Understand Zoho CRM’s Deal Prediction Mechanism and how to use the Link/Unlink Deal Email APIs compa

Understand Zoho CRM’s Deal Prediction Mechanism and how to use the Link/Unlink Deal Email APIs compa



Hi All,

Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!
Emails are a core channel for customer communication in any CRM system. In Zoho CRM, emails can be associated with records across multiple modules.
In this post, we will focus on email associations with the records of the Deals Module. 

Deal Prediction Mechanism

In Zoho CRM, Deal Prediction Mechanism automatically associates emails with the contact's deal.
When an email is received for a Contact:
  1. If the contact has only one open deal, the email is linked to that deal.
  2. If the contact has multiple open deals, the email is linked to the most recently modified deal, provided the deal is not closed-lost.
  3. If there are no valid open deals, the email is not linked to any deal.
While deal prediction simplifies email association, certain scenarios require manual control over how emails are linked to deals.
In such cases you might want to:
  1. Correct an incorrect association.
  2. Attach an email to a deal that the prediction could not infer.
Zoho CRM provides two focused APIs for this:
  1. Link Deal to Emails API.
  2. Unlink Deal from Emails API.
These APIs do not create emails — they simply manage associations.

Link Deal to Emails API

The Link Deal to Emails API lets you programmatically attach one or more emails to a specific deal.

Endpoints

POST /Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails/actions/link_record
POST /Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails/{message_ID}/actions/link_record

Sample request for linking a single email

Request URL

POST
https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Contacts/5843104000005878180/Emails/b9c24f3b403f8c3b197f2b8ab967c104d597ab1b968e3b8a59437278f4f26f77/actions/link_record

Input JSON

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            },
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            }
        }
    ]
}

 You can also link a single email by mentioning message id in the request body in the endpoint POST /Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails/actions/link_record

Request URL

POST
https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Contacts/5843104000005878180/Emails/actions/link_record

Input JSON

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "message_id":   "b9c24f3b403f8c3b197f2b8ab967c104d597ab1b968e3b8a59437278f4f26f77",
           "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            },
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Response

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "b9c24f3b403f8c3b197f2b8ab967c104d597ab1b968e3b8a59437278f4f26f77"
            },
            "message": "email has been linked with the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Sample request for linking multiple emails

Input JSON

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            },
            "message_id": "8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1",
            "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            }
        },
        {
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            },
            "message_id": "6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5",
            "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Response

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1"
            },
            "message": "email has been linked with the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        },
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5"
            },
            "message": "email has been linked with the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Keys

  1. owner (JSON object, mandatory): Specify the details of the user whose email you want to link. It consists of the following keys
    1. name:  Specify the name of the user whose email you want to link.
    2. id: Specify the ID of the user whose email you want to link.
  2. message_id (string, mandatory when message_id is not mentioned in the endpoint):  Specify the unique message ID of the email to which the deal will be linked. You can obtain message ID of a record through Get Emails of a Record API. [/crm/[version}/Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails]  
  3. linked_record(JSON object, mandatory): Specify the details of the Deals record to be linked to the email. It consists of the following mandatory keys
    1. module(JSON object, mandatory): Specify the details of the Deals module. It consists of the following keys
      1. api_name: Specify the API name of the Deals module.
      2. id: Specify the ID of the Deals module.
    2. name: Specify the name of the Deals record that the email must be linked to. Refer to the field: Deal_Name in the Get Records API for the Deals record. [/crm/[version}/Deals/{deals_record_ID}]  in the Get Records API.
    3. id: Specify the ID of the Deals record that the email must be linked to.

Notes 

  1. An email can be linked to only one deal at a time.
  2. You can link multiple emails in a single request by providing multiple Emails objects in the request body.
  3. This API works only with existing email records.

Unlink Deal from Emails API

If an email is linked to the wrong deal through deal prediction or the Link Deal to Emails API, you can use the Unlink Deal from Emails API.

