Bulk user onboarding for Cliq Channels in a jiffy

As developers, we frequently switch between coding, debugging, and optimizing tasks. The last thing we want is to be burdened by manual user management. Adding users one by one to a channel is tedious and prone to errors, taking up more time than we could devote to actual development. 

Let's explore how to create a custom workflow using Cliq's platform components to streamline the process of bulk-adding users to a channel via a Zoho Sheet or CSV file. This approach facilitates a smooth onboarding experience without the need for manual effort.

---

Pre-requisite :

Before beginning to script the code below, we must create a connection with Zoho Cliq. Once a connection is created and connected, you can use it in Deluge integration tasks and invoke URL scripts to access data from the required service.

Create a Zoho Oauth default connection with any unique name and the scopes -  ZohoCliq.Channels.All and ZohoSheet.dataApi.ALL

Refer to the below links to learn more :

• Connections in Cliq
  
• Zoho Cliq REST API Documentation
  

---

Step 1  : Creation of slash command

• After a successful login in Cliq, hover to the top right corner and click your profile. Post clicking, navigate to Bots & Tools > Commands.
  
• At your right, click the button - Create Command.
  
• To know more about slash commands and their purposes, refer to Introduction to slash commands.
  
• Create a slash command using your preferred name. Specify the following details: the command name, a hint (to give users an idea of what the command is for), and the access level.
  
• Finally, click "Save & edit code".
  

1. inputs = List();
2. inputs.add({"name":"channels","label":"Pick a channel","placeholder":"Choose a channel where you need to add members","max_selections":"1","multiple":false,"mandatory":true,"type":"native_select","data_source":"channels"});
3. inputs.add({"name":"headername","label":"Header name","placeholder":"Email ID","hint":"In which the Email ID is present","min_length":"0","max_length":"25","mandatory":true,"type":"text"});
4. inputs.add({"type":"radio","label":"Import type","name":"import_Type","hint":"Choose a type that you need to import users","options":[{"label":"CSV","value":"csv"},{"label":"Zoho sheet","value":"zohosheet"}],"trigger_on_change":"true"});
5. return {"name":"addbulkuser","type":"form","title":"Add bulk users","hint":"To add maximum of upto 1000 users in a channel.","button_label":"Add Users","inputs":inputs,"action":{"type":"invoke.function","name":"addbulkusers"};

Step 2  : Scripting form function

• We need to create a function for the form that manages submission responses, including the Zoho Sheet link or CSV file, the name of the column containing the email addresses, and the channel details where users should be added in bulk.
  
• Hover to the top right corner and click your profile. After clicking, navigate to Bots & Tools > Functions.
  
• To your right, click the Create Function button.
  
• Name the function "addbulkusers," provide a description as desired, and select "form" as the function type. Then, click "Save and edit code," and paste the following code.
  

