Kaizen #1 - Fields in CRM #API
Hey everyone, welcome to the Zoho CRM Developer Community series. The series is named 'Kaizen', meaning continuous improvement. Through these series of posts, we aim at resolving all the frequently asked questions, common hurdles, and discuss the best practices to be followed by the CRM developer community.
We have five different streams under kaizen. Each one is related to a different stream of CRM development—API v2.0, Functions, SDK, Mobile Development, and Widgets. Every post will be tagged under one of these streams with a hashtag(#). Based on your area of expertise, you can choose to follow any of them.
So, here is the drill:
- We will drop a few eggs of knowledge on a most discussed topic in our developer community forum, and tag it under one of the five streams.
- As always, you can keep the questions coming and kick start a productive discussion.
- The routine iterates every Friday.
Since this is our first forum post, we decided to start with something basic.
The problem
In ZohoCRM, data is organized into fields (individual chunks of data). For instance, 'First Name', 'Email', and so on.
As we are all aware, there are multiple field types available in Zoho CRM. Each field type has its limitations on the type and length of data that can be stored in that particular field. It is essential to adhere to these restrictions while inserting, updating, upserting data. If not, it can lead to unsuccessful requests and errors.
What you will learn from this post
In this post, we are going to walk you through the following, to give you a better idea of different field types in Zoho CRM and their role while inserting, updating, and upserting records.
- Different types of fields in Zoho CRM
- Details about each field type - [ data type, limitations (what type of characters are accepted), size ]
- Inserting records in Zoho CRM- with emphasis on fields [System-defined mandatory fields for each module]
- A few use-cases on inserting records in Zoho CRM
a. Different types of fields in Zoho CRM
Fields are used to store data in a structured way in Zoho CRM.
Based on how the data is stored, they are of two types:
(i) Read-only fields - For these fields, data is system generated. For instance, "created_by", "created_time", "last_activity_time", "modified_by", "modified_time", and so on. Users cannot modify these fields.
(ii) Read/Write fields - For these fields, data is set by the user. For instance, "first_name", "last_name", "email", and so on.
For custom fields and default fields, you can update this property by editing the field-permissions in the set-up screen in UI. You set the fields to be either read-only, read/write, or hidden.
Note that this property cannot be altered for system-defined mandatory and custom mandatory fields.
b. Details about each field type
Just like data types available in multiple programming languages, there are multiple field types in Zoho CRM, allowing you to store different types of data about your customers, users, vendors, and so on. For instance, we have 'Single Line' field type where you can store strings, it allows you to store all the alphanumeric and special characters within a length of 255 characters.
Apart from default fields, Zoho CRM allows you to create custom fields. Knowing about the field types is essential to pick the right kind of field type for your custom field. For instance, a 'phone' field type would be more appropriate for a custom-field that stores phone numbers than 'single line' type, since phone allows only numeric characters and '+' (to add extensions).
You can find the details about data types and restrictions about each field type in 'modules and fields' section in Zoho CRM UI. Through API, you can get the data type of the fields in a module using meta data API.
URL
{{api-domain-URL}}/crm/v2/settings?fields?module={module_API_name}
The following table gives you specific details about each field type in Zoho CRM and their limitations.
