Setting up and using connections in Bigin toppings

When building a topping to extend Bigin's functionality and connect it with third-party applications, creating and handling connections is an important step. Connections provide a secure way for your topping to authenticate and communicate with other applications' APIs without exposing sensitive credentials to end users. This abstraction is both secure and makes the integration easier because it eliminates the need for developers to implement complex authorization flows manually or handle authorization tokens directly.

Bigin's Developer Console offers a feature called a connection, which acts as a bridge between your topping and the third-party application you wish to integrate with. Once a connection is configured, you can reference it in your topping's functionalities using its unique link name. This enables the topping to execute REST operations such as fetching, updating, or syncing data with the connected application securely.

Now that we've achieved a basic understanding of what a connection is and how it helps toppings interact with other applications, the next step is to understand the types of connections available in Bigin's Developer Console.

Establishing connections with services

The connections feature in Bigin's Developer Console offers two types of services to help developers configure integrations according to their requirements: default services and custom services. Default services are preconfigured services available in Bigin's Developer Console that simplify integrations with some Zoho and third-party applications. If the application you want to integrate with isn't listed in the default services, you can create a custom service and configure it according to the API specifications of the third-party application.

Default services

The connections feature offers certain default services as preconfigured options that can be easily integrated with Bigin. These services come with predefined settings such as authentication type, token endpoints, scopes, and headers, which reduces the need for manual configuration. Currently, there are around 50 default services available in the Developer Console, covering a wide range of applications and platforms. This enables developers to connect to services with minimal effort.

If the application you want to integrate with your topping isn't listed in the default services, you can create a new custom service.

Custom services

Custom services enable developers to configure all aspects of a connection manually, including the authentication type, endpoints, headers, and scopes, which enables integration with third-party applications.

When setting up a custom service, developers can specify the exact authentication flow required by the external application, whether it's basic authentication, OAuth, an API key, or another method.

Note:

Refer to the official API documentation of third-party applications when configuring these settings, as this will provide the necessary details for authentication and data access.

To create a custom service, navigate to the Connections section and choose Custom Services in the Developer Console. Based on the authentication type supported, configure the custom service for the required product.

For more details on creating and configuring custom services, please refer to this guide.

Note:

Always handle sensitive information such as client IDs, client secrets, and API keys securely, and never share them publicly. After configuring and authorizing a custom service, reference it in Deluge scripts and workflow functions by using its unique connection link name, just as you do with default services.

Next, let's look at how to implement the default service connection with an example.

Create a default service connection

Let's say you're developing a Bigin topping to synchronize contact information between Bigin and Zoho Books. This integration enables contacts created or updated in Bigin to be automatically reflected in Zoho Books. The topping uses Zoho Books APIs to create, update, and retrieve customer data using a default service connection.

To create a default service connection for the topping, choose Connections from the left panel of the Developer Console and click Get Started.

Next, navigate to My Connections or Default Services. To fetch data from the Contacts module in Bigin, create a connection first. From Default Services, select Bigin and then click Create Connection to set it up.

The system will prompt you to enter the connection details. Provide a name for the connection (for example: Bigin Connection). A connection link name is generated automatically.

Next, select the scopes required for the topping's functionality. In this use case, select ZohoBigin.modules.ALL to access data from Bigin's Contacts module.

After selecting the scope, click Create and Connect to initiate the authorization process. The system redirects you to the authorization page. Click Connect, and you'll be taken to the service's login page. Choose the Bigin organization for which the topping was created, click submit, and the connection will be created.

After establishing the connection with Bigin, you must also create a connection for Zoho Books to enable record creation. To do this, create a default service connection for Zoho Books, similar to the one created for Bigin. Select the scope ZohoBooks.fullaccess.ALL to grant complete access to modules and operations in Zoho Books.

Once you've created the connections for both Bigin and Zoho Books, the system will generate connection link names for each. These link names must be used in the business logic.

Note:

During development, authorize the connection in the Sandbox environment to test integration workflows safely.

To understand the authorization process and how to implement them, please refer to this guide on authorizing connections.

