Kaizen #166 - Handling Query Variables in Zoho CRM

Kaizen #166 - Handling Query Variables in Zoho CRM


Hello, Code Enthusiasts! 

Welcome to another week of Kaizen!

This week, we'll dive into handling variables in Zoho CRM Queries and see how they can be deployed in Kiosk to dynamically retrieve data. This technique is especially useful for integrating data from third-party applications or CRM itself into your custom interface, such as Canvas and Kiosk. 

Variables

Variables are placeholders in Queries that are replaced with real values at runtime. Instead of hard coding data, you can use variables to make your Queries flexible and reusable.

Syntax: {{Variable_Name}}

Query variables in Zoho CRM function differently from conventional Zoho CRM variables. While CRM variables act as containers for dynamic values that can be stored and reused anywhere within the organization, query variables are designed to receive their values at runtime.

Query variables enhance flexibility and are specifically used in:
  • COQL: To dynamically filter and retrieve data.
  • REST API: For runtime data fetching based on specific parameters.
  • Query Criteria: To define conditions dynamically for fetching records.

How to Use a Variable?

To use variables, ensure the fields providing the variable values are available in the context where the Query is executed.

Let’s say you want to evaluate a marketing campaign's performance. For this, you need to fetch all leads with a specific lead source. Since each campaign is associated with a different lead source, you can define the lead source as a variable. When viewing a campaign's details, the lead source will be passed dynamically to the Query.

Business Scenario : Nearby Delivery Hubs

Imagine a telecommerce platform using Zoho CRM to manage sales and deliveries. When a customer provides their PIN code, the salesperson must confirm with the customer for a nearby post office for package pick-ups and drop-offs in Kiosk.

With Zoho CRM Queries, you can achieve this by dynamically fetching the nearby post offices list based on the customer's PIN code and displaying it on the Contact record’s detail page. Here's how to set it up using the Kiosk feature.

Setting Up the Query in Kiosk

1. Access Kiosk Studio

  • Log in to Zoho CRM.
  • Go to Setup > Customization > Kiosk Studio and click Create Kiosk.

2. Configure the Current Module

  • Choose the module where the Kiosk will be deployed.
    For this example, select Contacts to use the PIN code from the Contact record.

  • Configuring this Current Module is mandatory to use variables from the current record. 

3. Add a Screen

  • Click the + icon on the flowchart and select Screen.
  • Name the screen and click Add.

4. Add a Query

  • Under Display Elements, choose Get Data Via Queries.
  • Click New Query and then Add Query to create a new one.

5. Set Up the Data Source

  • Any custom source has to be enrolled either in the Trusted Domains or in the Connections. For demo, 
  • In the Add Query pop-up, click Source and create a new source.
    For this demo, we’ll add India Post to fetch post offices based on PIN codes.
  • Add default Headers and Parameters to the source if any. This will be added by default whenever the source is used in a query. 

6. Define the Query

  • In the Information section, provide the query’s Name and API Name to refer to the query wherever needed.
  • Use the endpoint URL with a variable, e.g., https://api.example.com/post_offices/{{Mailing_Zip}}.
  • You can add headers and parameters specific to the query, but let us skip that for the demo. 
  • Add a JavaScript serializer to process the Query response. For our case, we will serialize the response with return result[0].PostOffice;. 
  • You can test your serializer with the help of Preview. Once finished, provide a test value to the variable for generating Schema for the Query Response.
    The test value you provide is temporary and not permanent. The value of a variable will be declared using merge fields when you associate the query with a component. Check Step 7 to know how it is used in our demo. 

    You can also manipulate the response by changing data types of keys in the raw response. To keep the demo simple, let's go with the raw response. 

7. Link the Query to Kiosk

  • Use Dynamic Parameters to map the variable to the Mailing Zip field from the Contact record. Enter # to merge the fields. 
  • In Choose Fields, select which data to display in the Kiosk.
  • You can further manipulate the query response in the Record Preferences section.
    Select your preference to view the response as a Single Record or Multiple Records.
    • For Single Record, choose the data that has to be displayed from the query response and click Save.
    • For Multiple Records, fill in the following details as shown in this image. 
    • The Selection Limit helps you with the maximum number of records that have to be chosen in the kiosk after publishing. 
    • Identifier field functions as the primary field to identify each record. 
    • In the fields section, choose the data that has to be displayed from the query response.

  • Customize the Kiosk button and click Done to save your configuration.

    • 8. Test and Publish

    Test the Kiosk using a sample Record ID from the Contacts module. If successful, the list of nearby post offices will display in an iframe as it would appear on the Contact detail page.


