Kaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs

Kaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In last week's post in the Kaizen series, we discussed how subforms work in Zoho CRM and how to manipulate subform data using Zoho CRM APIs.
In this post, we will discuss how to manipulate a multi-select lookup fields using Zoho CRM APIs.

Multi-select lookup field

The Multi-Select Lookup Field enables you to establish a many-to-many relationship between two different modules in CRM. It allows you to associate multiple records with each other, from two different modules. 
These associations are stored in an individual module called "Linking Module". Consider there are two modules, Employees and Skills. The Employees module contains details regarding Zylker's workforce, and the Skills module contains details regarding various skills like Social Media Marketing and Content Marketing.
We want to associate multiple skills to an employee. So, a multi-select lookup can be created in the Employees module. When doing so, similar multi-select lookup field will be automatically created in the Skills module, along with the EmpXSkills linking module by Zoho CRM. The underlying data model is described in the below image.
The above chart shows the data model representation when you create a multi-select lookup field in a module. Here, there are two lookup fields—one pointing to the Employees module and the other pointing to the Skills module.
In the linking module, two lookup fields (lookup fields with api names - Employees and Skills) will be created. The lookup fields, one pointing to Employees and the other pointing to Skills from the linking module, establish a connection between the linking module and its associated module.

How to associate an employee's skills while creating an Employee record through the Insert Records API

API names you need before invoking the API
  • The API name of the multi-select lookup field in the modules you want to insert data.
  • API names of the lookup fields in the linking module. Eg: here the API Name of the linking module is "EmpXSkills" and the corresponding lookup field api names are "Employees" & "Skills". You can use the Fields Metadata API for Employees and Skills to get these details.
Step 1
Know the API name of the multi-select lookup field in the module (In our case, Skills is the multi-select lookup field in the Employees module)

To know the API names of the multi-select lookup fields, make a GET - Fields Metadata API call. Among all the Employee's fields, multi-select lookup field can be identified by the json key data_type with the value multiselectlookup. The corresponding connected module can be found from the json connected_module. Below is the API call & response for such a multi-select lookup field.

Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v6/settings/fields?module=Employees
Request Method: GET

Sample Response: 

The above highlighted keys are the details of the Multi select lookup field. The corresponding keys are explained below:

"multiselectlookup": {
                "display_label": "Skills",   //Display label of the MxN field in the Employees module
                "linking_module": {
                    "api_name": "EmpXSkills", //API name of the linking module
                    "id": "5725767000002166520"
                ...
                "lookup_apiname": "Employees", //API name of the Employee lookup field in the linking module
                "connected_module": {
                    "api_name": "Skills", //API name of the connected module
                    "id": "5725767000002165263"
                },
                "api_name": "Skills_In_Related_List", //API of the related list of the connected module Skills in the Employees module.
                "connectedfield_apiname": "Employees", //API Name of the multi-select lookup field in the connected module (Skills)
               "connectedlookup_apiname": "Skills", //API name of the Skills module lookup field in the linking module.
                "id": "5725767000002166655" //Related List ID
            },
                ...

Step 2
Using the api_name of the linking module, make a GET Fields metadata API call to get the list of fields (along with their api_name) present in it. It lists all fields of the linking module in the response. 
Sample Request and Response

Search for the "data_type": "lookup" in the response. The lookup fields represent the connected modules in association with the linking module.
For example, in our case, the response will have two lookup fields. One of the lookup fields (with api name Employees) points to the Employees module, and the other one (with api name Skills) points to the Skills module. 

Step 3
Associate records via the Multi-select lookup field using the Insert Records API

To associate records via the MxN field, you need to know the IDs of the records in the Skills module. Here is the input body to insert the skills in the Employee module with the multi-select lookup field Skills. 
Here is the input body to insert a new Employee record and associate a Skills record to it using the MxN field.

