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

• Instant Sync of Zoho CRM Data?

  With how valuable Zoho Analytics is to actually creating data driven dashboards/reports, we are surprised that there is no instant or near instant sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics. Waiting 3 hours is okay for most of our reports, but there are

• Is it possibly to directly set the tax amount on order instead of indirectly via tax rates?

  We own an eCommerce application and want to funnel submitted orders from that system into Zoho. We're already calculating tax in our application and just need a way to set it in Zoho. We tried to use Zoho's tax objects for tax by setting the rates to

• Zoho account sign in with passkey

  Hello, I am trying to sign in using passkey, but the option doesn't show up in the web and is disabled in Oneauth on mobile, saying the admin has restricted the use. On the Admin page in Security MFA I can find no option for passkey. Help would be greatly

• Rescheduled US meetups: Zoho Desk user meetups are coming to seven U.S. cities in October and November, 2025

  Hello to our Zoho Desk users in the United States, We're excited to share the revised dates for the upcoming Zoho User Groups happening across the US this summer. Our product experts are heading to seven cities throughout the country, and for the first

• Checklists as templates

  Is it possible to save checklists as templates to reuse them in other tasks? Example: I have a web project. I maintain individual web URLs as tasks. Within the tasks the same checklist should be used again and again: - Page created in CMS - Properties

• Send mass email using my secondary email

  Hello, When I send an email to just one person from Zoho CRM, a complete email editor appears, where I can choose which of my email addresses I want to use in the From field. When I send a mass email, there is not such option. I can only select the email

• ZOHO TEAM INBOX Calendar Integration

  The Problem: Clients send meeting invitations to our TeamInbox address. TeamInbox receives these invites, but we cannot accept them. We do not use individual inboxes for transparency purposes. Ideal Solution: A way to accept calendar invites sent to our

• Unearned / Deferred Revenue Automatic Calculation for Subscriptions

  As a SaaS business, we have multiple active subscriptions with varying dates and amounts. Is there a way to have a monthly automatic calculation for all of them that debits or credits the unearned revenue and revenue accounts accordingly? Alternatively,

• Zoho Desk Limit for Comma Separated Queries

  Hi, I have just discovered a limit that I believed is not mentioned in any of Zoho's documentations. My search query looks like so: "query: {"accountId":"786050000091629966,786050000163589273,786050000163589427,786050000162753705,786050000162112971,786050000161987643,786050000160752868,786050000167089504,786050000167089378,786050000167089024,786050000167070005,786050000166295256,786050000128153693,786050000110560021,786050000046594575,786050000039106461,786050000002225356,786050000076889093,786050000047895103,786050000043365354,786050000044765191,786050000041790249,786050000040359116,786050000037945198,786050000024605077,786050000000525015,786050000155333895,786050000157741437,786050000000718125,786050000011574353,","departmentId":"786050000042648070","status":"Finished","sortBy":"createdTime","customField2":"cf_completion_date:2025-01-28T03:00:00.000Z,2025-10-28T03:00:00.000Z","customField3":"cf_billed:false"}"

• Module Name doesn't exist

  I am trying to create a module named Activity, with plural Activities, but I have an error that module name already exists. This module is doesn't exist, and I don't have a single field called Activity or Activities.

• Zoho Desk iOS and Android app update: AI powered: Reply Assistance and Refine Messages on IM module.

  Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce new AI powered features on the IM module of the Zoho Desk app. Reply Assistance: Reply Assistance generates suggested responses for incoming chat messages, which you can directly insert into the conversation

• Is it possible to embed Youtube shorts?

  Hi Zoho desk support, This is Ryan from Accuver America. While I'm trying to create a knowledge base article with embed video, I ran into this issue. "www.youtube.com refuse to connect" A little bit background is that because this video is recorded on

• Split functionality - Admins need ability to do this

  Admins should be able to split an expense at any point of the process prior to approval. The split is very helpful for our account coding, but to have to go back to a user and ask them to split an invoice that they simply want paid is a bit of an in

• Delegates - Access to approved reports

  We realized that delegates do not have access to reports after they are approved. Many users ask questions of their delegates about past expense reports and the delegates can't see this information. Please allow delegates see all expense report activity,

• How to include total km for multiple trips in expense report.

  Whenever I create a mileage report it only shows the total dollar amount to be reimbursed. The mileage for each individual trip is included but I also need to see the total distance for all trips in a report? How do I do this?

• Get logged in user ID in Deluge script

  Hello all, How do I get the id of the logged-in user in a deluge script? the "zoho.loginuserid" function actually returns the users email address or whatever the user id they use to login to zoho with and not the id of the user record, and given that

• Item Details Field - New Barcode / Document option?

  Is this a new feature??? its in both books and inventory.

• Shared Mailbox - Mark as read for all users

  Hi all, Maybe someone can help me out. At the moment we have a shared mailbox without streams. When a users reads an mail or marks it as read other users will not see this. How can we resolve this? We now archive the mails when read and followed up. However

• Can I export to PDF in Zoho Learn

  I have seen help pages where export to pdf options are available but I do not see that option available from the application. I see that exprt is available in my free trial version but that is only to html pages. I need to be able to export my manuals

• Zoho Sites "pages" management page

  I have 80 plus pages on zoho sites. When I go to the "pages" link to view and edit pages, They are not in any kind of order, so I spend lots of time searching for pages when I need to edit or create new. How can I change the view order of all my pages

• Staff rules

  Hi! Do you people know what are the default staff rules when a new booking is created? We have two staff members in my team (me as the admin, and my employee). As we share the same services, I'm wondering how Zoho will pick the staff for new apointments.

