Kaizen #105 - Functions, Integration Tasks, and API Credits - Part 1

Kaizen #105 - Functions, Integration Tasks, and API Credits - Part 1

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!
In today's post, we will discuss functions, integration tasks, how they consume API and function credits.
In the next post, we will discuss connections, the difference between integration tasks and invoke URL in functions, how authentication happens for invoke URLs, and their credit consumption pattern.

What are functions in CRM?

A business involves multiple processes that cater to specific needs, like managing the sales pipeline, automating the flow of data between modules or different third-party systems, etc.
Zoho CRM gives you a wide range of options to achieve your business goals in the form of pre-defined functions under Setup > Developer Space > Functions. You can tweak these functions and associate them to workflows, blueprints, approval processes, circuits amongst many others, at just the click of a button.

While it is understandable that every business' needs are different, and the pre-defined functions, albeit very generic and most-commonly used, may not suit every business, Zoho CRM allows you to write your own functions specific to your needs.
More details on functions, here.
You can use Zoho's Deluge scripting language to write your own functions in a simple drag-and-drop function editor under Setup > Developer Space > Functions.

Integration tasks

We talked about how functions solve your business cases. How exactly do they do it?

Let's say you want to create a record in Zoho CRM using Functions. Instead of having to add values to every field the traditional way in web UI, functions have integration tasks that make working with records a lot easier as they act as API wrappers. These integration tasks help you make direct API calls without having to write code manually to handle API endpoints, HTTP methods, request parameters, or authentication mechanisms. What's more? They accept the input as function arguments in key-value pairs, much like JSON.

How are integration tasks beneficial to you?

When you use multiple Zoho products, data flow between them becomes much simpler and easier through integration tasks.
Your code becomes concise and easy to interpret.
As the integration tasks are essentially API wrappers, you do not have to worry about authorization as these integration tasks are considered as API calls triggered by the org's admin.

For today's post, let us discuss the function Converting a Sales Order to a Purchase Order, that uses integration tasks.
A gist of the code:
  1. Use the getRecordById integration tasks to get the ID of the Sales Order you want to convert to a Purchase Order
  2. Get the details of the product line items in the sales order, iterate through each of them, and add them to a map.
  3. Put these in another map to be used in the Purchase Order.
  4. Use the createRecord integration task and pass the new map to create a purchase order with the details from the sales order.

Here is the code:
Note that this function takes the soID(sales order ID) as the argument.

respMap = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Sales_Orders",input.soId.toLong());
productDet = ifnull(respMap.get("Product_Details"),"");
pdlist = List();
for each eachProd in productDet
{
productvalue = eachProd.get("product");
proid = productvalue.get("id");
proname = productvalue.get("name");
mp = Map();
mp.put("product",{"name":proname,"id":proid});
mp.put("quantity",ifnull(eachProd.get("quantity"),"0").toLong());
mp.put("list_price",ifnull(eachProd.get("list_price"),"0.0").toDecimal());
mp.put("discount",ifnull(eachProd.get("discount"),"0.0").toDecimal());
mp.put("total",ifnull(eachProd.get("total"),"0.0").toDecimal());
mp.put("net_total",ifnull(eachProd.get("net_total"),"0.0").toDecimal());
pdlist.add(mp);
}
paramap = Map();
paramap.put("Product_Details",pdlist);
paramap.put("Subject",ifnull(respMap.get("Subject"),""));
paramap.put("Contact_Name",ifnull(respMap.get("Contact_Name"),"").get("id"));
paramap.put("Account_Name",ifnull(respMap.get("Account_Name"),"").get("id"));
paramap.put("Owner",ifnull(respMap.get("Owner"),"").get("id"));
paramap.put("Sales_Order",ifnull(respMap.get("id"),""));
paramap.put("Terms_and_Conditions",ifnull(respMap.get("Terms_and_Conditions"),""));
paramap.put("Description",ifnull(respMap.get("Description"),""));
paramap.put("Adjustment",ifnull(respMap.get("Adjustment"),"0.0").toDecimal());
paramap.put("Discount",ifnull(respMap.get("Discount"),"0.0").toDecimal());
paramap.put("Tax",ifnull(respMap.get("Tax"),"0.0").toDecimal());
paramap.put("Shipping_Cuty",ifnull(respMap.get("Shipping_Cuty"),""));
paramap.put("Shipping_Code",ifnull(respMap.get("Shipping_Code"),""));
paramap.put("Shipping_Method",ifnull(respMap.get("Shipping_Method"),""));
paramap.put("Shipping_State",ifnull(respMap.get("Shipping_State"),""));
paramap.put("Shipping_Street",ifnull(respMap.get("Shipping_Street"),""));
paramap.put("Status",ifnull(respMap.get("Status"),""));
createResp = zoho.crm.createRecord("Purchase_Orders",paramap);
info paramap;
info createResp;


