Event Management System using ZDK CLI

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series!

As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the past few weeks. One of the feedbacks asked us to cover "more on ZDK CLI". In this post, we will discuss building an Event Management System in Zoho CRM Using ZDK CLI.

Consider the case of Zenith, a Zoho CRM partner who is also partner for Zoho's competing products. Zenith is hosting a conference in which their representatives are inviting speakers from Zoho and also other competing products. The attendees of the conference will be either external attendees or leads or contacts of Zenith. For this purpose existing meetings module of Zoho CRM (previously called Events) can not be used as it is not a good fit for this case. Custom modules and fields are required for this. In this post, we’ll discuss how to create a Event Management System that is complimentary to Zoho CRM using ZDK CLI. 

Why Use ZDK CLI?

ZDK CLI allows developers to:

1. Create and edit CRM metadata (modules, fields, roles, profiles, and widgets)
2. Define relationships between modules (lookups, multi-select lookups)
3. Push and sync metadata changes to sandbox.
4. Resolve conflicts when multiple users work on the same metadata.

This makes it ideal for building reusable CRM systems such as event management.

Initial Setup

As the initial setup, initialize the ZDK CLI project directory using zdk init command and create a new ZDK Project folder "Zenith". 

zdk init

Then, login to the sandbox environment for Zenith using zdk auth:login command. 

zdk auth:login

When you execute zdk auth:login, you can either select any org that is already signed in or select NEW LOGIN to visit the login page and select the sandbox org you will be working on.

After logging in to Zoho select the sandbox environment and give required permissions.

For the current beta release, ZDK CLI is exclusively available for Sandbox environment and is not operational in Production environments. 

You will be redirected to the terminal after successful login and you can start working on ZDK CLI.

Change the api_version to 8 in zdk-project.json file.

Step 1: Define the Modules

For an event management use case, we will need the following custom modules:

1. Conference – Stores details of each event.
2. Attendees – Tracks participants, whether leads, contacts, or external.
3. ConferenceAttendees (Linking Module, not created) – Connects conferences and attendees with registration status.
4. Venues – Captures details of event locations.
5. Speakers – Stores details of invited speakers.

This has been visualized in the data model below.

To create a module, use the command

zdk meta:create modules

This creates the json file for module metadata : Conference.modules-meta.json  in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference 

Conference.modules-meta.json content

{     "singular_label": "Conference",     "plural_label": "Conferences",     "api_name": "Conference",     "profiles": [         {             "api_name": "Administrator"         }     ],     "display_field": {         "api_name": "Conferences"     },     "show_as_tab": true }

Similarly create modules Attendees , Venues, and Speakers modules

Step 2: Customize Fields

To create a field, use the command

zdk meta:create fields

Conference module:

Conference modules's fields are:

1. Attendees (multiselectlookup to Attendee module) 
2. Speakers (multiselectlookup to Speakers module) 
3. Venue (lookup to Venue module) 
4. Date (datetime) 
5. Duration(double) 
6. Description (textarea) 
7. Status (picklist: Planned, Ongoing, Completed)

Attendees field

Let us check how to create the field attendees of type multi-select lookup (to Attendee module)

The json file Attendees.fields-meta.json created in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference/fields will look like this

To provide dependent details for the multi select lookup, add the multiselectlookup json object to the Attendees.fields-meta.json file as below:

{     "field_label": "Attendees",     "display_name": "Attendees",     "api_name": "Attendees",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "multiselectlookup",     "multiselectlookup": {         "connected_details": {             "module": {                 "api_name": "Attendee"             },             "field": {                 "field_label": "AttendingConference"             }         },         "linking_details": {             "module": {                 "plural_label": "Conferences_X_attendees"             }         }  } }

Speakers (multi-select lookup to Speakers module)

Similar to Attendees field, create Speakers field and modify the json file Speaker.fields-meta.json created in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference/fields:

{     "field_label": "Speaker",     "display_name": "Speakers",     "api_name": "Speakers",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "multiselectlookup",     "multiselectlookup": {         "connected_details": {             "module": {                 "api_name": "Speaker"             },             "field": {                 "field_label": "AttendingConference"             }         },         "linking_details": {             "module": {                 "plural_label": "Speakers_X_attendees"             }         }  } }

Venue (lookup field to Venue module)

Similarly, create the Venue field with type as "lookup" The json file Venue.fields-meta.json created in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference/fields will look like this

To provide dependent details for the lookup, add the lookup json object to the json as below.

