Kaizen #161: Global Sets using Zoho CRM APIs

Kaizen #161: Global Sets using Zoho CRM APIs

 Hello all!
In this week, we will see how to work on the Global Sets using our Zoho CRM APIs. Global Picklist APIs were introduced in Zoho CRM API version 6.

In this post, we will cover the following
  • Global Sets in Zoho CRM
  • Advantages of the Global Sets
  • Use case
  • Create a Global Set using the POST Global Picklist API
  • Use the Global Set with a Picklist Field in the Required Modules
  • Update the Global Set Values Using the PATCH Global Picklist Field API
  • Conclusion

Global Sets in Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM offers an efficient way to maintain a set of data that will be used commonly across the modules to maintain accuracy via the Global Sets or Global Picklists.
Global Sets or Global Picklists are collections of picklist values that can be associated with multiple picklists across modules. When you create Global Sets, you define a set of values that can be associated with fields in different CRM modules, ensuring uniformity in data input across your organization. Refer to this link to know more about Global Sets.

Advantages of Global Sets

  • Consistency: The same list of values is available across multiple modules, reducing errors and inconsistencies in data entry.
  • Time-saving: You do not have to update picklist values in each module manually. Once updated centrally, changes reflect across all associated fields in all modules.
  • Scalability: Easily expand your picklist when your business grows, adding new values (e.g., Adding new showroom location for franchises) without repetitive work.
  • Easy Management: Centralized management of picklist values means less administrative work.

Use case

Global Picklist for Showroom Locations at Zylker Electronic Franchise 
Zylker, an electronics business franchise, operates several showrooms across multiple cities, all managed in Zoho CRM. As the franchise expands, they need to add new showrooms to various modules such as Leads, Deals, and Services frequently.  Whenever a new showroom opens, they can update the Global Picklist, ensuring that all modules are updated instantly and preventing inconsistencies.
In these situations, different teams manually entering showroom locations in the picklist field can lead to mistakes like typos or different spellings of the same location.
By implementing a Global Picklist for "Showroom Location," Zylker ensures that all teams select from the same list of showroom locations.

Create a Global Set using the POST Global Picklist API

Create a Global Set with the desired values. 

Request URL:  {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists
Request Method: POST

Request Body: 

{
    "global_picklists": [
        {
            "display_label": "Showroom Location",
            "description": "Use this picklist option to manage showroom locations across all modules in your CRM.",
            "pick_list_values": [
                {
                    "display_value": "New York Showroom",
                    "sequence_number": 1,
                    "actual_value": "New York Showroom"
                },
                {
                    "display_value": "Los Angeles Showroom",
                    "sequence_number": 2,
                    "actual_value": "Los Angeles Showroom"
                },
                {
                    "display_value": "Chicago Showroom",
                    "sequence_number": 3,
                    "actual_value": "Chicago Showroom"
                },
                {
                    "display_value": "Houston Showroom",
                    "sequence_number": 4,
                    "actual_value": "Houston Showroom"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}


If the API call is successful, a global picklist will be created with the specified options. The following GIF demonstrates the newly created global picklist in the UI.



Use the Global Set with a Picklist Field in the Required Modules

Create picklist fields in the required modules, such as Leads and Contacts, and link the created Global Set with a picklist field in modules using the Create Custom Field API.

Follow the below steps to link the created Global Set with a picklist field in a module.

Step 1: Retrieve the unique ID of the Global Set 

Retrieve the unique ID of the created Global Set using the GET - Global Picklists API to link it with a picklist field. The below URL retrieves all Global Sets in your org.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists
Request Method: GET

Response:


The API retrieves all available Global Sets in the organization.

In this case, the "Showroom Location" field needs to be associated with the modules, and its unique ID is 5725767000004230002. Use the following request URL to view the specific global picklist field along with its options.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists/5725767000004230002
Request Method: GET

Response:



Step 2: Use the Global Set in the desired module

Create a new picklist field in the required modules and associate the "Showroom Location" Global Set with the picklist field.
  • Leads - To track customer inquiries by showroom location.
  • Deals - To monitor sales by showroom location.
  • Sales Orders - To process orders based on showroom location.
  • Service Requests - To handle customer service tickets by showroom location.
This post uses the "Leads" module as an example. Use the Create Custom Field API to associate the Global Set with the Leads module.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Leads
Note: The module parameter is mandatory to create a field in a module.
Request Method: POST

Request Body:


{
    "fields": [
        //Associating the Showroom Location Global Set with the Leads module
        {
            "field_label": "Showroom",  //The Showroom field in the Leads module, where the "Showroom Location" Global Set is associated

            "data_type": "picklist", //To associate a global picklist, use the data type "picklist"
            "global_picklist": {
                "id": "5725767000004230002" //ID of the global picklist
            }
        }
    ]
}


Response in the UI:



Use the above process to create the Global Set across modules using the Create Custom Field API. 

