Kaizen 178 - Filters & Criteria in Zoho CRM APIs

Kaizen 178 - Filters & Criteria in Zoho CRM APIs


Hey everyone, and welcome back to another week of Kaizen!

Ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data in your Zoho CRM? Sifting through countless records to find exactly what you need, or to operate on specific records that meet a certain criteria, can indeed be a real time-sink. Fortunately, Zoho CRM provides powerful filtering capabilities through its APIs to streamline this process.

What is criteria or filter?

In Zoho CRM APIs, criteria refer to the conditions applied to filter records when making API requests. These conditions can be simple (single condition) or complex (multiple conditions) and are specified using various comparators.

Depending on the API type and request method, the filter can be provided either:
  • As a query parameter (filters) – Used in GET requests.
  • As an input key in the request body (criteria)– Used in POST and PUT requests   

Where is "filters" used in Zoho CRM APIs?

The filters parameter is supported across multiple Zoho CRM API endpoints, including but not limited to:

Where is "criteria" used in Zoho CRM APIs?

The criteria key is supported across multiple Zoho CRM API endpoints, including but not limited to:
The filters parameter and criteria key are supported across multiple Zoho CRM API endpoints. Refer to our API help documentation for individual APIs to check if these options are available. Check the Parameters section for filters and the Input JSON section for criteria
 in the API's help documentation.

Constructing a criteria or a filter

Zoho CRM APIs use JSON-based criteria/filters expressions, which consist of:
  • Field API Name – The field to filter (e.g., Email, Created_Time, Status).
  • Comparator – The operator defining how the field should be compared (equals, greater_than, etc.).
  • Value – The specific value to compare against.

Single Condition

A single condition is structured as follows:
{
  "field": {
    "api_name": "Post_Number"
  },
  "comparator": "greater_than",
  "value": 1
}

Here,
  • field specifies the API name of the field to be filtered.
  • comparator indicates the type of comparison to be made (e.g., greater_than).
  • value is the value against which the field is compared.

Multiple Conditions

When multiple conditions are required, they can be grouped using the logical operators "and" or "or". Here’s the syntax of how to structure multiple conditions:
{
  "group_operator": "or",
  "group": [
    {
      "field": {
        "api_name": "Post_Number"
      },
      "comparator": "greater_than",
      "value": 1
    },
    {
      "field": {
        "api_name": "Pre_Number"
      },
      "comparator": "greater_than",
      "value": 1
    }
  ]
}

Here,
  • group_operator can be "and" or "or". It defines how the conditions within the group array are evaluated. "and" means all conditions must be true, while "or" means at least one condition must be true.
  • group
     contains an array of condition objects, each with its own field, comparator, and value.
Following is an example for a criteria with more than two conditions:
{
  "criterion": {
    "group_operator": "and",
    "group": [
      {
        "field": {
          "api_name": "Post_Number"
        },
        "comparator": "greater_than",
        "value": 1
      },
      {
        "group_operator": "or",
        "group": [
          {
            "field": {
              "api_name": "Pre_Number"
            },
            "comparator": "greater_than",
            "value": 1
          },
          {
            "field": {
              "api_name": "Status"
            },
            "comparator": "equals",
            "value": "Active"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Supported Comparators for Different Field Types

The available comparators depend on the field type. The following table outlines the supported comparators for different field types:

Field Type
Supported Comparators
Example
text/ textarea
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains , starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "text"
   },
   "value": "zoho"

}
email
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains, starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "contains",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Email"
   },
   "value": "patricia"
}
phone
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains, starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Phone"
   },
   "value": "9999999999"
}
website
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains, starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "contains",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "website"
   },
   "value": "zoho"
}
picklist
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains, starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "picklist"
   },
   "value": [
       "Cold Call",
        "Call"
   ]
}
multiselectpicklist
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains, starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Multi_Select_Picklist"
   },
   "value": [
         "Cold Call",
        "Call"
   ]
}
date
equal, not_equal, less_than, greater_than, between, not_between, less_equal, greater_equal
Example 1:
{
   "comparator": "less_than",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "date"
   },
   "value": "01-01-2025"