1. emailIdList = list();
2. successlist = list();
3. failedlist = list();
4. try 
5. {
6. info form;
7. formValues = form.get("values");
8. columnName = formValues.get("headername");
9. headerName = formValues.get("headername");
10. if(formValues.get("import_Type").get("value") == "zohosheet")
11. {
12. url = formValues.get("url");
13. spreadSheetId = url.getPrefix("?").getSuffix("open/");
14. sheetName = url.getSuffix("?").getPrefix("&").getSuffix("=");
15. worksheetname = sheetName.replaceAll(" ","%20");
16. columnName = columnName.replaceAll(" ","%20");
17. allDatas = list();
18. params = Map();
19. params.put("column_names",columnName);
20. params.put("method","worksheet.records.fetch");
21. params.put("worksheet_id",sheetName + "#");
22. sheetDetails = invokeurl
23. [
24. url :"https://sheet.zoho"+environment.get("tld")+"/api/v2/" + spreadSheetId
25. type :GET
26. parameters:params
27. connection:"addbulkusers"
28. ];
29. info sheetDetails;
30. if(sheetDetails.get("status") == "success" && sheetDetails.get("records").size() <= 1000)
31. {
32. allDatas.addAll(sheetDetails.get("records"));
33. }
34. else if(sheetDetails.get("status") == "success" && sheetDetails.get("records").size() > 1000)
35. {
36. return {"type":"form_error","text":"I can only able to add 1000 user. Kindly try passing with 1000 records in the sheet!!!"};
37. }
38. else
39. {
40. return {"type":"form_error","text":"I can't find any email ids. Kindly re-check the column name and header row!!!"};
41. }
42. info "allData: " + allDatas.size();
43. if(allDatas.size() > 1000)
44. {
45. return {"type":"form_error","text":"I can only able to add 1000 user. Kindly try passing with 1000 records in the sheet!!!"};
46. }
47. for each  data in allDatas
48. {
49. if(data.get(formValues.get("headername")) == null)
50. {
51. return {"type":"form_error","text":"I can't find any email ids. Kindly re-check the column name and header row!!!"};
52. }
53. emailIdList.add(data.get(formValues.get("headername")));
54. if(emailIdList.size() == 100)
55. {
56. channelID = formValues.get("channels").get("id");
57. params = {"email_ids":emailIdList};
58. info "Params: " + params;
59. addUsers = invokeurl
60. [
61. url :environment.get("base_url") + "/api/v2/channels/" + channelID + "/members"
62. type :POST
63. parameters:params.toString()
64. detailed:true
65. connection:"addbulkusers"
66. ];
67. info "Adduser: " + addUsers;
68. if(addUsers.get("responseCode") == "204")
69. {
70. successlist.addAll(emailIdList);
71. }
72. else
73. {
74. failedlist.addAll(emailIdList);
75. }
76. info "100: " + emailIdList.size();
77. emailIdList = list();
78. }
79. }
80. if(emailIdList.size() > 0)
81. {
82. channelID = formValues.get("channels").get("id");
83. params = {"email_ids":emailIdList};
84. info "Params: " + params;
85. addUsers = invokeurl
86. [
87. url :environment.get("base_url") + "/api/v2/channels/" + channelID + "/members"
88. type :POST
89. parameters:params.toString()
90. detailed:true
91. connection:"addbulkusers"
92. ];
93. info "Adduser: " + addUsers;
94. if(addUsers.get("responseCode") == "204")
95. {
96. successlist.addAll(emailIdList);
97. }
98. else
99. {
100. failedlist.addAll(emailIdList);
101. }
102. info "Email id: " + emailIdList;
103. }
104. info "Successlist: " + successlist;
105. info "Failedlist: " + failedlist;
106. if(successlist.size() > 0 && failedlist.size() > 0)
107. {
108. postMessage = {"text":"Successfully added " + successlist.size() + " member(s) and failed for " + failedlist.size() + " Member(s)"};
109. }
110. else if(successlist.size() > 0 && !failedlist.size() > 0)
111. {
112. postMessage = {"text":"Successfully added " + successlist.size() + " member(s)"};
113. }
114. else if(!successlist.size() > 0 && failedlist.size() > 0)
115. {
116. postMessage = {"text":"Adding members in channel failed for " + failedlist.size() + " member(s)"};
117. }
118. info zoho.cliq.postToChat(chat.get("id"),postMessage);
119. }
120. else
121. {
122. csvFile = formValues.get("csvFile");
123. csvFile = csvFile.getfilecontent();
124. allDatas = csvFile.toList("\n");
125. i = 0;
126. indexValue = 0;
127. indexBoolean = false;
128. for each  data in allDatas
129. {
130. if(i == 0)
131. {
132. headers = data.toList(",");
133. for each  header in headers
134. {
135. info header;
136. if(headerName == header)
137. {
138. indexBoolean = true;
139. indexValue = headers.indexOf(headerName);
140. }
141. }
142. if(indexBoolean == false)
143. {
144. return {"type":"form_error","text":"I can't find any email ids. Kindly re-check the column name and header row!!!"};
145. }
146. }
147. else 
148.             {
149. emailIdList.add(data.get(indexValue));
150.             }
151. i = i + 1;
152. if(emailIdList.size() == 100)
153. {
154. channelID = formValues.get("channels").get("id");
155. params = {"email_ids":emailIdList};
156. info "Params: " + params;
157. addUsers = invokeurl
158. [
159. url :environment.get("base_url") + "/api/v2/channels/" + channelID + "/members"
160. type :POST
161. parameters:params.toString()
162. detailed:true
163. connection:"addbulkusers"
164. ];
165. info "Adduser: " + addUsers;
166. if(addUsers.get("responseCode") == "204")
167. {
168. successlist.addAll(emailIdList);
169. }
170. else
171. {
172. failedlist.addAll(emailIdList);
173. }
174. info "100: " + emailIdList.size();
175. emailIdList = list();
176. }
177. }
178. if(emailIdList.size() > 0)
179. {
180. channelID = formValues.get("channels").get("id");
181. params = {"email_ids":emailIdList};
182. info "Params: " + params;
183. addUsers = invokeurl
184. [
185. url :environment.get("base_url") + "/api/v2/channels/" + channelID + "/members"
186. type :POST
187. parameters:params.toString()
188. detailed:true
189. connection:"addbulkusers"
190. ];
191. info "Adduser: " + addUsers;
192. if(addUsers.get("responseCode") == "204")
193. {
194. successlist.addAll(emailIdList);
195. }
196. else
197. {
198. failedlist.addAll(emailIdList);
199. }
200. }
201. info "Successlist: " + successlist;
202. info "Failedlist: " + failedlist;
203. if(successlist.size() > 0 && failedlist.size() > 0)
204. {
205. postMessage = {"text":"Successfully added " + successlist.size() + " member(s) and failed for " + failedlist.size() + " Member(s)"};
206. }
207. else if(successlist.size() > 0 && !failedlist.size() > 0)
208. {
209. postMessage = {"text":"Successfully added " + successlist.size() + " member(s)"};
210. }
211. else if(!successlist.size() > 0 && failedlist.size() > 0)
212. {
213. postMessage = {"text":"Adding members in channel failed for " + failedlist.size() + " member(s)"};
214. }
215. info zoho.cliq.postToChat(chat.get("id"),postMessage);
216. }
217. }
218. catch (e)
219. {
220. info e;
221. return {"type":"form_error","text":"I can't find any email ids. Kindly re-check the column name and header row!!!"};
222. }
223. return Map();