After you authorize the connection, set up a workflow rule in the Bigin Developer Console that gets triggered whenever you create or update a contact in your Bigin account. Here, we need to specify the conditions that apply to the workflow and check that the email field isn't empty.

Note:

In our use case, we'll use the email address to check whether the newly created contact in Bigin already exists as a customer in Zoho Books.

When the workflow meets the specified conditions, an instant action - in this case, a function - which will execute a custom functionality that performs the following operations:

1. Retrieves the contact details from Bigin by referencing the established connection link name biginandbooksconnection0__booksconnection.
   
2. Searches Zoho Books for an existing contact that matches the email.
   
3. If a matching contact exists, update the contact's phone and contact person details in Zoho Books.
   
4. If the script doesn't find a matching contact, it creates a new contact in Zoho Books with the relevant information.

Below is the code that automates contact synchronization between Bigin and Zoho Books:

1. //Retrieve contact details from Bigin using the established connection
2. biginContact = zoho.bigin.getRecordById("Contacts",contact.get("Contacts.ID"),Map(),"biginandbooksconnectionnew__biginconnection");
3. //Extract relevant contact data
4. biginData = biginContact.get("data");
5. contactDetails = biginData.get(0);
6. email = contactDetails.get("Email");
7. phone = contactDetails.get("Phone");
8. mobile = contactDetails.get("Mobile");
9. fullName = contactDetails.get("Full_Name");
10. //Search Zoho Books for existing contacts by email
11. searchParams = Map();
12. searchParams.put("search_text", email);
13. booksContactsResponse = invokeurl
14. [
15. url :"https://books.zoho.com/api/v3/contacts"
16. type :GET
17. parameters:searchParams
18. connection:"biginandbooksconnectionnew__booksconnection"
19. ];
    
20. info "Searched by name in Books: " + booksContactsResponse;
21. booksData = booksContactsResponse.get("contacts");
    
22. if(booksData != null && booksData.size() > 0)
23. {
24. // Extract the existingContactId
25. existingContactId = booksData.get(0).get("contact_id");
26. // Update existing contact
27. updateParams = Map();
28. updateParams.put("contact_name",fullName);
29. updateParams.put("phone",phone);
30. updateParams.put("mobile",mobile);
31. updateParams.put("email",email);
32. // Define contact person details
33. contactPerson = Map();
34. contactPerson.put("last_name",fullName);
35. contactPerson.put("mobile",mobile);
36. contactPerson.put("phone",phone);
37. contactPerson.put("email",email);
38. contactPerson.put("is_primary_contact",true);
39. contactPersonsList = List();
40. contactPersonsList.add(contactPerson);
41. updateParams.put("contact_persons",contactPersonsList);
42. //Prepare and execute update request
43. parameters_data = Map();
44. parameters_data.put("JSONString",updateParams.toString());
45. info "parameters_data value:" + parameters_data;
46. updateResponse = invokeurl
47. [
48. url :"https://books.zoho.com/api/v3/contacts/" + existingContactId + "?organization_id=XXXXXXX"
49. type :PUT
50. parameters:parameters_data
51. connection:"biginandbooksconnectionnew__booksconnection"
52. ];
53. info "Updated Contact: " + updateResponse;
54. }
55. else
56. {
57. // Create new contact
58. contactDetails = Map();
59. contactDetails.put("contact_name",fullName);
60. contactDetails.put("email",email);
61. contactDetails.put("phone",phone);
62. contactDetails.put("mobile",mobile);
63. // Define contact person details
64. contactPerson = Map();
65. contactPerson.put("last_name",fullName);
66. contactPerson.put("mobile",mobile);
67. contactPerson.put("phone",phone);
68. contactPerson.put("email",email);
69. contactPerson.put("is_primary_contact",true);
70. // Add to contact persons list
71. contactPersonsList = List();
72. contactPersonsList.add(contactPerson);
73. contactDetails.put("contact_persons",contactPersonsList);
74. // Prepare and execute the create request
75. parameters_data = Map();
76. parameters_data.put("JSONString",contactDetails.toString());
77. createResponse = invokeurl
78. [
79. url :"https://books.zoho.com/api/v3/contacts?organization_id=XXXXXXX"
80. type :POST
81. parameters:parameters_data
82. connection:"biginandbooksconnectionnew__booksconnection"
83. ];
84. info "Created Contact: " + createResponse;
85. }

For details about the API endpoints and request formats used in this code, refer to the Bigin Deluge reference library and Zoho Books contacts API documentation.

