Kaizen #181 - Mandating Subform Data for Blueprint Transitions using Widget

Hello Developers!

Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! 

This time, we are tackling a common challenge on how to enforce subform data from a different module before allowing a blueprint transition in Zoho CRM Deals module.

Many CRM workflows require checking and collecting related records' data across modules before advancing a deal, case, or order to the next stage. Zoho CRM Blueprint natively support subforms from Quotes, Sales Orders, and Invoices for the Deals module with the help of Associated Items in the transition settings. 

Let us explore how to mandate custom subforms' data from a different module for a blueprint transition.

Why Mandate Subform Data from a Different Module?

In Zoho CRM, subforms manage multiple data entries under a single parent record. However, certain blueprint transitions may depend on subform data from related modules, such as:  

• A Deal's transition may depend on the document data stored in the associated Contact’s subform.
• A Service Request requiring validation against a subform in the related Account before processing.  
• A Loan Application requiring income proof from the Customer’s subform before approval.  

Since blueprint transition rules only validate fields within the same module, you can use a custom widget to check and update subform data across modules before proceeding.

Business Scenario: Insurance Deals Qualification

Consider Zylker, an insurance company, using Zoho CRM to manage customers and streamline processes. Their sales process follows this blueprint when a deal reaches the Qualification stage:

Insurance Sales Blueprint

Steps to Build a Blueprint Widget

Step 1 - Review Basics

Refer to our earlier Kaizen on CLI Installation, Creating a Widget Project, and Internal hosting of the same.

Step 2 - Develop your Widget

After setting up the widget project using CLI, implement the logic based on your business case.

Here’s the logic for the sample use case we are discussing:

Widget Execution During Transition

• When the user clicks the Collect Requirements transition, the widget loads.
• Using the PageLoad event listener, retrieve the current record's ID and module name.
• Use the GET Records API via its JS SDK to fetch the Contact ID linked to the Deal. 
  

ZOHO.embeddedApp.on("PageLoad", function(data) {       // Fetch the current page's record details       const recordId = data.EntityId;       const moduleName = data.Entity;       ZOHO.CRM.API.getRecord({Entity: moduleName, RecordID: recordId})         .then(function(response) {           const record = response.data[0];           console.log("Current Record Details:", record);           // Fetch the associated contact ID  contactId = record.Contact_Name.id;

Check and Collect Required Document Details

• Using the Contact ID, run a COQL query using Connection JS SDK to check if each Document Category has at least one entry in the Document Details subform.

Notes
In invoke connection JS SDK, use param type 2 for the API request payload inside the parameter key and param type 1 for regular parameters.

Explore the Working with Connections help page and create a connection with the necessary scopes to invoke the COQL API.

• If all four categories (Address Proof, ID Proof, Income Proof, Medical Report) have at least one entry, the widget allows the transition immediately.
• If any category is missing, the widget prompts the user to enter the details in a table that mirrors the Document Details subform in the Contacts module.
  

// Make a query API call            const query = {             "select_query": `select Document_Category,COUNT(id) from Document_Details where id is not null and Parent_Id='${contactId}' group by Document_Category`           };           ZOHO.CRM.CONNECTION.invoke("crm_oauth_connection", {             method: "POST",             url: "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v7/coql",             parameters: query,             param_type: 2,             headers: {               "Content-Type": "application/json"             }  }).then(function(response) {      const data = response.details.statusMessage.data;             if (response.details.statusMessage === "" || (data && data.length < 4)) {               createSubformUI();               document.getElementById('contentContainer').style.display = 'block';             } else if (data && data.length === 4) {               document.getElementById('messageContainer').style.display = 'block';               // Enable the "Move to Next State" button if all files are already updated               const nextStateButton = document.querySelector('.nextStateButton');               nextStateButton.disabled = false;               nextStateButton.style.backgroundColor = '';              }  })

Update the Contact's Subform

• The user enters the document details and clicks the Save button in the widget. 
• Since subform updates act like a PATCH request, any existing record IDs must be included in the update payload to retain them. To get the existing subform record IDs make a  GET Records API call via its JS SDK. 
  

async function getExisitingSubFormRecords(contactId) { let exisitingRecords = []; awaitasync function getExisitingSubFormRecords(contactId) { let exisitingRecords = []; await ZOHO.CRM.API.getRecord({ Entity: "Contacts", RecordID: contactId }) .then(function (response) { const record = response.data[0]; console.log("Current Record Details:", record); if (record.Document_Details) { record.Document_Details.forEach(function (document) { exisitingRecords.push({id: document.id}); }); } }) .catch(function (error) { console.error("Error fetching records:", error); }); return exisitingRecords; } ZOHO.CRM.API.getRecord({ Entity: "Contacts", RecordID: contactId }) .then(function (response) { const record = response.data[0]; console.log("Current Record Details:", record); record.Document_Details.forEach(function (document) { exisitingRecords.push({id: document.id}); }); }) .catch(function (error) { console.error("Error fetching records:", error); }); return exisitingRecords; }

