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

    • Issue with open-rate reporting in Zoho Campaigns

      Hello, Since yesterday I’ve been experiencing an issue with the open-rate reports in Zoho Campaigns. The campaigns I send appear in the reports as if none of the emails have been opened, even though I know they have. To verify this, I replicated the campaign

    • Is It Possible to Convert a Custom Module to a Quote?

      I recently created a custom module in our CRM environment for RFQs so that our sales team can submit quote requests directly in Zoho rather than by email/phone. This allows for a cleaner overall process, minimizing potential errors and potentially encouraging

    • Proposal: Actionable API Error Messages to Reduce Support Ticket Volume

      I've encountered a long-standing frustration with how Zoho Creator's API communicates errors to developers, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. This issue has persisted for over 9 years based on community discussions, and

    • Closing the Loop: Why Lookup Asymmetry is Harming Data Integrity in Creator

      TL;DR: Lookup fields allow users to add new related records inline via the "+" icon, but there's no equivalent ability to edit an existing related record without navigating away and losing form context. Adding a native "Edit" icon—with automatic User

    • using the Client script on the load of the form if service no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to is Service

      using the Client script on the load of the form if service no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to field is Service if Purchae no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to is Purchase

    • Work Order wont mark as Completed

      I have a couple of work orders that won't mark as completed even when I've marked the Service Appointments as completed fully.

    • Item name special charaters <>

      Im trying to input speical characters such as < and > into item name and item description but comes up with following error: Invalid value passed for Item Name and Invalid value passed for Item Description How do i allow speical characters?

    • Zoho Analytics Dashboard - How to hide the user filter

      I am using the same dashboard template across different external clients and applying a user filter to the data by site URL. How can I hide the user filter in View Mode so the external client won't see the list of other clients in the drop-down menu?

    • Kaizen #229: Email-Deal Associations in Zoho CRM

      Hi All, Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Emails are a core channel for customer communication in any CRM system. In Zoho CRM, emails can be associated with records across multiple modules. In this post, we will focus on email associations with

    • Action Required: Update Microsoft SQL Server Security Settings Before February 2026

      Dear Users, We recently deployed security updates in Zoho Analytics that inadvertently caused connection failures for a few customers using Microsoft (MS) SQL Server hosted on older Windows versions (Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, and 2014). To restore

    • Contacts limit in basic vs standard - what counts? Are customers contacts?

      I’ve been using books for a number years for my small business. I only ever work with 20 clients at any given time. I do purchase services from a number of vendors to run my business, so there are some comtacts there too. I used to use the basic package,

    • Automating Employee Birthday Notifications in Zoho Cliq

      Have you ever missed a birthday and felt like the office Grinch? Fear not, the Cliq Developer Platform has got your back! With Zoho Cliq's Schedulers, you can be the office party-cipant who never forgets a single cake, balloon, or awkward rendition of

    • Create Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3

      In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way to

    • Ability to Set a Unified Tab Order/View for All Users in Zoho Projects

      Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit a feature request regarding tab/menu organization in Zoho Projects. Current Behavior: The tab (module) order in Zoho Projects is user-specific. Each user (internal or external)

    • Task Order

      Hello! I've recently switched to Zoho Projects and a long time user of MS Project, Asana and LiquidPlanner (which has recently been purchased) and I'm running into a frustration I'm hoping someone can assist with. It has to do with how tasks are ordered

    • Automating CRM backup storage?

      Hi there, We've recently set up automatic backups for our Zoho CRM account. We were hoping that the backup functionality would not require any manual work on our end, but it seems that we are always required to download the backups ourselves, store them,

    • Vendor legal and DBA names for USA users

      I would like to hear how Zoho Books users are handling DBA names in the vendor profile. If the Company name in the vendor profile has to be the legal name (line 1 of the W-9), whare are you entering the DBA name (the name that checks are made out to)

    • Zoho Books API invoice email bouncing with 'relaying-issues' error

      I have waited over 30 days for zoho books uk to assist with the following and i have had no replies or tickets erronously closed. The service has been terrible - very unlike zoho! So i am raising this here hoping that a community member can assist: Hello,

    • Stop the Workarounds: We Need Native Multi-Step Forms

      After over 17 years of community requests, I'm hoping the Zoho team can finally address the lack of native multi-page form support in Zoho Creator. This has been one of the longest-standing feature requests in the community, with threads spanning nearly

    • Product Updates in Zoho Workplace applications | January 2026

      Hello Workplace Community, Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that went live across all Workplace applications for the month of January. Zoho Mail Zoho People Notifications preview in Zoho Mail Notification emails from Zoho People

    • How do i setup default values for few fields

      We have few fields in CRM like rate of return, type etc - they can be picklist and standard inut fields. picklist we have choice to set default value. but how do we default some value in input type of fields?