After you configure the workflow and associate the function with the instant action, test the topping in the sandbox environment.

1. To do this, click Test Your Topping in the upper-right corner of the Developer Console. This action will redirect you to the Bigin sandbox account, where you can create a new contact to test whether the functionalities work properly.
   
2. After creating a new contact in Bigin, navigate to the Customers module in the Sales section of Zoho Books. When you set up the integration correctly, you'll see the newly created contact here, which confirms that Bigin and Zoho Books are synchronizing as expected. This process provides a safe and effective way to validate the workflow before deploying the topping to a production environment.
   

In this post, we've explained that default service connections in Bigin simplify authentication and connection with third-party applications by using predefined settings such as authentication type, token endpoints, and scopes. These connections are convenient because the Developer Console pre-configures the authentication flow and endpoints of the application you're integrating with.

To sum up: Bigin's connections feature provides a flexible foundation for integrating with a wide range of external services, and using these connections, developers can extend Bigin's integration capabilities.

Stay tuned for more about developing toppings and exploring other related features available in the Bigin Developer Console.

<< Previous                                                                                                                                                      Next>>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

• Topic Participants

• Sabitha M

  

• Sticky Posts

• Building Toppings #6 - Install and uninstall actions

  Hello Biginners! In our previous forum post, we explored creating connections - specifically, custom service connections in the Bigin Developer Console. In this post, we'll focus on another feature that can be used in every topping: install actions. We'll

• Building Toppings #5 - Creating and configuring custom service connections in Bigin Toppings

  Hello Biginners, Integrating Bigin with external applications extends its capabilities and enables customized functionalities. In our last post, we saw how to create a default service connection. Today, we'll see how to create a custom service connection

• Building Toppings #4 - Setting up and using connections in Bigin toppings

  When building a topping to extend Bigin's functionality and connect it with third-party applications, creating and handling connections is an important step. Connections provide a secure way for your topping to authenticate and communicate with other

• Building Toppings #3 -Testing and publishing Bigin toppings

  Hey Biginners! In previous forum posts, we discussed what a Bigin topping is and explored the Bigin Developer Console's features. In this post, we're going to create a topping from scratch and discuss how to test and publish it. Our topping will automate

• Building Toppings #2 - Learn how to use Bigin's Developer Console to build toppings

  Hey Biginners, In our last post, we discussed what toppings are, why they're essential to extending Bigin's capabilities, and how the Bigin Developer Center serves as the starting point for building them. As a cloud platform, the Developer Center empowers

• Recent Topics

• I want to transfer the project created in this account to another account

  Dear Sir I want to transfer the project created in one account to another account

• Custom Bulk Select Button

  Zoho CRM offers the ability to select multiple records and invoke a Custom Button This functionality is missing from Recruit Currently we can only add buttons in the detail page and list But we cannot select Multiple Records and invoke a function with

• Power of Automation :: Smart Ticket Management Between Zoho Desk and Projects

  Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate

• BUG - Google Business Buttons - Add a button to GBP Post

  I am experiencing an issue with the "Add a button" feature when creating posts for my Google Business Profile (GBP) through Zoho Social. When I schedule or publish a GBP post and include a call-to-action button with a specific URL, the post itself publishes

• Do you have software like Windows software?

  We want swadeshi software

• Trying to export a report to Excel via a deluge script

  I have this code from other posts but it gives me an error of improper statement, due to missing ; at end of line or incomplete expression. Tried lots of variations to no avail. openUrl(https://creatorapp.zoho.com/<username>/<app name>/XLSX/#Report:<reportname>,"same

• Need help to create a attach file api

  https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/v8/upload-attachment.html Please help me to create it... It's not working for while. Do you have some example?

• Export view via deluge.

  Hi, Is it possible to export a view (as a spreadsheet) via deluge? I would like to be able to export a view as a spreadsheet when a user clicks a button. Thanks     

• Possible to generate/download Quote PDF using REST API?