JSON type - tells in what format the field should be passed in request-body/ will be received in response
data type - tells the type of data that can be stored in a field with that particular field-type
Field-type | Limitations | Example |
Single Line JSON type - string data type - text | Accepts up to 255 characters. Accepts alphanumeric and special characters. | "Last_name": "Mike O'Leary" |
Multi-Line JSON type - string data type - textarea | Small - accepts up to 2000 characters. Large - accepts up to 32000 characters. You will not be able to use this field to create custom views, reports or other filters. Accepts alphanumeric and special characters. | "Description": "This is a sample description" |
Email JSON type - string data type - email | Accepts valid email IDs. | "Email": "merced@zylker.com" |
Phone JSON type - string data type - phone | Accepts up to 30 characters. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Number of characters allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts only numeric characters and '+' (to add extensions). | "Phone": "9800000099" |
Picklist JSON type - string data type - picklist | You can either pass an existing pick list value or add a new one. The pick list value accepts all alphanumeric and special characters. | "Industry": "automobile" |
Multiselect pick list JSON type - jsonarray data type - multiselectpicklist | You can either pass existing pick list values or add a new one. The pick list value accepts all alphanumeric and special characters. | "Courses opted": [ "Analytics", "Big data" ] |
Date JSON type - string data type - date | Accepts date in yyyy-MM-dd format. | "Date": "2019-08-28" |
Date/time JSON type - string data type - datetime | Accepts date and time in yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss±HH:mm ISO 8601 format. | "Date_Time": "2019-08-28T20:32:36+05:30" |
Number JSON type - integer data type - integer | Accepts numbers up to 9 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts only numeric values. | "No. of employees": "350" |
Currency JSON type - double data type - currency | Before decimal point - accepts numbers up to 16 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. After decimal point - accepts precision up to 9 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Number of decimal paces' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts only numeric values. | "Annual Revenue": 250000.90 |
Decimal JSON type - double data type - double | Before decimal point - accepts numbers up to 16 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. After decimal point - accepts precision up to 9 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Number of decimal places' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts only numeric values. | "Decimal_1": 250000.50 |
Percent JSON type - double data type - double | Accepts numbers up to 5 digits. Accepts only numeric values. | "Percentage": 25 |
Long integer JSON type - string data type - bigint | Accepts numbers up to 18 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts only numeric values. | "EAN_Code":"0012345600012" |
Checkbox JSON type - boolean data type - boolean | Accepts only Boolean values(true,false). | "Email_Opt_Out": true |
URL JSON type - string data type - website | Accepts valid URLs. | "URL": "https://www.zylker.com" |
Lookup JSON type - jsonobject data type - lookup | Accepts unique ID of the record, which you can get through get records API. | "Owner": { "id":"4150868000000623001" } |
User data type - userlookup | This is a default look-up field to users in Zoho CRM. | "User": { "User_Name":"Patricia Boyle", "id":"4150868000000623001" } |
C. Inserting Records in Zoho CRM
Now that we have covered different field types and details about each field type, let us move on to inserting records in Zoho CRM.
System-defined mandatory fields for each module
While inserting records there are a few system-defined mandatory fields that you need to mention. Inorder to successfully insert records in Zoho CRM, make sure you enter user-defined mandatory fields too.
The following table gives you information about the system-defined mandatory fields and their field type in Zoho CRM:
Module | System-defined mandatory field |
Leads | "Last_Name" - Single Line |
| Contacts | "Last_Name" - Single Line |
Accounts | "Account_Name" - Single Line |
Deals | "Deal_Name"- Single Line "Stage" - Picklist |
Tasks | "Subject" - Multi Line |
Calls | "Subject" - Multi Line "Call_Type" - Picklist "Call_Start_Time" - Date/Time "Call_Duration" - Single Line |
Events | "Event_Title"- Single Line "Start_DateTime" - Date/Time "End_DateTime" - Date/Time |
Products | "Product_Name" - Single Line |
Quotes | "Subject"- Single Line "Product_Details" - Product Line Item |
Invoices | "Subject"- Single Line "Product_Details" - Product Line Item |
Campaigns | "Campaign_Name" - Single Line |
Vendors | "Vendor_Name"- Single Line |
Price Books | "Price_Book_Name"- Single Line "Pricing_Details"- JSON Array with "from_range", "to_range", "discount" |
Cases | "Case_Origin" - Picklist "Status"- Picklist "Subject" - Single Line |
Solutions | "Solution_Title"- Single Line |
Purchase Orders | "Subject"- Single Line "Vendor_Name"- Lookup "Product_Details" - Product Line Item |
Sales Orders | "Subject"- Single Line "Product_Details" - Product Line Item |
d. A few use-cases on inserting records in Zoho CRM
A few special cases while inserting records in Zoho CRM are as follows:
- Product Line Item
- Reminder
- Repeat
- Pricing_Details
- What_ID, Who_ID
- Participants
Every Zoho CRM API request body to insert, update, or upsert records should be given in the JSON format. To know the format for each of the above mentioned special cases, refer to our API guide.
