Admin page layout routing

Admin page layout routing

Overview

This skill is the admin persona's companion to v1.2's headline tool, sfi.layout_for_user. The admin's first-line question is some shape of "user X reports they're seeing the wrong layout (or wrong record type, or missing fields) on object Y" — and the honest answer is a cascade of independent routing rules (profile layout assignment for the requested record type → profile default record type resolution → Master fallback → permission-set record-type visibility note), where each step either matches a layout, fails to match, or admits the metadata model cannot tell. This skill teaches Claude how to drive the tool, present the cascade, and turn unknown and null verdicts into manual-check recommendations rather than fabricated layout IDs.

The cascade consumes three v1.2 edge types and two extracted Profile properties. The edges are parentOf (CustomObject → RecordType, emitted by the v1.2 RecordType extractor), references (RecordType → BusinessProcess, when the record type binds to a stage progression on Lead/Opportunity/Case), and parentOf (CustomObject → Layout, emitted in v0.1). The Profile properties are layoutAssignments (a map keyed by (objectApiName, recordTypeId)) and recordTypeVisibilities (with the default=true flag the cascade uses for default-record-type resolution). Both are extracted at confidence: 'declared'. The boundary that matters for admins: Classic layout routing is profile-based in the vault. When FlexiPages were retrieved and modeled, sfi.layout_for_user may surface Lightning Record Page assignments; otherwise it names the Lightning boundary instead of guessing. Permission-set layout assignments, org-default layouts, and app-default routing may still be unknown — point the admin at Setup rather than fabricating.

When to fire

Fire this skill on layout-routing phrasing. Concrete triggers:

• "What layout does user X see for object Y?" — "What layout does Janet see for Account?", "Which page layout for the Sales_Rep profile on Opportunity?", "What's the layout for the System Administrator on CustomObject:Account?".
• "Which page layout for profile X on object Y?" — "Page layout for Profile:Marketing_User on Affiliate__c?", "What layout is assigned to the Sales Manager profile for Case?".
• "Why is this user seeing this layout / wrong layout?" — "Sarah opened an Opportunity and says the fields look wrong", "Why is the rep seeing the Partner layout on Account?", "User reports they're missing the Notes field on Case."
• "Which record type does profile X default to?" — "What's the default record type for Profile:Sales_User on Opportunity?", "Does the Marketing profile have a default record type for Lead?".
• "What's the layout for record type Y?" — "Which layout is assigned for RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount under Profile:System Administrator?", "What layout fires for the New Business record type on Opportunity?".
• "User reports wrong layout." — natural support-ticket phrasing. "User complaint: Account layout is missing the Industry field on the Partner record type.", "Ticket: Sales rep can't see expected fields on Opportunity."
• "Page layout assignments for profile X." — "Show me the page layout assignments for Profile:Sales_Rep.", "List every layout the Sales User profile maps to."
• "Wrong fields on screen." — translate to a layout question; ask what object and record type the user was on.
• "User can't see field Y on the form." — this is layout routing, not field-level security. The field may simply not be placed on the layout the user's profile maps to.

When NOT to fire

Defer to another skill when:

• "Why can't user X see this record?" — record-level visibility, not layout routing. Defer to admin-sharing-troubleshooting → sfi.why_cant_user_see_record.
• "Why can't the user see field Z on every layout?" — that's field-level security (Field-Level Security), not page layout placement. Defer to business-user-orientation's why-can't-I-do-X intent or answering-org-questions → sfi.get_edges with grantedBy from the field.
• "What fields does this object have?" — a schema lookup. Defer to answering-org-questions → sfi.list_components or sfi.get_component.
• "What breaks if I change this layout?" — cross-component impact. Defer to architect-impact-analysis → sfi.get_impact.
• "Which layout does this Lightning record page render?" — v1.2 has a CustomTab extractor with a flexiPage discriminator but no FlexiPage extractor. Lightning record pages (FlexiPages) are out of scope until v1.4. Refuse honestly; direct the admin to Setup → Lightning App Builder and to the Lightning page assignment screen on the object.
• "Which compact layout does this user see?" — RecordType ships compactLayoutAssignment, and v1.2 stores it as a node property, but the sfi.layout_for_user cascade is full-page-layout only. Note the boundary and offer to surface the property via sfi.get_component on the RecordType id.
• A specific record ID question ("what layout does this specific Opportunity 006xx0000012345 show?"). v1.2 has no record-level data; the answer needs the record's recordTypeId. Translate to the object + record type shape (asking for the record type explicitly) or refuse.
• The user wants Lead-conversion or implicit-conversion layouts — those are not modeled in v1.2. Refuse honestly; point to Setup → Lead Settings.

