Using schedules and workflow functions

Using schedules and workflow functions

Hello Biginners,

In our previous forum post, we explored install and uninstall actions and learned how to trigger custom logic the moment a topping is added or removed from an organization. In this post, we'll look at how to automate actions during regular, everyday use. To achieve this, we'll explore two important features in the Bigin Developer Console: schedules and workflow functions.

Together, schedules and workflow functions allow us to build toppings that respond to record events in real time and monitor conditions over time. To understand how these features work, let's walk through a common requirement in a customer support pipeline.

The challenge: Avoiding communication gaps and idle tickets

In a customer support pipeline, clear communication and timely follow-ups are crucial. A ticket represents a customer request, and delay affects customer trust.

There are two common scenarios that help make managing support tickets smoother for teams:
  1. When a ticket is created, sending an acknowledgment email to the customer and notifying the assigned ticket owner with customized content ensures clear and immediate communication.
  2. After a ticket is assigned, setting up a structured reminder system for tickets that remain idle in the same stage helps prevent them from being overlooked and ensures timely follow-ups.
We can build a topping to handle these scenarios.

Overview of the topping

We'll build a follow-up support automation topping that handles both real-time communication and time-based monitoring.

This topping will include:
  1. A workflow function that is triggered when a ticket is created. It sends an acknowledgement email to the customer saying that their request has been received and also sends a notification to the ticket owner about the new ticket.
  2. A scheduled function that runs 24 hours after a ticket is created. If the ticket remains open beyond 24 hours, the topping sends a reminder email to the ticket owner every 12 hours until the ticket is closed, ensuring timely follow-up.
We can achieve this by building a topping using the features available in the Bigin Developer Console, like workflows, schedules, and functions.

Setting up the topping

A topping needs to be created using the Bigin Developer Center. For detailed instructions on creating a topping, refer to this post for a tutorial.

Once you've created a topping and accessed the Bigin Developer Console, the next step is to create the required service connection.

Since the topping needs to have access to the Bigin pipelines and ticket owner details, you need to create a default service connection for Bigin with the scopes ZohoBigin.modules.Pipelines.ALL and ZohoBigin.org.ALL.

For detailed instructions on creating a default service connection, refer to this post for a tutorial.

After creating the Bigin connection, you can proceed with the first part of the topping implementation, which handles newly created tickets.

Creating a workflow rule for new tickets

To configure the workflow, navigate to the Automate section in the left panel of the Bigin Developer Console and select Workflow. Create a new workflow rule in the Pipelines module.


In the workflow configuration, set the rule to execute based on a Record action and choose Create so that it triggers whenever a new ticket is created. Under conditions, select Pipelines matching certain conditions and define the condition as Pipeline is Customer Support Standard. This ensures that the rule applies only to tickets created in that specific pipeline. Under Instant Actions, you need to associate the workflow with a custom function so that it executes immediately when the workflow is triggered.


This function will fetch the ticket details, send an acknowledgement email to the customer, and notify the assigned ticket owner.

Below is the code for sending the acknowledgment emails when a new ticket is created in the customer support pipeline:

Workflow Function – WorkflowFunction.txt – Please find the attachment with the code for sending emails via workflow


Once saved and activated, the workflow will automatically send the acknowledgement email every time a new ticket is created in the support pipeline.

While workflows react instantly to events, schedules allow us to monitor records over time. In simple terms, workflows respond immediately, and schedules keep watch in the background.

Now, let's handle the second part of the topping use case: monitoring tickets that remain unresolved for too long. For that, we need to create a schedule and associate it with a function.

Let's move into the scheduler implementation.

Creating a schedule for idle tickets

A schedule is a time-based execution mechanism that allows a function to run automatically at defined intervals. Unlike workflows, which react to record actions, schedules operate independently and continuously in the background.

For our use case, we need to monitor tickets after they're created and ensure they aren't left unresolved for long periods. This means the system should periodically check existing records, evaluate their status, and take action if certain conditions are met. Since this requirement is based on time rather than a user-triggered event, a schedule is the best solution.