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/Employees
Request Method: POST
Sample Input:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "Name": "Patricia",
            "Email": "patricia@mail.com",
            "Position": "Marketing Specialist",
            "Year_of_Experience": 5,
            "Skills": [ //API name of the multi-select lookup field in Employee module
                {
                    "Skills": { //API Name of the lookup field pointing to the Skills module in the linking module
                        "name": "Marketing",
                        "id": "5725767000002149427" //Record ID in the Skills module 
                    }
                },
                {
                    "Skills": {
                        "name": "Social Media Marketing",
                        "id": "5725767000002149476" 
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}



How to disassociate an employee & skills relation while updating an Employee record through the Update Records API 

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/Employees
Request Method: PUT

Sample Input:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": "7890710000097291",
            "Name": "Patricia",
            "Email": "patricia@mail.com",
            "Position": "Marketing Specialist",
            "Year_of_Experience": 5,
            "Skills": [
                {
                    "_delete": null, //This association in the linking module will be deleted
                    "id": "5725767000008126002" //Record created in the linking module
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Sending _delete:null will cause delinking of the association.

How to associate an employee's skills via "Linking Module"

You can associate the relationship between Employees and Skills module by creating records in the Linking module (EmpXSkills). Use the API names for the corresponding lookup fields, Employee (API Name: Employees) and Skills (API Name: Skills) in the input body.

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/EmpXSkills
Request Method: POST

Sample Input
{
   "data": [
        {
            "Name": "Patricia",
            "Employees": { 
                "id": "5725767000002161001" //unique record ID in the Employees module. GET your ID here
            },
             "Skills": { 
                "id": "5725767000002149476" //unique record ID in the Skills module. GET your ID here
            }
        }
    ]
}


Sample Response


The id in the above response is the Primary Key ID of an Employee-Skill association record in the linking module. This ID can later be used to do specific operations like association update or deletion via API.

How to disassociate an employee & skills relationship via "Linking Module"
Use the Delete Records API to delete the record which corresponds to the specific relation between Employee and Skills module in the EmpXSkills module. You can get the record ID for the specific association using the Get Records API for the linking module. 
Use the Delete Record API to delete the specific record, thereby deleting the specific association between the Employee and Skills record. Please note that only the association is removed, and not the individual records. 
Sample Request and Response



When to use create/update operation in Employees/EmpXSkills module?

Use "Employees" module: When you want to create/update records in the Employees module, and associate the record with a Skills record in a single API call.
Use "EmpXSkills" module: When you want to associate/disassociate the relationship between existing Employees and Skills records. 

Retrieve data via COQL API and Bulk Read API

There may be situations where you need to fetch records based upon certain conditions.
For example, Zylker's HR team wants to retrieve the list of employees having more than 4 years of experience and are experts in Social media marketing. In this case, they can use Zoho CRM's COQL API or Bulk Read API. Let's see how to achieve this.

Retrieving MxN data via COQL API

We know that both the Employees and Skills modules' association data is maintained in the linking module. In order to retrieve data from the linking module, query using the API name of the lookup fields in the linking module.

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/coql
Request Method: POST

Sample Input:

{
    "select_query" : "select Employees.Name as employee_name, Employees.Year_of_Experience as employee_experience, Skills.Name as skill_name from EmpXSkills where Employees.Year_of_Experience > 4 and Skills.Name like '%Social%'"
}


From the SQL perspective, above COQL can be interpreted as
select emp.Name as employee_name, emp.Year_of_Experience as employee_experience, skill.Name as skill_name from EmpXSkills left join Employees as emp on EmpXSkills.Employees = emp.id left join Skills as ski on EmpXSkills.Skills = ski.id where emp.Year_of_Experience > 4 and ski.Name like '%Social%'

Sample Response


Retrieving MxN data via Bulk Read API

Bulk Read API allows you to fetch a large set of data i.e., you can fetch a maximum of 200,000 records in a single API call. 
To export linking module records, use its API name.

