---
title: "Using force.com from your Heroku apps"
description: "Force.com and Heroku, both part of the Salesforce1 platform, can be connected from Heroku applications through data synchronization or direct API access. Heroku Connect provides point-and-click, two-way synchronization between Force.com and the Postgres database attached to an app, allowing reads and writes in Postgres while changes are copied asynchronously; that latency makes it unsuitable when an immediate Force.com response is required. For synchronous access, open-source client libraries cover Force.com’s SOAP, REST, Streaming, Bulk, and Metadata APIs across languages including Java, Ruby, Node.js, PHP, Python, Objective-C, and Go. The article maps libraries and packages to supported APIs, including restforce and salesforce_bulk for Ruby, nforce for Node.js, simple-salesforce for Python, mobile SDKs, and ForceCLI for scripting SOAP and Metadata operations."
---

# Using force.com from your Heroku apps

[Heroku](https://yomu.fyi/company/heroku) · Scott Persinger · Jul 8, 2014

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

Force.com and Heroku, both part of the Salesforce1 platform, can be connected from Heroku applications through data synchronization or direct API access. Heroku Connect provides point-and-click, two-way synchronization between Force.com and the Postgres database attached to an app, allowing reads and writes in Postgres while changes are copied asynchronously; that latency makes it unsuitable when an immediate Force.com response is required. For synchronous access, open-source client libraries cover Force.com’s SOAP, REST, Streaming, Bulk, and Metadata APIs across languages including Java, Ruby, Node.js, PHP, Python, Objective-C, and Go. The article maps libraries and packages to supported APIs, including restforce and salesforce\_bulk for Ruby, nforce for Node.js, simple-salesforce for Python, mobile SDKs, and ForceCLI for scripting SOAP and Metadata operations.

## Context

Force.com and Heroku are both part of the Salesforce1 platform, and the article provides an overview of ways to use Force.com from a Heroku application, with pointers to relevant services and client libraries.

## Approach / What changed

It presents Heroku Connect for two-way synchronization with an app’s attached Postgres database, explains its asynchronous behavior, and then maps Force.com APIs to open-source client libraries and SDKs for several programming languages and command-line use.

## Takeaways

- Heroku Connect synchronizes Force.com data with an attached Postgres database in both directions, but writes reach Force.com asynchronously.
- Force.com exposes SOAP, REST, Streaming, Bulk, and Metadata APIs for CRUD operations, events, large data transfers, and schema modifications.
- Library examples include restforce and salesforce\_bulk for Ruby, nforce for Node.js, simple-salesforce for Python, and ForceCLI for SOAP and Metadata scripting.

**Tags:** [Force.com](https://yomu.fyi/topic/force-com), [Heroku Connect](https://yomu.fyi/topic/heroku-connect)

- Source: [Heroku](https://www.heroku.com/blog/forcedotcom-libs)
- Source URL: https://www.heroku.com/blog/forcedotcom-libs
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-09-09T14:23:01.405Z

[Read original post](https://www.heroku.com/blog/forcedotcom-libs)