Step 3  : Configuring form change handler

• After copying and pasting the code into the form submission handler, navigate to the form change handler for the created form function.
  
• You can find this in the top left corner of the editor, where you will see an arrow next to the form submission handler. Clicking on this arrow will display the form change handler in a dropdown menu.
  
• Click it to edit the code in the form change handler, which is necessary for real-time modifications to a form's structure or behaviour based on user input in a specific field. 
  

1. targetName = target.get("name");
2. info targetName;
3. inputValues = form.get("values");
4. info inputValues;
5. actions = list();
6. if(targetName.containsIgnoreCase("import_Type"))
7. {
8. fieldValue = inputValues.get("import_Type").get("value");
9. info fieldValue;
10. if(fieldValue == "csv")
11. {
12. actions.add({"type":"add_after","name":"import_Type","input":{"label":"CSV File","name":"csvFile","placeholder":"Please upload a zCSV File","mandatory":true,"type":"file"}});
13. actions.add({"type":"remove","name":"url"});
14. }
15. else if(fieldValue == "zohosheet")
16. {
17. actions.add({"type":"add_after","name":"import_Type","input":{"name":"url","label":"Enter the sheet url","placeholder":"https://sheet.zoho.com/sheet/open/6xhgb324f142e91d845e5b4b472f7422379c9","min_length":"0","max_length":"400","mandatory":true,"type":"text","format":"url"}});
18. actions.add({"type":"remove","name":"csvFile"});
19. }
20. }
21. return {"type":"form_modification","actions":actions};
    

Business use cases:

• HR onboarding: Seamlessly add new employees to internal communication channels.
  
• Event management: Quickly invite attendees to event-specific channels.
  
• Education platforms: Enroll students in course groups in one go.
  
