FAQs on Notification APIs

FAQs on Notification APIs

Hello all!!
Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series!

In this post, we will address the most frequently asked questions about Zoho CRM's Notification APIs from the Zoho CRM Developer Community Forum.



Notification API

This API allows you to subscribe to events such as creating, updating, and deleting a record in a module through a webhook URL. Each of these actions triggers a corresponding HTTP request to your webhook.

1. How can I turn off related record notifications when using the Notification API?

Answer: 
When enabling the notification, you can pass "notify_on_related_action": false in the input data. This will prevent a notification from being sent for related records (like the account record) when the contact record is updated. If this parameter is not included, the default value is true, meaning related records will still receive notifications.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. What is the expiry duration for a channel, and how can I update it when it expires?

Answer:
  • From V2 to V3: The default channel expiry time is one hour, with a maximum limit of one day.
  • From V4, the default expiry time remains one hour, but the maximum limit is one week.
To continue receiving notifications, you must resubscribe the channel before its expiry using the Enable Notification API.
Example:
If your channel expiry time is set to one day, the best practice is to re-subscribe every 23 hours and 55 minutes (just under 24 hours). If you do not specify an expiry time during subscription, the channel will expire within one hour by default.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. A few modules have not received any notifications, even though we have already subscribed to them. How should we handle this?

Answer:
We suggest updating the notification for the modules where you are facing issues and checking again.
If this does not resolve the problem, please share the following information with support at support@zohocrm.com, and our experts will assist you further.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. How can I get my notify URL since I have subscribed to multiple channels for different modules using the Notification API?

Answer:
You can use the channel ID obtained during the notification subscription to retrieve the notify URL through the GET Notification Details API. The response will provide the module-specific notify URL, along with other details like return_affected_fields, resource_name, channel_expiry, and more. Explore further by using our Notification API.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. How can I use the Notification API to get notification when a deal is created or edited?
Answer: You can use the Notification API to subscribe to events like creation or editing of deals.
Note that the notification channel expires after a maximum of one day / one week (channel_expiry),
so you must update it regularly to keep the notification alive.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. I am not receiving notifications after updating my configuration using the PUT - Update Details of a Notification API. How can I ensure proper notifications in Zoho CRM?

Answer:
The "events" JSON array is mandatory when updating your notification configuration using the PUT - Update Details of a Notification API. Ensure you include the "events" JSON array with valid data in the input data, along with respective channel_id and channel_expiry keys.

For updating specific details, you can use the PATCH - Update Specific Information of a Notification API, where the "events" key is not mandatory.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Does the token field become null when I update a notification using the PATCH request?

Answer:
In the PATCH request for updating notification details, only the fields provided in the input data are updated. Fields not included in the input will retain their existing values. 

                     PUT Method

                       PATCH method

The  PUT request replaces the entire notification details for the specified channel_id with the information provided in the input data.

The PATCH request updates only the specific fields included in the input data, while preserving all other existing notification details.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Why shouldn't  I delete the current channel using "channel_id" with "HTTP method DELETE", and then create a new one with the parameters I need?

Answer:
Deleting and recreating notifications in Zoho CRM is not recommended, as it may result in missed notifications for data changes that occur during the gap between deletion and recreation. Istead, you should update the expiry time regularly, add new events, or enable new notifications using the existing APIs (e.g., PATCH or PUT).
However, if you no longer need a notification channel, you can use the DELETE method to remove it completely. For selectively deleting certain events from an existing notification, use PATCH call.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9. Can I get notifications when specific actions, such as updates or deletions, occur on certain fields? How can I achieve this?

Answer:
Yes, you can receive notifications only for specific fields when they are updated. Use the "notification_condition" JSON array key in your input to set conditions for these fields. This support is available from Zoho CRM API version 6. Refer to the Enable Notifications API document for details on setting up field-specific conditions.

Sample Input:


{
    "watch": [
        {
            "channel_id": "10000",
            "events": [
                "Leads.all"
            ],
            "notification_condition": [
                {
                    "type": "field_selection",
                    "module": {
                        "api_name": "Leads",
                        "id": "554023000000000131"
                    },
                    "field_selection": {
                        "field": {
                            "api_name": "Company",
                            "id": "554023000000000525"
                        }
                    }
                }
            ],
            "channel_expiry": "2024-12-31T09:58:09+05:30",
            "token": "leads.all.notif",
            "return_affected_field_values": true,
            "notify_url": "https://webhook.site/2c9a0xxc20fa9"
        }
    ]
}

This JSON input sets a notification channel for monitoring all actions related to the Leads module in Zoho CRM, specifically focusing on changes to the "Company" field. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. How can I know which fields have been updated and what their new values are?