• Clicking the Save button executes the following actions:
  -> Uploads the selected file to Zoho File System (ZFS) using the Upload File API through its JS SDK.
  -> Updates the Document Details subform in the associated Contact record by adding the file ID from the upload response and each row's entry using the Update Records API (via the Update Record JS SDK).
• Once the subform is successfully updated, the widget allows the transition to next Blueprint state.
  

async function updateRecord(event) { event.preventDefault(); // Collect user entries from each row const rows = document.querySelectorAll('#documentsTable tbody tr'); const documentDetails = await Promise.all(Array.from(rows).map(async (row, index) => { const documentCategory = row.querySelector('select[name="documentCategory"]').value; const documentNumber = row.querySelector('input[name="documentNumber"]').value; const documentName = row.querySelector('input[name="documentName"]').value; const documentFile = row.querySelector('input[name="upload"]').files[0]; const fileId = await uploadFile(documentFile); return { Document_Category: documentCategory, Document_Number: documentNumber, Document_Name: documentName, Upload: [ { file_id: fileId } ] }; })); // Get the existing subform records const existingRecords = await getExisitingSubFormRecords(contactId); // Merge the existing records with the new records existingRecords.forEach(record => documentDetails.push(record)); // Prepare the payload for the update API call const payload = { id: contactId, Document_Details: documentDetails }; // Make the update API call ZOHO.CRM.API.updateRecord({ Entity: "Contacts", APIData: payload }).then(function (updateResponse) { console.log("Update response:", updateResponse); const saveButton = document.querySelector('.saveButton'); saveButton.textContent = "Saved"; saveButton.disabled = false; saveButton.style.backgroundColor = 'grey'; // Enable the "Move to Next State" button after saving const nextStateButton = document.querySelector('.nextStateButton'); nextStateButton.disabled = false; nextStateButton.style.backgroundColor = '';  })

Step 3 - Validate and Pack the Widget

• Follow the steps given in the Widget help page to validate and package the widget.
• Go to Zoho CRM > Setup > Developer Hub > Widgets and click Create New Widget.
• Fill in the required details as shown in this image and ensure to select Blueprint as the widget type.
  
  Creating a Blueprint Widget

Step 4 - Associate the Widget with the Blueprint

• Navigate to Setup > Process Management > Blueprint and open the Deals Blueprint created for this use case.
• Click on the Collect Requirements transition.
  
  Associate Widget to a Blueprint Transition
• In the During tab on the left pane, select Widgets and associate the newly created widget.
• Publish the Blueprint to activate the changes.

Try it Out! 

A complete working code sample of this widget is attached at the bottom of this post for reference. 

 

Now, let us see how this Blueprint works from the Deals page:  

1. All required document details are available: The widget validates the Contact’s subform and allows the transition.  
   
   
   
   
2. Missing or incomplete document details: The widget prompts the user to enter the missing details, updates the Contact’s subform, and then enables the transition.  
   
   
   
   

This approach ensures that required subform data from another module is validated and captured before proceeding with a Blueprint transition.  

Would you like us to address any of your pain-points or have a topic to discuss? Let us know in the comments or reach out to us via support@zohocrm.com.

Until next time, Happy Coding! 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Reading

1. Blueprint - An Overview, Designing a Blueprint, FAQs
2. Custom Fields - Working with Custom Fields, Building Subform
3. Connections - An Overview, Invoke APIs via Connections
4. Widget - An Overview, CLI Installation, Working with Widgets, JS SDKs, Mobile Compatibility of Widgets, Kaizens
5. Entity APIs - GET Records, Update Records, Upload Files
6. Query API - An Overview, Records through COQL Query, JOINs in COQL, Subquery, Limitations

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previous Post: Kaizen #180 - Automating Data Transfer from Zoho Sheets to Zoho CRM Subforms | Kaizen Collection: Directory

More enhancements in the COQL API are now live in Zoho CRM API Version 7. Check out the V7 Changelog for detailed information on these updates.

• Topic Participants

• Kiruthiga G

  

• 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

• Marketing Tip #15: Rank better with keyword-rich URLs for product pages

  Your product page URL is a small detail that can make a surprisingly big difference. Clean, readable URLs help in two ways: They’re easier for customers to trust and remember (no one likes clicking a link that looks messy or random). They help search

• Conditional fields when converting a Lead and creating a Deal

  Hi, On my Deal page I have a field which has a rule against it. Depending on the value entered, depends on which further fields are displayed. When I convert a Lead and select for a Deal to be created as well, all fields are shown, regardless of the value

• ATE Session on Payment Gateways: Our experts are live now. Post your questions now!

