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 #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

    • 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

    • Recent Topics

    • Free webinar! Build smarter apps with Zoho Sign and Zoho Creator

      Hello, Bring the power of digital signatures to the apps you build in Zoho Creator! Connect Zoho Sign as a microservice and enable seamless e-signature workflows in your applications. This integration allows you to automate signing tasks using Deluge.

    • Restrict Addresses in Zoho Forms?

      In the address field, is there a way to restrict the addresses that auto populate (via Zoho Maps or Google Maps) to a specific state (I know it's possible with the country). Additionally, how often does the address in Zoho Maps get updated? Certain addresses

    • Weekly Tips: Secure your attachment downloads with Zoho Mail

      Safety is one of our main concerns, whether it’s about device security or online protection. We use tools like fingerprint scanners, facial recognition, and two-factor authentication to keep our devices and email accounts secure. We use methods like OTP

    • Resume Harvester: New Enhancements for Faster Sourcing

      We’re excited to share a set of enhancements to Resume Harvester that make sourcing faster and more flexible. These updates help you cut down on repetitive steps, manage auto searches more efficiently, and review candidate profiles with ease. Why we built

    • Looking for best practices to import data from SAP Business One (on-prem) into Zoho Analytics via Zoho DataPrep / Databridge — daily automated schedule

      Hi all, I’m using SAP Business One on-prem (SQL Server / or HANA — depending on DB backend) as our ERP. I want to build a pipeline that, every morning at 9:00 AM IST: pulls transactional data (invoices, customers, products, stock, etc.) from SAP B1, loads

    • Zoho One Unified Portal - Applications

      Hello, It is great to see the work on the New Unified Customer Portal. Thanks for that. The number of applications is limited though. It is now only around the Zoho Books ecosystem (Books, Expense...) and Zoho Social. = Are other applications planned

    • Marketing Tip #10: Start a customer loyalty program

      Winning a new customer is great, but keeping them coming back is even better. A loyalty program rewards repeat buyers with points, giving them more reasons to shop again. Over time, this builds trust and long-term relationships. Try this today: Set up

    • Zia Actions: AI-powered Workflow Automation for Faster and Smarter Execution

      Hello everyone, Updated on 12th Dec 2025 Zia actions for Workflow is available for Enterprise edition ONLY. These features are currently available in the following DCs: US, CA, EU, IN, and AU Email Auto reply and Content Generation are available as Early

    • Do Individual Forums within Categories, in Desk Community, Produce Their Own RSS Feed?

      Do Individual Forums within Categories, in Desk Community, Produce Their Own RSS Feed? If not, can anyone share a work-around that could help me get an RSS feed for individual category forums?

    • Incremental Migration Issue – Ticket Showing Resolution on Dec 9 Despite Urgent MX Cutover (Ticket ID: 152080262)

      I am experiencing an issue with Zoho Mail incremental migration from Rackspace. The initial full migration completed successfully, but the incremental migration for one mailbox failed immediately with the message: “User not exist” This appears to be a

    • Change Last Name to not required in Leads

      I would like to upload 500 target companies as leads but I don't yet have contact people for them. Can you enable the option for me to turn this requirement off to need a Second Name? Moderation update (10-Jun-23): As we explore potential solutions for

    • Resend Client Portal Invitation + View Email Delivery Status

      Hi Zoho Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request two important enhancements related to the Zoho Creator Client Portal invitation process. At the moment, when we add a user to the Client Portal, Zoho Creator automatically sends an invitation

    • Get user last login

      1. Is there a way to programmatically get the last user login to trigger certain workflows? 2. Is there a way to programmatically access the custom fields on a user's account?

    • Seeking Zoho Creator Expert (Delivery Management App / Logistics Ops) — Built & Deployed Before

      Hi everyone, We’re building a Delivery Management App (focused on delivery operations for now) using Zoho Creator. We’re looking for a Zoho Creator expert who has already developed and deployed a similar delivery/workflow system and can assist us with

    • Zoho Expense Import Reports Won't Work Because Default Accounts Already Exist

      Im trying to import reports from another Zoho expense account to mine and im getting errors that won't allow the import to happen The account name that you've entered 'Ground Transportation' already exists. Enter another name for the account and try again.z

    • Adding Multiple Files to a Zoho Vault Entry

      There is a old blog post talking about adding multiple file attachments to one Zoho Vault Secret: https://www.zoho.com/blog/vault/introducing-new-features-in-zoho-vault-powerful-password-sharing-wider-storing.html Is that still possible, I can see how

    • FNB South Africa Bank Feed

      I should've thought this wouldn't work. As suspect, Zoho claims to be able to pull bank feeds from First National Bank (South Africa), but fails everytime. I suppose Xero (or even Sage One) is the way to go? If they (miraculously) get it to work again,

    • Dropshipping Address - Does Not Show on Invoice Correctly

      When a dropshipping address is used for a customer, the correct ship-to address does not seem to show on the Invoice. It shows correctly on the Sales Order, Shipment Order, and Package, just not the Invoice. This is a problem, because the company being

    • Zoho unreliable

      Some mails are delivered, others not. How can I trust Zoho any more? Some friends get my e-mail, some don't. Same with receiving e-mails: Some I get, some not. If I use Google, everything works well. But Zoho?!!! How to solve this problem? I already reported this problem before, but didn't get any reply. Thanks, Kim