}
Example 2:
{
   "comparator": "between",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "date"
   },
   "value": [
          "01-01-2025",
           "02-01-2025",
}
datetime
equal, not_equal, less_than, greater_than, between, not_between, less_equal, greater_equal
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "date"
   },
   "value": "2025-01-01T12:12:06+05:30"
}
autonumber
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains, starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "starts_with",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Auto_Number"
   },
   "value": "A01"
}
integer
equal, not_equal, less_than, less_equal, greater_than, greater_equal, between, not_between
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "integer"
   },
   "value": 4
}
currency
equal, not_equal, contains, not_contains, starts_with, ends_with
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Currency"
   },
   "value": "INR"
}
double
equal, not_equal, less_than, less_equal, greater_than, greater_equal, between, not_between
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Double"
   },
   "value": "123"
}
Boolean
equal
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Boolean"
   },
   "value": true
}
big int
equal, not_equal, less_than, less_equal, greater_than, greater_equal, between, not_between
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "id"
   },
   "value": "1234800023843923"
}
lookup
equal, not_equal, less_than, less_equal, greater_than, greater_equal, between, not_between
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Lookup.name"
   },
   "value": "Name1"
}
ownerlookup/userlookup
in, not_in 
{
   "comparator": "equal",
   "field": {
       "api_name": "Modified_By",
       "id": "400029000000000479"
   },
   "value": [
       {
           "id": "400029000003984001",
           "name": "User1"
       },
       {
           "id": 400029000003984002,
           "name": "User2"
       }
   ]
}
formula
Comparator will depend on the return type
-



Notes
Note: 
  • Use quotes for strings and picklists; do not use quotes for numbers and boolean values.
  • While Zoho CRM’s filtering capabilities are extensive, certain field types — including subforms, multi-select lookup fields, multi-user lookup fields, and multi-module lookup fields — are not supported in filters and criteria. The above table lists all the supported field types. 

Filtering in COQL Queries

COQL (CRM Object Query Language) provides a structured way to retrieve records from Zoho CRM using SQL-like queries. Unlike the standard API filters discussed above, COQL uses the WHERE clause to define conditions.

Here is a sample COQL query:

{
  "select_query": "SELECT Full_Name, Email FROM Leads WHERE Lead_Status = 'Qualified'"
}

Here, Lead_Status = 'Qualified' acts as the filtering criteria.

{
  "select_query": "SELECT Full_Name, Email FROM Leads WHERE (Lead_Status = 'Qualified' AND City = 'New York') OR (Industry = 'Software')"
}

The AND and OR operators allow for multiple conditions in the WHERE clause. We have covered COQL API, and all the supported field types and operators in detail in our Kaizen posts. Kindly refer to them for more details.

Criteria in Search API

In Search API, filtering records is done using the criteria (string) input key in the request body. Unlike filters in GET requests or criteria in other APIs, criteria here is a text-based filter expression that follows a specific syntax.

(({api_name}:{operator}:{value})and/or({api_name}:{operator}:{value}))
  • You can combine up to 10 conditions using and or or.
  • Only the equals operator is supported for encrypted fields.
  • When using "equals" in Search API, it behaves like "contains", meaning it fetches records that include the specified value, not just exact matches.
  • If you use parentheses (), commas, or backslashes \ in values, you must escape them properly and encode the value before making the request.
Field Type
Supported Operators
Date, DateTime
equals, not_equal, greater_equal, greater_than, less_equal, less_than, between, in
Integer, Currency, Decimal
equals, not_equal, greater_equal, greater_than, less_equal, less_than, between, in
Boolean
equals, not_equal
textarea
equals, not_equal, starts_with
Lookup (user/owner)
equals, not_equal, in
Picklist, Autonumber
equals, not_equal, in
Text, Email, Phone, Website 
equals, not_equal, starts_with, in
multiselectpicklist
equals, not_equal, in, starts_with.
bigint
equals, not_equal, greater_than, greater_equal, less_than, less_equal, between, in
percent
equals, not_equal, greater_than, greater_equal, less_than, less_equal, between, in
formula
The supported operators of the formula datatype will depend on the return type of the formula


Have questions or use cases to share? Feel free to share them in the comments below or reach out to our support team directly at support@zohocrm.com.

Thank you for joining us this week. Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming Kaizen posts! Happy Coding!!



    • 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

    • Refunds do not export from Shopify, Amazon and Esty to Zoho. And then do not go from Zoho inventory to Quickbooks.