{     "field_label": "Venue",     "display_name": "Venue",     "api_name": "Venue",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "lookup"     "lookup": {         "display_label": "Venue",         "api_name": "Venue",         "module": {           "api_name": "Venue"         }       } }

Description (textarea)

After create a textarea field Description using zdk meta:create fields command, add textarea json object to the field meta json file as below :

{         "field_label": "Description",                 "display_name": "Description",                 "api_name": "Description",                 "type": "used",                 "data_type": "textarea",                 "textarea": {                         "type": "rich_text"                 } }

The possible values for text area are small, large and rich_text.

Status (picklist)
After create a picklist field Status using zdk meta:create fields command, add pick_list_values json array to the field meta json file as below:

{     "field_label": "Status",     "display_name": "Status",     "api_name": "Status",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "picklist",   "pick_list_values": [     {       "display_value": "Planned",       "actual_value": "Planned"     },     {       "display_value": "Ongoing",       "actual_value": "Ongoing"     },     {       "display_value": "Completed",       "actual_value": "Completed"     }   ] }

Date and duration fields of type datetime and double does not require any edits to the created meta.json file.

Attendees Module

Similarly, add fields for attendees modules

1. Phone (phone)
2. Company (text)
3. EventsAttended (multi-select lookup to Conference module)
4. Attendee Type (picklist with options Lead, Contact, External)
5. Leads (lookup to Lead module)
6. Contacts (lookup to Contact module
   

Venue Module

1. Location (text)
2. Capacity (integer)
3. Contact erson (text)
4. ContactNumber(phone)
5. Description(textarea)

Speakers Module

1. Phone (phone)
2. Company (text)
3. SpeakerStatus (picklist with options Confirmed, Pending, Canceled)
   

Step 3: Create a Custom Role

To create a field, use the command

zdk meta:create roles

This ensures event managers have the right access without interfering with other CRM operations.

Pushing changes to the sandbox environment

Once all changes are done execute zdk org:push and zdk org:push result --{jobId} command to deploy the changes to the sandbox environment. Once the changes are verified in your sandbox environment you can deploy it to the production environment.

You can extract this metadata zip file, that is created using zdk org:export command to your own ZDK project directory and try pushing the changes to your sandbox environment.

Building the Event Management System for "Zenith" illustrates the core strength of ZDK CLI. It brings software engineering best practices to Zoho CRM customization. By defining modules/fields/roles as json files directly or creating them using the command, the source truth of the metadata is available in local system. The same can be tracked via version control systems like GIT for better collaboration among the team.

Previous post: Kaizen# 209 - Answering Your Questions | All About Client Script | ZDK CLI documentation | Kaizen Directory

• Topic Participants

• Mable Mary M P

  

• Sticky Posts

• Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

  Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.

• Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

  Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are

• Kaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms

  Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved

• Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.

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

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

• Recent Topics

• Request to remove domain "greentechcoatings.vn" from previous Zoho account

  Hello Zoho Support, I would like to register the domain "greentechcoatings.vn" in my new Zoho Mail account, but I receive the message "This domain is already associated with another account". Please remove the domain from any previous/unknown account

• Trigger actions in third-party apps using Zoho Flow

  Greetings, I hope you're all doing well. We're excited to share an enhancement to Bigin's workflow capabilities. Zoho Flow Actions are now available in Bigin, enabling you to automate tasks across third-party applications directly from your workflow and

• Enroll, Script, Win: Hackathon 2025!