Answer: 
By default, notifications do not include details about the updated fields. To know information about fields that were modified along with their new values, set "return_affected_values": true in your input body when enabling notifications. 

Sample Input:


{
    "watch": [
        {
            "channel_id": "10000",
            "events": [
                "Leads.edit"
            ],
            "notification_condition": [
                {
                    "type": "field_selection",
                    "module": {
                        "api_name": "Leads"
                    },
                    "field_selection": {
                        "field": {
                            "api_name": "Company"
                        }
                    }
                }
            ],
            "token": "leads.all.notif",
            "return_affected_field_values": true,
        }
    ]
}


Sample Response JSON Notification:


{
  "server_time": 1735038997457,
  "affected_values": [
    {
      "record_id": "5725767000005053017",
      "values": {
        "Company": "Tech Info"
      }
    }
  ],
  "query_params": {},
  "module": "Leads",
  "ids": [
    "5725767000005053017"
  ],
  "affected_fields": [
    {
      "5725767000005053017": [
        "Company"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "operation": "update",
  "channel_id": "10000",
  "token": "leads.all.notif"
}

In the above response,  the "affected_fields" contains a list of the fields that were modified and "affected_values" contains the new values for the modified fields, along with the respective record details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11. I am trying to use the Zoho Notification API. I can successfully enable notifications, but I don't receive any notifications when an event occurs.

Answer:
  • Ensure that your webhook URL is active and accessible. If it is down, Zoho CRM cannot send notifications about data updates.
  • Check if the notification channel has expired. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12. Can I receive notifications if a subform or multi-select lookup (MxN) field in a module is modified or updated?

Answer: 
Yes, you can receive notifications when a subform or MxN field is updated. Though subforms and MxN fields are fields in a module, the system internally creates a separate module for each. As a result, subforms and MxN fields are treated as independent modules. 

To enable instant notifications for actions performed on these modules, use the respective API names of the subform or MxN (linking module) in the input body.

Sample Input:


{
    "watch": [
        {
            "channel_id": "10000",
            "events": [
                "Project_Details.all"  //Project_Details represents the API name of the subform
            ],
            "return_affected_field_values": true  
        }
    ]
}

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


13. How is the Notification API useful for data synchronization with a third-party application?

Answer: 
Refer to our Kaizen #122 for a detailed explanation of data synchronization  between Zoho CRM and third-party application using the Notification API and the Bulk Read API with a third-party application.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14. I am facing delays in receiving notification responses for bulk records. In what cases do notification delays occur, and how can I ensure faster notifications for bulk record actions?

Answer: 
When performing bulk actions (e.g., record creation or updates), if your processing speed exceeds 100 milliseconds per notification (e.g., 500 to 800 milliseconds), it will result in notification delays.
To avoid delays, ensure that your processing speed remains below 100 milliseconds per notification.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note that the above-mentioned queries were frequently asked in the Zoho CRM Developer Community Forum and most of them were addressed by the Zoho CRM Support team. This post aims to put them all in one place and add additional questions with their solutions.


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!!!

✨Wishing you a fantastic year ahead in 2025 ✨



    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! 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 #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.

    • Celebrating 200 posts of Kaizen! Share your ideas for the milestone post

      Hello Developers, We launched the Kaizen series in 2019 to share helpful content to support your Zoho CRM development journey. Staying true to its spirit—Kaizen Series: Continuous Improvement for Developer Experience—we've shared everything from FAQs

    • Kaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! 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.

    • Client Script | Update - Introducing Commands in Client Script!