To implement this, navigate to the Schedules section in the Bigin Developer Console and create a new schedule. Once you provide a name, choose Writing Function for the Function to be executed option.


You'll be redirected to the deluge editor to implement the reminder logic.

In this function, you need to implement the reminder logic that evaluates each ticket and determines whether follow-up action is required. The function should retrieve the necessary ticket details, compare the ticket’s created time with the current time, verify that the ticket isn't already resolved, and then trigger a reminder email to the assigned owner if it's been longer than the set time.

The code below implements the logic for scheduled reminder:

Scheduler Function – SchedulerFunction.txt – Please find the attachment with the code for sending emails via schedule

Once you save the script, you’ll be redirected to the scheduler configuration page.

Here, provide a schedule name and choose an upcoming date and time for the Execution Start Date, since schedules must begin in the future. Under Frequency, select Hourly and configure it to run every 12 hours to match the reminder requirement. In the Ends section, choose Never because we want the schedule to continue running without stopping.


After saving, the scheduler will automatically execute the function at the defined intervals.

At this point, everything for the topping is in place. You can now test and publish it.

Once the topping is published, whenever a new ticket is created in the Customer Support Pipeline, an acknowledgment email will be sent to the customer and a notification email will be sent to the ticket owner.




If the ticket remains in an unresolved stage for more than 24 hours, the scheduled function will trigger and send a reminder email to the ticket owner every 12 hours until the ticket is resolved.


In this post, we explored how to use workflows and schedules together to automate real-time actions and time-based monitoring in a Bigin topping. The workflow sends emails when a ticket is created, and the schedule checks tickets periodically to send reminders if they remain unresolved. This approach helps ensure consistent follow-up without manual monitoring.

Stay tuned for more posts where we'll dive deeper into additional features and best practices for developing powerful toppings in Bigin.

    • Recent Topics

    • Can not send or reply to mails

      Hello, I can not send mails or reply. If I try to send a mail i get "Unable to send message;Reason:553 Replaying disallowed. Invalid Domain - invata-programare.ro" Can you help me, please? Thank you!

    • Urgent: Subscription Correction Needed - Org ID 805493328

      Dear Zoho Billing Team, I am writing to request an urgent correction regarding a recent renewal for my account, Master Bed Trading (Organization ID: 805493328). Due to a mistake during the checkout process, I accidentally renewed our Zoho Forms subscription.

    • Zoho Sites Designer/Developer

      Hello, Besides Upwork, are there any other places to find experienced Zoho Sites designers/developers? I couldn't seem to find a page on Zoho that lists these professionals that are certified with Zoho Sites.

    • HTML PDF Templates / Build From Scratch option not visible for Custom Modules

      Hi everyone, I am working with Zoho Books Custom Modules and trying to create a custom 4x4 package label PDF template using HTML/CSS. According to the official Zoho Books documentation for HTML PDF Templates, there should be an option like: Settings →

    • Atlassian Jira integration live in Zoho Apptics

      Tracking crashes and fixing them often happen with different tools. You might use Zoho Apptics to track crashes and understand what went wrong and Jira to resolve those issues. If you use both, you're probably familiar with the manual effort involved

    • Marketing Tip #32: Improve SEO and customer confidence with an FAQ section

      Before making a purchase, customers often have simple questions about delivery times, returns, product usage, or sizing. If they can’t quickly find answers, they may leave your store without buying. Adding a clear FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section

    • Activate python application

      Is it possible for a deluge code to activate a python application ? Say i create a deluge program, in that deluge program, i need it to activate a python application stored on my drive Would that be possible, and if so, what would the code look like

    • Execution Trace & Root Cause Analyzer in Zia

      Integrating this capability into Zia would significantly enhance debugging and transparency. 1. Execution Trace Timeline A visual, step-by-step timeline of system activity for any event (e.g., form submission), including: Sequence of triggered workflows

    • Has anyone integrated Zoho with Go High Level (GHL)? Looking for guidance

      Hi everyone, I’m exploring the possibility of integrating Zoho applications with Go High Level (GHL) and wanted to check if anyone in the community has experience with this. Specifically, I’m interested in understanding: Whether a direct integration is

    • Add Ability to Reset Help Center User MFA in Zoho Desk

      Hello Zoho Desk Team, First of all, thank you for recently adding support for Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) in the Zoho Desk Help Center. We’re very happy to see this enhancement go live, especially since this was a highly requested security feature.

