Kaizen #141 - Zoho CRM's API Collection in Postman

Kaizen #141 - Zoho CRM's API Collection in Postman

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!

In today's post, we will discuss:
  1. What is Postman?
  2. Zoho CRM's API Collection in Postman
  3. Where is it available?
  4. Prerequisites for using the collection
  5. Forking the API Collection from Zoho CRM Developer Workspace
  6. Setting up the environment
  7. Registering a Client in Zoho API Console
  8. Generating tokens
  9. Making an API call
  10. A quick alternative to token generation using Guided Auth

1. What is Postman?

  • A popular tool for API development and testing.
  • User-friendly interface for making API requests, viewing responses, and managing different environments.

2. Zoho CRM's API Collection in Postman

  • Boilerplate requests that you can use to test and explore the CRM APIs in various environments for multiple organizations.
  • Makes the process of exploring APIs swift and effortless. It also significantly reduces the risk of errors.

3. Where is it available?

The Zoho CRM API Collection is available in Zoho CRM Developers workspace in Postman.

4. Prerequisites for using the Collection

  • A Zoho CRM account to access the Zoho API Console.
  • A registered client (self-client/web-based) to generate an org-specific grant token.

5. Forking the API Collection from Zoho CRM Developer Workspace

  1. ‌Download and install Postman.
  2. In the Postman app, click the search icon at the top bar and type Zoho CRM Developers. The Zoho CRM Developers Workspace opens.
  3. Click Collections on the left bar.
  4. Click the more actions icon.
  5. Click Create a Fork.
  6. Give a name to your collection, and choose the workspace you want to save it to.
  7. You can select one or more environments to fork and pin to the collection.
  8. Click Fork Collection. Forking will happen in the background.


6. Setting up the environment

An environment is a group of variables that you can reuse in API requests and scripts.
  1. Click Environments on the left bar.
  2. Click Create Environment and give it a name.
  3. Under Variable, add the following variables:
    client-id
    client-secret
    redirect-uri
    authorization-code
    access-token
    refresh-token
    accounts-url
    api-domain
    expiry-time


7. Registering a client in Zoho API Console

For your app to be able to use users' data in Zoho CRM across multiple orgs, you must register your app as a client in Zoho CRM.
In this post, we have used Self Client as the client type. For details about when to choose between a self-client and web-based client, refer to this Kaizen post.
  1. Go to Zoho API Console.
  2. Click Add Client.
  3. Choose Self Client from the list of client types and click Create Now.
  4. You will see the client ID and client secret.


8. Generating the tokens for a self client

Zoho CRM APIs follow the OAuth2.0 protocol for authentication.
This involves three tokens viz, grant token(authorization code), access token and refresh token.
  • Grant token - Also called the authorization code, for a self client, this token is generated in the API console itself. This token informs Zoho's authorization server(Zoho Accounts) that your app wants to access Zoho CRM users' data(bound by scopes). This token is environment-specific, i.e, if you choose a production org while generating this token, you can access Zoho CRM data in the production environment only. This token is valid from 3 minutes to 10 minutes based on what you choose in the console.
  • Access token - After you have authenticated your app and generated a grant token, you must exchange it with Zoho Accounts for an access token. This access token will also have the same scopes as your grant token. This token is valid for one hour. You must send this token in the header of every API call as a bearer token.
  • Refresh token - Since the access token is valid only for an hour, you can use the refresh token to generate a new access token. Instead of creating a grant token again for the same scopes and generating another access token, you can directly use the refresh token and get a new access token with the same scope. Refresh token is valid until you revoke it.
Let's see how to generate these tokens.



Creating the grant token is a one-time process. After you generate access and refresh tokens using the grant token, you can simply use the refresh token to create new access token every hour.

9. Making an API call

Now that we have generated the tokens, let's make an API call using the access token.
  1. Navigate to V6 > REST APIs > Records > Get Records > Accounts.
  2. You can see the request with a few fields already in place.
  3. Modify the parameters as required.
  4. Under Auth, you can see the variable {{access-token}} that holds the access token we generated earlier.
  5. Hit Send to get a response.


10. A quick alternative to token generation using Guided Auth

Postman has introduced a new flow called the Guided Auth. This method allows new users to acquaint themselves with making API calls and testing them, without the hassIe of setting up a client.
In this flow, Zoho acts as the client and takes care of generating the grant and access tokens for a set of pre-defined scopes.
Follow these steps to use Guided Auth.
  1. Click Set Up New Authorization in Postman.
  2. Click Authorize. You will be redirected to Zoho's Login page.
  3. Sign in to your Zoho account.
  4. Choose the org for which you want to generate the token.
  5. Click Agree on the consent screen to grant permission to use your Zoho CRM data as per the scopes on the screen.
In the backend, Zoho generates the grant and access tokens, and you will see the access token in your Postman instance under Auth Credentials.
Note that flow does not give you a refresh token. This method is only to get a head-start with APIs without facing authorization errors. As always, the access token is valid for an hour, after which you have to follow the process of authorizing Zoho to generate another token.