Request Method: POST
Sample input to export linking module's records:
{
    "callback": {
        "method": "post"
    },
    "query": {
        "module": {
            "api_name": "EmpXSkills" //API name of the linking module
        },
        "file_type": "csv"
    }
}

Export linking module records that meet the specified criteria
To export linking module's records based on the given criteria above (similar to the COQL API).
{
    "callback": {
        "method": "post"
    },
    "query": {
        "module": {
            "api_name": "EmpXSkills"
        },
        "fields": [
            "Employees.Name",
            "Employees.Year_of_Experience",
            "Skills.Name"
        ],
        "criteria": {
            "group": [
                {
                    "field": {
                        "api_name": "Employees.Year_of_Experience" 
                    },
                    "comparator": "greater_than",
                    "value": "4"
                },
                {
                    "field": {
                        "api_name": "Skills.Name"
                    },
                    "comparator": "contains",
                    "value": "Social"
                }
            ],
            "group_operator": "AND"
        }
    }
}


As the API is an asynchronous API, the response will not be available instantly; the bulk read job is scheduled, and the status can be checked. Once the job is completed, you will be notified in the callback URL. The records are available in a downloadable CSV file or ICS file (for events). See the Bulk Read API document to know how to view the status of the scheduled job and download the file, along with more sample requests and responses.

We trust that this post meets your needs and is helpful. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com
Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming Kaizen posts!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheers!



    • 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

    • Building Toppings #2 - Learn how to use Bigin's Developer Console to build toppings

      Hey Biginners, In our last post, we discussed what toppings are, why they're essential to extending Bigin's capabilities, and how the Bigin Developer Center serves as the starting point for building them. As a cloud platform, the Developer Center empowers

    • Proposal for Creating a Unique "Address" Entity in Zoho FSM

      The "Address" entity is one of the most critical components for a service-oriented company. While homeowners may change and servicing companies may vary, the address itself remains constant. This constancy is essential for subsequent services, as it provides

    • Links are incorrect when sent out

      I'm adding in hyperlinks into my eDM. When I send a test email, it's all correct. However, when I send out the eDM, all the hyperlinks jump up one space so none of the links are opening to the correct page. Why is this happening and how can I fix it?

    • Tip of the week #16 - Search and filter threads based on criteria

      Zoho TeamInbox lets you search and filter threads with any information that you have about the thread. You just have to input the criteria and Zoho TeamInbox will list all the threads that match the condition.   Firstly, there is a global search you can

    • Introducing recipient authentication via Stripe Identity in Zoho Sign

      Hi everyone! It's important to authenticate your recipient's identity before they access and sign important documents to ensure the highest level of compliance. Zoho Sign already helps businesses do this with various authentication methods: SMS OTP Email

    • Introducing Multi-Asset Support in Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments

      We’re excited to announce a highly requested enhancement in Zoho FSM — you can now associate multiple assets with Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments. This update brings more clarity, flexibility, and control to your field service operations,

    • Keep Converted Leads

      How do I keep the converted leads in the Leads Module after conversion (converting it to account, contact, deal). I want to add it in a converted stage in the leads module in order to get a report or dashboard and see all converted leads from my pip

    • Customizing Global Search Settings for All Users

      Hi Our team use the brilliant global search functionality within CRM many many times daily. But, we struggle with the out-of-the box columns that CRM gives you. We are always telling users to customize this look to more suit our business, to show the

    • Introducing Formula Fields for performing dynamic calculations

      Greetings, With the Formula Field, you can generate numerical calculations using provided functions and available fields, enabling you to derive dynamic data. You can utilize mathematical formulas to populate results based on the provided inputs. This

    • Tip of the Week #77– Stay informed of the activities happening in your organization

      Whenever a message is handled in Zoho TeamInbox, every action is recorded in the Activity Log. This ensures you always know what’s happening across your teams and inboxes. To access it, simply click the Audits icon on the left pane’s top bar after logging

    • Zoho Logs - Not seeing logs since 30 Nov

      Hi, we have a few functions running, I am testing some new ones and noticed that although I can see executions, I cannot see any logs, even when the first line on the functions is a log. I reviewed some existing functions, one of which is invoked on a

    • Workdrive MS Office integration

      Have installed subscribed version of Zoho WorkDrive VSTO runtime not found is the error when I try to install Zoho_WorkDrive_For_Office Unable to open work files in Excel and Word Urgent, since I have migrated all my OneDrive files to work drive already

    • How to change Zoho Vault password

      I am searching where I can change the Vault Password after having changed the Zoho account password. I don't see this option anywhere in my account. It should be simple and accessible! Please help. Thanks!

