---
schema_version: "1"
id: b7dc63c6aee07a5fc17f8b816e8678b3649702521e87d18fb31ea3b74a75e653
title: MatchingRule
collection: legacydeveloper
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/legacydeveloper/current/en-us/object_reference/sforce_api_objects_matchingrule.md
canonical_url: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference/sforce_api_objects_matchingrule.htm
source_site: developer.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 4a8716e526564897cf6a38643313c66997f9a910cde485ecac139fb49d4bf10a
description: Represents a matching rule that is used to identify duplicate records. This object is available in API version 33.0 and later.
---
# MatchingRule

Represents a matching rule that is used to identify duplicate records. This object is available in API version 33.0 and later.

A matching rule compares field values to determine whether a record is similar enough to existing records to be considered a duplicate. For example, a matching rule can specify that if the Email and Phone values of two records match exactly, the records are possible duplicates. Your organization uses matching rules with duplicate rules to define what happens when duplicates are identified.

If the rule is for a Person Account, SobjectSubType is automatically set to PersonAccount.

## Supported Calls

describeSObjects(), query(), retrieve()

## Special Access Rules

As of Summer ’20 and later, only users with the View Setup and Configuration permission can access this object.

## Fields

<table class="featureTable sort_table" summary="">


          <thead class="thead sorted" align="left">
            <tr>
              <th class="featureTableHeader  " id="d1250846e100">Field Name</th>

              <th class="featureTableHeader  " id="d1250846e103">Details</th>

            </tr>

          </thead>

          <tbody class="tbody">
            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">BooleanFilter</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">string</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Nillable, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Specifies filter logic conditions.</dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">Description</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">textarea</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Nillable, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">The description of the matching rule.</dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">DeveloperName</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">string</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">The developer name for the matching rule.</dd>

                  <dd class="dd">
                    <div class="box message info">
                      <div class="inner">
                        <div class="bd">
                          <div class="media">
                            <img class="img mtm" src="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference/images/icon_note.png" alt="Note">
                            <div class="mediaBd">
                              <h4 class="mbs">Note</h4>
                              <p>Only users with View DeveloperName OR View Setup
                                and Configuration permission can view, group, sort,
                                and filter this field.</p>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                    </div>

                  </dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">Language</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">picklist</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Restricted picklist, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">The language selected for your organization.</dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">MasterLabel</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">string</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">The name of the matching rule.</dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">MatchEngine</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">picklist</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Nillable, Restricted picklist, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">The match engine used by the matching rule.</dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">NamespacePrefix</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">string</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Nillable, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">The namespace prefix for matching rules for your
                    organization.</dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">RuleStatus</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">picklist</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Defaulted on create, Filter, Group, Restricted picklist,
                    Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Required. The activation status of the matching rule.
                    Values are:<ul class="ul bulletList">
                      <li class="li"><kbd class="ph userinput">Inactive</kbd></li>

                      <li class="li"><kbd class="ph userinput">Deactivating</kbd></li>

                      <li class="li"><kbd class="ph userinput">DeactivationFailed</kbd></li>

                      <li class="li"><kbd class="ph userinput">Active</kbd></li>

                      <li class="li"><kbd class="ph userinput">Activating</kbd></li>

                      <li class="li"><kbd class="ph userinput">ActivationFailed</kbd></li>

                    </ul>
                    <div class="box message confirm">
                      <div class="inner">
                        <div class="bd">
                          <div class="media">
                            <img class="img mtm" src="https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference/images/icon_note_important.png" alt="Important">
                            <div class="mediaBd">
                              <h4 class="mbs">Important</h4>
                              <p>The only valid values you
                                can declare when deploying a package are
                                <kbd class="ph userinput">Active </kbd> and <kbd class="ph userinput">
                                  Inactive</kbd>.
                              </p>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                    </div>
                  </dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">SobjectSubtype</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">picklist</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Defaulted on create, Filter, Group, Nillable, Restricted picklist, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">
                    <span class="ph" id="SobjectSubType_descr"><a name="SobjectSubType_descr"><!-- --></a>Read-only. Indicates if
                      the matching rule is defined for the
                      <span class="keyword parmname">Person</span> subtype of
                      <span class="keyword parmname">Account</span>.</span> Valid values are:<ul class="ul bulletList">
                      <li class="li"><samp class="codeph nolang">PersonAccount</samp></li>

                      <li class="li"><samp class="codeph nolang">None</samp></li>

                    </ul>
                  </dd>


                </dl>

                <p class="p">If the rule is for a Person Account,
                  <span class="keyword parmname">SobjectSubType</span> is automatically set to
                  <samp class="codeph nolang">PersonAccount</samp>.
                </p>

              </td>

            </tr>

            <tr>
              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e100" data-title="Field Name"><span class="keyword parmname">SobjectType</span></td>

              <td class="entry" headers="d1250846e103" data-title="Details">
                <dl class="dl detailList">

                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Type</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">picklist</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Properties</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">Filter, Group, Restricted picklist, Sort</dd>



                  <dt class="dt dlterm">Description</dt>

                  <dd class="dd">The object for the matching rule.</dd>


                </dl>

              </td>

            </tr>

          </tbody>

        </table>

## Usage

Use the Salesforce API to retrieve and view details about MatchingRule and MatchingRuleItem. Use the Salesforce Metadata API to create, update, or delete these objects.

#### See Also

- [MatchingRuleItem](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference/sforce_api_objects_matchingruleitem.htm "Represents criteria used by a matching rule to identify duplicate records. This object is available in API version 33.0 and later.")
- [DuplicateRule](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference/sforce_api_objects_duplicaterule.htm "Represents a duplicate rule for detecting duplicate records.")

- [MatchingRule in the Salesforce Metadata API Developer's Guide](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.264.0.api_meta.meta/api_meta/meta_matchingrule.htm " MatchingRule in the Salesforce Metadata API Developer's
    Guide - HTML (New Window)")