As you can see, when you use our API collection, making API calls to Zoho CRM is a piece of cake as all the requests are already in place with examples.


We hope you found this post useful. We'll meet you next week with another interesting post!
Let us know your feedback in the comment section or write to us at support@zohocrm.com.
Cheers!


    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

      Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Celebrating 200 posts of Kaizen! Share your ideas for the milestone post

      Hello Developers, We launched the Kaizen series in 2019 to share helpful content to support your Zoho CRM development journey. Staying true to its spirit—Kaizen Series: Continuous Improvement for Developer Experience—we've shared everything from FAQs

    • Kaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Client Script | Update - Introducing Commands in Client Script!

      Have you ever wished you could trigger Client Script from contexts other than just the supported pages and events? Have you ever wanted to leverage the advantage of Client Script at your finger tip? Discover the power of Client Script - Commands! Commands

    • Recent Topics

    • Is it possible to hide fields in a Subform?

      Since layout rules cannot be used with Subforms, is there another way, or is it even possible, to hide fields in a subform based on a picklist fields within said subform? For example, if the Service Provided is Internet, then I do not want to see the

    • Weekly Tips :Instantly find what you need with Attachment Viewer

      Your inbox must be packed with project emails, shared notes, and scattered attachments. You are looking for one specific file—a presentation slide or maybe a media clip from a team update—but don’t want to dig through endless email threads or switch between

    • Putting Watermark on Zoho Sheet

      Can this be done?

    • Missing Zoho Desk integration option for form workflows

      According to the help page "Configure Zoho Desk integration in form workflows" we should be able to select Zoho Desk as an integration target but when I open the integrations list then Zoho Desk is not being listed in it. We are on the Premium plan which should already support Zoho Desk integrations.

    • Gantt for 2 or more projects

      Hello, I'm trying the free version of your produtc. It is veryyy good!!!! I don't know if in the Standard plan, I can overview a Gantt Graph for 2 or more Projects Milestone. This would be very helpfull for managing teams and taking decisions about who I will assign a task to. In the paid plan Do I have this possibility? Thank you.

    • Integrating a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into Reports

      Is is possible to integrate a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into a Zoho Report Dashboard. I am in the process of creating Project Status Dashboards for the projects that we track in Zoho Projects and I would like to incorporate the gantt chart within Reports.  Please let me know! Thanks

    • ZOHO BOOKS - EXCESSIVELY SLOW TODAY

      Dear Zoho Books This is not the first time but it seems to be 3 times per week now that the system is extremely slow. I work on Zoho Books 95% of my day so this is very frustrating. Zoho you need to do something about this. I have had my IT guy check

    • Gantt Chart - Zoho Analytics

      Are there any plans to add Gantt Charts capabilities to Zoho Analytics?

    • Displaying related quotes in sales order and back

      Hi, My colleague liked to see to which sales orders, the quote has been converted. Quote shows Invoices, but not SO. Same, they would like to see the quotes in the sales order, as they can see invoices, packages, shipment, How can we achieve this ? Thank

    • Tip of the Week #71–Auto-move incoming messages to the right inboxes with keywords

      We all know that customer-facing teams, especially your sales and support teams, can’t afford to miss even a single customer conversation. But sometimes, sales queries or support requests can easily get lost in a crowded inbox or even end up in the wrong

    • Clearing Fields using MACROS?

      How would I go about clearing a follow-up field date from my deals? Currently I cannot set the new value as an empty box.

    • Migrating a Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator

      Hi, How can I migrate my Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator? Thanks. Truly, Emad

    • Is there any way to recall an email sent using Zoho CRM?

      If an email is sent using Zoho Mail, there is a recall option/functionality that is available to the sender. Is there any way to recall an email if it was sent using Zoho CRM? I can't seem to find that option. Any help would be appreciated.

    • Quick Create needs Client Script support

      As per the title. We need client scripts to apply at a Quick Create level. We enforce logic on the form to ensure data quality, automate field values, etc. However, all this is lost when a user attempts a "Quick Create". It is disappointing because, from

    • is it possible to add more than one Whatsapp Phone Number to be integrated to Zoho CRM?

      so I have successfully added one Whatsapp number like this from this User Interface it seems I can't add a new Whatsapp Number. I need to add a new Whatsapp Number so I can control the lead assignment if a chat sent to Whatsapp Phone Number 1 then assign

    • Problem with reports due to "Connected" items change - Yes this IS a problem

      Now that the change has been made to use "connected" items I can no longer run the reporting I need in CRM. I should be able to start with Deals as the parent, connect down to the Account (Account_Name) on the deal as the child, then to any child items

    • Introducing notifications in the vendor portal

      Imagine this: You're a recruiter working with multiple vendors on a high-volume hiring project. You’ve just updated a job description after a last-minute change from the hiring manager. One of your vendors, however, is still working off the older version

    • CRM limit reached: only 2 subforms can be created

      we recently stumbled upon a limit of 2 subforms per module. while we found a workaround on this occasion, only 2 subforms can be quite limiting in an enterprise setting. @Ishwarya SG I've read about imminent increase of other components (e.