Here is the response:


This is the Purchase order created from the sales order.



I have associated this function to a workflow that converts a sales order to a purchase order, every time a sales order is created or updated.


How is authentication handled for integration tasks?

Functions with integration tasks are triggered by actions like workflows, blueprints etc. These triggers are org-wide and not restricted to specific sets of users. So, the integration tasks are executed as if the actions are done by the org’s admin.

API and Function Credits

Just like how APIs consume credits, integration tasks consume API credits, too.
The number of credits depends on the integration task you have used. For example, if you use the createRecord integration task, it consumes the same credits as the create records API. Similarly, the getRecordById integration task consumes the same credits as the Get Records API.
This is in addition to the function credits.
So, for the above function, the following are the various limits applied:
  • API credits - 2 - one each for getRecordById and createRecords integration tasks.
  • Function credits - 1

Where can you find the usage stats?


API Dashboard

Apart from API credit consumption, the API dashboard also gives you the details of the credits consumed by integration tasks.
The "Credits Usage" section shows you the credits specific to integration tasks. As you can see, out of the total available 56000 credits, 36 credits are consumed. Out of these 36 credits, 32 are from integration tasks.


The "Credits by Applications/Functions" pie chart gives you the credit consumption by each function or app.


When you click on one of them, you will see the details.


Functions Dashboard

The "Most Credits Consumed Functions" chart gives you the details of the functions that have consumed credits higher than most.


We hope you found this post useful. Next week, we will discuss Connections, invoke URLs and more.
Let us know what you think in the comments, or drop us an email at support@zohocrm.com.
Cheers!

    • 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

    • Zoho Recruit Community Meet-up - India

      Namaste, India. 🙏🏼 The Zoho Recruit team is hitting the road—and we 're absolutely excited behind the scenes. Join us for the Zoho Recruit India Meet-up 2026, a morning designed to make your recruiting life easier (and a lot more effective). Date City
    • Generate a Zoho Sign link

      From time to time I get a response "I never received your you e-document for electronic signature" is there a way to generate a Zoho Sign link to share.
    • Is it possible to create a word cloud chart in ZoHo Analystics?

      Hi there, I have a volume of transaction text that I would like to analyse using word cloud (or other approcah to detect and present word frequency in a dataset). For example, I have 50,000 records describing menu items in restaurants. I want to be able
    • How to Fix the Corrupted Outlook 2019 .pst file on Windows safely?

      There are multiple reasons to get corrupted PST files (due to a power failure, system crash, or forced shutdown) and several other reasons. If You are using this ScanePST.EXE Microsoft inbuilt recovery tool, it only supports the minor corruption issue
    • [Webinar] A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025

      Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce Zoho Writer's webinar for January 2026: A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025. This webinar will provide a recap of the features and enhancements we added in 2025 to enhance your productivity. Choose your preferred
    • How to drag row(s) or column(s)?