    • Zoho Workdrive - Communication / Chat Bar

      Hi Team, Please consider adding an option to allow admins to turn on or off the Zoho Communication Bar. Example of what I mean by Communication Bar: It's such a pain sometimes when I'm in WorkDrive and I want to share a link to a file with a colleague

    • Prefered Bin Missing in android APP

      Andoroid app dosent show preferred bin in the picklist. The workaround support reccomend is to use the computre to create the picklist. it shuld be information to be shown aas basic for the pciker.

    • When Marking a Multiple Choice Answer Exclusive - Not Following My Survey Disqualification Logic

      Using a multiple choice (many answers) question and I created survey disqualification logic that was working as intended. My question: Disqualification page logic is: If (QUESTION) is "any one of the following" then (OPTIONS) - a custom message populates

    • Where to Add Machines as Products to Map with Assets in Zoho FSM?

      implementing Zoho FSM for a clinical equipment supply company. The business sells and installs clinical machines in hospitals and clinics, and they also handle service requests, scheduled maintenance, calibration visits, and general machine upkeep. In

    • Show Zoom Link in Recipient's Calendar

      We set up meetings within a record, selecting the "Make this an online meeting".  We use Zoom. Most of the recipients go to their calendar (usually Gmail or Outlook, corporate) to join the Zoom meeting, but there is no Zoom link in the calendar. Can this

    • Zoho Bigin - should be able to link a "contact" to multiple "companies"

      Hello Support, I called into telephone support and was told that a contact can only be linked to one company. We have situations were director are contacts of and directors of multiple companies so that seems a basic weakness in Bigin. When go to add

    • Does Thrive work with Zoho Billing (Subscriptions)?

      I would like to use Thrive with Zoho Billing Subscriptions but don't see a way to do so. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thank you

    • GCLID and Zoho Bookings

      Is there anyway to embed a Zoho Bookings signup on a landing page and pass the GCLID information? More specifically, can this be done using auto-tagging and not manual tagging the GCLID? I know Zappier has an integration to do this but is there a better

    • Radio button data won't update

      Wondering if anyone is experiencing the same problem. I tried bulk updating our data on Zoho Creator using API and noticed that the radio button field wasn't updated. I have tried updating it manually, it didn't work. When I tried updating a text field

    • Accessing shared mailboxes through Trident (Windows)

      Hi, I have a created a couple of shared mailboxes. The mailboxes are showing up on the browser based Zoho workplace, but I cannot seem to figure out how to access my shared inboxes through Trident (Windows). Am I missing something or is this feature not

    • Introducing Global Sets for easy management of similar picklists in CRM

      Latest update (December 2025): You can now apply color coding to the values inside a global set, the same way you color code values in regular picklist fields. Update (Sep 2024): We've increased the maximum count limit for global sets. These new limits

    • Uploading a signed template from Sign to Creator

      Good day, Please help me on how to load a signed document back into Creator after the process has been completed in Sign. Below is the code that I am trying, pdfFile = response.toFile("SignedDocument_4901354000000372029.pdf"); info pdfFile; // Attach

    • Decimal places settings for exchange rates

      Hello, We are facing issues while matching vendor payments with banking feeds. As we often import products/services exchange rate comes into play. Currently, ZOHO allows only six digits for decimal places. We feel that conversions like JPY to INR require

    • No Ability to Rename Record Template PDFs in SendMail Task

      As highlighted previously in this post, we still have to deal with the limitation of not being able to rename a record template when sent as a PDF using the SendMail Task. This creates unnecessary complexity for what should be a simple operation, and

    • New in CPQ: Smarter suggestions for Product Configurator by Zia, and additional criteria in Price Rules

      Hello everyone! CPQ's Product Configurator in Zoho CRM allows sales teams to define structured product bundles through configuration rules, ensuring that the right product combinations are applied consistently in quotes. Admins set up these configurations

    • Process between CRM and Campaigns to ensure double opt-in contacts?