• Community building: Grow large communities by importing member lists effortlessly.
  

Bottom line

Bulk user addition in Cliq channels through Zoho Sheet or CSV files allows us to eliminate tedious tasks, reduce errors, and manage large-scale data effortlessly. Is onboarding consuming too much of your valuable development time? If so, it might be time to shake things up with a customized workflow!

We're here to help, so don't hesitate to reach out to support@zohocliq.com with any questions or if you need assistance in crafting even more tailored workflows.

• Topic Participants

• Harsha SS

  

• Sticky Posts

• Customer payment alerts in Zoho Cliq

  For businesses that depend on cash flow, payment updates are essential for operational decision-making and go beyond simple accounting entries. The sales team needs to be notified when invoices are cleared so that upcoming orders can be released. In contrast,

• 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

• Accelerate Github code reviews with Zoho Cliq Platform's link handlers

  Code reviews are critical, and they can get buried in conversations or lost when using multiple tools. With the Cliq Platform's link handlers, let's transform shared Github pull request links into interactive, real-time code reviews on channels. Share

• App Spotlight : PagerDuty for Zoho Cliq

  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked apps to enhance the power of your Zoho apps and tools. Visit the Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations, and extensions. In today's fast-paced world, seizing every moment is essential for operational

• Automate your status with Cliq Schedulers

  Imagine enjoying your favorite homemade meal during a peaceful lunch break, when suddenly there's a PING! A notification pops up and ruins your moment of zen. Even worse, you might be in a vital product development sprint, only to be derailed by a "quick

• Recent Topics

• Disable Buttons for Users with Profiles without permission

  Hey, I've noticed that users without permission of setting up things in the marketplace, can still see the icon: On a click, you see this: It would be way better, if they couldn't see this menu icon at all. (Aside from the fact that it completely misplaced

• Mapping a new Ticket in Zoho Desk to an Account or Deal in Zoho CRM manually

  Is there any way for me to map an existing ticket in Zoho desk to an account or Deal within Zoho CRM? Sometimes people use different email to put in a ticket than the one that we have in the CRM, but it's still the same person. We would like to be able

• Zoho Analytics - Make text clickable in underlying data

  Hi Community, I have a simple sales report based on a Invoice query table. I have included a link on to each invoice on the table and sent the Invoice number URL to the link. This works find in the query table, but when I click underlying data on the

• Credit Management: #5 Advanced Refund Policy

  You're subscribed to a well-known SaaS design tool. You've used it to manage your team's projects, create marketing visuals, brochures, and so on. But your needs change over time. Your company may switch to another tool or hire an in-house designer who

• Exported Slide Image Lacks Portion of the Background Image

  This does not always happen, but when I export (or "download") the rendered image of a slide, it sometimes lacks a portion of the background image. I created a sample slide deck to demonstrate it and shared it with the admins. It is also publicly available

• How to create a Zoho Mail extension similar to Outlook's OnSend add-in?

  Hi, I want to create a Zoho Mail extension similar to Outlook’s OnSend add-in. The extension should: Let the user select headers and footers from a taskpane while composing an email. When the user clicks Send, the extension should: Automatically insert

• Effective Inbox Organization: Folders vs Tags in Zoho Mail?

  I'm exploring the best ways to organize a busy inbox, especially when managing multiple clients or project using Zoho Mail. I’d love to know what works best for others: 1. Do you prefer **folders** (possibly with sub-folders) for each client or project?

• Piss poor service in Support in Domains and email

  Srijith Narayanan B contacted me today. Very pleasant fellow. Just didn't want to tell him how bad your support service is. You help the person, but you leave before we can finish the next stage. Which causes a lot of frustration. It's been 8 days now

• Zoho Mail android app update: Block & reject future emails, Report phishing, Spam alerts, Suspicious URL detection

  Hello everyone! In the most recent Zoho Mail Android app update, we have brought in support for the following features: Block & reject future emails Report Phishing Spam alerts in the mail details screen. Suspicious URL detection. Block & reject future