Steps

Walk these in order. Each step has a definite output that feeds the next.

Step 1 — Parse the question into (profile, object, [recordType])

The tool needs three pieces. The user almost never types them in canonical form:

• profileId — required. Canonical form is Profile:{ProfileName} (e.g., Profile:Sales_Rep, Profile:System Administrator). Profile names may contain spaces; preserve them in the canonical id.
• objectApiName — required. Bare API name (e.g., Account, Opportunity, Custom_Object__c). The handler builds the CustomObject: id internally.
• recordTypeId — optional. Canonical form is RecordType:{ObjectApiName}.{RecordTypeName} (e.g., RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount, RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business). When omitted, the cascade attempts to resolve the profile's default record type for the object.

If any required piece is missing — including the user supplying a user name instead of a profile id, or naming a record type by business label without an API hint — ASK before firing the tool. v1.2 does not extract User records, so the user-to-profile mapping is not in the graph; the admin must look it up in Setup → Users. Good clarifying questions:

• "What's the user's profile? v1.2 doesn't extract User records, so I can't translate from [email protected] to a profile id."
• "Which record type are they working with — or any? I can resolve the profile's default if you leave it open."
• "Are they on the Master record type, or a configured one?"

If the user names a profile by display label rather than API name ("Sales User"), translate via sfi.list_components({ type: 'Profile' }) or sfi.search_components({ query: 'Sales User', types: ['Profile'] }) to confirm the canonical id before firing.

Step 2 — Call sfi.layout_for_user

Default invocation, full triple:

{
  "recordContext": {
    "objectApiName": "Account",
    "recordTypeId": "RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount"
  },
  "userContext": {
    "profileId": "Profile:System Administrator"
  }
}

Default invocation, no record type (let the cascade resolve the profile default):

{
  "recordContext": { "objectApiName": "Opportunity" },
  "userContext": { "profileId": "Profile:Sales_User" }
}

With permission sets (informational only — they never change layoutId):

{
  "recordContext": { "objectApiName": "Account" },
  "userContext": {
    "profileId": "Profile:Sales_Rep",
    "permissionSetIds": ["PermissionSet:Sales_Cloud_User"]
  }
}

The response shape (per the v1.2 contract):

{
  "data": {
    "layoutId": "Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout",
    "recordTypeUsed": "RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount",
    "reasoning": [
      { "rule": "ProfileLayoutAssignment", "profileId": "Profile:System Administrator", "objectApiName": "Account", "recordTypeId": "RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount", "verdict": "matched", "layoutId": "Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout" }
    ]
  }
}

The cascade runs top-to-bottom in this order: ProfileLayoutAssignment → ProfileDefaultRecordType (only when the input had no recordTypeId and step 1 was no-match) → MasterFallback → PermissionSetRecordTypeVisibility (always emitted when permissionSetIds is non-empty; informational). The first ProfileLayoutAssignment step whose verdict is matched terminates the cascade and its layoutId becomes the top-level layoutId. If no step matches, top-level layoutId is null and recordTypeUsed is the last record type the cascade considered.

Step 3 — Walk the cascade and present each step

The raw reasoning[] array is the right shape for human reading: a bulleted timeline of stages, each with its rule, verdict, and reason. Walk the array in order and surface every step — including the ones that returned unknown or no-match. Do not silently drop steps because they "didn't change the answer." They're load-bearing for admin trust; the trace is what the admin will rely on when they go change the assignment in Setup.

For each step:

• State the rule name (ProfileLayoutAssignment, ProfileDefaultRecordType, MasterFallback, PermissionSetRecordTypeVisibility).
• State the verdict (matched, no-match, resolved, no-default, visible, extends-visibility, unknown).
• State the reason in English (cite the note, plus any canonical IDs like Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout, RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business, Profile:Sales_User).
• If the verdict is unknown, recommend the manual check explicitly, verbatim from the step's note when present — e.g., "verify the page layout assignment in Setup → Profiles → Profile:Sales_User → Page Layout Assignment for Opportunity", or "confirm the record type default in Setup → Profiles → Profile:Marketing User → Record Type Settings."