  Hello CRM Developers! Are you ready to create some magic with Client Script, Widgets and Functions in Zoho CRM? Let’s make Hackathon 2025 an unforgettable adventure! The Zoho Developer Community Hackathon 2025 is here, and it’s your time to shine! REGISTER

• Zoho Help Desk - Not receiving emails

  Hello… I am on your trial version of help desk… and I am having trouble getting emails from Zoho Help Desk to my MS Outlook Exchange Server… So when a customer sends ticket request I am not getting an email with a notification? I have read your articles

• Almost all Flows are being queued

  A few days ago I saw one of my Flows status was Queued. This was the first time this had ever happened. Now, almost every Flow that triggers is Queued for at least a few minutes. If I re-trigger the Flow (which causes separate problems) they sometimes

• Employment Contract / HRMS Documents - Zoho People

  How do I create customized HR documents for disbursal from Zoho People ? Example, say offer letters ? appointment letters ? Memos ? We want to be able to preset these in one or ther other form and issue them to employees who are in Zoho People.

• Live webinar: Craft and deliver impactful slides with Show’s desktop apps

  If you love the comfort of working on your desktop and want a setup that keeps you focused and uninterrupted, this session is made for you. We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming live webinar: "Craft and deliver impactful slides with Show's desktop

• Enhancements to Bigin's forms

  Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin's forms. We'll go over each one in detail. Merge field support in auto-filled forms The auto-fill option in Bigin's forms lets you predefine

• Table dimensions

  I try changing the dimensions of the table on my computer but it doesn't change. Do I have to be a premium member or does it only work on the app?

• Direct link to Record Summary

  Hi everyone, In one of my reports, I have built a Record Summary template to display the details of one record. I would like to be able to link directly to this Record Summary once I submit a new record, without having to go to the list of records first and click on View. Is there a possibility to do so ?  Should I use the URL by passing some parameters ? Thank you very much for your help ! Guillaume

• Verifying Zoho Mail Functionality After Switching DNS from Cloudflare to Hosting Provider

  I initially configured my domain's (https://roblaxmod.com/) email with Zoho Mail while using Cloudflare to manage my DNS records (MX, SPF, etc.). All services were working correctly. Recently, I have removed my site from Cloudflare and switched my domain's

• API Support for Creating Invoices with Batch-Tracked Items

  Hi Zoho Community, I am working on an integration where we create invoices in ERPNext and push them to Zoho Books. I need to send batch-tracked items (batch numbers) when creating invoices. I could not find any reference in the Zoho Books API documentation.

• Amendment effective date

  Hi everyone, I noticed that the amendment effective date mentionned in my amendment is not right. Indeed, when a contract is amended several times, it states the previous amendment and their effective date. However, the effective date stated is always

• STOCK history in zohosheets

  is it possible to get historical stock value using stock function in zoho sheets? i could not see from and to period in the helper document.

• Auto sync Photo storage

  Hello I am new to Zoho Workdrive and was wondering if the is a way of automatically syncing photos on my Android phone to my workdrive as want to move away from Google? Thanks

• Agent password reset

  Hi Zoho support, I would like to ask if there is a way the admin can reset a password of an agent? Regards

• Can receive but not send messages in Zoho Mail

  Hello! I was able to configure my email client successfully in that I can receive messages just fine. However, when I send messages out, they seem to go out fine (I don't receive any errors or anything), but the recipient does NOT receive those messages.

• Mail is sent twice!

  Been using Zoho for a while now. Installed Zoho for someone else and some weird things are happening. Mails are being sent twice. He is using Thunderbird as an email client. I already read about email being duplicated in the sent folder. But in my case

• Can't login IMAP suddenly

  Since this evening I'm getting the error: You are yet to enable IMAP for your account. Please contact your administrator... IMAP always been enabled in my account and was workign fine for the past 7 years. Already tried turning IMAP off and on again.

• Sending of username did not succeed: Mail server pop.zoho.com responded: User already specified

  I am having issues receiving emails from Zoho in Thunderbird. I am getting the above error. The first error tells me Authentication failed, and prompts me to enter in my password. Then I get the above error. I can receive emails when I log in online to

• Bug tracking

  Hi, does anyone know how to track errors during picking or packing? This way I can keep track and see how to improve and prevent errors in this area.