• Zohomail does not support additional fields in mailto links

  Hello, I set up Zohomail as default composer in Firefox according to manual here: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/defaultcomposer.html#alink2 Later, I wanted to use this functionality to answer in a Linux mailing list thread using mailto link: mailto:xxxxx@kernel.org?In-Reply-To=%3C727o0521-q24p-s0qq-66n0-sn436rpqqr1p@example.com%3E&amp;Cc=xxxxx%example.org&amp;Subject=Re%3A%20%5BPATCH%20v2%28%29

• Email address for forwarding is not saving and there's no confirmation ema

  Steps to reproduce: 1. Enter my forward email in the email forward section of the account 2. Click save 3. See a notification stating saved successfully 4. Refresh the page, no forward email is saved 5. No email confirmation received at the forwarding

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

  This is the error i keep getting when trying to use my Zoho Domain Mail. This domain is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details Find attached. I hope this can be resolved very quickly so i can go on and make

• Auto CC - Moving Departments

  We have Auto CC e-mail replies to your support mailbox enabled. We have two departments: Helpdesk (helpdesk@domain.com) Delivery (delivery@domain.com) If we create a Helpdesk ticket, and reply, replies are CC'd to helpdesk@domain.com (OK) We then move

• Unable to see free plan option

  Hello Zoho Support Team, I hope you are doing well. I am trying to sign up for Zoho Mail, but I am unable to see the option for the free plan. Could you please guide me on how I can access or activate the free plan? Thank you for your assistance.

• Sorten the domain of zoho mail ids

  I recently created zoho mail id and am quite excited with the features. But one issue ig nobody wanna type this big zohoaccounts.com I mean silly bold Suggestion zmail.com (sound gmail) (attraction) or some genz words looks cool

• Weekly Tips : Customize your Zoho Mail Notifications

  In a professional context, email communication remains one of the most crucial channels for staying connected and managing workflows. Keeping track of your emails, task updates, or important announcements can be overwhelming—especially if you are juggling

• The attendees will now be redirected to the landing webpage when they exit the webinar, set by the organizer.

  Hello All, In the latest version of the Zoho Meeting iOS mobile app (v1.3.16), we have brought in the below enhancements:   Post Webinar Re-direction Revamped exit UI for Webinar Post Webinar Re-direction:  The attendees will now be redirected to the

• Download API file contents from browser

  Hi Team - is there something being planned to be able to trigger file downloads from the browser via a deluge script? i.e. retrieve a file via API, trigger the file download directly from the browser. Or... using the convertToPdf function (https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/functions/file/convert-to-pdf.html)

• When using "locations" in zoho books, can you keep the two locations totally separate from each other?

  I am looking to add a location but I don't want to intermingle the banking or other accounts. I want that to be like two separate independent branches that use different banking accounts, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. The people who are in

• Adding a Channel to SalesIQ

  I have a client that currently uses Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk. They would like a live chat to place on their website that has a mobile app and chat bots (something like SalesIQ). However, they would also like to have all this work over SMS as well. Does the SalesIQ API allow this? Can I add visitors without them being a visitor on a website? Thanks! Bryan Redeagle

• How Do I Refund a Customer Directly to Their Credit Card?

  Hi, I use books to auto-charge my customers credit card. But when I create a credit note there doesn't seem to be a way to directly refund the amount back to their credit card. Is the only way to refund a credit note by doing it "offline" - or manually-

• Zoho Flow Needs to Embrace AI Agent Protocols to Stay Competitive

  Zoho Flow has long been a reliable platform for automating workflows and integrating various applications. However, in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-driven automation, it risks falling behind competitors like n8n, which are pioneering advancements

• Important Features Missing

  Hey all I love linkthread, but i am missing some important features. I want to be able to include my Google Tag Manager. I have all the important stuff in my GTM Container: Facebook Pixel, LinkIn Pixel, Zoho Pagesense and so on. So i am able to do retargeting

• Zoho SignForms: Prefill parameters with spaces render as “+” in the document (even when using %20)

  Hello Zoho Sign team, we are using SignForms with prefill parameters passed via URL. Spaces in parameter values are being rendered as “+” in the finalized document—even when we URL-encode spaces as %20. This is critical for us because we prefill addresses

• Currency selector (based on variable) usage in comparsion

  Hi, I've developed a currency selector based on the following topic, and it's working well in pivot tables and charts: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/how-can-i-allow-my-users-to-choose-a-currency-for-the-dashboard I also have a comparison

• Customize Column in Projects - Default View for Template?