Endpoints

DELETE /Contacts/{contacts_records_ID}/Emails/actions/link_record?owner_id={owner_ID}&message_ids={message_ID1},{message_ID2},..
DELETE /Contacts/{contacts_records_ID}/Emails/{message_id}/actions/link_record?owner_id={owner_ID}

Sample request for unlinking multiple emails

Request URL

DELETE
https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Contacts/5843104000000425349/Emails/actions/link_record?owner_id=5843104000000424672&message_ids=8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1,6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5

Response

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1"
            },
            "message": "email has been unlinked from the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        },
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5"
            },
            "message": "email has been unlinked from the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}


Mandatory Parameters
  1. owner_ID Specify the unique ID of a user whose email you want to unlink. 
  2. message_ids Specify the unique message IDs of the emails which you want to unlink. You can obtain message IDs of a record through Get Emails of a Record API.
Example use case
  1. Prediction linked an email to deal A.
  2. Your business logic determines that the email belongs to deal B.
  3. Call the Unlink API.
  4. Call the Link API with the correct deal.
Key behavior
  1. Unlinking does not delete the email.
  2. Email remains visible under the Contact.
  3. Only the Deal association is removed.

Link Deal to Emails API v/s Associate Email with a Record API

At first glance, these two APIs may look similar because both are about emails and their record associations. However, they serve different purposes.
The Associate Email with a Record API is used to create and store an email in Zoho CRM and associate it with a record. You must provide the complete email details such as From, To, CC, Subject, Content, attachments, and the original message id. In short, this API is used when the email does not yet exist in Zoho CRM and needs to be logged as a new email record and associated with a records in modules like Leads, Contacts, Deals etc.
On the other hand, the Link Deal to Emails API does not create an email. Instead, it works only with emails that already exist in CRM. It allows you to associate or re-associate a Contact's emails with a Deal. It is primarily used to control which deal an existing email should be linked to.
  1. Use Associate Email API when you want to log a new email into CRM and associate it to a record.
  2. Use Link/Unlink Deal APIs when you want to manage the Deal association of an existing email.

Key differences

Aspect
Associate Email API
Link Deal APIs
Creates Email Record
Yes
No
Requires email content
Yes
No
Works on existing emails
No
Yes
Purpose
Log emails into CRM and associated to a record
Manage associations between deal and contact's emails.

Zoho CRM’s Deal Prediction Mechanism is designed to reduce manual effort, but APIs give developers the flexibility to handle complex business workflows.
  1. Deal Prediction handles the common association scenarios.
  2. Link and Unlink APIs provide manual control over Email-Deal associations.
  3. Associate Email with a Record API brings external emails into Zoho CRM.
Used together, these features ensure emails are always associated under the right Deal.

We hope that you find this post on Email-Deal Associations useful.
If you have any feedback, please let us know in the comments, or reach out to us via support@zohocrm.com. 

    • Sticky Posts

    • 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.

    • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

    • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how

    • 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

    • Recent Topics

    • Is there an equivalent to the radius search in RECRUIT available in the CRM

      We have a need to find all Leads and/or Contacts within a given radius of a given location (most likely postcode) but also possibly an address. I was wondering whether anyone has found a way to achieve this in the CRM much as the radius search in RECRUIT

    • Allow Text within a Formula

      Hi, I would like to be able to use this for others things like taking an existing Date Field and copying its value, so by entering getDay(Date)&"-"&getMonth(Date)&"-"&getYear(Date) it results in 01-02-2026. And then when the Date is changed so is this

    • Change Number Field to Decimal Field

      Hi, It would be nice to be able to change the field type without having to delete it and create a new one, messing up the database and history. Thanks Dan

    • Pipeline.Company Name field shows up as numbers! [Bigin Developer Console > Component > URL]

      Hi there, I am setting up to invoke URL to send infromation zoho bigin > zoho forms with company name pre-fill in the form. however when I use : ${Pipelines.Company Name} field it shows up as a string of number instead of words. Help.

    • Add specific field value to URL

      Hi Everyone. I have the following code which is set to run from a subform when the user selects a value from a lookup field "Plant_Key" the URL opens a report but i want the report to be filtered on the matching field/value. so in the report there is

    • How to Move Behavior, Acquisition, Polls & Forms Data from Zoho PageSense to Zoho Analytics?