Step 4 — Present the bottom-line layout decision

After the trace, give the top-level decision in one sentence, plain language. Three shapes:

• Matched (layoutId is non-null): "Profile:Sales_User on Opportunity with RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business sees Layout:Opportunity.New Business Opportunity Layout."
• Null with unknown step: "v1.2 cannot tell which layout Profile:Marketing User sees for (Affiliate__c, Premium) — no layoutAssignments entry was extracted for this tuple. Verify in Setup → Profiles → Profile:Marketing User → Page Layout Assignment for Affiliate__c."
• Null with no unknown step (rare; happens when every step returned no-match/no-default and the profile genuinely has no layout for the object): "v1.2's extracted assignments do not cover (Object, RecordType) for this profile. Either the profile has no assigned layout (Salesforce will fall back to the org-default layout — not modeled in v1.2) or the assignment was not extracted. Verify in Setup."

Use canonical IDs in the bottom-line sentence so the admin can act on them.

Step 5 — When the verdict is non-null, surface the boundary too

Even when layoutId is non-null and the trace looks complete, always append the v1.2 boundary disclosure (see Boundary disclosure below). The admin's protection against the wrong mental model is naming what the cascade doesn't model. A matched profile layout still has to coexist with permission-set layout overrides that the cascade doesn't see (the PermissionSetRecordTypeVisibility step discloses this when permission sets were supplied; restate it when they weren't).

Step 6 — Recover from not-found errors

sfi.layout_for_user can return { error: { kind: 'component-not-found' } } when the supplied profileId doesn't match an extracted Profile node. Recovery move: call sfi.list_components({ type: 'Profile' }) to enumerate the extracted Profile ids, surface the closest matches, and ask the admin which one they meant. Do not guess a profile id from a partial label; profile names are bespoke per org.

Reporting format

Worked example. Use the synthetic-v1.2 fixture conventions (Profile:System Administrator, RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount, Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout, RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business, RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium, Profile:Marketing User).

User: "What layout does the System Administrator profile see for the Partner Account record type on Account?"

Claude's flow:

1. Parse → profileId: 'Profile:System Administrator', objectApiName: 'Account', recordTypeId: 'RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount'. All three present.
2. Call sfi.layout_for_user with the triple.
3. Receive (illustrative):

{
  "data": {
    "layoutId": "Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout",
    "recordTypeUsed": "RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount",
    "reasoning": [
      { "rule": "ProfileLayoutAssignment", "profileId": "Profile:System Administrator", "objectApiName": "Account", "recordTypeId": "RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount", "verdict": "matched", "layoutId": "Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout" }
    ]
  }
}

4. Respond:

Layout routing cascade for Profile:System Administrator on Account with RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount:

• ProfileLayoutAssignment — matched. Found a direct assignment for the tuple (Account, RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount) in the profile's layoutAssignments map → Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout.

Bottom line: Profile:System Administrator on Account with the Partner Account record type sees Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout.

v1.2 layout routing covers profile layoutAssignments, profile recordTypeVisibilities (for default-record-type resolution), and the Master record-type fallback. It does not resolve layout assignments through permission sets — Salesforce does not support per-permission-set layoutAssignments. It does not model Lightning record pages (FlexiPages), compact layouts, or record-row-level routing. If the rep is still seeing a different layout, check the Lightning Record Page assignment in Setup → Object Manager → Account → Lightning Record Pages.

Every step appears with its verdict. The bottom-line cites canonical IDs. The boundary disclosure is unskippable.

Counter-example — honest refusal (Q30 anchor)

User: "What layout does the Marketing User profile see for the Premium record type on Affiliate__c?"

Claude's flow:

1. Parse → profileId: 'Profile:Marketing User', objectApiName: 'Affiliate__c', recordTypeId: 'RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium'.
2. Call sfi.layout_for_user.
3. Receive (illustrative):

{
  "data": {
    "layoutId": null,
    "recordTypeUsed": "RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium",
    "reasoning": [
      { "rule": "ProfileLayoutAssignment", "profileId": "Profile:Marketing User", "objectApiName": "Affiliate__c", "recordTypeId": "RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium", "verdict": "no-match", "note": "no layoutAssignments entry for (Affiliate__c, RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium) was extracted from Profile:Marketing User" },
      { "rule": "MasterFallback", "objectApiName": "Affiliate__c", "verdict": "unknown", "note": "no layoutAssignments entry for (Affiliate__c, null) either; cannot resolve Master fallback from extracted metadata" }
    ]
  }
}

4. Respond:

Layout routing cascade for Profile:Marketing User on Affiliate__c with RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium:

• ProfileLayoutAssignment — no-match. No layoutAssignments entry for (Affiliate__c, RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium) was extracted from Profile:Marketing User.
• MasterFallback — unknown. No layoutAssignments entry for (Affiliate__c, null) either; v1.2 can't resolve the Master fallback from extracted metadata.

