TutorialConnect Gravity Forms to Salesforce (Auto-Fill by Email) with GravityWP API Connector

Tutorials » Connect Gravity Forms to Salesforce (Auto-Fill by Email) with GravityWP API Connector

This tutorial walks you through a Gravity Forms Salesforce integration that auto-fills entries by email securely, on submit, and without custom code. You’ll use GravityWP API Connector, OAuth 2.0 (Client Credentials), and a SOQL query to fetch First Name, Last Name, and Company from Salesforce.

What does Gravity Forms Salesforce integration tutorial delivers

Each submission checks Salesforce for a matching Lead by the submitted Email. If a record exists, the entry is enriched with First Name, Last Name, and Company from Salesforce. The lookup in this example runs on form submission. But with our API Connector for Gravity Forms it is also possible to prefill form fields with Salesforce data in real-time.

Gravity Forms Salesforce integration Requirements

• WordPress with Gravity Forms
  
• GravityWP – API Connector add-on
  
• Salesforce admin access to create an External Client App
  
• At least one Lead in Salesforce with a unique Email
  
• The Salesforce instance domain visible in the browser when logged in (example used here): https://orgfarm-7be0a7e638-dev-ed.develop.my.salesforce.com

Part 1 – Salesforce: External Client App

In Setup → External Client App Manager, create (or open) an app for this integration (e.g., Gravity Forms Integration) and ensure it is Enabled. In OAuth settings, enable Client Credentials Flow and include the api scope so a server can request an access token without a user login.

Open Consumer Key and Secret. Salesforce labels them “Consumer,” but the connector uses these as Client ID and Client Secret.

Part 2 – WordPress: create the API Connection

Go to Forms → Settings → API Connector → Add New API Connection and enter:

• Base URL: https://orgfarm-7be0a7e638-dev-ed.develop.my.salesforce.com
  (Just the instance domain; the connector appends endpoints to this base.)
  
• Authentication method: OAuth 2.0 (Client Credentials)
  
• Client ID / Client Secret: paste the Salesforce Consumer Key/Secret
  
• Token URL: https://orgfarm-7be0a7e638-dev-ed.develop.my.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/token

Save the connection.

Part 3 – Build the Gravity Form

Create fields for First Name, Last Name, Company, and Email; mark Email as Required. Note the Email field’s ID (in this example, 5), which appears in merge tags like {Email:5}.

Part 4 – Create the API Connector feed (Salesforce lookup)

Open the form → Settings → API Connector → Add New Feed. Give it a clear name.

Request
Set Request Method to GET and set the Endpoint (relative to the Base URL) to:

/services/data/v61.0/query

This is Salesforce’s REST Query resource: services/data is the REST base path; v61.0 is the API version; query accepts SOQL and returns JSON.

See the Salesforce REST API docs

SOQL via q parameter
Add a Query String parameter with Key = q and paste:

SELECT+Id,FirstName,LastName,Company,Email,Status+FROM+Lead+WHERE+Email='{Email:5}'+ORDER+BY+CreatedDate+DESC+LIMIT+1

• SELECT lists the exact fields required.
  
• FROM Lead targets the Lead object.
  
• WHERE Email = ‘{Email:5}’ inserts the submitted Email value from the form.
  
• ORDER BY … LIMIT 1 ensures a single deterministic record if duplicates ever appear.

The connector URL-encodes the query automatically; no manual encoding is needed.

Map JSON → fields
Map the response paths to Gravity Forms fields:

• First Name ← records/0/FirstName
  
• Last Name ← records/0/LastName
  
• Company ← records/0/Company

Only mapped fields are written to the entry; unmapped fields will not auto-fill.

Trigger & debug
Set the feed to run On form submission and enable Store full response to capture the raw JSON for testing.

Part 5 – Test

Submit the form using an Email that exists in Salesforce. Open the entries list and confirm that First Name, Last Name, and Company are populated from the returned JSON. If “Store full response” is enabled, review the JSON to verify the paths. Logs will show a fulfillment line (e.g., “Entry #… marked as fulfilled.”).

After testing, you’ll have a reliable Gravity Forms Salesforce integration that enriches entries with data from your organization.

Gravity Forms Salesforce integration Quick fixes

• Nothing filled? Confirm the merge tag uses the correct field ID ({Email:5} in this example).
  
• totalSize: 0 in JSON? No matching Lead for the submitted Email.
  
• Specific field empty? Ensure it’s both selected in SELECT and mapped to a field.
  
• Auth error? Verify Client ID/Secret, Token URL, app Enabled status, and Client Credentials Flow.

Format output with Advanced Merge Tags.

Optional extensions

• Query Contact instead of Lead by changing FROM Lead to FROM Contact and updating mappings.
  
• Add more fields by extending SELECT and mapping the new JSON paths.
  
• If pre-submit auto-fill is desired, switch the feed trigger to run on Email field change (different UX, not covered here).

Copy blocks

Endpoint (relative to Base URL)

/services/data/v61.0/query

SOQL

SELECT+Id,FirstName,LastName,Company,Email,Status+FROM+Lead+WHERE+Email='{Email:5}'+ORDER+BY+CreatedDate+DESC+LIMIT+1

JSON paths

records/0/FirstName
records/0/LastName
records/0/Company

Read more tutorials about

All tutorials