  See title. Is there any way after a quote has been created to export to a PDF using a specified template and then download it? Seems like something that should be doable. Is this not supported in the API v2.0?

• Bug in allowing the user to buy out of stock items

  Hi i want to allow the user to buy out of stock items, according to the commerce documentation if i disable Restrict "Out of stock" purchases it will, but it doesnt work, so i want to know if it had any relation with zoho inventory, and if theres any

• Replace Lookup fields ID value with their actual name and adding inormation from subforms

  Hi everyone,  I wanted to see if someone smarter than me has managed to find any solutions to two problems we have. I will explain both below.  To start we are syncing data from Zoho CRM to Zoho Analytics and I will use the Sales Order module when giving

• Can a Zoho Sites page be embedded into another website (outside Zoho)

  Hi All, We have a request from a client - they'd like to take one of our information pages created in Zoho Sites and embed it into their own website? I was told through an email with Zoho that this was possible >>Thank you for your patience regarding

• Bug in allowing the user to buy out of stock items

  Hi i want to allow the user to buy out of stock items, according to the commerce documentation if i disable Restrict "Out of stock" purchases it will, but it doesnt work, so i want to know if it had any relation with zoho inventory, and if theres any

• Transition Criteria Appearing on Blueprint Transitions

  On Monday, Sept. 8th, the Transition criteria started appearing on our Blueprints when users hover over a Transition button. See image. We contacted Zoho support because it's confusing our users (there's really no reason for them to see it), but we haven't

• Zoho CRM Sales Targets for Individual Salespeople

  Our organistion has salespeople that are allocated to different regions and have different annual sales targets as a result. I am building an CRM analytics dashboard for the sales team, which will display a target meter for the logged in salesperson.

• Transfer all Related Data to new Account Owner

  Currently when I change the account Owner I only see the option to change only the open deals But I want the new account owner to take over all the related modules and all the deal stages Is it not possible right now? Am I missing something? Do I really

• How to Calculate MTTR (Mean Time to Resolve)

  We want to calculate MTTR (Mean Time to Resolve) in our Zoho Analytics report under Tickets. Currently, we are using the following fields: Ticket ID Ticket Created Time Ticket Closed Time Ticket On Hold Time We are planning to calculate MTTR (in days)

• How to export project tasks, including the comments

  Hi, how can I export the project tasks, whereby I can also see the comments associated to a specific task? The use-case is that often we use comments to discuss or update a task related ideas. I would like to export the tasks, where we can also see the

• Does Zoho Sheet Supports https://n8n.io ?

  Does Zoho Sheet Supports https://n8n.io ? If not, can we take this as an idea and deploy in future please? Thanks

• Bigin Android app update: User management

  Hello everyone! In the most recent Bigin Android app update, we have brought in support for the 'Users and Controls' section. You can now manage the users in your organization within the mobile app. There are three tabs in the 'Users and Controls' section:

• Share records with your customers and let them track their statuses in real time.

  Greetings, I hope everyone is doing well! We're excited to introduce the external sharing feature for pipeline records. This new enhancement enables you to share pipeline records with your customers via a shareable link and thereby track the status of

• Live webinar: Discover Zoho Show: A complete walkthrough

  Hello everyone, We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming live webinar, Discover Zoho Show: A Complete Walkthrough. Whether you’re just getting started with Show or eager to explore advanced capabilities, this session will show you useful tips and features

• Deal Stage component/widget/whatever it is... event

  Deal Stages I am trying to access the event and value of this component. I can do it by changing the Stage field but users can also change a Deal Stage via this component and I need to be able to capture both values. Clicking on 'Verbal' for instance,

• Create advanced slideshows with hybrid reports using Zoho Projects Plus

  Are your quarterly meetings coming up? It’s time to pull up metrics, generate reports, and juggle between slides yet again. While this may be easier for smaller projects, large organizations that run multiple projects may experience the pressure when

• Formula field with IF statement based on picklist field and string output to copy/paste in multi-line field via function

  Hello there, I am working on a formula field based on a 3-item picklist field (i.e. *empty value*, 'Progress payment', 'Letter of credit'). Depending on the picked item, the formula field shall give a specific multi-line string (say 'XXX' in case of 'Progress

• Unified Directory : How to Access ?