  Hello everyone, Our experts are all excited to answer all your questions related to payment workflows. Please feel free to join this session and learn more about this topic. If you have a query at anytime, please post them here.

• Upload data deleted all Zoho form data that we manage

  Good morning. Let me introduce myself, I'm Iky from Indonesia. I'm experiencing an error or problem using Zoho Forms. I manage Zoho Forms, but I previously encountered an error when I misclicked the delete button in the upload format. It apparently deleted

• ZOHO FORMにURL表示ができない

  初心者です。 ZOHO FORM で宿泊者名簿を作っています。 ゲストが、URLをクリックするとStripeで支払いができるようにURLを表示をしたいのですが、 上手くできません。 やり方が分かる方、ぜひ教えてください。

• Custom module - change from autonumber to name

  I fear I know the answer to this already, but thought I'd ask the question. I created a custom module and instead of having a name as being the primary field, I changed it to an auto-number. I didn't realise that all searches would only show this reference.

• No Automatic Spacing on the Notebook App?

  When I'm adding to notes on the app, I have to add spaces between words myself, rather than it automatically doing it. All my other apps add spacing, so it must be something with Zoho. Is there a setting I need to change, or something else I can do so

• Holidays - Cannot Enter Two Holidays on Same Day

  I have a fairly common setup, where part-time employees receive 1/2 day's pay on a holiday and full-time employees receive a full day's pay. Historically, I've been able to accommodate this by entering two separate holidays, one that covers full-time

• Campaigns set up and execution assistance

  Hello Community, Can someone recommend a professional who can assist with the completion of my set up and deployment of Campaigns? Looking for a person or company that is not going to ask for big dollars up-front without a guarantee of performance to

• Zobot with Plugs

  Hello, I am having a problem with Zobot using Plugs. Here is my current flow: When I run the flow, I should immediately see the messages from the initial cards (Send Message cards), then after running the plug, and finally, see the messages after the

• Kaizen #223 - File Manager in CRM Widget Using ZRC Methods

  Hello, CRM Wizards! Here is what we are improving this week with Kaizen. we will explore the new ZRC (Zoho Request Client) introduced in Widget SDK v1.5, and learn how to use it to build a Related List Widget that integrates with Zoho WorkDrive. It helps

• Remove Powered by Zoho at the footer

  Hi, I've read two past tickets regarding this but it seems that the instructions given are outdated. I assume the layout keeps on changing, which makes it frustrating for me to search high and low. Please let me know how exactly do I do this now? Th

• Error AS101 when adding new email alias

  Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.

• No Need To Fix Something That Is Working

  Zoho Books is a great financial tool which helps businesses to become more efficient and productive with day-to-day operations. As such, every change, upgrade, improvement needs to be carefully thought before implemented in the software and I'm sure Zoho

• Using email "importance" as workflow-criteria

  I'd like to set up a workflow that triggers if an incoming email has been flagged as "high importance" but I'm not seeing any way to do that. Hopefully I'm just missing something obvious...?

• This domain is not allowed to add. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

  I am trying to setup the free version of Zoho Mail. When I tried to add my domain, theselfreunion.com I got the error message that is the subject of this Topic. I've read your other community forum topics, and this is NOT a free domain. So what is the

• What is Resolution Time in Business Hours

  HI, What is the formula used to find the total time spent by an agent on a particular ticket? How is Resolution Time in Business Hours calculated in Zohodesk? As we need to find out the time spent on the ticket's solution by an agent we seek your assistance

• Check & Unchecked Task Segregation in Export

  It must have a feature to represent checked and unchecked tasks as [ ] and [✅] respectively when exporting it to Arratai or WhatsApp ; as Keep Notes by Google contains…

• WorkDrive Download Issue

  My client has been sending me files via WorkDrive, which generally has worked fine. Recently files won't download at all. If you try and individually select and download a file, a popup will appear in the bottom right saying it's preparing and then it

• Resolution Time Report

  From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports What are time-based reports? Time-based reports are valuable tools that help us understand how well things are going by breaking down key metrics over specific periods. By tracking, measuring,

• Support Custom Background in Zoho Cliq Video Calls and Meetings

  Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the video background capabilities in Zoho Cliq, specifically the ability to upload and use custom backgrounds. Current Limitation At present, Zoho Cliq allows

