Integration: Quick Reference

Integration is the #1 failure domain on the CTA exam. The review board expects you to name specific patterns, justify them against alternatives, address error handling for every touchpoint, and explain timing decisions. Vague answers like “we’ll use an API” will cost you the exam.

This quick reference guide distills Domain 5 into three scannable quick-reference pages. Read these if you have 2 hours before a mock board.

Quick Reference Pages

Page	What It Covers	When You Need It
Patterns Quick Ref	All 6 official patterns, selection matrix, timing decision tree	Choosing and justifying integration patterns
API Quick Ref	Every Salesforce API, rate limits, auth flows, selection cheat sheet	Picking the right API and defending limits math
Error Handling Quick Ref	Retry, circuit breaker, DLQ, idempotency, monitoring	Answering “what happens when this fails?”

The 5 Things Judges Always Ask

1. “Why this pattern and not X?” — You must name the pattern and articulate the trade-off. See Patterns Quick Ref.
2. “What happens when the external system is down?” — Walk through retry, circuit breaker, DLQ, and alerting end-to-end. See Error Handling Quick Ref.
3. “How do you handle duplicates?” — Idempotency keys, upsert with External ID, deduplication. See Error Handling Quick Ref.
4. “Have you accounted for API limits?” — Show the math: daily volume x calls per record vs. org allocation. See API Quick Ref.
5. “Why middleware (or why NOT middleware)?” — Count the systems, assess transformation complexity, justify cost. See Patterns Quick Ref.

Board Presentation Template

For every integration touchpoint in your scenario, fill in this row:

Touchpoint	Pattern	Timing	API/Tech	Error Strategy	Justification
e.g., Address Validation	Request-Reply	Real-time	REST callout	Graceful degradation + circuit breaker	User blocked without validated address
e.g., Order to ERP	Fire-and-Forget	Near-RT	Platform Events + MuleSoft	Retry + DLQ + alerting	Order confirmation not needed in-transaction
e.g., Data Warehouse	Batch Sync	Nightly	Bulk API 2.0 + ETL	Partial failure handling	Reporting tolerates day-old data

The magic phrase

“I chose [pattern] over [alternative] because [scenario-specific reason]. The trade-off is [downside], which I mitigate by [mitigation].” Use this formula for every integration decision.

Deep Dive References

For full coverage beyond this quick reference guide, see the complete Domain 5 study content:

• Integration Patterns — Full pattern details with sequence diagrams
• API Landscape — Complete API reference with all limits
• Error Handling Patterns — Full error strategy with Mermaid flows
• Middleware Architecture — MuleSoft API-led connectivity deep dive
• Event-Driven Architecture — Platform Events, CDC, Pub/Sub details
• Decision Guides — 9 decision flowcharts
• Best Practices — 20 best practices + anti-patterns
• Trade-offs — Structured trade-off analysis

Sources

• Salesforce Integration Patterns and Practices (Spring ‘26)
• CTA Review Board Tips — Bob Buzzard
• CTA Board Judge Insights — DYDC
• CTA Coaching — FlowRepublic