Sometimes the metadata used to represent a change in Salesforce doesn’t quite line up with what the Salesforce UI suggests. Picklist values aren’t always stored on the field itself. For example, Account.AccountSource is a standard picklist field. Although the Salesforce UI shows the values on the field, the values are stored in a
Standard Value Set, and the field points to that value set. To deploy picklist changes, make sure your comparison includes the metadata type that stores those values.
Which metadata type holds the picklist change?
Picklist changes can be stored in different metadata types, depending on whether the field is standard, custom, dependent, or controlled by Record Types.
If the picklist is… | The change is usually in… |
A custom picklist with values defined directly on the field | Custom field |
A standard picklist, such as | Standard Value Set |
A custom picklist that uses a shared value set | Global Value Set and Custom field |
A picklist uses Record Type-specific values | Record Type |
A dependent picklist | The dependent field’s Custom field metadata |
Find and deploy the related metadata
Open the picklist field’s comparison result. Gearset shows any related metadata it can detect, such as value sets and Record Types. If a related metadata type isn’t already in the comparison, it appears under Not Included in Comparison and you can select + Add <type> to comparison to re-run the comparison with that type included.
Once the comparison has finished, you can view the related item’s changes alongside the picklist field and select it for deployment.
The video shows how a picklist value that appears on a field in Salesforce can be stored in related metadata, and how to add that metadata to your Gearset comparison.
If Gearset can’t detect the related metadata, run the comparison again with Gearset’s Default picklist comparison filter. It includes the metadata types most commonly needed for picklist changes, including Custom object, Standard picklist value set, and Global picklist value set.
Still not seeing the picklist value?
If the value doesn’t appear in your comparison:
Check whether Salesforce exposes it through Workbench. If Workbench retrieves it but Gearset doesn’t, contact us.
If it belongs to a managed package, make sure your filter includes managed packages. Protected package components can’t be retrieved through the Metadata API.
Check that the Salesforce user connected to Gearset has
API Enabled, Modify All Data, Customize Application, and access to the relevantobjectandfield.
Note on deleting picklist values:
Salesforce’s Metadata API doesn’t delete picklist values from the target. When you deploy a deletion, the value is made inactive instead. This applies to both standard and custom fields.