    Once satisfied, publish the Kiosk to make it live. 
    Let us check the Kiosk from the Contacts detail page. 

    Example Scenarios

    • Loan Approval: You can display a customer's CIBIL score using their Social Security Number (SSN) directly within a Canvas. The SSN serves as a runtime variable, allowing you to approve loans without manual data entry and shifting tabs.
    • Customer Support: In a Records Detail View kiosk, display all high priority tickets linked to an account. The current account's ID acts as a runtime variable, ensuring that support agents have immediate access to relevant queries and resolve issues faster.
    • Insurance Verification: In a Records Detail View kiosk, the customer's ID proof number can be used to verify their details on official government sites. The ID proof number dynamically functions as a variable, streamlining the insurance verification process.
    We hope you found this post informative and beneficial.

    If you have any queries or a topic to be discussed, reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com or drop your comments below. 

    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

      • How many ZOHO-Sites does the ZOHO-One Suite allow for?

        The free version of ZOHO-Sites allows for two sites, but it seems that the professional version (which is included in the ZOHO-One Suite) only allows for two websites. Is that correct? How many sites can I have within one ZOHO-One account?

      • Webhook from Zobot to Zoho Flow fails

        I'm trying to connect from zobot to zoho flow. When testing in zflow, I am receiving all entered data from the connector correctly. The SalesIQ connector's "outputreaction" is {} (is this normal or is there a problem?). But as soon as I try my chat bot

      • Transition from Sole Proprietorship to GmbH (Limited Liability Company) – Best Approach in Zoho Books / Zoho One

        Hello everyone, I am currently operating under a Zoho One plan with a sole proprietorship in Switzerland. As of January 1st, 2026, I will be incorporating a new legal entity – a GmbH (Swiss equivalent of a Limited Liability Company). While the business

      • Best way to display complex Bookings Consultation Descriptions on Zoho Site?

        I am a new user so apologies if this has been asked before. I couldn't find any answers in the forum. We offer 18 complex Consultations to our subscribers. Our current platform lets me put detail on these Consultations thoroughly (200-300 words) during

      • DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present

        Hi Support Team, For Domain DKIM record trying to enable status. but showing error "DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present" So, please resolve the issue. Thank you.

      • Issue Connecting My Domain to Zoho Sites Despite Purchasing It from Zoho

        Hello, I am facing an issue connecting my domain to my website on Zoho Sites. Details of the issue: I purchased the domain directly from Zoho. I am already using the same domain successfully with Zoho Mail. However, when I try to assign this domain to

      • Insert auto number from main form into subform rows

        Hello. I'm trying to take from my main form "order number" which i have setup as an auto generated number into every line created in my subform. So when a row is created in my subform i want the "order number " from the main form to be inserted automatically.

      • Dark Mode - Font Colors Don't Work

        When editing a document in Dark Mode and selecting font colors, they don't show up on screen.  Viewing/editing the same document in Light Mode shows them just fine.

      • Integrate Bunq with ZOHO Bookes

        We are new users of ZOHO Books, and our bank (BUNQ, in the Netherlands) isn't listed on the bank integrations. Is there a way to handle this?

      • Access Denied

        I am iOS Developer and updating our clients project and shifted ZohoDeskPortalCore SDKs from cocoapods to SPM and changed few lines of code but now i am get access denied, the help center app is unavailable. please contact administrator.

      • Using Zoho Desk to support ISMS process

        Hi, I am evaluating using Zoho Desk for security incident management. This seems to be aligned with Zoho Desk purpose as its just another type of incident. However in security incident management, ideally I can link incidents (tickets) with a risk from

      • Bin Locations

        Dear all, I am wondering if someone has the ability to develop the bin locations option for zoho inventory (integrated with zoho books) Regards, Ryan

      • TaxJar vs Avalara

        Hi, I'm evaluating adoption of a sales-tax service for US based business. Anyone else have experience with TaxJar and Zoho Books? I am a Zoho One subscriber so anticipate needing to use Flow to make this work. It seems like Avalara are simply too expensive

      • How to check Leads with no Task (open activity)

        Hi everyone, I was wondering if there’s a way to view leads that don’t have any tasks assigned or open activities linked to them.

      • What can we do on our end to improve the Answer bot answers?

        Hi, I'm using the Answer bot card in the Codeless bot builder. I've input several questions and their answers in the FAQ section to feed the Answer bot. The text is all in French, as this is the language our customers communicate in. I've tried testing

      • Taxes for EU B2B Transactions

        Currently, ZC doesn't seem to have a procedure for validating VAT numbers of businesses purchasing in another EU state, and removing local VAT is valid.  This is essential for all inter EU B2B trade.