      I have a huge hole in my accounts from refunds and the lack of synchronisation between shopify , Amazon and Etsy to Zoho ( i.e when I process a refund on shopify/ Amazon or Etsy it does not come through to Zoho) and then if I process a manual credit note/

    • CRM->INVENTORY, sync products as composite items

      We have a product team working in the CRM, as it’s more convenient than using Books or Inventory—especially with features like Blueprints being available. Once a product reaches a certain stage, it needs to become visible in Inventory. To achieve this,

    • Zoho Calendar not working since a few days

      Hey there, first off a minor thing, since I just tried to enable the Calendar after reading this in another topic (there was no setting for this though) : For some reason my current session is showing me based in New York - I'm in Germany, not using a

    • Monthly timesheet, consolidation of time by project

      I have time logs for various jobs for project. Is it possible to consolidate the time spent for each job, when I am generating a timesheet for a month? I am getting the entries of jobs done on each day when I generate a timesheet for a month For example

    • Building a Strong Online Identity with G-Tech Solutions

      In today’s fast-moving world, having a strong online identity is essential for every business. https://gtechsol.com.au helps businesses establish a digital presence that reflects their vision and values. By focusing on innovation and quality, they create

    • Sending emails from an outlook account

      Hi, I need to know if it's possible to send automatic emails from an Outlook account configured in Zoho CRM and, if so, how I can accomplish that. To give you some context, I set up a domain and created a function that generates PDF files to be sent later

    • Struggling with stock management in Zoho CRM – is Zoho Inventory the solution?

      My biggest pain point today with Zoho is inventory management. I run a retail business and reliable stock management is absolutely critical. Obviously, I need this inventory to be visible inside the CRM. At first, I tried handling it through custom modules

    • Automating CRM backup storage?

      Hi there, We've recently set up automatic backups for our Zoho CRM account. We were hoping that the backup functionality would not require any manual work on our end, but it seems that we are always required to download the backups ourselves, store them,

    • Nimble enhancements to WhatsApp for Business integration in Zoho CRM: Enjoy context and clarity in business messaging

      Dear Customers, We hope you're well! WhatsApp for business is a renowned business messaging platform that takes your business closer to your customers; it gives your business the power of personalized outreach. Using the WhatsApp for Business integration

    • can't login Kiosk URGENT

      already try, can't login pls help to support. thanks.

    • 【Zoho CRM】CRM for Everyoneに関するアップデート：関連データ機能

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、CRM for Everyoneの新機能「関連データ機能」をご紹介します。 関連データ機能は、あるタブのデータを別のタブに柔軟に関連付け、異なるタブで管理されている情報を1か所にまとめて表示できます。 たとえば、組織タブとチームタブのデータを関連付けることで、必要な情報に効率よくアクセスでき、顧客理解を深めながら他チームとの連携もスムーズに行えます。 目次 1. 関連データの設定方法

    • Zoho Books

      How do I manually insert opening balance?

    • Profit / margins on Sales orders / Invoices / Estimates

      When we select an SKU or item name in any of these documents, much info such as invoice.line_items.rate is pulled from the item & filled into the document being worked on. If we had another lineItem DB field (hidden) auto filled at the same time: invoice.line_items.purchase_rate

    • Inventory to Xero Invocie Sync Issues

      Has anyone had an issue with Invoices not syncing to Xero. It seems to be an issue when there is VAT on a shipping cost, but I cannot be 100% as the error is vague: "Unable to export Invoice 'INV-000053' as the account mapped with some items does not

    • How to activate RFQ? What if a price list has ladder price for items?

      Where can I find the option to activate request for quotation? How does it work? If the item has ladder price, does it gets calculated depending on how many items are in the cart?

    • Mailk got blocked / Inquiry About Email Sending Limits and Upgrade Options

      Dear Zoho Support Team, My name is Kamr Elsayed I created this account to use for applying for vocational training in Germany. As part of this process, I send multiple emails to different companies. However, after sending only 8 emails today, I received

    • Can't join canal Developers Zoho User

      Hello, I received an invitation to join this channel, but I get an error when I try to join it, and I get the same error when I go to the Zoho Cliq interface > Search for a channel. Is this because I don't have a license linked to this email address?

    • Desk Email reply - set default font / use custom font

      Hello, in our e-mails, which we send to our customers, a certain font must be used (Corporate Design): Segoe UI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segoe#Segoe_UI How can this be included? How can this be set as the default font to ensure that this font is

    • PDF Templates - Checkbox Borders

      Is there a way to remove the border of a radio/checkbox on a PDF? I'd like to use the function of checkbox but if there's no easy way to remove the border (the PDF form already has a rectangle so it gets cluttered), then I'm forced to create a single

    • Zoho CRM's custom views are now deployable from sandboxes

      This feature is now available for users in the AU, JP, and CN DCs. New update: This feature is now available for users in CA and SA DCs. Hello everyone, We're excited to announce that you can now deploy custom views from sandboxes to your production environment

    • Generate a link for Zoho Sign we can copy and use in a separate email

      Please consider adding functionality that would all a user to copy a reminder link so that we can include it in a personalized email instead of sending a Zoho reminder. Or, allow us to customize the reminder email. Use Case: We have clients we need to

    • Settings Icon No Longer in ZOHO Desk?

