Run your first local Apex check

Tutorial

Run a real local Apex test, inspect the result, and keep Salesforce for final validation. Start with the bundled sample or your own Salesforce DX project.

Prerequisites

Packaged releases target macOS and Linux on arm64 and amd64. No Salesforce login is needed for these local steps. Native Windows archives are not published; WSL is not a verified platform for this walkthrough.

1. Install and verify Glade

curl -fsSL https://glade.sh/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
glade version

Expected: glade version prints the installed version. Save the PATH line in your shell configuration to keep it in new terminals.

See Installation for version pinning and archive verification.

Stable sample

The corrected bundled test below ships in the v0.2.14 stable release. Do not treat a playground Pass with source errors as successful validation.

Try the sample

Create a new evaluation folder. The first command deliberately fails if that folder already exists; choose another empty folder rather than overwrite it.

mkdir macrodata-apex && cd macrodata-apex &&
  glade playground --data-root .glade/playground --db .glade/playground/org.sqlite --example refinement-service --open

The local Playground opens Refinement Service. Wait for its files to load and confirm RefinementServiceTest.cls is present. The service inserts an Account, SOQL reads it back, and FileRow formats its label.

Stop this server with Ctrl-C. From the same evaluation folder:

glade init --project .glade/playground/workspaces/default --yes
glade doctor --project .glade/playground/workspaces/default
glade check --project .glade/playground/workspaces/default --json
glade test --project .glade/playground/workspaces/default --class RefinementServiceTest --json

Expected: initialization creates glade.yml; doctor identifies the sample and parser and ends with Ready.; check has no diagnostics; and RefinementServiceTest.createsAndLabelsFileRow passes. The executed test total must be at least one. A successful process with zero tests is not a successful first-test result.

To see the feedback loop, change the test's expected label to an incorrect value, rerun the same command, read the assertion failure, then restore Refine 01 #F-100 and rerun. Change only your evaluation copy, not business code to accommodate a runtime limitation.

glade examples run prints an opening command; it does not export a project or execute tests. The commands above use the workspace loaded by the browser.

Use my Salesforce DX project

Enter the folder containing your existing sfdx-project.json, then:

test -f sfdx-project.json
test -f glade.yml || glade init --project . --yes
glade config validate --project .
glade doctor --project .
glade check --project .

Expected: initialization creates glade.yml if absent; review it before committing. Doctor reports the discovered project and parser and ends with Ready.. A missing project or parser is a setup failure, not an Apex result.

Start with one test class that already exists in your project. This command uses RefinementServiceTest as an example; substitute your actual class name:

glade test --project . --class RefinementServiceTest --json --no-progress

Expected: a selected/passed/failed summary naming the executed tests. Once the focused loop is useful, expand to glade test --project . or affected tests.

Interpret the result

• Clean check and named passing tests: a useful local result for that path.
• Named source diagnostic: inspect the file and line. A diagnostic is not a passing test.
• Missing source or package dependency: configure the project inputs before assessing compatibility.
• Unsupported behavior: consult the support map and keep Salesforce as the validation gate; report an unexpected mismatch.

API versions are separate contracts

Axis	Checked contract
Apex source	65.0, 66.0, 67.0
Historical Apex source	Well-formed positive versions are preserved, outside checked correctness/parity credit
Execute Anonymous	Limited to the checked Apex source window
LWC bundles	Each bundle declares an exact supported version
Local HTTP endpoints	60.0, 65.0, 66.0, 67.0; default 65.0

A clean check or test on an older project does not make Execute Anonymous eligible at that version. An HTTP endpoint version does not change source semantics. Do not bump project metadata merely to obtain a green result. Use the support map for behavior-specific limits.

You are done when

You can name the project, version, and test that ran, interpret its result, and identify the Salesforce validation still required. Glade reads source and metadata from disk and executes supported behavior in its own local runtime. It is not a hidden Salesforce org or a complete hosted-platform emulator.

Reset or clean up

The sample's source, SQLite database, and cache live inside the evaluation folder's .glade/. Stop its server before moving that evaluation folder to Trash. Do not remove a shared Glade home or another project's state.

For your own project, review the newly created glade.yml and .glade/ files before deciding what to retain. To clear test startup state only:

glade test clear-cache --project .

Give feedback and choose the next workflow

Report a bug or describe your workflow. Include version, OS, command, expected/actual result, test count, and a minimal public reproduction. Do not include proprietary source, private package names, credentials, or customer records. Use private security reporting for vulnerabilities.

• Run Apex tests
• Debug Apex
• Execute Apex and SOQL
• Work with local data