      Hi Zoho Community, I'm looking for a way to transfer data from Zoho PageSense to Zoho Analytics, specifically: Behavioral data (clicks, scrolls, heatmaps, etc.) Acquisition data (traffic sources, campaigns, etc.) Polls and forms data As far as I can tell:

    • Zoho Social - Feature Request - Non-US Date Format

      Hi Social Team, I have noticed that there is no option to change the date format from US mm/dd/yyyy to others like dd/mm/yyyy. It would be great to see this added as the platform matures. Thanks for considering this feedback.

    • In arattai received message can't be deleted

      The issue has been noticed in following: arattai app (Android) arattai app (Window) arattai web While the message posted by me may be deleted, the ones received from others can't be. The item <Delete> change to <Report> when the message is a received

    • Zoho CRM Community Digest - December 2025 | Part 1

      Hello Everyone! In the first half of December, Zoho CRM rolled out auto-invite for portals, smarter CPQ with Zia suggestions and price rules, and Query Workbench for faster query building. We also highlight other noteworthy conversations you shouldn’t

    • Zoho Flow Credits

      Hi , I would like to ask the reason why every time I added plus credit but few days later I will return back to default? (as below I add credit to 3000 but today It change back to 1000) Most important is, when the credit fully used, not any reminder to

    • Custom Module Send Email not filling To automatically after adding Email field also

      I create custom module in zohoCRM but problem is in custom module when i click send email there in popup To is filling automatic its coming empty which i need to manually add an email there. How can I fix it? I already added the Email field there, but

    • Introducing Intake Forms

      We are excited to announce the release of Intake Forms, a new feature in Zoho Contracts designed to make contract requests simple, structured, and efficient. Intake Forms allow organization members to request new contracts through a web form instead of

    • Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

      Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions

    • eIDAS 2.0: What's changed for digital trust in Europe, and where Zoho Sign stands

      Hi there! It's that time of year when many of us get our ducks in a row. A new year often makes us reassess priorities, and for businesses in the EU, it means taking a closer look at how digital identities and electronic signatures work across borders,

    • Directly Edit, Filter, and Sort Subforms on the Details Page

      Hello everyone, As you know, subforms allow you to associate multiple line items with a single record, greatly enhancing your data organization. For example, a sales order subform neatly lists all products, their quantities, amounts, and other relevant

    • Add Israel & Jewish Holidays to Zoho People Holidays Gallery

      Greetings, We hope you are doing well. This feature request is related to Zoho People - please don't move it to zoho one! We are writing to request an enhancement to the Holidays Gallery in Zoho People. Currently, there are several holidays available,

    • Any update on much requested feature, to delete attachments without deleting the e-mail body?

      People have been requesting the ability to delete e-mail attachments without deleting the e-mail for more than ten years now. The latest I see is marked "Working On It" and a year ago it was supposedly being added, see here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/is-there-a-way-to-delete-mail-attachments-without-deleting-the-text

    • How to delete attachments form Zoho mail accounts

      I can't find a way to delete attachments from Zoho mail messages, either individually or in bulk. Searches here are providing conflicting results and often talk about workspace, whereas I am only interested in how to delete attachments that are seen with

    • Unable to fetch ticket by custom field value

      I'm trying to set up a Flow to fetch a ticket based on a custom field value. This seems like it should be pretty straightforward, but it's not working for me. I keep getting an error saying Zoho Desk says "Extra query parameter 'cf_creator_record_id'

    • Zoho Inventory - Composite Items - Assembly - Single Line Item Quantity of One

      Hi Zoho Inventory Team, Please consider relaxing the system rules which prevent an assembly items from consisting of a single line item and outputting a quantity of 1. A client I'm currently working with sells cosmetics and offers testers of their products

    • What's New in Zoho Inventory | Q2 2025

      Hello Customers, The second quarter have been exciting months for Zoho Inventory! We’ve introduced impactful new features and enhancements to help you manage inventory operations with even greater precision and control. While we have many more exciting

    • Zoho POS App Hanging Issue – Sales Becoming Difficult

      The Zoho POS app frequently hangs and becomes unresponsive during billing, making it very difficult to complete sales smoothly. This commonly happens while adding items, during checkout, or at payment time, especially during peak hours. These issues cause

    • Writing by Hand in "Write" Notes

      Hi there! I just downloaded this app a few moments ago, and I was wondering if there was a way to write things by hand in "Write" mode instead of just typing in the keyboard. It would make things a bit more efficient for me in this moment. Thanks!