  I signed in to Zoho One this morning and was met with the pop up about the upgraded directory (yay!) I watched the video and pressed "Get Started" ... and it took me back to the standard interface. How do I actually access the new portal/directory ?

• Zoho CRMの流入元について

  Zoho CRMとZoho formsを連携し、 formsで作成したフォームをサイトに埋め込み運用中です。 UTMパラメータの取得をformsを行い、Zoho CRMの見込み客タブにカスタム項目で反映される状況になっています。 広告に関してはUTMパラメータで取得できているため問題ないのですが、オーガニック流入でフォーム送信の場合も計測したいです。メールやGoogle、Yahoo、directなどの流入元のチャネルが反映されるようにしたいのですが、どのように設定したら良いでしょうか。 また、

• Error While Sign in on Zoho Work Drive

  Dear Team, I hope this email finds you well. I have recently created a Zoho account and started using it. But while I am trying to log in to Zoho work drive it won't log me in its crashing every time I try it. I have tried it on android app, phone browser

• Choosing a portal option and the "Unified customer portal"?

  I am trialling Zoho to replace various existing systems, one of which is a customer portal. Our portal allows clients to add and edit bookings, complete forms, manage their subscriptions and edit some CRM info. I am trying to understand how I might best

• Translation support expanded for Modules, Subforms and Related Lists

  Hello Everyone!   The translation feature enables organizations to translate certain values in their CRM interface into different languages. Previously, the only values that could be translated were picklist values and field names. However, we have extended

• Unified task view

  Possible to enable the unified task view in Trident, that is currently available in Mail?

• Importing data into Assets

  So we have a module in Zoho CRM called customers equipments. It links to customers modules, accounts (if needed) and products. I made a sample export and created extra fields in zoho fsm assets module. The import fails. Could not find a matching parent

• Allow instruction field in Job Sheets

  Hello, I would like to know if it is possible to have an instruction field (multi line text) in a job sheet or if there is a workaround to be able to do it. Currently we are pretty limited in terms of fields in job sheets which makes it a bit of a struggle

• Streamlining Work Order Automation with Zoho Projects, Writer & WorkDrive

  Hello Community, Here is the first post in 'Integration & Automation' Series. Use Case :: Create, Merge, Sign & Store Documents in Zoho WorkDrive. Scenario :: You have a standard Work Order template created in Zoho Writer. When a task status is chosen

• The dimensions of multilingual power

  Hola, saludos de Zoho Desk. Bonjour, salutations de Zoho Desk. Hallo, Grüße von Zoho Desk. Ciao, saluti da Zoho Desk. Olá, saudações da Zoho Desk. வணக்கம், Zoho Desk இலிருந்து வாழ்த்துகள். 你好，来自 Zoho Desk 的问候。 مرحباً، تحيات من Zoho Desk. नमस्ते, Zoho

• Multi-line address lines

  How can I enter and migrate the following 123 state street Suite 2 Into a contact address. For Salesforce imports, a CR between the information works. The ZOHO migration tool just ignores it. Plus, I can't seem to even enter it on the standard entry screen.

• Accessing Zoho Forms

  Hi all, We're having trouble giving me access to our company's Zoho Forms account. I can log in to a Forms account that I can see was set up a year ago, but can't see any shared forms. I can log into Zoho CRM and see our company information there without

• Cost of good field

  Is there a way we can have cost of good sold as a field added to the back end of the invoicing procedure and available in reports?

• How to add image to items list in Invoice or Estimate?

  Hello! I have just started using Zoho Invoice to create estimates and, possibly to switch from our current CRM/ERP Vendor to Zoho. I have a small company that is installing CCTV systems and Alarm systems. My question is, can I add images of my "items" to item list in Zoho Invoice and Estimates and their description? I would like to show my clients the image of items in our estimates so they can decide if they like these items. And I tell you, often they choose more expensive products just because

• Issue with the Permission to Zoho Form

  I am getting an error by signing in to zoho form as it is stated that i don't have permission to access this is admin account

• Next Page