Next 'Kaizen' - OAuth2.0 and Self Client #API
Access your files securely from anywhere
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Sneha Sridharan
carlos.interconnecta
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 thisKaizen #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 howKaizen #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
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Cancellation Fees
Hi, It really would be good if Billing could take subscription management further with cancellations & being able to apply or set a cancellation fee for a plan that is either fixed or prorated. It is not uncommon in subscriptions for cancellation feesAll new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs
Availability Update: 29 September 2025: It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition exclusively for IN DC users. 2 March 2026: Available to users in all DCs except US and EU DC. 24Zoho Writer Frequently not loading
I've reported this as a problem already but I can't log into my email right now or get onto the main site so you're going to hear about it again here: at least once a week, Zoho Writer will just refuse to load entirely. The main page will load and loadBulk Associate Tasks/Task Lists to Milestones (Similar to Issues)
Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement regarding Milestone management for Tasks in Zoho Projects. Current Behavior: In the Issues module, it is possible to select multiple issues and easily associateAllow agents to enable or disable notifications from certain departments
Currently, agent notifications are configured by admins through predefined settings in Setup > Customization > Notifications. As a result, agents may not customize the notifications as per their preferences and needs. However, agents who are part of multipleUnable to produce monthly P&L reports for previous years
My company just migrated to Books this year. We have 5+ years financial data and need to generate a monthly P&L for 2019 and a monthly P&L YTD for 2020. The latter is easy, but I'm VERY surprised to learn that default reports in Zoho Books cannot createWorkDrive API returning empty response even after placing file in Team Folder
Hi everyone, I am trying to fetch a file from Zoho WorkDrive using a Deluge standalone function in Zoho People. The API call executes successfully using a configured connection, but the response is coming back empty. I have verified the following: TheAddress Typeahead Extension for Zoho Books
I installed the Address Typeahead extension for zoho books but when I went to configure it, it said that that version was deprecated. Is there a newer version somewhere?Transaction Rules & Customer Payments
So I have a situation as follows. We have many clients who are all invoiced on the 1st of each month on a recurring invoice for 1 of 10 plans. This means that almost all payment dates are the same (some people pay late) and that a lot of the amounts areCan I Integrate ADP Payroll with Zoho Books?
Hi, I am hoping that I can integrate ADP Payroll with Zoho Books so that I do not need to manually input the payroll journal entries. Is this possible? If so, how do I do that?Zoho Books | Product updates | February 2026
Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From Advanced Reporting Tags to the ability to mark projects as completed, explore the latest updates designed to improve your bookkeeping experience. Introducing Advanced ReportingDarshan Hiranandani : How many participants can join a Zoho Meeting at once?
Hi everyone, I'm Darshan Hiranandani, trying to find out the maximum number of participants that can join a Zoho Meeting at once. Has anyone here used Zoho Meeting for larger groups and can share their experience or knowledge about the participant limit?Ask The Expert: Deep Dive into Zoho CRM, Desk, SalesIQ, and Campaigns!
Are you using Zoho to power your sales, support, and marketing, and have questions about configuration, automation, or best practices? We have great news: the “Ask The Expert” session is coming to the Zoho Benelux Community! This session is specificallyHow to create a new Batch and update Stock via Inventory?
Hi everyone, We are building an automation where a user enters batch details (Batch Number, Mfg Date, Expiry, and Quantity) into a Custom Module. I need this to trigger an API call to Zoho Inventory to: Create the new batch for the item. Increase theZoho books Inventory valuation report VS Stock GL value
At one client, we track inventory using composite (bundled) items, and in the system settings we have enabled the option to prevent stock from going below zero. After the year-end physical count and quantity adjustments, we identified a mismatch: InventoryZoho Zoom extension for CRM
When meetings are booked through Zoho using the Zoom extension, the Zoom link in the invite is a host start link that contains an expiring ZAK token. The invite should instead use a standard attendee join link or a non-expiring host link - why is thisSetting GC session variable programatically in a website
Hi! Is there a way now to programatically set session variables from a website for a Guided Conversations? The current available methods are dependent on react-native.Stereo audio
L.S. Is stereo audio supported in Zoho Meetings? I would like to conduct music lessons with Meetings, but the audio needs to be good (if not great!) and stereo, and not too much compressed and such.Usar o Inventory ou módulo customizado no CRM para Gestão de Estoque ?
Minha maior dor hoje em usar o zoho é a gestão do meu estoque. Sou uma empresa de varejo e essa gestão é fundamental pra mim. Obviamente preciso que esse estoque seja visível no CRM, Inicialmente fiz através de módulos personalizados no próprio Zoho CRM,Is Zoho Sites still actively being developed?