Below are the request URLs to associate the field with other modules as per our use case:

  • {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Deals
  • {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Sales_Orders
  • {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Service_Requests


Update the Global Set Values Using the PATCH Global Picklist Field API

Any changes made to the Global Set will automatically reflect across all modules associated with it. Use the PATCH - Global Picklist Field API to update the values in a Global Set.

Request URL: 
{api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists/5725767000004230002
Request Method: PATCH

Request Body:


{
    "global_picklists": [
        {
            
            "pick_list_values": [
                {
                    //"display_value": "New York Showroom", 
                    "id": "5725767000004230003", 
                    "type": "unused" // to move the option to the unused state
                },
                {
                    "display_value": "Chicago Showroom",
                    "sequence_number": 3,
                    "actual_value": "Chicago Showroom",
                    "id": "5725767000004230007",
                    "type": "unused",
                    "_delete": null // deleting the option from the global Field
                },
                // Creating a new option or adding a new showroom location to the Global Set 
                {
                    "display_value": "San Francisco Showroom",
                    "actual_value": "San Francisco Showroom"
                },
                {
                    "display_value": "Boston Showroom",
                    "actual_value": "Boston Showroom"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}



Using the PATCH Global Picklist API, you can easily manage and perform various operations. In the above request, Zylker performed the following operations:

  • Moving an Option to Unused State: The "New York Showroom" option is marked with "type": "unused", meaning the showroom is moved to the "unused" state, indicating the option is no longer active but has not been deleted from the system.
  • Deleting an Option: The "Chicago Showroom" option is deleted from the picklist field using the  "_delete": null, meaning the option is removed or deleted from the system and is no longer valid.
  • Adding New Options: In addition to the above operations, two new showrooms namely "San Francisco Showroom" and "Boston Showroom", are added to the field using the "display_value"(mandatory) and "actual_value" (optional), as Zylker expands its franchise to new cities and manages them across the modules.
Note: The updated value will replace its old value in areas such as Records, Criteria, Workflow Actions, and Field Dependency. 

Conclusion

Hence, the Global Sets help Zylker keep the showroom location list up-to-date and consistent across modules, making it easier to manage showroom locations in their CRM system.

We trust that this post meets your needs and is helpful. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com
Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming Kaizen posts!

Cheers!!!



    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

      Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

    • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how

    • Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

      Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.

    • Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

      Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are

    • Recent Topics

    • Disable Zoho Inventory Tracking / Delink Zoho Books & Inventory

      We have integrated zoho inventory with zoho books? Now after a long time, we want to disable inventory tracking and delink these 2 modules. Zoho says we cant do it. Anybody else going thru the same ? Any possibility at all? Why does zoho not allow to

    • Tracking Non-Inventory Items

      We have several business locations and currently use zoho inventory to track retail items (sales and purchase orders). We were hoping to use zoho inventory to track our non-inventory items as well (toilet paper, paper towels, etc). I understand that we

    • Price Managment

      I have been in discussions with Zoho for some time and not getting what I need. Maybe someone can help explain the logic behind this for me as I fail to understand. When creating an item, you input a sales rate and purchase rate. These rates are just

    • Set Warehouse based on Vendor

      Greetings. I would like to set automaticaly the Warehouse based on the Vendor. Context: I am working on an adaptation of a Purchase Order to be used as a Quotation. I have defined that when a user has to raise a quote the Vendor will be "PROCUREMENT" I would like to set the Warehouse to a predefined value when "PROCUREMENT" is set as Vendor. I have tried to do with the Automation feature using the Field Update option, but Warehouse does not is listed as a field. Can you help? Thanks in advance.

    • How do I save audio files to my PC that I record into Zoho Notebook from my phone?