      In ZOHO desk, there has been a gear icon for settings. as of yesterday, it is no longer there. I showed up briefly this morning but is gone again. Anybody else experiecing this?

    • Introducing the all-new email parser!

      Greetings, We are pleased to introduce to you, a brand-new, upgraded version of the Zoho CRM Email Parser, which is packed with fresh features and has been completely redesigned to meet latest customers needs and their business requirements. On that note,

    • Tip #43 - Track, Review, and Analyze Your Assist Sessions with Reports-'Insider Insights'

      Did you know you can generate detailed reports for both remote support sessions and unattended access sessions in Zoho Assist? This makes it easy to monitor technician activity, measure efficiency, and review customer interactions. Let us now take a closer

    • Function #20: Custom calculation in item table of invoices

      When you create an invoice in Zoho Books, the 'Amount' of a line item is typically calculated as the product of the "Quantity" and the "Rate" of the item. For instance, if an item has a sales rate of $50 and a quantity of 5 is sold, then the amount would

    • CBSA - GST CHARGES on imports

      Hi there, We have a questions about landed cost categorization. We received a shipment from overseas. CBSA invoiced us for the GST on the items. Now we entered the CBSA-GST as a separate bill and attached it as landed cost to the main invoice based on

    • Simplified Call Logging

      Our organization would like to start logging calls in our CRM; however, with 13 fields that can't be removed, our team is finding it extremely cumbersome. For our use case, we only need to record that a call happened theirfor would only need the following

    • Sub form doesn't as formula field

      Is it possible to get formula field in sub form in futures?

    • Week date range in pivot table

      Hello, I need to create a report that breakouts the data by week.  I am using the pivot table report, and breaking out the date by week, however the date is displayed as 'Week 1 2014' format.  Is there anyway to get the actual dates in there? ex. 1/6/2014-1/12/2014 Thanks,

    • How do I get Status History data of my Projects?

      I want to build a table in Zoho Analytics that Groups by Date, when Projects entered a certain status. I cannot find Status History or any such useful data available in the Setup of my Data Source sync. Please advise how I can achieve this?

    • Is it possible to hide fields in a Subform?

      Since layout rules cannot be used with Subforms, is there another way, or is it even possible, to hide fields in a subform based on a picklist fields within said subform? For example, if the Service Provided is Internet, then I do not want to see the

    • Weekly Tips :Instantly find what you need with Attachment Viewer

      Your inbox must be packed with project emails, shared notes, and scattered attachments. You are looking for one specific file—a presentation slide or maybe a media clip from a team update—but don’t want to dig through endless email threads or switch between

    • Putting Watermark on Zoho Sheet

      Can this be done?

    • Missing Zoho Desk integration option for form workflows

      According to the help page "Configure Zoho Desk integration in form workflows" we should be able to select Zoho Desk as an integration target but when I open the integrations list then Zoho Desk is not being listed in it. We are on the Premium plan which should already support Zoho Desk integrations.

    • Gantt for 2 or more projects

      Hello, I'm trying the free version of your produtc. It is veryyy good!!!! I don't know if in the Standard plan, I can overview a Gantt Graph for 2 or more Projects Milestone. This would be very helpfull for managing teams and taking decisions about who I will assign a task to. In the paid plan Do I have this possibility? Thank you.

    • Integrating a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into Reports

      Is is possible to integrate a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into a Zoho Report Dashboard. I am in the process of creating Project Status Dashboards for the projects that we track in Zoho Projects and I would like to incorporate the gantt chart within Reports.  Please let me know! Thanks

    • ZOHO BOOKS - EXCESSIVELY SLOW TODAY

      Dear Zoho Books This is not the first time but it seems to be 3 times per week now that the system is extremely slow. I work on Zoho Books 95% of my day so this is very frustrating. Zoho you need to do something about this. I have had my IT guy check

    • Gantt Chart - Zoho Analytics

      Are there any plans to add Gantt Charts capabilities to Zoho Analytics?

    • Displaying related quotes in sales order and back

      Hi, My colleague liked to see to which sales orders, the quote has been converted. Quote shows Invoices, but not SO. Same, they would like to see the quotes in the sales order, as they can see invoices, packages, shipment, How can we achieve this ? Thank

    • Tip of the Week #71–Auto-move incoming messages to the right inboxes with keywords

      We all know that customer-facing teams, especially your sales and support teams, can’t afford to miss even a single customer conversation. But sometimes, sales queries or support requests can easily get lost in a crowded inbox or even end up in the wrong

    • Next Page