      Have you ever wished you could trigger Client Script from contexts other than just the supported pages and events? Have you ever wanted to leverage the advantage of Client Script at your finger tip? Discover the power of Client Script - Commands! Commands

    • Recent Topics

    • Error: Unsupported content type: text/html;charset=UTF-8 after tryeing to get the token for n8n automation

      I am working on ZOHO Desk automation and need to get the ZOHO auth token for n8n I have created the app in ZOHO Desk API, got client id and client secret. Added all data required to get a token in n8n. After I sign in with my ZOHO credentials in ZOHO

    • Replace Lookup fields ID value with their actual name and adding inormation from subforms

      Hi everyone,  I wanted to see if someone smarter than me has managed to find any solutions to two problems we have. I will explain both below.  To start we are syncing data from Zoho CRM to Zoho Analytics and I will use the Sales Order module when giving

    • Webhook from Zobot to Zoho Flow fails

      I'm trying to connect from zobot to zoho flow. When testing in zflow, I am receiving all entered data from the connector correctly. The SalesIQ connector's "outputreaction" is {} (is this normal or is there a problem?). But as soon as I try my chat bot

    • Transition from Sole Proprietorship to GmbH (Limited Liability Company) – Best Approach in Zoho Books / Zoho One

      Hello everyone, I am currently operating under a Zoho One plan with a sole proprietorship in Switzerland. As of January 1st, 2026, I will be incorporating a new legal entity – a GmbH (Swiss equivalent of a Limited Liability Company). While the business

    • Presenting ABM for Zoho CRM: Expand and retain your customers with precision

      Picture this scenario: You're a growing SaaS company ready to launch a powerful business suite, and are looking to gain traction and momentum. But as a business with a tight budget, you know acquiring new customers is slow, expensive, and often delivers

    • Best way to display complex Bookings Consultation Descriptions on Zoho Site?

      I am a new user so apologies if this has been asked before. I couldn't find any answers in the forum. We offer 18 complex Consultations to our subscribers. Our current platform lets me put detail on these Consultations thoroughly (200-300 words) during

    • No Response from Zoho Support in 8 Days - Typical?

      I have a couple of issues I'm trying to work through. Initially, I was getting support from support@zohofsm.com, but I have not received a response in 8 days (11 on another question). Is this typical? Can I pay for support? For context, I am not spamming

    • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

      Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards

    • Age Calculation

      I've attempted to calculate the age of someone based on their birthday input by using the formula field. It works but I don't want all those decimals on there. I then tried to use "set variable" after birthday input but I get a field type mismatch, long vs. floating. Any ideas would be wonderful.

    • Access Denied

      I am iOS Developer and updating our clients project and shifted ZohoDeskPortalCore SDKs from cocoapods to SPM and changed few lines of code but now i am get access denied, the help center app is unavailable. please contact administrator.

    • Using Zoho Desk to support ISMS process

      Hi, I am evaluating using Zoho Desk for security incident management. This seems to be aligned with Zoho Desk purpose as its just another type of incident. However in security incident management, ideally I can link incidents (tickets) with a risk from

    • Filtering Tickets based on Email headers

      We're starting to get a lot more junk coming into our Zoho Desk, which is then triggering unnecessary email alerts to agents. Once thing we could do to cut this junk in half, is to filter tickets based on email headers. Any email containing the `List-Unsubscribe`

    • Field Dependency Not Working on Detail Page in Zoho Desk

      Hi Support Team, I’ve created field dependencies between two fields in Zoho Desk, and they are working correctly on the Create and Edit layouts. However, on the Detail page, the fields are not displaying according to the dependencies I’ve set — they appear

    • TaxJar vs Avalara

      Hi, I'm evaluating adoption of a sales-tax service for US based business. Anyone else have experience with TaxJar and Zoho Books? I am a Zoho One subscriber so anticipate needing to use Flow to make this work. It seems like Avalara are simply too expensive

    • How to check Leads with no Task (open activity)

      Hi everyone, I was wondering if there’s a way to view leads that don’t have any tasks assigned or open activities linked to them.

    • What can we do on our end to improve the Answer bot answers?

      Hi, I'm using the Answer bot card in the Codeless bot builder. I've input several questions and their answers in the FAQ section to feed the Answer bot. The text is all in French, as this is the language our customers communicate in. I've tried testing

    • Zoho Books Sandbox environment

      Hello. Is there a free sandbox environment for the developers using Zoho Books API? I am working on the Zoho Books add-on and currently not ready to buy a premium service - maybe later when my add-on will start to bring money. Right now I just need a

    • Taxes for EU B2B Transactions

      Currently, ZC doesn't seem to have a procedure for validating VAT numbers of businesses purchasing in another EU state, and removing local VAT is valid.  This is essential for all inter EU B2B trade.