      I was thinking of using Zoho Notebook as a way to store composition ideas, as well as for other things if it can handle this. For this to be useful for me though, I need to be able to have an easy way to download those audio files to my PC, either individually

    • Search mails in shared mailbox

      Hi everyone, is there a way to search mails in shared mailbox's? Search in streams or mail doesn't return anything from mails in shared mailboxes. Thanks! Rafal

    • Zoho Landing Page "Something went wrong" Error

      Hello, Every time I try to create a new landing page, I receive a "Something went wrong" error with no explanation. I cannot create any new pages, which means we cannot use this application. I did create one landing page successfully over a month ago,

    • Writing SQL Queries - After Comma Auto Suggesting Column

      When writing SQL Queries, does anyone else get super annoyed that after you type a comma and try to return to a new line it is automatically suggest a new column, so hitting return just inputs this suggested column instead of going to a new line? Anyone

    • Sync your Products Module for better context.

      In customer support, context is everything. The integration between Zoho Desk and Zoho CRM helps your sales and support teams function as one, delivering better customer experiences. With the latest update to this integration, you can now sync the Product module in your Zoho CRM with your Zoho Desk portal. This feature enables products from Zoho CRM to reflect in the "product" field in Zoho Desk. This can save your support team valuable time and effort.    Some things to note when syncing the two:

    • Where is the desktop app for Zoho Projects???

      As a project manager, I need a desktop app for the projects I manage. Yes, there's the web app, which is AWESOME for cross browser and platform compatibility... but I need a real desktop app for Projects that allow me to enter offline information where

    • CRM verify details pop-up

      Was there a UI change recently that involves the Verify Details pop-up when changing the Stage of a Deal to certain things? I can't for the life of me find a workflow or function, blueprint, validation rule, layout rule ect that would randomly make it

    • Does Zoho Writer have Dropdowns

      I want to add a drop down field in Zoho writer. Is this possible?

    • openUrl in blueprints

      My customer wants to open a URL at the end of a blueprint transition. Seems this isn't possible right now but it would be very useful. In this thread, https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/openurl-not-working the Zoho agent said that it's logically

    • Dropshipping Address - Does Not Show on Invoice Correctly

      When a dropshipping address is used for a customer, the correct ship-to address does not seem to show on the Invoice. It shows correctly on the Sales Order, Shipment Order, and Package, just not the Invoice. This is a problem, because the company being

    • Prepayment of a sales order

      How does everyone handle this common (at least it is common for us!) situation? We require all our orders to be fully prepaid before shipment since we manufacture made to order, custom products. Since ZOHO does not allow a sales order to be prepaid, we are forced to create an invoice at the time an order is placed to allow the customer to pay it. Our sales category is therefore skewed, since the sale was actually booked at the time an order was placed, rather then at the time it is shipped, which

    • Access to Specific Zoho Desk layout for external parties

      Hi, We have a partner who handles for us sales requests from specific markets. He is not a Zoho Desk user. But we want him to b part of a specific Zoho Desk layout to handle inquiries.  How to achieve it in the easiest way possible?

    • Deposit on a Sales Order

      Good day, 100% of my business is preorders, no inventory. I am trying to run away from QB for one of my businesses, but I require two options that I don't seem to find with Zoho Books. 1 - If there is a way to apply a deposit on a sales order, as with

    • Bulk Delete Attachments

      Is there a way to bulk delete attachments on the form entries? our storage is full and deleting files one by one is pain taking process.

    • How do I sync multiple Google calendars?

      I'm brand new to Zoho and I figured out how to sync my business Google calendar but I would also like to sync my personal Google calendar. How can I do this so that, at the very least, when I have personal engagements like doctor's appointments, I can

    • Ability to Disable System Banner Messages in Chat Flow Control

      Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings, We would like to request an enhancement related to the system banner messages in Zoho SalesIQ chat flow control. Current Behavior: SalesIQ allows configuring various automatic banner/system messages such as: Waiting

    • Idle Chat Reminders for Agent-Handled Conversations

      Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings, We would like to request an enhancement to the Idle Chat Handling functionality in Zoho SalesIQ—specifically for chats that are handled by human agents after a bot-to-agent transfer. Current Behavior: In Zobot settings,

    • Snapchat

      Are there any plans to add Snapchat to Zoho Social or is there any API that we can use to integrate into Zoho.