• Migration of corporate mail environment from Yandex 360 to Zoho mail

  I have to migrate a corporate mail environment with an existing domain from Yandex 360 to Zoho mail. It is vital to migrate all users with all the data. I have read the article on this topic using MacMister Email Backup Software just now and have some

• I'm unable to send mail pthrough Zoho SMTP programmatically

  This has been working for years, but today it's been offline all day long. I see nothing anywhere on your site about this. I'm not the only one experiencing this. Downdetector has a spike of reports today

• Can no longer send email via Django site

  This was working fine as of 11/7/25. Now I am unable to send user verification emails from a Django site on a AWS lightsail sever. When a user attempts to register the following error occurs. I have also attempted to send a test email via the shell and

• unable to send email but able to receive email

  my email address is info@securityforceservices.ca

• Login to server failing

  When trying to retrieve my mail, I am getting this error message -- Login to server pop.zoho.com with username (my email address) failed. It gives me the option to retry, enter password, or cancel. Then I get this message -- Sending of username did not

• Configuration failed: 200 response not received for POST request.

  Hello, I am trying to set up a webhook to connect with an Salesforce but I receive the following error from Zoho: Configuration failed: 200 response not received for POST request I have tried testing it on webhook.site as well and receive the same error

• Zoho Migration Assistant not working

  Hello, I am trying to use you Migration assistant to migrate emails from Rediff to Zoho. I am stuck in the first step. After downloading the migration tool, I copied the link to verify user credentials, however, after pasting the link in the browser,

• Paid Support Plans with Automated Billing

  We (like many others, I'm sure) are designing or have paid support plans. Our design involves a given number of support hours in each plan. Here are my questions: 1) Are there any plans to add time-based plans in the Zoho Desk Support Plans feature? The

• Scheduled Reports - Do not send empty report

  Hello, We are intensively using reports in the CRM, especially for sales managers.  When data is empty, they still receive an email. Can you add an option to avoid sending the report when data is empty?

• Contacts Missing — PeopleSync/Zoho Mail

  English: In our company we use ManageEngine Mobile Device Manager (MDM), Free edition, to manage corporate mobile devices. Our usage policy does not allow personal Google accounts on these devices; therefore, Google account sync is blocked through MDM.

• Best way to integrate Zoho with mobile app for managing customer requests with real-time notifications?

  Hello, I'm building a solution for a travel company where customers submit requests through a website, and the sales team manages these requests through a mobile app. The Requirement: Customers fill a form on the website (name, email, number of children,

• Kaizen #57 - Mass Update API in Zoho CRM

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen series. This week, we will discuss the Mass Update API in Zoho CRM. In this post, we will cover the following: 1. Introduction 2. Mass Update Records API  3. Schedule Update and Get Status

• Getting Attachments in Zoho Desk via API

  Is there a way to get attachments into Zoho Desk via an API?      We have a process by which a zoho survey gets sent to the user as a link in a notification.    The survey has several upload fields where they can upload pdf documents.    I've created

• Multiple currencies - doesn’t seem to work for site visitors / customers

  I am trying to understand how the multiple currency feature works from the perspective of the website visitor who is shopping on my Zoho Commerce site. My site’s base currency is US Dollars (USD) but my store is for customers in Costa Rica and I would

• Pincode based Product Restriction

  we have different types of products. 1) Very bulky items like plywood. 2) Too delicate items like glass These type of products we want to sell to local customers. Other products we want to supply all over India. There should be an option to restrict products

• Can multiple agents be assigned to one ticket on purpose?

  Is it possible to assign one ticket to two or more agents at a time? I would like the option to have multiple people working on one ticket so that the same ticket is viewable for those agents on their list of pending tickets. Is something like this currently

• Related Lists filter

  I have Contacts showing in our Accounts module. I customized the Contacts module with an Employment Status field, with the following picklist options: "Primary Contact", "Secondary Contact", "Active Staff(not a main contact)", and "No longer employed".

• Standalone custom function not generating logs

  Why dont't standalone custom functions generate logs when the're called from another function? I have some functions (workflow, buttons and blueprint) that have common parts, so I put that part in a standalone function which is called from the others.

• Add "Reset MFA" Option for Zoho Creator Client Portal Users

  Hello Zoho Creator Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement related to Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for client portal users in Zoho Creator. Currently, Creator allows us to enforce MFA for portal users,

• Next Page