  Is there a way to have the columns you'd like to see added to a template? I want my customized columns to show up every single time I create a project from that template. It appears I can customize them in the template but when I create the project they do not transfer over.  Template: See below how the columns in order are : Task, Owner, Status, Assigned, Website URL, Blog H1..etc. When I create a project from that same template it comes out as: Task, Owner, Status, Tags, Start Date, End Date, etc

• Ask the Experts 24: Analytics, data administration, and mobile experience with Zoho Desk

  Hello Everyone! Welcome back to the Ask the Experts(ATE) series! We were so focused on our Autumn 2025 release that we didn't host an ATE session last month. In this month's ATE, we'd like to expand our areas for discussion: we'd like to listen to your

• Multi-Page Forms in Zoho Creator!

  Let’s make long applications easier to handle by dividing them into pages, adding a progress bar, and guiding users step by step through complex data entry. This would be a total game-changer for the user experience and could significantly boost completion

• Email login error

  Login successfully but email page error

• Shared Mailboxes Disappeared

  Zoho Mail users in our company haven't been able to see their Shared Mailboxes for the past few hours. I've checked with App and Web Access, but they can't access them. When I send emails to their addresses, I get no error messages. They're still visible

• Remote Server is misconfigured

  Dear Team, I am unable to use email id as remote server is misconfigured. It would be really great if you could help on this and get this resolved. Thanks & Regard Rohit Gupta

• why cant i access my email account. it keeps asking me for reverifiying my account by entering my password.

  I cant access my account. it keeps asking me for reverifcaton by entering my password. once its entered it asks for it over and over.

• Free webinar alert on October 16 - Less Complexity, More Security: Workplace + Directory

  Hello Zoho Workplace Community! Security and productivity shouldn't be at odds—and with Zoho, they're not. Discover how Zoho Workplace + Directory delivers seamless collaboration with enterprise-grade security, all in one integrated ecosystem. Join our

• Workdrive and ChatGPT Team Synced Connectors

  Hi, we want to be able to integrate Zoho Workdrive with OpenAI’s ChatGPT Team plan. Google Drive and OneDrive both offer this, zoho please catch up asap. We dont want to have to put our company files in google drive, we want to allow chatgpt Team edition

• Alias Name (on items) use case in Zoho inventory

  Hey, Hope everyone is well. Wondering if anyone can shed some light on the use case of Alias Names on Products in Zoho Inventory? Cheers, Chris

• Updating an Invoice Line Item's Discount Account via API Call / Deluge Custom Function

  I need help updating an invoice line item's discount account via API. Below is a screenshot of the line item field I am referring to. Now the field to the left of the highlighted field (discount account) is the sales income account. I am able to modify

• Send e-mail with attachments

  Dear Zoho, How is that possible in Zoho Flow to send an e-mail with attachment?  Just a simple example: Zoho Flow checks my Zoho mails and if the conditions starts the trigger then I would like to send an email with the original email's attachment. Any idea? BR, Adam

• How to I get checkboxes on a subform to update via deluge

  Hello, would someone be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong here? I am trying to take the contents of a Deals subform and add them to an invoice then update the checkbox on each row so that 'add to invoice' is unticked and 'invoiced' is ticked. The output

• Urgent Security Feature Request – Add MFA to Zoho Projects Client Portal Hello Zoho Projects Team,

  Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit an urgent security enhancement request regarding the Zoho Projects Client Portal. At this time, as far as we are aware, there is no Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) available

• Unified customer portal login

  As I'm a Zoho One subscriber I can provide my customers with portal access to many of the Zoho apps. However, the customer must have a separate login for each app, which may be difficult for them to manage and frustrating as all they understand is that

• Next Page