    • Zoho Sign "An unexpected error occured" when clients trying to sign documents

      We are unable to have clients sign our documents. When attempting to complete the process an error appears saying "an unexpected error occured" and in the document history just shows "signing failure." We are at a complete standstill with no response

    • ¡Vuelven los Workshops Certificados de Zoho a España!

      ¡Hola usuarios de Español Zoho Community! Hace ya unos días que hemos dado la bienvenida al 2026, y promete ser un año de lo más emocionante. Y es que nos gustaría haceros nuestro particular regalo de Reyes, aunque lleguemos un poco tarde. 🎁 ¡Nos gustaría

    • How to list services on quote instead of products

      I need to create a customer facing estimate that displays our services. The default quote layout only allows products to be listed. Is there a way to correct this?

    • Syncing calendar with Google Calendar doesn't work when events are sent to auto repeat

      Hi... The ZOHO CRM -- GOOGLE CALENDAR sync is broken. If I create a single event on either side, sync works, but if I create an event with auto repeat on either side it doesn't work. Furthermore, events created before the sync don't show up in the calendar.

    • Invoice status on write-off is "Paid" - how do I change this to "Written off"

      HI guys, I want to write off a couple of outstanding invoices, but when I do this, the status of the invoices shows as "Paid". Clearly this is not the case and I need to be able to see that they are written off in the customer's history. Is there a way

    • Zoho Books - France

      L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilité

    • Creating meetings from an email

      Hi. Similar to Outlook, it would be helpful if a meeting can be scheduled from an email so that the attendees need not be manually entered every time it's created.

    • Please, make writer into a content creation tool

      I'm tired of relying on Google Docs. I'm actually considering moving to ClickUp, but if Writer were a good content creation tool instead of just a word processor, I would finally be able to move all my development within the Zoho ecosystem, rather than

    • ZohoSalesIQ.Chat cannot send messages

      Chat cannot send messages. Our app implements the customer service chat window functionality by integrating the Mobilisten SDK. Recently, we encountered an issue: after successful SDK initialization and visitor registration, when the `startWithQuestion`

    • Missed chats on WhatsApp closing after one minute

      Hi, we have added WhatsApp as a channel. However, if a chat is not picked up within 2mins, the chat is marked as missed and is closed within a minute. Why are they not staying in our "missed" queue for 24 hours as per our WhatsApp preference settings?

    • Feature Request: Add Tax ID Display on Event Tickets

      Hello Backstage Team, I’ve had several clients bring up an issue regarding tax compliance when creating events. For tax purposes, they are required to show their Tax ID on the event tickets. Currently, this isn’t an option, so they have to manually generate

    • Release Notes | January 2026

      We have rolled out a set of powerful new enhancements across Zoho Vertical Studio that bring several long-awaited capabilities to your applications. These updates focus on deeper customization, smarter automation, better reporting, and improved usability

    • Email Alias: To keep emails flowing without disruption

      Email Alias acts like a nickname for a user’s primary email address, allowing multiple email addresses to deliver messages into the same mailbox. Consider the scenario where an employee manages multiple responsibilities, such as responding to sales inquiries,

    • Archive Option in Conversation View

      Hello, I have a suggestion\request to add an "Archive Thread" button in conversation view of Zoho Mail. The best suggestion I have is to put an "Archive Thread" button next to the "Label Entire Thread" button in conversation view. Most users don't just

    • Inventory "Bulk Actions" button - add more fields to "Bulk Update > Select a field"

      Can we not get a lot more actions that are commonly used by customers into the "More Actions" button on the Inventory list? More fields listed in the Bulk Update > Select A Field? Possible Bulk update Fields Preferred Supplier ( to quickly move items

    • Bulk upload image option in Zoho Commerce

      I dont know if I am not looking into it properly but is there no option to bulk upload images along with the products? Like after you upload the products, I will have to upload images one by one again? Can someone help me out here? And what should I enter

    • Function #11: Apply unused credits automatically to invoices

      Today, we bring you a custom function that automatically applies unused credits from excess payments, credit notes, and retainer payments to an invoice when it is created. Prerequisites: Create a Connection named "zbooks" to successfully execute the function.

    • Tip #60- Exploring Technician Console: Screen Resolution- 'Insider Insights'

      Hello Zoho Assist Community! Have you ever started a remote session and felt the screen quality wasn’t sharp enough for detailed work? A new user recently explored Zoho Assist after installing the trial version and running a few initial tests. While the

    • Next Page