    • Zoho Mail Verification Following DNS Switch from Cloudflare to Hosting Provider

      I initially configured my domain’s ( https://roblozapk.com/ ) email with Zoho Mail while using Cloudflare to manage my DNS records such as MX, SPF, and DKIM. At that time, all email services were working correctly without any issues. Recently, I removed

    • "Spreadsheet Mode" for Fast Bulk Edits

      One of the challenges with using Zoho Inventory is when bulk edits need to be done via the UI, and each value that needs to be changed is different. A very common use case here is price changes. Often, a price increase will need to be implemented, and

    • SAML in Zoho One vs Zoho Accounts

      What is the difference between setting up SAML in Zoho Accounts: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/accounts/manage-your-organization/saml/articles/configure-saml-in-zoho-accounts ... vs SAML in Zoho One?: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/one/admin-guide/custom-authentication/setting-up-custom-authentication-with-popular-idps/articles/zohoone-customauthentication-azure

    • Deactivated Zoho One account can sign in

      I am concerned by the fact that deactivated users in Zoho One have the ability to sign in even after their account has been deactivated (not deleted). these inactive identities have no access to individual Zoho apps or data. based on my experience they

    • How can I reset the password for a user in Zoho Projects

      We need to reset the password for a user in Zoho Projects. I am the admin portal owner and there was nothing to be found to do this. very confusing.

    • How can I add a comment to an existing ticket via API?

      I need to add comments/notes to the history of an existing ticket using the API without overwriting the original ticket description. Thanks!

    • Marketer's Space: Proven tips to improve open rates – Part III

      Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! This is the final post in the "open rate series". In the first and second parts, we discussed topics ranging from sender domains to pre-headers—but we're not done yet. A few more important

    • Attention Deluge Developers: Important Update Regarding "Send Email Deluge Task"

      Hi Deluge Users, We hope this message finds you well. We would like to inform you about a recent update on the Send emails deluge task. If you are using this deluge task (SalesIQ Scripts) for your Zobot, widgets, or form controllers to send emails, please

    • Zoho Social - Feature Request - Reviewer Role

      Hi Social Team, I've come across this with a couple of clients, where they need a role which can review and comment on posts but who has no access to create content. This is a kind of reviewer role. They just need to be able to see what content is scheduled

    • Zoho Books/Inventory - Update Marketplace Sales Order via API

      Hi everyone, Does anyone know if there is a way to update Sales Orders created from a marketplace intigration (Shopify in this case) via API? I'm trying to cover a scenario where an order is changed on the Shopify end and the changes must be reflected

    • Zoho Inventory / Finance Suite - Add feature to prevent duplicate values in Item Unit field

      I've noticed that a client has 2 values the same in the Unit field on edit/create Items. This surprised me as why would you have 2 units with the same name. Please consider adding a feature which prevents this as it seems to serve no purpose.

    • Kaizen #224 - Quote-driven Deal Reconciliation Using Zoho CRM Functions and Automation

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another instalment in the Kaizen series. This post covers quote-driven deal reconciliation, emphasizing Functions and Automation to address practical sales challenges. Business Challenge Sales organizations often mark deals

    • BARCODE PICKLIST

      Hello! Does anyone know how the Picklist module works? I tried scanning the barcode using the UPC and EAN codes I added to the item, but it doesn’t work. Which barcode format does this module use for scanning?

    • Zoho Inventory - Allow Update of Marketplace Generated Sales Orders via API

      Hi Inventory Team, I was recently asked by a client to create an automation which updated a Zoho Inventory Sales Order if a Shopify Order was updated. I have created the script but I found that the request is blocked as the Sales Order was generated by

    • How do I create an update to the Cost Price from landed costs?

      Hi fellow Zoho Inventory battlers, I am new to Zoho inventory and was completely baffled to find that the cost price of products does not update when a new purchase order is received. The cost price is just made up numbers I start with when the product

    • VoC in Zoho CRM is now data savvy: Explore response drilldown, summary components and participation in CRM criteria

      VoC has all the goods when it comes to customer intelligence—which is why we're constantly enhancing it. We recently added the following: A customer drilldown component that shows you the list of prospects and customers behind a chart's attribute Expanded

    • Passing the CRM

      Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine when

    • Next Page