Hello, Is Zoho Sites still actively being developed as part of the Zoho ecosystem? I noticed that the What's New page (https://www.zoho.com/sites/whats-new.html) does not show any updates since Q1 2025. We were considering migrating our website from SquarespaceZia should track how customer relationships evolve over time
Here's a feature idea that I've been thinking about The Problem Zia is great at analyzing individual interactions email sentiment, call transcription, best time to contact. But here's what it can't do: tell you how a relationship has evolved over time.Zoho Surveys
Dear Zoho Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to inquire about the availability and documentation for the Zoho Survey API. Background: I am currently working on a project that requires programmatic access to survey data andZoho FSM API Delete Record
Hi FSM Team, It would be great if you could delete a record via API. Thank you,Duplicate Leads Concerns with Round Robin and Lead Approval Process
It is great to have the Duplicate Lead Approval Process, there are a few issues with the process that I would greatly appreciate taken consideration in enhancing. It appears that A Lead comes in Lead owner assigned by the Round Robin Check for Duplicate,Cliq iOS can't see shared screen
Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? RegardsIncoming email replies not automatically associating with Deals/Opportunities - Is this possible in Zoho CRM?
Hello Zoho Community, I'm running a travel agency (B2B and B2C) and we've been struggling with what seems like a basic functionality that we cannot get to work properly. Our use case: We send emails to suppliers (hotels, transportation companies) andWriting 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? AnyoneDesk API that can search Merged Tickets
Is there any method that can still search a ticket that was already merged? zoho.desk.searchRecords - doesn't explicitly mentionIssue with "Send Email" from Quotes not loading Email Template data
Hi everyone, I'm currently experiencing an issue when using the "Send Email" option from a Quote record in Zoho CRM. What’s happening: When I go to the Quotes module and select a record, then click Send Email, the attached file (Quote) correctly pullsSuggestions for Improved Table Management and Dashboard Filter Controls in Zoho Analytics
Dear Zoho Analytics Community, I hope you are doing well. I would like to share a few suggestions based on issues I am currently experiencing while working with visualizations and dashboards. Firstly, when I create a new visualization using the Sales-OrderIntroducing Rollup summary in Zoho CRM
------------------------------------------Moderated on 5th July'23---------------------------------------------- Rollup summary is now available for all organizations in all the DCs. Hello All, We hope you're well! We're here with an exciting update thatZoho Projects and CRM Integration in Analytics
Hi Team, In Zoho CRM, I’ve integrated CRM with Zoho Projects and associated a project within the CRM. The integration is visible under the Deals module. However, I’m unable to find this data in Zoho Analytics. Does anyone know where this information isCursor lands on disabled fields when tabbing through forms
As of yesterday, form behavior has changed w/ regard to disabled fields. Previously when tabbing through a form the cursor would skip over disable fields (as would typically be desired). But now the cursor is landing on all disabled fields, in all ofPermission query
we have two permission settings i.e 'user permission ' & 'portal user permission' and both have the same setting that we enable for our users, Now those who have access to user permission can see a button on the pivot table, "regenerate" but those whoZoho Forms sheet prefil
I've been using zoho sheet prefill for a week and it was working perfectly, as soon as i deleted the particular sheet and replaced it with another one no matter what I do it cant find the record and i get this message. Could you please assist me to resolve"Create Deal" button should default to the currently selected layout/pipeline
When viewing Deals in Kanban or List view with a specific layout and pipeline selected, clicking "Create Deal" should default to that same layout — not the profile's default layout. Currently it always opens the default layout regardless of context, requiringZoho mail admin panel not opening
Dynamic Questions in Zoho Forms
Is it possible to add dynamic questions (like displaying a user’s name) in Zoho Forms? I know this is possible in surveys, but can we implement similar functionality in Zoho Forms?How to add "All Open AND Overdue" back to the Home Page Task Component?
Hi everyone, I’m looking for a way to restore the Tasks component dropdown list on the Zoho CRM Home Page. Since the recent update to the Task area in my Home Page Classic View, the dropdown options (e.g., My Next 7 Days + Overdue) are too restrictiveCanvas: is it possible to have a fixed header?
Hello. Does Canvas provide the option to have a fixed header, similar to the standard view? It would also be interesting for other parts of the interface, like the header or sidebar of the tab section. Thanks!Next Page