• Add Image Upload Field to Zoho Bookings Registration Form

  Hi, We would like to request the addition of an image upload field to the Zoho Bookings registration form. Currently, Zoho Bookings only supports text-based fields (e.g., Single Line, Multi-Line, Email, Checkbox, Dropdown, Radio Button, and Date), but

• Merge Tags Output Incorrect Placeholder Text After CRM Sync

  Hi everyone, I’m experiencing an issue with merge tags in Zoho Campaigns after last sync of contacts and leads from Zoho CRM (days before everything worked perfectly). Here’s the situation (seems like a default configuration in Campaigns) : My leads have

• UI Improvement - Ability to Collapse Flow

  The UI for Flow is generally pretty good. However, when multiple decision trees are used, the layout can get pretty convoluted and hard-to-follow (see one of my Flows below): In these cases, even the auto-arrange fails to make this something that a normal

• Windows agent 2025_M02 release notes

  Agent Version: 111.0.3.300 Release date: 24 February, 2025 Various Major enhancements to improve overall performance and optimize the user experience. Squashed a few bugs to improve overall product quality.

• Windows agent 2025_M01 release notes

  Agent Version: 111.0.3.299 Release date: 05 February, 2025 Major Enhancement: Live Monitor feature compatibility released. Major Enhancement: Updated Scaling for multi technician cases with Android and Web based viewers. Various other bug fixes and performance

• how to record deferred revenue?

  Dear Zoho Team, We issue invoices relating to 12-month web hosting service. When we issue the invoice, we should record the entire amount of the invoice as DEFERRED REVENUE (ie. $10 x 12 mths = $120, balance sheet item). After the particular month of the hosting service, $10 of revenue has been earned and deferred revenue amount will be $110. We must keep adjusting the balance sheet and income statement over the course of the service until the company has fulfilled its obligation of services and

• Narrative 13: Importing your data

  Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system: BTS Series Narrative 13: Importing your data When importing data into an application, it is crucial to prevent data loss or duplication. These types of errors can hinder the development of a clean and

• Blueprint Not Triggering When Lead Status Is Updated by Workflow (IndiaMART Integration)

  I have set up a blueprint that triggers when a lead’s status is “New Lead.” Our CRM is integrated with IndiaMART, and when leads are created from IndiaMART, their Lead Status is initially set to None. To handle this, I created a workflow that automatically

• Update Subform in specific field(Status) without affecting other fields in Zoho CRM using Deluge?

  Scenario: PRODUCT Module(change name Plot) in any product status change From Available to Booked then on PROJECT Custom Module have Subform So, Subform name is Property Details now in that Subform 1 field is STATUS that update according to  product status

• YouTube Live #2: Agreement Intelligence with Zoho Sign's eSign AI assistant

  Hi there, We're back again with our YouTube live series and this time, we'll take you through our holistic agreement intelligence powered signature workflows. Struggling to draft an agreement? Need help double-checking clauses and going through complicated

• Can I Build a POS using ZOHO creator and integrate it with ZOHO Books?

  Hello,  I have a Zoho Books account and I was wondering if I can have a POS system that integrates with it. Primarily with Inventory, Customers and Payment and ofcourse Create invoices and credit notes.   So, would Zoho creator provide me with this solution?  Thank you, 

• An important update for Zoho Cliq desktop users

  The latest version of the Zoho Cliq desktop app (v1.8.0) will no longer be supported on macOS 10.15 Catalina and earlier versions. This is because the framework we use (Electron) no longer supports some older macOS versions. If you’re using macOS 10.15

• Zoho Projects - Visual improvement to parent and sub-task relationship

  Hi Projects Team, My feature request is to improve sub-task visibility. Please see screenshot below. I really think parent child relationships could be visually improved. Even if the first letter of the parent task was inline with other same level tasks

• New Toolbar in Zoho Sheet

  We have revamped our toolbar design in this new version of Zoho Sheet. Below are some screenshots to help you get accustomed to this new interface. Click on the picture below to view the animated image in its original size. Scroll down this post to learn about the changes. Highlight of Changes: The previous format tab is now split into 2 tabs - Home and Format. The Home tab contains the commonly used functions and the Format tab holds formatting related options. Under the Home tab towards the far

• Zoho inbuilt Telephony made a lot of issues!

  Hi there, I am a user that I am working with zoho inbuilt telephony around 1 month. Non of my colleagues are happy with this app! most of the time customer cannot hear my customer service team, customers say our voice is breaking. whenever Telephony support

• Sending workflow notifications using popular chat services

  Hello everyone, We have introduced instant and scheduled notifications on some of the most popular chat platforms to facilitate easy collaboration, quick action, and wider reach. Workflow notifications can be sent to the following chat platforms: Zoho

• Webhook not firing.

  I created a webhook using the Web UI, it looks very nice and the testing worked without an issue, but when i save/ update a ticket, the webhook is not firing. Here are the details of the web-hook i get from using the API "modifiedTime": "2019-10-22T09:23:37.380Z",

• Adding Images to a Quote in Zoho CRM

  We are currently preparing to use Quotes in Zoho CRM and we are building out our Quote templates.  We came across an issue of not being to add Images of the products to the Quote - specifically in the body of the Quote templates.   This is a problem,

• Applications built with Zoho Creator

  Hi, I’m really interested in seeing how others have built their application using Zoho Creator, especially those designed for external users (clients, vendors, or the public). If you’ve developed something along those lines and don’t mind sharing, I’d

• Next Page