      Hi. Selecting a row or column and then dragging it to a new position does not seem to work. Am i missing something or this is just not possible in Zoho Sheet? Cheers, Jay
    • Building Toppings #5 - Creating and configuring custom service connections in Bigin Toppings

      Hello Biginners, Integrating Bigin with external applications extends its capabilities and enables customized functionalities. In our last post, we saw how to create a default service connection. Today, we'll see how to create a custom service connection
    • Optimising CRM-Projects workflows to manage requests, using Forms as an intermediary

      Is it possible to create a workflow between three apps with traceability between them all? We send information from Zoho CRM Deals over to Zoho Projects for project management and execution. We have used a lookup of sorts to create tasks in the past,
    • Marketing Tip #15: Rank better with keyword-rich URLs for product pages

      Your product page URL is a small detail that can make a surprisingly big difference. Clean, readable URLs help in two ways: They’re easier for customers to trust and remember (no one likes clicking a link that looks messy or random). They help search
    • Conditional fields when converting a Lead and creating a Deal

      Hi, On my Deal page I have a field which has a rule against it. Depending on the value entered, depends on which further fields are displayed. When I convert a Lead and select for a Deal to be created as well, all fields are shown, regardless of the value
    • ATE Session on Payment Gateways: Our experts are live now. Post your questions now!

      Hello everyone, Our experts are all excited to answer all your questions related to payment workflows. Please feel free to join this session and learn more about this topic. If you have a query at anytime, please post them here.
    • Upload data deleted all Zoho form data that we manage

      Good morning. Let me introduce myself, I'm Iky from Indonesia. I'm experiencing an error or problem using Zoho Forms. I manage Zoho Forms, but I previously encountered an error when I misclicked the delete button in the upload format. It apparently deleted
    • ZOHO FORMにURL表示ができない

      初心者です。 ZOHO FORM で宿泊者名簿を作っています。 ゲストが、URLをクリックするとStripeで支払いができるようにURLを表示をしたいのですが、 上手くできません。 やり方が分かる方、ぜひ教えてください。
    • Custom module - change from autonumber to name

      I fear I know the answer to this already, but thought I'd ask the question. I created a custom module and instead of having a name as being the primary field, I changed it to an auto-number. I didn't realise that all searches would only show this reference.
    • No Automatic Spacing on the Notebook App?

      When I'm adding to notes on the app, I have to add spaces between words myself, rather than it automatically doing it. All my other apps add spacing, so it must be something with Zoho. Is there a setting I need to change, or something else I can do so
    • Holidays - Cannot Enter Two Holidays on Same Day

      I have a fairly common setup, where part-time employees receive 1/2 day's pay on a holiday and full-time employees receive a full day's pay. Historically, I've been able to accommodate this by entering two separate holidays, one that covers full-time
    • Zoho Bookings and Survey Integration through Flow

      I am trying to set up flows where once an appointment is marked as completed in Zoho Bookings, the applicable survey form would be sent to the customer. Problem is, I cannot customise flows wherein if Consultation A is completed, Survey Form A would be
    • Campaigns set up and execution assistance

      Hello Community, Can someone recommend a professional who can assist with the completion of my set up and deployment of Campaigns? Looking for a person or company that is not going to ask for big dollars up-front without a guarantee of performance to
    • Zobot with Plugs

      Hello, I am having a problem with Zobot using Plugs. Here is my current flow: When I run the flow, I should immediately see the messages from the initial cards (Send Message cards), then after running the plug, and finally, see the messages after the
    • Kaizen #223 - File Manager in CRM Widget Using ZRC Methods

      Hello, CRM Wizards! Here is what we are improving this week with Kaizen. we will explore the new ZRC (Zoho Request Client) introduced in Widget SDK v1.5, and learn how to use it to build a Related List Widget that integrates with Zoho WorkDrive. It helps
    • Remove Powered by Zoho at the footer

      Hi, I've read two past tickets regarding this but it seems that the instructions given are outdated. I assume the layout keeps on changing, which makes it frustrating for me to search high and low. Please let me know how exactly do I do this now? Th
    • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

      Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.
    • No Need To Fix Something That Is Working

