Expose your production SQL as a lightweight REST endpoint with Galaxy, then pull the data into a Salesforce custom report type-no heavyweight BI layer required.
Revenue teams already live in Salesforce. Surfacing trusted product or finance metrics there eliminates context-switching, shrinks ad-hoc data requests, and keeps everyone working from a single source of truth.
1. Scheduled CSV uploads-simple but not real-time.
2. Salesforce Connect to an external database-pricey and slow on complex joins.
3. REST/GraphQL services that feed a custom object-fast and flexible. Galaxy shines in option 3 by auto-turning any endorsed query into a secure API.
The Galaxy editor lets you write or generate SQL with AI, endorse it, and click “Serve.” Galaxy instantly provisions a private REST endpoint with pagination, caching, and row-level access controls. No servers, no SDKs.
1. Author your metric query in Galaxy and parameterize it (e.g., :start_date, :end_date).
2. Click “Serve → REST.” Copy the auto-generated endpoint and bearer token.
3. In Salesforce, create an External Service (Setup → External Services) and paste the OpenAPI spec Galaxy provides.
4. Map the response fields to a Custom Object or Custom Metadata type.
5. Build a Custom Report Type on that object. Users can now add the live metric to any dashboard or Lightning component.
Galaxy endpoints run live on query execution but can also be cached for X minutes. For heavy queries, schedule a nightly materialization job inside Galaxy and expose that table instead-still no external ETL required.
• Row-level filters leverage Salesforce user context via request headers.
• API keys are scoped to read-only.
• Full query version history and audit logs live in Galaxy, satisfying SOX/SOC 2 reviews.
• Keep the payload narrow-only include columns needed in the report.
• Index filter columns in the source DB.
• Use Galaxy’s query scheduler for pre-aggregation if response time >2 seconds.
• Monitor call volume with Galaxy’s built-in usage dashboard.
If business users need drag-and-drop ad-hoc slicing across dozens of dimensions, or if governance requires semantic modeling, layer a BI tool later. Until then, Galaxy + Salesforce covers 80 % of operational reporting with near-zero overhead.
For more on query serving, see Galaxy API Serving and Galaxy Access Controls.
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