    • Allow 2 logos for Branding, one for Light Mode and one for Dark Mode?

      Our logo has a lot of black text on it. If we leave the background transparent, per recommendation of Zoho, when a user is viewing a file and turns on dark mode, our logo is not really visible and looks really weird. It would be really great if we could

    • Upgraded sentiment analysis model for more accurate detection

      Hello everyone! Sentiment Analysis in Zia is being upgraded to a newer model to improve how customer sentiment is detected and interpreted. This transition is aimed at getting better contextual understanding across all supported channels. As part of this

    • Adding Multiple Products (Package) to a Quote

      I've searched the forums and found several people asking this question, but never found an answer. Is ti possible to add multiple products to a quote at once, like a package deal? This seems like a very basic function of a CRM that does quotes but I can't

    • Integrate QuickBooks with Bigin and streamline your sales and accounting!

      If your business relies on Bigin for customer management and QuickBooks for accounting and invoicing, this new integration is here to make your operations more efficient. By connecting these two platforms, you can now manage your CRM and financial processes

    • Very limited support for MCP

      Has anyone else noticed how limited the MCP support for Zoho People currently is? Right now only a small set of read-only actions (exactly 15) seem to be available. At the same time Zoho CRM supports over 700+ functions. It makes it almost impossible

    • New UI for Writer - Disappointed

      I've been enjoying Zoho Writer as a new user for about 6 months, and I really like it. One of my favorite things about it is the menu bar, which you can hide or leave out while still seeing most of your page because it is off to the left. I think this

    • How has Zoho still not resolved Daylight Savings Time?

      According to these forums Zoho has been working on DST for 12 years. Totally unacceptable. Am I missing something? Why are other customers who observe DST not screaming for this to be fixed? Are there reasonable workarounds? This is a must-have for us. 

    • ZOHO Desk attachments support

      Hi I just setup MCP with claude, it works well, but it can't read attachments... which makes it kind of useless... Will you be adding attachment capabilities anytime soon?

    • HOW I CAN GET BETA VERSION FOT TESTING

      HI. ZOHO I AM INTERESTED IN YOUR BETA SOFTWARE TO EXPERIENCE NEW FEATURES.

    • How to Generate Separate Labels for Each Invoice SKU Line Item in Zoho Books?

      Hi everyone, I’m trying to implement a requirement in Zoho Books where separate labels need to be generated for each SKU/item from an invoice. Scenario: One invoice can contain multiple products/SKU items Each item/box should have its own separate label

    • Updating Sales orders on hold

      Surely updating irrelevant fields such as shipping date should be allowed when sales orders are awaiting back orders? Maybe the PO is going to be late arriving so we have to change the shipment date of the Sales order ! Not even allowed through the api - {"code":36014,"message":"Sales orders that have been shipped or on hold cannot be updated."}

    • Direct Integration Between Zoho Cliq Meetings and Google Calendar

      Dear Zoho Team, We’d like to submit the following feature request based on our current use case and the challenges we’re facing: 🎯 Feature Request: Enable meetings scheduled in Zoho Cliq to be automatically added to the host's Google Calendar, not just

    • billable_expense_id in Invoice API does not set invoiced=true on bill line items — causes duplicates in Projects > Create Invoice

      Hi Zoho Community, We are running an automated batch invoicing system using the Zoho Books API and have hit two critical bugs that are causing duplicate invoice risk in production. Raising this here for visibility alongside a support ticket already filed.