Bottom line: v1.2 cannot tell which layout Profile:Marketing User sees for (Affiliate__c, RecordType:Affiliate__c.Premium). The profile's layoutAssignments map has no entry for this tuple, and no Master fallback was extracted. Verify manually:

• Setup → Profiles → Marketing User → Page Layout Assignment for Affiliate__c — confirm what's actually assigned for the Premium record type (and for Master).
• If the assignment is configured but the cascade reported no-match, the v1.2 extraction may have missed it. File a /sfi-refresh and re-run.

v1.2 layout routing covers profile layoutAssignments, profile recordTypeVisibilities, and the Master fallback. It does not model permission-set layout assignments, Lightning record pages, app-default routing, compact layouts, or record-row data. layoutId: null is the honest answer — v1.2 cannot tell, and the admin must verify in Setup.

The response names every step. Every no-match and unknown is surfaced. The boundary disclosure is verbatim. No layout id is fabricated.

Recovery example — typo in profile id

User: "Which layout does the Profile:Sale_Rep see for Account?"

Claude's flow:

1. Parse → typo'd profile id (Sale_Rep vs the real Sales_Rep).
2. Call sfi.layout_for_user — returns { error: { kind: 'component-not-found', message: 'Profile not found: Profile:Sale_Rep' } }.
3. Recover → call sfi.list_components({ type: 'Profile' }). Surface top matches alphabetically close to the typo.
4. Respond:

No Profile:Sale_Rep in the extracted vault. The Profiles closest to that name are:

• Profile:Sales_Rep
• Profile:Sales_Manager
• Profile:Sales_User

Did you mean Profile:Sales_Rep? I'll re-run the cascade once you confirm.

Don't guess. The profile id is the load-bearing input to the cascade.

Boundary disclosure

v1.2's layout routing has well-defined gaps. Surface this list whenever the admin is about to act on the report, and always when any step returned unknown or the top-level layoutId is null:

• Permission-set layout assignments. Not extracted; Salesforce does not support per-permission-set layoutAssignments at all (the metadata model only allows them on Profile). The PermissionSetRecordTypeVisibility step in the cascade informationally notes the supplied permission sets when present, but it never affects the top-level layoutId. If an admin has been told "the permission set is overriding the layout," that's not how Salesforce works — the permission set extends record-type visibility, but layout assignment stays with the profile.
• Org-default layouts. Salesforce maintains a fallback layout per object that applies when no profile-specific assignment matches. v1.2 does not model this fallback. When the MasterFallback step returns unknown, the org default may still be displaying — check Setup → Object Manager → {object} → Page Layouts → Page Layout Assignment for the authoritative answer.
• Lightning record pages (FlexiPages). Lightning record pages can be assigned per-profile, per-app, and per-record-type through the Lightning App Builder. v1.2 has a CustomTab extractor with a flexiPage discriminator that names a FlexiPage exists, but there is no FlexiPage extractor — the page itself is not in the vault. If a user is on a Lightning record page rather than a Classic layout, the cascade's answer may be moot. Direct the admin to Setup → Object Manager → {object} → Lightning Record Pages to verify what's actually rendering.
• App-default routing. A CustomApplication can pin particular Lightning pages per record type or per app context. v1.2's CustomApplication extractor tracks tabs (tabs[]) but does not model Lightning page assignments per app. Refuse the question; point to Setup → App Manager → {App} → Edit.
• Compact layouts. RecordType ships compactLayoutAssignment. v1.2 stores it as a property on the RecordType node (properties.compactLayoutAssignment), but sfi.layout_for_user is full-page-layout only. If the admin wants the compact layout for a record type, fetch it via sfi.get_component({ id: 'RecordType:...' }) and surface the property — do not route it through the cascade.
• Implicit-conversion layouts. Lead conversion uses a Lead Conversion Mappings model (LeadConvertSettings) that v1.2 does not extract. If the admin is investigating a Lead-convert layout question, refuse honestly; point to Setup → Object Manager → Lead → Lead Settings → Lead Conversion.
• User → Profile mapping. v1.2 does not extract User records. When the admin supplies a user name, ask for the profile id directly or send them to Setup → Users → {user} → Profile. v1.7's Tooling API tier may surface a synthetic mapping.
• Record-row routing. "Which layout does this specific Opportunity record show?" needs the record's recordTypeId — which is record-level data, out of scope for v1.x. Translate to (object, recordType) shape and disclose the shift, or refuse and point the admin at the record in Salesforce.
• Tab visibility per profile. Profile carries tabVisibilities (extracted in v1.0); v1.2 does not yet produce a tool that walks it. The Q28 inversion (tab-to-app) via belongsToApp is the closest v1.2 capability.