    • We know the company but not the contact

      We are fairly new to Zoho, part of our marketing stack is we use products like lead feeder to identify which companies are visiting our site. We are able to match this data to salesiq but cannot find a way to add a company name to the salesiq visitor

    • Customize Calendar view in Teamspaces Settings

      Right now every customization that happens inside of the calendar view inside of CRM is only visible for the specific user. We want to be able to set up calendar views as an admin for specific roles. I would suggest to do that inside of the settings of

    • How to filter subform report based upon main form report in dashboard

      Hi Team, I am creating a dashboard in Zoho Analytics. I want to have a main form report and below I want to show subform report of main form. If I filter the main form with date then I want to show subform records based upon main form. how can I achieve

    • using the Client script I want to Hide Show the Fields

      if Related to service means some of the field like service no want to shoe and hide Amc no , purchase no how i achive this let issu = ZDK.Page.getField('Issue_Related_To').getValue(); if (issu == 'Service') { var field_obj = ZDK.Page.getField('Warranty_Cases');

    • Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI

      Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the

    • vendors / customers with 2 different address and gst no

      Why can't we have option for more than one address and depending on the state option for more than 1 GST no. ? We have customers / vendors PAN india with different addresses and GST no. for different states.

    • Recurring Automated Reminders

      Hi, The reminders feature in Zoho Books is a really helpful feature to automate reminders for invoices. However, currently we can set reminders based on number of days before/after the invoice date. It would be really helpful if a recurring reminder feature

    • Fail to send Email by deluge

      Hi， today I gonna update some email include details in deluge, while this msg pops up and restrict me to save but my rules has run for one year. can you tell me how to use one of our admin account or super admin account to send the email? I tried to update

    • Transitions do not update fields until the record moves to next stage

      We have a blueprint where a couple of stages have multiple transitions. If only some of the transitions are completed, but not all, Zoho does not update any of the fields impacted by the completed transitions. Is there any way Zoho can udate the fields

    • Zoho CRM - Kiosk Studio : Use action responses across your kiosks with sequential actions

      Hello Everyone, Imagine building a kiosk that gives you full control over how actions are executed in later screens in that same kiosk. What if you could use data from a previous action later in that kiosk—with no interruptions or data gaps? This is exactly

    • Get Cliq Meetings in my O365 calendar

      Hi, we are currently evaluating to replace the Teams Messaging and Meetings with Cliq. We currently still have all our email and calendars in O365. What i want to achieve is, to create a (ZOHO) meeting from Cliq and have this meeting added to my Outlook/O365

    • Custom Button to convert a Deal to a Custom Module?

      Hello Community I am in process of building out a custom CRM for my team and part of this is looking at building out a Custom Button or function of some sort where when a Deal is marked Closed Won the system will allow for a "Convert to Job" option to

    • Change eMail Template for Event-Invitations

      Hello ZOHO-CRM Team How I can change the eMail Template for Event-Invitations? I work with the German Version of the Free Version. I know how I can modify eMail alerts or Signature Templates, but where I can other eMails modify you send out? Thank you

    • Workdrive Oauth2 Token Isn't Refreshing

      I have set up oauth for a bunch of zoho apis and have never had a problem with oauth. With workdrive i am using the exact same template i usually use for the other zoho apps and it is not working. All requests will work for the first hour then stops so

    • Migrate Your Notes from OneNote to Zoho Notebook Today

      Greetings Notebook Users, We’re excited to introduce a powerful new feature that lets you migrate your notes from Microsoft OneNote to Zoho Notebook—making your transition faster and more seamless than ever. ✨ What’s New One-click migration: Easily import

    • How can I import OLM to Yandex Mail easily?

      For migrating Mac Outlook OLM data to Yandex Mail efficiently, the Aryson OLM Converter is a reliable professional tool that ensures complete data integrity throughout the process. Unlike manual methods, which can risk inconsistent formatting or missing

    • Is it possible to setup bin locations WITHOUT mandating batch tracking?

      Hi fellow zoho users, I'm wondering if anyone else has a similar issue to me? I only have some products batch tracked (items with shelf life expiry dates) but I am trying to setup bin locations for my entire inventory so we can do stock counting easier.

    • Implementing Inventory Process

      I am just starting to create an inventory system through Zoho for a nonprofit. We receive in-kind donations of items for kids, and utilize them in 2 or 3 different programs. Then families come in and take the items. I'm thinking of this structure: Our

    • Best way to start zoho inventory with bulk openning stock

      We are already using zoho book since long time for cars trading company. Now to streamline more, would like to import the excel data of closing stock of inventory to zoho inventory and to start on. Since we need to track each VIN (unique vehicle id number)

    • Next Page