    • New fields : radio button

      Hi, when customizing a module (eg: Candidates), we are able to select different types of fields (check box, currency, list, ...). However there is no "radio-button" component. This type of fields is often used in Web pages and will be certainly a plus-value

    • Looking for Guidance on Building a Zoho Website

      I'm exploring the possibility of building a custom website with specific features using Zoho as an alternative platform. My goal is to create something similar to https://gtasandresapk.com , with the same kind of functionality and user experience. I'd

    • Huge confusion in zoho crm and zoho analytics

      Context => We have reporting based hierarchy in zoho crm and basically there will be one sales head and couple sales managers and 10 pre sales excutives divided between 2 sales managers we have maintained that in zoho crm and there is complex reporting

    • Huge confusion in zoho crm and zoho analytics

      Context => We have reporting based hierarchy in zoho crm and basically there will be one sales head and couple sales managers and 10 pre sales excutives divided between 2 sales managers we have maintained that in zoho crm and there is complex reporting

    • Import KB template OR Export template for zoho desk?

      Greetings. Can you tell me if there is a way to get an EXPORT of my KB articles? OR is there a template you supply for importing KB articles into my zoho desk? I am looking for a method of understanding what fields can be imported, and what their possible

    • Choice Availability Reset

      If an entry is deleted which included a response to a field with choice availability enabled does that increase the number of remaining times the choice can be selected?

    • Rich Text Type Format for Notes Field

      Has it been discussed or is there a way to insert a table in the notes field? We sometimes receive information in a table format, and it would be beneficial to have it in the same format as a note on a record.

    • [Bug] WebAuthn passkey registration blocked on rpIds with TLDs longer than 6 characters (.accountant, .technology, etc.) — isValidDomain regex too strict

      Hi, Filing on behalf of an enterprise customer where Zoho Vault is deployed across the company. The Chrome extension blocks WebAuthn passkey registration on legitimate sites whose Relying Party ID (rpId) has a TLD longer than 6 letters. This affects every

    • [Heads Up] Upcoming update to field values in Zoho Books - Zoho Analytics integration

      Hello Users, We'd like to inform you of an upcoming update to the Account Type field values in the Zoho Books integration for Zoho Analytics from June 1, 2026. What's Changing? The following values under the Account Type field are being renamed to align

    • Important update: Migrate to the new SalesIQ live chat widget before May 15, 2026

      The old SalesIQ live chat widget will be deprecated on May 15, 2026. This is a final reminder to migrate to the new SalesIQ live chat widget before this date. After May 15, 2026, the old widget will no longer be maintained, which can lead to slower performance

    • Zia Agent built in ChatKit UI does not render markdown

      Hi, You have a major shortcoming in the Zia Agent UI. The test UI that is embedded in agents.zoho.com allows you to test the agent has full support for rendering markdown, but your ChatKit UI does not have support for rendering markdown. If I embed it

    • Team folder not created when creating project using zoho flow

      When I try to automate project creation using zoho flow, and I have enabled workdrive integration to automatically create team folders to attach to the project, this only works when I create a new project through the UI. But I am trying to automate project

    • Zoho Projects - Email notification relabelling of modules not present on default templates

      Hi Projects Team, I noticed that in the default email template notification, the word "bug" was not renamed to the lable I am using in my system. As many users may used the Bugs modules for various purposes including Changes, Revisions, Issues, etc...

    • GLM 5 not available

      Hello, I am trying to setup a Zia Agent using agents.zoho.com. The settings says that GLM5 is among the list of free zoho hosted models available. However, when I try to setup an agent and pick a model from the list only GLM 4.7 Flash is available. How

    • Set Custom Icon for Custom Modules in new Zoho CRM UI

    • Kaizen #241: Automating Deal risk escalation using Workflow APIs, Connected Workflows, and Functions

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another Kaizen week. In many organizations, sales teams work in Zoho CRM, finance teams manage invoices in Zoho Books, and support teams handle customer issues in Zoho Desk. Now consider this scenario: A sales representative

    • Upload own Background Image and set Camera to 16:9

      Hi, in all known online meeting tools, I can set up a background image reflecting our corporate design. This doesn't work in Cliq. Additionally, Cliq detects our cameras as 4:3, showing black bars on the right and left sides during the meeting. Where

    • Next Page