Treat unknown verdicts as a flag for manual investigation, not as denial. Treat no-match verdicts as "the profile's extracted layoutAssignments map has no entry for this tuple" — still subject to the org-default-layout caveat above. Treat a non-null layoutId as "v1.2 traced a declared profile assignment" — high trust, but still subject to a Lightning record page or permission-set visibility override that the cascade doesn't see.

Anti-patterns

Mistake	Why it's wrong
Presenting layoutId: null as "the profile has no layout assigned."	null means "v1.2 can't tell from the extracted metadata." The profile may have a layout assigned in Setup that the extractor missed or didn't model (org-default, Lightning page). Surface the null as a flag for the Setup check, never as a definitive negative.
Guessing the org-default layout when the cascade returns null.	The PLAN's anti-rationalization #2 verbatim. Guessing fabricates a layout the admin will trust and act on. layoutId: null is the honest answer.
Claiming "the permission set is overriding the layout."	Salesforce does not support per-permission-set layoutAssignments. The PermissionSetRecordTypeVisibility step is informational only — it never changes layoutId. Don't introduce an override mechanism that doesn't exist in the metadata model.
Firing the tool without a profileId.	The cascade reads layoutAssignments from a Profile node; without the profile id there is no node to read. ASK the admin for the profile before firing — v1.2 has no User records to translate from.
Translating a user name into a profile id by guessing.	v1.2 doesn't extract User records. Ask the admin to look up the user's profile in Setup → Users, or to supply the profile id directly.
Confidently answering for a Lightning record page question.	v1.2 has a CustomTab.flexiPage discriminator but no FlexiPage extractor. If the user is on a Lightning record page, the cascade's Classic-layout answer is moot. Refuse the question; point to Setup → Object Manager → {object} → Lightning Record Pages.
Silently dropping no-match or unknown steps from the trace.	Every step is load-bearing for the audit trail. Dropping a no-match step makes the trace look definitive when it isn't, and the admin will skip the Setup verification.
Treating recordTypeUsed as the "best record type" when layoutId is null.	recordTypeUsed is just "the last record type the cascade considered." When layoutId is null, it does not mean the user actually defaults to that record type — only that the cascade walked it before giving up. State this explicitly if you cite the field.
Skipping the boundary disclosure on a matched layout.	The disclosure protects against the wrong mental model. A matched verdict still has to coexist with Lightning record page assignments, permission-set visibility extensions, and compact layouts that the cascade doesn't model. Always disclose.
Conflating "user can't see field Y on the form" with field-level security.	A field missing from the form may be FLS or it may simply not be on the layout. Run the layout cascade first — if the layout doesn't place the field, FLS doesn't matter. If the layout places it but the user can't see it, then it's FLS, and the routing question becomes business-user-orientation / sfi.get_edges on grantedBy.

Example interactions

Happy path — matched layout for a known triple

User: "Which page layout does the System Administrator profile see for Account record type PartnerAccount?"

Claude's flow:

1. Parse → profileId: 'Profile:System Administrator', objectApiName: 'Account', recordTypeId: 'RecordType:Account.PartnerAccount'.
2. Fire sfi.layout_for_user with the triple.
3. Present the single ProfileLayoutAssignment step with verdict: 'matched' and the layout id (see Reporting format above for the full transcript).
4. Bottom line. Layout:Account.Partner Account Layout.
5. Boundary disclosure. Verbatim — permission sets, Lightning pages, compact layouts, org defaults, record-row data.

Default record-type resolution

User: "Which layout does the Sales User profile see for Opportunity when no record type is specified?"

Claude's flow:

1. Parse → profileId: 'Profile:Sales_User', objectApiName: 'Opportunity', recordTypeId omitted.
2. Fire sfi.layout_for_user.
3. Receive a 3-step cascade: (1) ProfileLayoutAssignment with verdict: 'no-match' for the bare (Opportunity, null) tuple, (2) ProfileDefaultRecordType with verdict: 'resolved' naming RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business, and (3) a second ProfileLayoutAssignment with verdict: 'matched' for (Opportunity, RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business).
4. Respond: present all three steps in the cascade trace, name Layout:Opportunity.New Business Opportunity Layout as the bottom line, and append the boundary disclosure.