      • How to upload file to Connect using API?

        Hi there. I looked at the API documentation and nowhere did it mention how to use the API method to upload a file even though it is mentioned that it is possible to be done so. Please help.

      • Items Landed Cost and Profit?

        Hello, we recently went live with Zoho Inventory, and I have a question about the Landed Cost feature. The FAQ reads: "Tracking the landed cost helps determine the overall cost incurred in procuring the product. This, in turn, helps you to decide the

      • Group Tax in Service Line Items

        Hi FSM Team! I noticed that when you update a tax in the service line item the group tax is not showing up as an option. Let me know what can be done thank you!

      • FSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data

        I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the Import

      • Zoho FSM API Delete Record

        Hi FSM Team, It would be great if you could delete a record via API. Thank you,

      • OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH Error for Marketing Automation APIs with CRM Plus Account

        I'm trying to integrate Marketing Automation journey triggering via API but getting OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH errors. I need clarification on API access for CRM Plus users.

      • Access token generate from the refresh token not working for API

        Dear Sir/Madam, When I use my refresh token to obtain new access_token, that token return INVALID_TOKEN when the same API is called. I made sure that my api site is correct and match the auth web site. However the original access_token work fine.

      • Function #4: Schedule Customer Statements

        Regularly sending statements to customers is an imperative part of many business processes as it helps foster strong customer relationships and provides timely guidance on payments. While you can generate the statement of accounts and have it sent over

      • Limiting search or dependencies with an asterisk "*".

        I have a form with several dependency fields with options still developing for each field. Since these options were developing and not yet ready to be a selection in the field, I placed a filter for the dropdown field. In this filter, I selected fields

      • Cross Data Center Support for 1:1 Chats with External Users

        Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We appreciate the recent enhancement that enables cross data center collaboration in external channels, which has already improved communication across distributed teams. However, we’ve noticed that this

      • Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

        Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels

      • Answer Bot and Personalized Questions

        Hi there, I have the same problem using the SalesIQ Answer Bot and the Zoho Desk Answer Bot (which really need different names, to be honest, in order to avoid confusion...) Customers that visit our website ask questions in the form of "What do you do?"

      • Handling Greetings/Small Talk at the Beginning of a Zobot Conversation

        Hello everyone, I’m currently configuring a **Zobot** in Zoho SalesIQ and everything is working as expected, except for one specific scenario at the very beginning of the conversation. My target audience has the habit of starting with a **greeting or

      • Regex in Zoho Mail custom filters is not supported - but it works!

        I recently asked Zoho for help using regex in Zoho Mail custom filters and was told it was NOT supported. This was surprising (and frustrating) as regex in Zoho Mail certainly works, although it does have some quirks* To encourage others, here are 3 regex

      • Importing a new list into campaigns

        I'm in the middle of switching my email platform to campaigns. I have a list that I want to import, and it overlaps with my existing Zoho CRM list. The fields in my Zoho CTM are more robust. Will this new list that I upload into my campaigns overwrite

      • when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent

        when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent?

      • Export Invoices to XML file

        Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunities

      • Showing description in timesheet and timelogs.

        I am wondering if it’s possible in version 5 of Zoho People to have the description show by default or with a manipulation on the user’s part. Let me show you what I mean. As you can see this is the view for the users. Now if they want to see the full

      • How can I see content of system generated mails from zBooks?

        System generated mails for offers or invices appear in the mail tab of the designated customer. How can I view the content? It also doesn't appear in zMail sent folder.

      • CRM Blueprint Notification by Cliq

        Dear Zoho team, In Workflow, there is nofication by cliq, but in blueprint, there is no option as cliq notification. I think it is very convenient to get notified by Cliq , as there are multi modules in apps, but we will always check Cliqs

      • Zoho People Attendance Regularization – Wrong Total Hours Displayed

        While using Zoho People, I observed that the attendance regularization is showing wrong total hours when applied to past dates. For example, if a check-in is added at 10:00 AM and check-out at 6:00 PM for a previous date, the system sometimes calculates

      • Sync Contacts in iOS

        What does the "Sync Contacts" feature in the iOS Zoho Mail app do?

      • Live webinar: Craft the ideal sales pitch deck with Show

        Every great sale starts with a great story. And your pitch deck? That’s where the story takes shape. But too often, these presentations end up looking generic, overloaded with text, or lacking structure. The good news is, it's easier to fix than you think!

      • Project Statuses

        Hi All, We have projects that sometimes may not make it through to completion. As such, they were being marked as "Cancelled". I noticed that these projects still show as "Active" though which seems counter intuitive. In fact, the only way I can get them

      • Next Page