    • LESS_THAN_MIN_OCCURANCE - code 2945

      Hi I'm trying to post a customer record to creator API and getting this error message. So cryptic. Can someone please help? Thanks Varun

    • How to update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records

      Hello Zoho CRM, How do I update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records at once? To give you a background, these leads were uploaded or Imported at once but the lead status record was incorrectly chosen. So since there was a way to quickly add records in the system no matter how many they are, we are also wondering if there is a quicker way to update these records to the correct "Lead Status". I hope our concern makes sense and that there will be a fix for it. All the best, Jonathan

    • Analytics for notes created

      Is there a way I can see how many notes were created per day? Via reporting or analytics?

    • No TDS Deduction

      In some of our case, where we are reselling items at the same rate we purchased. In this scenario, Indian IT Law has a provision to request customer not to deduct TDS if the transaction value is same. TDS is paid by us (intermediary reseller) before we

    • Cannot update Recurring_Activity on Tasks – RRULE not accepted

      Hello, I am trying to update Tasks in Zoho CRM to make them recurring yearly, but I cannot find the correct recurrence pattern or way to update the Recurring_Activity field via API or Deluge. I have tried: Sending a string like "RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1"

    • Add image to report...

      Greetings, I send a weekly color coded report via Creator email. I would like to add the legend somewhere in the report. Header, footer where ever. I have the legend saved on Google Drive and can access it via shared link. Sure someone has wanted to add

    • More controls for User Fields in CRM

      Dear All, We are here with a minor but crucial enhancement to the user fields—now set accessibility permissions to the records for user field. User field allows you to extend co-ownership of records to your peers. You can collaborate with them for certain

    • Calls to accounts rather than leads or contacts?

      So..... We have a dilemma and I'm hoping someone has encountered this before and figured out a fix. We have just migrated to Zoho. It's great.....expect for how "Calls" are handled.... We are B2B. We do not use the leads module. A "Lead/Prospect" for

    • Image Upload Field | Zoho Canvas

      I'm working on making a custom view for one of our team's modules. It's an image upload field (Placement Photo) that would allow our sales reps to upload a picture of the house their working on. However, I don't see that field as a opinion when building

    • Power of Automation :: Automated 'Delayed & Closed' Status Update Based on Due Date

      Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate

    • Lead Blueprint transition in custom list view

      Hi, Is It possible to insert the Blueprint transition label in a custom Canvas list view? I am using Lead module. I see the status, but it would be great if our users could execute the Blueprint right from the list view without having to enter the detailed

    • Range names in Zoho Sheet are BROKEN!

      Hi - you've pushed an update that has broken range names. A previously working spreadsheet now returns errors because the range names are not updating the values correctly. I've shared a video with the support desk to illustrate the problem. This spreadsheet

    • Has anyone integrated SMS well for Zoho Desk?

      Our company does property management and needs to be able to handle inbound sms messages which create a ticket for Zoho Desk. We then need to be able to reply back from Zoho desk which sends the user an sms message. This seems like a fairly common thing

    • populate email address and name in zoho desk?

      Is it possible to populate the email address and name in the zoho desk widget? We only use it in the context of an authenticated user, so we already know the user's name and email. Thanks,

    • Are there default/pre-built dashboards in Zoho Desk?

      Hi, I am looking for some pre-built dashboard templates in Zoho Desk, similar to what we can find in CRM/Projects, etc Thank you

    • SAP S/4 HANA to CRM Integration - change the SAP Client ID

      Hi I am trying to push the business partners from SAP S/4 HANA to ZOHO CRM module. The SAP Client ID is 421 in my case....kindly let me know how do I specify the sap client because it's a dropdown with specific values as of now. Thanks Ravi Aswani

    • 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.

    • Adding branded signature to tickets reply

      Hi, i am unable to figure out how to add signatures with logo to tickets reply. please advice .

    • Zoho Marketing Automation 2.0 - Landing Page function not working

      Dear Zoho Team, I am working on implementing Zoho Marketing Automation 2.0, and am now looking into the section "Lead Generation". If I open the "Landing Pages" section, I immediately get an Error code: Error: internal error occurred. Can you help me

    • Zoho Mail Android app update: Manage folders

      Hello everyone! In the latest version(v2.9) of the Zoho Mail Android app update, we have brought in support for an option to manage folders. You can now create, edit, and delete folders from within the mobile app. You can also manage folders for the POP

    • How to share ticket numbers across different ticket types

      I'm running an event and have three different ticket types. Add on Event + Main Event - Early bird Main Event only - Early bird Add on Event only - Early bird And Standard class - shown but not available until early bird finishes Add on Event + Main Event

    • Adding Social Media Buttons to Basic Campaigns

      Hi, I'm quote new to using Zoho Campaigns and I can't work out how to add Social Media Buttons into my basic campaign? In MailChimp there's a button that brings the icons into your campaign for you. I've tried adding the social media icons as 'buttons' in Zoho but it's not looking great. Can anyone help? Thanks!

    • Next Page