Layout routing cascade for Profile:Sales_User on Opportunity (no record type specified):

• ProfileLayoutAssignment — no-match. No layoutAssignments entry for (Opportunity, null); the cascade attempts profile default record-type resolution.
• ProfileDefaultRecordType — resolved. The profile's recordTypeVisibilities entry for Opportunity has default=true → RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business. The cascade restarts step 1 with the resolved record type.
• ProfileLayoutAssignment — matched. Found assignment for (Opportunity, RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business) → Layout:Opportunity.New Business Opportunity Layout.

Bottom line: Profile:Sales_User on Opportunity defaults to RecordType:Opportunity.New_Business and sees Layout:Opportunity.New Business Opportunity Layout.

[v1.2 boundary disclosure follows.]

Honest refusal — Lightning record page

User: "Which Lightning record page does the Sales rep see on Account?"

Claude's flow:

1. Classify → Lightning record page question, not Classic layout routing.
2. Stop. Do not fire sfi.layout_for_user.
3. Respond:

Lightning record pages (FlexiPages) aren't extracted in v1.2. The CustomTab extractor surfaces a flexiPage discriminator that names whether a tab points at a Lightning page, but the FlexiPage itself isn't in the vault.

To answer "which Lightning record page does the Sales rep see on Account":

• Setup → Object Manager → Account → Lightning Record Pages — shows every page assigned to the object, with the per-profile and per-app-and-record-type assignment matrix.
• Or the Lightning App Builder — open the relevant page and review its Activation settings.

v1.2 can answer the Classic page layout question if you want me to run that cascade instead. Lightning record page coverage is on the roadmap for v1.4.

The response names the v1.2 boundary, points to two concrete Setup paths, and offers the in-scope alternative.

Recovery — typo'd profile id

User: "Layout for Profile:Sale_Rep on Account, please."

See Reporting format above. The cascade returns component-not-found; recover with sfi.list_components({ type: 'Profile' }) and surface the closest matches.

Verification

Before sending a response, confirm:

• I translated the user's reference into a canonical profileId (Profile:{ProfileName}), objectApiName (bare API name), and — if supplied — recordTypeId (RecordType:{ObjectApiName}.{RecordTypeName}). I asked the admin for any missing piece before firing.
• If the user supplied a user name (not a profile id), I asked them to look it up in Setup → Users rather than guessing.
• If the user supplied a record-row ID (006xx..., 001xx...), I disclosed the shift and asked for the record's recordTypeId before firing — or refused and pointed to the record in Salesforce.
• I called sfi.layout_for_user exactly once per triple. (If the admin corrected an input, I re-fired.)
• I presented every step in reasoning[] — including no-match and unknown steps — as a bulleted trace with rule, verdict, and reason.
• Every unknown step carried a manual-check recommendation naming the specific Setup screen to inspect (e.g., Setup → Profiles → {profile} → Page Layout Assignment for {object}).
• I cited canonical IDs (Profile:..., RecordType:..., Layout:..., CustomObject:...) for every component named.
• I gave the bottom-line decision in one sentence: matched layout id, or null with the reason.
• If the cascade returned component-not-found on the profile id, I called sfi.list_components({ type: 'Profile' }) and surfaced the closest matches rather than guessing.
• If the question was about a Lightning record page, compact layout, lead-conversion layout, or permission-set "layout override," I refused honestly and named the specific Setup screen.
• I appended the v1.2 boundary disclosure — permission-set layouts, org defaults, Lightning record pages, app-default routing, compact layouts, implicit-conversion layouts, user→profile mapping, record-row data, tab visibility.
• I did not present null or unknown as "no layout exists," and I did not fabricate a layout id when the cascade couldn't tell.

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Grounding & routing (shared contract). For a vague or broad ask, call sfi.route_question first — in the default hybrid mode it returns a meaning-ranked toolCandidates shortlist (which YOU pick from) plus a suggested plane and a route hint (and whether to sfi.resolve a name first). Every org fact must come from an sfi.* tool call, cited by its canonical id — never from memory. Build the answer only from what the tools returned, then pass it through sfi.synthesize_answer, which flags any hallucinatedIds (canonical ids no tool produced). Full cascade: using-sf-intelligence.