence?

* :doc:`/extension-concepts/extending-valence` — Learn the basics of how Valence Extensions are defined and assembled.
* :doc:`/extension-concepts/property-path` — Reading from and writing to records.
* :doc:`/extension-concepts/configurability` — Get comfortable with how to make your Extension user-configurable within the Valence UI.
* :doc:`/extension-concepts/configuration-structure` — Using a specialized structure to let Valence build configuration forms for you.
* :doc:`/extension-concepts/configuration-component` — Using your own Lightning component to let Users configure your extension.
* :doc:`/extension-concepts/test-coverage` — Get instructions and see examples for writing Apex test coverage for Extensions.

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Go Deeper on Each Extension Type
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* :doc:`/adapter-development/creating-an-adapter` — Step by step explanation for how to build a high quality Valence Adapter.
* :doc:`/adapter-development/authentication` — Figure out your options for authenticating with external systems.
* :doc:`/adapter-development/table-details` — Store additional schema details about a table for runtime retrieval.
* :doc:`/filter-development/creating-a-filter` — Step by step explanation for how to build a high quality Valence Filter.

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Guides
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We have guides to help you understand certain topics in more detail:

* :doc:`/guides/sending-realtime-records-to-salesforce`
* :doc:`/guides/evaluate-api-for-ease-of-use`
* :doc:`/guides/complementary-api`
* :doc:`/guides/using-valence-between-two-salesforce-orgs`
* :doc:`/guides/stop-infinite-loops`
* :doc:`/guides/configurable-filter-cutoff-date`

.. toctree::
   :caption: Concepts
   :hidden:

   concepts/overview
   concepts/metadata-files
   concepts/external-systems
   concepts/delta-sync
   concepts/testing-mode
   concepts/handling-errors
   concepts/invoking-valence
   concepts/release-notes

.. toctree::
   :caption: Advanced Concepts
   :hidden:

   advanced-concepts/schema
   advanced-concepts/multidimensional-data
   advanced-concepts/link-splits

.. toctree::
   :caption: Guides
   :hidden:

   guides/sending-realtime-records-to-salesforce
   guides/evaluate-api-for-ease-of-use
   guides/complementary-api
   guides/configurable-filter-cutoff-date
   guides/using-valence-between-two-salesforce-orgs
   guides/stop-infinite-loops

.. toctree::
   :caption: Extension Concepts
   :hidden:

   extension-concepts/extending-valence
   extension-concepts/property-path
   extension-concepts/configurability
   extension-concepts/configuration-structure
   extension-concepts/configuration-component
   extension-concepts/test-coverage

.. toctree::
   :caption: Adapter Development
   :hidden:

   adapter-development/creating-an-adapter
   adapter-development/authentication
   adapter-development/table-details

.. toctree::
   :caption: Filter Development
   :hidden:

   filter-development/creating-a-filter

.. toctree::
   :caption: Classes
   :hidden:

   classes/adapter-exception
   classes/csv-reader
   classes/fetch-strategy
   classes/field
   classes/field-path
   classes/filter-exception
   classes/json-parse
   classes/link-context
   classes/mapping
   classes/property-node
   classes/record-in-flight
   classes/table

.. toctree::
   :caption: Adapter Interfaces
   :hidden:

   adapter-interfaces/chain-fetch-adapter
   adapter-interfaces/configurable-source-adapter
   adapter-interfaces/configurable-target-adapter
   adapter-interfaces/delayed-planning-adapter
   adapter-interfaces/lazy-load-schema-adapter
   adapter-interfaces/named-credential-adapter
   adapter-interfaces/schema-adapter
   adapter-interfaces/source-adapter-for-pull
   adapter-interfaces/source-adapter-for-raw-data-push
   adapter-interfaces/source-adapter-for-sobject-push
   adapter-interfaces/source-adapter-scope-serializer
   adapter-interfaces/target-adapter

.. toctree::
   :caption: Filter Interfaces
   :hidden:

   filter-interfaces/configurable-per-link-filter
   filter-interfaces/configurable-per-mapping-filter
   filter-interfaces/link-split-filter
   filter-interfaces/schema-aware-transformation-filter
   filter-interfaces/transformation-filter