    • Zoho Down

      I have a drop in my Zoho One services.

    • Customer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account

      Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, they

    • Issue with Inline Images in Email Reply via Zoho Desk API

      Hi, I am attempting to send inline images in an email reply using the Zoho Desk API, but the images are not being displayed inline for the recipient. I have followed this documentation: https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Uploads https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Threads#Threads_SendEmailReply

    • How to upload file to Connect using API?

      Hi there. I looked at the API documentation and nowhere did it mention how to use the API method to upload a file even though it is mentioned that it is possible to be done so. Please help.

    • Problem for EU users connecting Zoho CRM through Google Ads for Enhanced conversions

      Has anyone else experienced this problem when trying to connect Zoho CRM through Google Ads interface to setup enhanced conversions? Did you guys get it fixed somehow? The Problem: The current Google Ads integration is hardcoded to use Zoho's US authentication

    • How can I setup Zoho MCP with Chat GPT

      I can set up custom connections with Chat GPT but I cat an error when I try to set it up. The error is: "This MCP server can't be used by ChatGPT to search information because it doesn't implement our specification: search action not found" Thoughts?

    • Group Tax in Service Line Items

      Hi FSM Team! I noticed that when you update a tax in the service line item the group tax is not showing up as an option. Let me know what can be done thank you!

    • Zoho Campaigns - Why do contacts have owners?

      When searching for contacts in Zoho Campaigns I am sometimes caught out when I don't select the filter option "Inactive users". So it appears that I have some contacts missing, until I realise that I need to select that option. Campaigns Support have

    • FSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data

      I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the Import

    • Whatsapp Limitation Questions

      Good day, I would like to find out about the functionality or possibility of all the below points within the Zoho/WhatsApp integration. Will WhatsApp buttons ever be possible in the future? Will WhatsApp Re-directs to different users be possible based

    • Zoho FSM API Delete Record

      Hi FSM Team, It would be great if you could delete a record via API. Thank you,

    • Insert auto number from main form into subform rows

      Hello. I'm trying to take from my main form "order number" which i have setup as an auto generated number into every line created in my subform. So when a row is created in my subform i want the "order number " from the main form to be inserted automatically.

    • Adding a developer for editing the client application with a single user license

      Hi, I want to know that I as a developer I developed one application and handed over to the customer who is using the application on a single user license. Now after6 months customer came back to me and needs some changes in the application. Can a customer

    • Function #4: Schedule Customer Statements

      Regularly sending statements to customers is an imperative part of many business processes as it helps foster strong customer relationships and provides timely guidance on payments. While you can generate the statement of accounts and have it sent over

    • Limiting search or dependencies with an asterisk "*".

      I have a form with several dependency fields with options still developing for each field. Since these options were developing and not yet ready to be a selection in the field, I placed a filter for the dropdown field. In this filter, I selected fields

    • Collaps Notes

      There are times when long/large notes are added to a record i.e. Accounts or Deals etc. Currently, the full note is displayed in the notes related list section. It would be great if by default only 5 to 10 rows of the note are displayed when the note

    • Improved RingCentral Integration

      We’d like to request an enhancement to the current RingCentral integration with Zoho. RingCentral now automatically generates call transcripts and AI-based call summaries (AI Notes) for each call, which are extremely helpful for support and sales teams.

    • How to overcome limitations in meetings

      As a company, one of our deliverables is a meeting between two other companies, where we act as facilitators. So, if we recorded this meeting  in Zoho CRM, it should be connected to 2 accounts, 2 contacts, and 1 campaign (a campaign, in our use, is the

    • Cross Data Center Support for 1:1 Chats with External Users

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We appreciate the recent enhancement that enables cross data center collaboration in external channels, which has already improved communication across distributed teams. However, we’ve noticed that this

    • Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels

    • Answer Bot and Personalized Questions

      Hi there, I have the same problem using the SalesIQ Answer Bot and the Zoho Desk Answer Bot (which really need different names, to be honest, in order to avoid confusion...) Customers that visit our website ask questions in the form of "What do you do?"

    • Handling Greetings/Small Talk at the Beginning of a Zobot Conversation

      Hello everyone, I’m currently configuring a **Zobot** in Zoho SalesIQ and everything is working as expected, except for one specific scenario at the very beginning of the conversation. My target audience has the habit of starting with a **greeting or

    • Next Page