API Calls and Limits FAQ

Salesforce provides an Application Programming Interface (API) to allow third-party applications to exchange data with their platform. Many of the CRM applications (Email, Events, Informatica, DemandTools, Decision Module) utilize the API to create a seamless experience for the user.

The CRM  runs on a multi-tenant platform, so Salesforce must ensure resources are available on demand for all users. To achieve this, Salesforce calculates an organization's API limit as 1,000 x total users during a rolling 24 hour period.

For more information about API Request Limits, see Salesforce API Requests Limits.

It is possible to exceed the allotted API calls in 24 hours if you run too many processes that use calls within that time frame. Consider the following scenario:

• An organization has 40,000 API Calls (per 24-hour period)
• At 9 AM two data import processes run and utilize 25,000 total API calls
• At 3 PM a third data import process runs and utilizes 15,001 total API calls
• The 3 PM import puts their API usage at 40,001, which exceeds the limit. At 9 AM the next day, they will drop by 25,000 API calls and no longer be over the limit.

Note: You do not necessarily have to wait a full 24 hours from the time you reach the limit until you free up API calls.

API usage emails can be configured to automatically send when you are within a specific threshold of your limit.

To set up notifications:

1. Navigate to Setup and search for API Usage Notifications.
2. Click New.
3. Enter a Salesforce user notification recipient, threshold percentage, and notification frequency.
4. Select Save when complete.

Any product not on the Salesforce platform that reads, updates, or creates data stored on Salesforce generates an API call.

For example:

• Single sign-on products
• Data Migration (ETL) tools (such as Informatica or Boomi)
• External Servers using Salesforce information (such as the TargetX Email Product or the Ruby-based TargetX Online Application)
• Non-Salesforce data collection products (Such as Form Assembly) 

These products generate API calls for each connection and can cause more than one API call based on the quantity of data being read, moved, or updated.

When the API limit is hit, any component that generates API calls will not work until your total usage drops below the limit.

The impact includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Data integrations in Informatica will fail
• FormAssembly forms cannot be submitted
• Event Registration cannot be accessed
• TargetX Broadcast Emails will not send
• TargetX Email Campaigns cannot be created
• TargetX Chat is unavailable
• Decision Module PDFs will not render
• Single Sign On within the CRM to FormAssembly and Informatica is not accessible
• Events

Note: For Events, the API usage occurs in the Form Assembly registration form, which is used for unknown student event registration and will NOT work will the API Limit is reached. However, Administrative tasks and known student event registrations will continue to work.

Access to the next-generation Online Application Module, Prospect Module, Retention CRM, etc., are unaffected by API calls, as they are either not making them or not needing them.