• Add RTL (Right-to-Left) Text Direction Button in Zoho Cliq

  Greetings Zoho Team, We would like to request the addition of an RTL (Right-to-Left) text direction button in Zoho Cliq, similar to what is already available in other Zoho apps like Zoho Desk. Currently, while using Zoho Cliq with the English interface,

• Enable Backgrounds and Video Filters for 1:1 Cliq Calls Across All Zoho Entry

  Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related specifically to 1:1 video calls in Zoho Cliq. Current Behavior Zoho Cliq currently provides background and video filter options in the following scenarios:

• Zoho Flow: Stripe a Zoho Marketing Automation

  Hola! Quiero hacer un flujo con Zoho Flow, para que cuando se haga un pago en Stripe, añada el lead en Zoho Marketing Automation. Lo he configurado, configurando el disparador como "Payment created" y mapeando el campo de Stripe "Receipt email address".

• Need Customer Item Inward Module along with QC

  Need Customer Item Inward Module along with QC 1. Using Transfer Orders hit the item balance sheet 2. Items without inventory it becomes difficult for tracking purpose. 3. Custom Modules become tedious to capture multiple items, item subforms are not

• LESS_THAN_MIN_OCCURANCE - code 2945

  Hi I'm trying to post a customer record to creator API and getting this error message. So cryptic. Can someone please help? Thanks Varun

• Zoho email

  I need a list of email addresses of all contacts on my zoho

• Shift-Centric View for Assigning and Managing Shifts in Zoho People

  Hello Zoho People Product Team, Greetings and hope you are doing well. This feature request is related to Zoho People - please don't move it to zoho one! We would like to submit a feature request regarding the shift assignment and management view in Zoho

• cant upload images in signature- urgent help needed. ta!

  HI, I have been trying to insert the company logo in the signature. i have tried it several times since yesterday, the longest I waited was 1 hour and 12 minutes for the pop up window to upload a 180 KB .jpg file. what am i doing wrong.. an urgent reply

• Add Ticket button in Home view

  When I go to the My Tickets or the Knowledge Base view in our Help Centre, the Add Ticket button is available, but not in the Home view. I would really like for it to be displayed in the Home view as well. Is this possible? Thanks.

• Problem using Zoho Desk API

  Goodmorning, I am trying to use the Zoho Desk API to create a dashboard in Grafana, but I am having a problem. Following the instructions in the API documentation, I created the API Console application (server-based application). Then I created the string

• Add zoho calendar to google calendar

  Hi I keep seeing instructions on how to sync Zoho CRM calendar with google calendar but no instructions on how to view Zoho calendar in my google calendar.

• How to print a label from zoho creator app?

  Hello, I would like to print a label from zoho creator app record similar to attached one. Size 74mm x 102mm. I tried record template. It leaves plenty of space around the content and also I couldn't set the height of the page. So it is not printing properly. Could someone please direct me to right direction for this requirement?

• City field suggestion in Zoho Books

  Hi team, We are using Customers module in Zoho Books. In the Address section, we want to understand whether the City field can show suggestions while typing using any API or built-in feature. For example, if a user types “Mum”, can the system suggest

• Non-responsive views in Mobile Browser (iPad)

  Has anyone noticed that the creator applications when viewed in a mobile browser (iPad) lost its responsiveness? It now appears very small font size and need to zoom into to read contents. Obviously this make use by field staff quite difficult. This is not at all a good move, as lots of my users are depending on accessing the app in mobile devices (iPads), and very challenging and frustrating. 

• How can I check all announce?

  Hiii, May I ask how can I check all the announce based on broadcast date instead of reply date based So that I will not will miss out any new function

• What are the create bill API line item requiered fields

  While the following documentation says that the line items array is requiered it doesn't say what if any files are requiered in the array. Does anyone know? API documentation: https://www.zoho.com/inventory/api/v1/bills/#create-a-bill I'm trying to add

• This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

  Hello, Just signed up to ZOHO on a friend's recommendation. Got the TXT part (verified my domain), but whenever I try to add ANY user, I get the error: This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details I have emailed as well and writing here as well because when I searched, I saw many people faced the same issue and instead of email, they got a faster response here. My domain is: raisingreaderspk . com Hope this can be resolved.  Thank you

• Cannot connect to imap.zoho.eu on iOS26

  Hey, I recently migrated to another iPhone and since then use iOS26. Every since then, I was not able to connect to "imap.zoho.eu" from Apple Mail. I tried deleting the account and adding it again, did not work. I tried creating an app password, didn't

• Personalize your booking pages with Custom CSS

  Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re introducing Custom CSS for Zoho Bookings, designed to give you complete control over the look and feel of your booking pages. With this new feature, you can upload your own CSS file to customize colors, fonts,

• Next Page