    • the custom domain forwards by default to the old career site / how to switch it off??

      dear friends, how to switch off the old version of the career site?? The set up custom domain forwards directly to the old site, so that I cant publish it... Any ideas? Thank you! KR, Victoria

    • Preserve Ticket Issue Mapping When Migrating from Jira to Zoho Projects

      Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We are currently exploring a full migration from Jira to Zoho Projects, and we identified a critical limitation during the migration process involving Zoho Desk integration. Current Situation: We use

    • Recording Shopify/Amazon fees in Zoho Books - Zoho Inventory

      We are currently flushing out the connections between Shopify/Amazon and Zoho Inventory. For other users of Zoho Books - Zoho Inventory, where and at what point do you record the merchant fees associated with theses channels? I have gotten mixed responses

    • Pre-fill webforms in Recruit

      I don't want to use the career site portal (as I have my own already), but I would like to direct users to the application forms for each role, from my website job pages. Is there a way to pre-fill fields in Recruit application forms, so that I only have

    • Function #8: Add additional charges to invoices

      Here goes one of the highly sought-after custom functions in Zoho Books. If you find yourself needing to apply additional charges to customers on their invoices (say credit card surcharges, or fuel charges applicable to customers from a certain region,

    • Taxes Payable Adjustment

      I am from Canada and I need to make an adjustment to my Taxes Payable (HST) account.  Basically I need to take a portion of the amount within Taxes Payable and expense that portion to another account.  The adjusting entry would like like the following:

    • ASAP Widget Not showing "My Tickets"ed

      Hello Team, I have created a ZOHO ASAP Widget and embedded to my portal app.clearvuiq.com , widget renders ok and I can open tickets from widget. However I want my opened tickets to be visible in the widget. How can I achieve that?

    • Bug Causing Major Sync & SO Access Failures in Zoho POS

      We are experiencing critical and recurring issues in Zoho POS that all trace back to role-permission handling defects in the latest POS app version. These issues directly affect syncing, login ability, and Sales Order access for role-restricted users

    • How to view CRM Sales Orders in Desk

      What's the usual way to view all CRM sales orders linked to a contact, when viewing a ticket in Desk? I don't want to have to open a new tab to see the order in CRM. And the Desk CRM sidebar doesn't seem to be configurable. Would I have to use an extension

    • Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1

      Hello all!! Welcome back to a fresh Kaizen week. In the previous weeks, we covered Workflow Rules APIs, Actions APIs - Email Notification APIs, Tasks Update API, and Field Update API. This week, we will continue with another Actions API - Webhooks API

    • Pricing Strategies: #3 Services never Stop with just Plans

      "Hey, while you're here, could you also take a look at the vegetable patch?" Aaron hears that line almost every week. He runs a small gardening service, the kind where customers subscribe to a simple monthly plan that includes basic maintenance, mowing,

    • Cropping Photos for Zoho Sites

      Hi, I'm wondering if there is a built in crop tool for zoho sites for my photos so I can crop them and see what the crop looks like on the site?

    • bulk edit records and run internal logic

      hi there is few logics in manner "it this than that" logics work well when i edit entry openning it one by one (via workflow "on add/edit - on success" , for custom field "on update/on user input") but when i try bulk edit records - logic does not work.  how can i turn on logic to work as programmed - for mass editing records via bulk edit?

    • Possible for first Signer of Sign Form to specify the next signer in the sequence

      We have many use cases where multiple signers need sign the same document. We'd love to be able to use sign forms, where the a signer who uses the Sign Form link can specify the name and email address for the next person in the sequence.

    • BUG: Can't copy-paste data outside Sheet

      Currently I can't paste data copied from inside any of my Zoho Sheet files to any other app. Copy-paste works inside the sheet It does NOT work between two different sheets These sheets are built from automation templates Everything works fine if I create

    • Zoho CRM Community Digest - November 2025 | Part 1

      Hello Everyone! Here’s what came through in the first half of November: new updates and a few helpful community discussions with real, notable solutions. Product Updates: Android App Update: Inctroducing Swipe Actions You can now swipe left or right on

    • Upload own Background Image and set Camera to 16:9

      Hi, in all known online meeting tools, I can set up a background image reflecting our corporate design. This doesn't work in Cliq. Additionally, Cliq detects our cameras as 4:3, showing black bars on the right and left sides during the meeting. Where

    • Truesync for Linux

      Is Truesync available on linux ?

    • Hidding/excluding specific picklist options from filter

      Hi. Is it possible to hide/exclude specific picklist options from this filter? I don't want them to be shown when someone tries to filter in the leads module

    • Subforms to Capture Multi-Row Data in Job Sheets

      Subforms transform your job sheets from simple checklists to powerful, data-rich forms. In field service work — whether maintenance, inspection, installation, or repair — a single job can involve multiple repeatable entries: readings, parts used, activities

    • Add "Fetch Composite Item" Action for Inventory

      I want to make a Flow that uses information returned in the GET call for Composite Items, and it's not currently available in Zoho Flow. Please consider adding this functionality.

    • Next Page