DisclosureDefinition Metadata Type in SFDX

Architectural Overview#

The DisclosureDefinition metadata type represents structured sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) disclosure frameworks in Salesforce Net Zero Cloud. Multinational corporations face rigorous reporting mandates—such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)—requiring auditable, reproducible disclosure schemas.

A DisclosureDefinition models the regulatory parent container, establishing reporting scope, disclosure categories, and framework boundaries. By maintaining disclosure definitions in source control, enterprise architects guarantee that corporate sustainability reporting templates remain standardized across multi-org architectures.

SFDX Directory and File Suffix#

Key Metadata Fields#

Declarative XML and Package.xml Examples#

DisclosureDefinition Metadata File#

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DisclosureDefinition xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <category>Environmental</category>
    <description>Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive disclosure framework definition.</description>
    <disclosureType>CSRD_Standard</disclosureType>
    <masterLabel>Corporate CSRD Report</masterLabel>
    <name>Corporate_CSRD_Report</name>
    <status>Active</status>
</DisclosureDefinition>

package.xml Manifest#

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

SFDX CLI Retrieval and Deployment Commands#

Retrieve and deploy disclosure definitions alongside dependent ESG configuration types:

# Retrieve all DisclosureDefinition metadata
sf project retrieve start --metadata "DisclosureDefinition" --target-org netzero-dev

# Deploy the disclosure definition and its parent DisclosureType
sf project deploy start \
  --metadata "DisclosureType:CSRD_Standard,DisclosureDefinition:Corporate_CSRD_Report" \
  --target-org netzero-uat

# Query disclosure definitions via SOQL
sf data query --query "SELECT Id, Name, DeveloperName, Status FROM DisclosureDefinition" --target-org netzero-uat

Senior Architect Best Practices and Gotchas#

• Data Privacy in ESG Disclosures: Disclosures capturing social metrics (workforce diversity, executive compensation ratios) may contain sensitive HR data. Enforce field-level security and permission sets for sustainability reporting users.
• Audit Trail Compliance: Regulatory audits require strict immutability for published disclosures. Ensure historical definition metadata is archived in Git release tags matching corporate annual reporting cycles.

Frequently asked questions

What business capability is provided by DisclosureDefinition?

It models regulatory ESG and sustainability disclosure frameworks like CSRD, GRI, and CDP inside Salesforce Net Zero Cloud.

Where are DisclosureDefinition files stored in an SFDX project?

They are stored in force-app/main/default/disclosureDefinitions with the file suffix .disclosureDefinition-meta.xml.

How does DisclosureDefinition relate to DisclosureDefinitionVersion?

DisclosureDefinition acts as the parent framework definition, while DisclosureDefinitionVersion manages year-specific requirements and question sets.