AssessmentQuestion Metadata Type in SFDX

Architectural Overview#

The AssessmentQuestion metadata type defines a reusable, version-controlled intake or compliance question within the Salesforce Discovery Framework (used across Financial Services Cloud, Health Cloud, Public Sector Solutions, and Net Zero Cloud).

In regulated industries—such as mortgage underwriting, clinical patient intake, or KYC (Know Your Customer) onboarding—auditors require proof of the exact question text and picklist options presented to a customer at the time of application. AssessmentQuestion achieves this by pairing a parent question definition (containing dataType and questionCategory) with a child <assessmentQuestionVersion> block that tracks the active wording, response values, and status.

Directory Location and File Suffix#

Key Metadata Fields#

Declarative XML and Package Manifest Examples#

Below is a production AssessmentQuestion for capturing a client’s liquid net worth tier during KYC onboarding:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<AssessmentQuestion xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <assessmentQuestionVersion>
        <description>Captures applicant liquid net worth bracket for suitability verification.</description>
        <helpText>Include cash, marketable securities, and money market funds excluding primary residence.</helpText>
        <isActive>true</isActive>
        <name>KYC Liquid Net Worth Tier v1</name>
        <optionSourceResponseValue>false</optionSourceResponseValue>
        <questionText>What is the applicant&apos;s estimated liquid net worth?</questionText>
        <responseValues>Under 100K
100K to 500K
500K to 2M
Over 2M</responseValues>
        <status>Active</status>
        <versionNumber>1</versionNumber>
    </assessmentQuestionVersion>
    <dataType>Radio</dataType>
    <developerName>KYC_Liquid_Net_Worth_Tier</developerName>
    <name>KYC Liquid Net Worth Tier</name>
    <questionCategory>Financial</questionCategory>
</AssessmentQuestion>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <types>
        <members>KYC_Liquid_Net_Worth_Tier</members>
        <name>AssessmentQuestion</name>
    </types>
    <version>68.0</version>
</Package>

Querying AssessmentQuestion via SOQL#

Query active questions and their live versions in your org using standard SOQL:

SELECT Id, Name, DeveloperName, DataType, QuestionCategory,
       (SELECT Id, VersionNumber, Status, IsActive, QuestionText, ResponseValues
        FROM AssessmentQuestionVersions
        WHERE IsActive = true)
FROM AssessmentQuestion
ORDER BY QuestionCategory, DeveloperName

Senior Architect Best Practices and Gotchas#

1. Newline-Separated responseValues: In <responseValues>, each selectable option for Radio, Select, or Multiselect questions is separated by a newline character (\n) inside the XML tag. Avoid introducing leading or trailing spaces on individual lines, or OmniStudio value comparisons will fail.
2. Enable Discovery Framework First: Deploying AssessmentQuestion metadata fails if the target org does not have the Discovery Framework org preference enabled (DiscoveryFrameworkPref in IndustriesSettings or scratch org features).
3. Immutable Active Versions in Production: Once an AssessmentQuestionVersion has been activated (<status>Active</status>) in production and linked to customer AssessmentQuestionResponse records, create a new version (versionNumber 2) rather than mutating the response values of version 1.

Frequently asked questions

Where are AssessmentQuestion metadata files stored in SFDX?

They are stored in the force-app/main/default/assessmentQuestions/ directory with the file extension .assessmentQuestion-meta.xml.

Why does AssessmentQuestion include a nested assessmentQuestionVersion block?

Discovery Framework versions assessment questions so historical regulatory submissions remain tied to the exact question wording and options that were active when the customer answered.

How are AssessmentQuestion records grouped for an OmniScript form?

Multiple AssessmentQuestion metadata components are referenced inside an AssessmentQuestionSet, which is then used to generate or drive Discovery Framework OmniScripts.

Can I query AssessmentQuestion and AssessmentQuestionVersion via SOQL?

Yes, both AssessmentQuestion and AssessmentQuestionVersion are standard sObjects that can be queried via SOQL in orgs with Discovery Framework enabled.