      I would like to ask for a few clarifications to ensure we fully comply with best practices and legal requirements: According to the documentation (Zoho Campaigns CRM sync – Default option), the best and recommended way to sync contacts is by using the

    • Zoho Books - New Interface keep details with PDF View

      Hello, The Zoho Books Interface has changed for estimates etc... One thing is causing issues though. Before the change, in PDF view you could see the detail information including custom fields entered for the estimate. Now, you have to switch between

    • Tip #52- Zoho Assist Downloads: Everything You Need in One Place- 'Insider Insights'

      Looking to start remote support sessions faster, manage unattended devices effortlessly, or join sessions without any hassle? The Zoho Assist Downloads Center has all the tools you need—across desktop, mobile, IoT, and browser environments. With our range

    • Condition based aggregate fields in subforms

      Hello everyone, We're excited to inform you about the latest enhancements made to our aggregate field capabilities in subforms; create aggregate fields based on conditions! An aggregate field is a column on which a mathematical function has been applied.

    • SalesInbox

      Sorry for saying this but SalesInbox is a really mess. BIG FAIL. Bad UX and VERY bad IMAP sync. I don't know how can someone use this to be more productive. It's just the oposite. I'm trying to use SalesInbox for a while but sales people do not have just sales activities so we still have to came back to the mail app anyway. Folders of SalesInbox are not in sync with folders of mail server (wich syncs Ok to mobile) and vice-versa wich leads to double work as now you have to cleanup 3 inboxes (Mail

    • Print labels on selected view

      How can I print labels for select view. Always defaults to ALL contacts when I select View = Mailing Labels. Thanks!!

    • Update CRM Price Books to include volume discounts as per Zoho Books/Inventory

      Once again, Zoho has 3 great products that all store information in different ways (which is not helpful when you attempt to integrate the 3 products - one of the best features of Zoho). Zoho CRM Price Books are basic at best. Zoho Books/Inventory Price

    • Tip #40- Strengthen Remote Support with IP-based Restrictions in Zoho Assist– ‘Insider Insights’

      Protecting sensitive data and preventing unauthorized access is a top priority for any organization. With IP-based restrictions in Zoho Assist, you can ensure that only users from trusted networks can initiate remote support sessions. Say your IT team

    • Printing Client Lists

      I was looking for a way to print out client lists based on the account. For example if I want all my contacts from company A on one sheet, how would I do this. Moderation Update (3rd December 2025): There are two challenges discussed in this thread. 1.

    • Qwen to be the default open source Generative AI model in Zoho Desk

      Hello everyone, At Zoho Desk, we will make the latest Qwen (30B parameters) the default LLM for our Generative AI features, including Answer Bot, Reply Assistant, and others. As a subsequent step, we will discontinue support for Llama (8B parameters).

    • ZOHO Blueprint and Workflow

      Hi, Correct me if i'm wrong, Blueprint triggers when a record that meets the criteria is created. It follows a specific transition that you will be setting up. Does blueprint work if the first state was triggered by a workflow? For example, In my custom module 1, I have a field named status. The statuses are 1, 2, 3 and 4. As soon as I create a new record, a workflow triggers that updates the status field to 1. Can a blueprint start from 2? My other concern is, can blueprint transitions work at the

    • Zoho CRM Participants Automatic - Invite Using Deluge

      Hi Zoho! Is there a way to make the invitations automatic via API? I'm using this one but it doesn't work or reflect in the CRM: participantUser = Map(); participantUser.put("type","email"); participantUser.put("participant",email); participantUser.put("invited",

    • Next Page