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Read comparison results

Understand a comparison's summary cards, risk levels, filters and side-by-side diff viewer, and export the results as CSV, Excel or an HTML report.

Updated in Drift detection & comparisons

Overview

Each comparison has a detail page that explains exactly what differs between the source and the target. It combines four things: a check of what was retrieved, summary numbers, a risk-ranked breakdown by metadata type, and a searchable table of every component with a diff viewer.

Every component gets one of four statuses:

StatusMeaning
MatchingIdentical on both sides.
ModifiedExists on both sides, but the content differs.
Missing in TargetExists in the source only — often something not yet deployed.
Missing in SourceExists in the target only — often a change made directly in the target.

Before you start

Steps

  1. While the job runs, the page shows a progress bar and a message such as Running comparison... or Queued.... You can leave and come back.
  2. When the job is Completed, expand FETCH INTELLIGENCE — What was retrieved. It shows how many components each side returned per metadata type. Check this first: a side that returned 0 components makes every other number misleading.
  3. Read the summary cards — Total, Matching, Modified, Missing in Target, Missing in Source and Drift %.
  4. Review Drift Intelligence — Breakdown by Metadata Type. Types are ranked by risk:
    • CRITICAL: Profile, PermissionSet, PermissionSetGroup — access changes.
    • HIGH: Flow, FlowDefinition, ApexClass, ApexTrigger, WorkflowRule — behavior changes.
    • MEDIUM: CustomObject, CustomField, ValidationRule, RecordType, LightningComponentBundle.
    • LOW: everything else.
  5. Narrow the results table with the Status chips, the Risk chips (you can combine levels), the search box (Search component / type / path…) and the type dropdown.
  6. Click any non-matching row, or its View Diff icon, to open the diff viewer. It shows SOURCE and TARGET side by side. A missing side reads Not present in source or Not present in target. For Git sides, GIT COMMIT INFO shows who last changed the file.
  7. To share or keep the results, click CSV, Excel or HTML Report at the top right.

Example

A comparison of acme-sit vs acme-uat shows 18 drifted components. The breakdown flags 2 CRITICAL — both PermissionSet. Priya clicks the CRITICAL risk chip, opens each diff, and sees a field permission granted in SIT but not in UAT. She exports an HTML Report for the change board.

FAQs

What do the risk levels mean?

They reflect how much a change in that metadata type can affect users. Security types are CRITICAL because a difference changes who can see or do what.

Can I see an AI summary of the drift?

Yes. The AI Intelligence Report panel sits above the results table. See Use AI drift insights.

Why can't I open a diff for a matching component?

There is nothing to show — both sides are identical.

Troubleshooting

"No components were retrieved from either org."

Neither org returned metadata. Check that both connections are healthy in Connections, then run the comparison again. See Fix expired org credentials.

"Source org returned 0 components" (or Target)

Only one side returned nothing, so everything on the other side looks missing. Verify that org's connection and re-run the comparison.

"Comparison failed: …"

The job stopped with the error shown. Fix the cause (usually a connection or retrieval problem) and start a new comparison. Troubleshoot sync failures covers common retrieval errors.

"No results match the current filters"

Clear the search box and set Status and Risk back to All.

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