      Zoho Books is a great financial tool which helps businesses to become more efficient and productive with day-to-day operations. As such, every change, upgrade, improvement needs to be carefully thought before implemented in the software and I'm sure Zoho
    • Using email "importance" as workflow-criteria

      I'd like to set up a workflow that triggers if an incoming email has been flagged as "high importance" but I'm not seeing any way to do that. Hopefully I'm just missing something obvious...?
    • This domain is not allowed to add. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

      I am trying to setup the free version of Zoho Mail. When I tried to add my domain, theselfreunion.com I got the error message that is the subject of this Topic. I've read your other community forum topics, and this is NOT a free domain. So what is the
    • What is Resolution Time in Business Hours

      HI, What is the formula used to find the total time spent by an agent on a particular ticket? How is Resolution Time in Business Hours calculated in Zohodesk? As we need to find out the time spent on the ticket's solution by an agent we seek your assistance
    • Check & Unchecked Task Segregation in Export

      It must have a feature to represent checked and unchecked tasks as [ ] and [✅] respectively when exporting it to Arratai or WhatsApp ; as Keep Notes by Google contains…
    • WorkDrive Download Issue

      My client has been sending me files via WorkDrive, which generally has worked fine. Recently files won't download at all. If you try and individually select and download a file, a popup will appear in the bottom right saying it's preparing and then it
    • Resolution Time Report

      From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports What are time-based reports? Time-based reports are valuable tools that help us understand how well things are going by breaking down key metrics over specific periods. By tracking, measuring,
    • Support Custom Background in Zoho Cliq Video Calls and Meetings

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the video background capabilities in Zoho Cliq, specifically the ability to upload and use custom backgrounds. Current Limitation At present, Zoho Cliq allows
    • Add RTL (Right-to-Left) Text Direction Button in Zoho Cliq

      Greetings Zoho Team, We would like to request the addition of an RTL (Right-to-Left) text direction button in Zoho Cliq, similar to what is already available in other Zoho apps like Zoho Desk. Currently, while using Zoho Cliq with the English interface,
    • Enable Backgrounds and Video Filters for 1:1 Cliq Calls Across All Zoho Entry

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related specifically to 1:1 video calls in Zoho Cliq. Current Behavior Zoho Cliq currently provides background and video filter options in the following scenarios:
    • Zoho Flow: Stripe a Zoho Marketing Automation

      Hola! Quiero hacer un flujo con Zoho Flow, para que cuando se haga un pago en Stripe, añada el lead en Zoho Marketing Automation. Lo he configurado, configurando el disparador como "Payment created" y mapeando el campo de Stripe "Receipt email address".
    • Not able to delete a QC nor able to revert or create a cycle of manufacturing for QC failed Jobs

      Not able to delete a QC nor able to revert or create a cycle of manufacturing for QC failed Jobs
    • Need Customer Item Inward Module along with QC

      Need Customer Item Inward Module along with QC 1. Using Transfer Orders hit the item balance sheet 2. Items without inventory it becomes difficult for tracking purpose. 3. Custom Modules become tedious to capture multiple items, item subforms are not
    • 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
    • Zoho email

      I need a list of email addresses of all contacts on my zoho
    • Shift-Centric View for Assigning and Managing Shifts in Zoho People

      Hello Zoho People Product Team, Greetings and hope you are doing well. This feature request is related to Zoho People - please don't move it to zoho one! We would like to submit a feature request regarding the shift assignment and management view in Zoho
    • Introducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]

      Hello Zoho Desk users! We have introduced the parent-child ticketing system to help customer service teams ensure efficient resolution of issues involving multiple, related tickets. You can now combine repetitive and interconnected tickets into parent-child
    • cant upload images in signature- urgent help needed. ta!

      HI, I have been trying to insert the company logo in the signature. i have tried it several times since yesterday, the longest I waited was 1 hour and 12 minutes for the pop up window to upload a 180 KB .jpg file. what am i doing wrong.. an urgent reply
    • Next Page