Kaizen #81 - COQL API - Part II

Kaizen #81 - COQL API - Part II

Hello everyone! 
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! 
In continuation to last week's post on COQL API, we will discuss the rest of the field types and their supported operators with detailed examples in this post. 

Supported field types and Operators

Please refer to the COQL API - Part I Kaizen post for the first three field types and their supported operators.

4) Boolean

The supported operator for Boolean field is =. You should provide the value as either true or false.

Sample Query

{
 "select_query" : "select Product_Name, Product_Code from Products where Product_Active = 'false' limit 2"
}

This sample query selects the Product_Name and Product_Code fields from the Products module where Product_Active is false, and limits the result to only 2 records.
Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "Product_Code": "SR-001",
            "Product_Name": "Sigma",
            "id": "4876876000001036109"
        },
        {
            "Product_Code": "SR-003",
            "Product_Name": "Alpha",
            "id": "4876876000001039006"
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 2,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

what_Id support in COQL

=, !=, in, not in, is null, is not null are the supported operators. what_Id support is extended only to Tasks, Calls and Events. The what_Id field could be a lead or a contact.

Sample Query

{
    "select_query": "select 'What_Id->Leads.Last_Name' from Tasks where (('What_Id->Leads.id' in ('4876876000000900134','4876678000000900987')) AND ('What_Id->Leads.Industry' != 'ERP'))"
}

This sample query queries for the last name of leads associated with tasks where the lead ID is either '4876876000000900134' or '4876678000000900987', and the lead's industry is not 'ERP'.
Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "What_Id->Leads.Last_Name": "Perry",
            "id": "4876876000001103044"
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 1,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

Roles and Profiles support in COQL

COQL supports roles and profiles lookup fields, allowing users to retrieve the owner's profile details such as ID, name etc, and the owner's role details using COQL queries. The supported comparators are =, !=, in, not in, is null, is not null.

Sample Query

{
    "select_query": "select Owner.role.id,Owner.role.name,Owner.role.reporting_to, Owner.role.share_data_with_peers, Owner.role.description, Owner.profile.id from Leads where Last_Name is not null LIMIT 1"
}

This query fetches the Profile details and Role details of the owner of one record from the Leads module. 

Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "Owner.role.reporting_to": null,
            "Owner.profile.id": "4876876000000026011",
            "Owner.role.name": "CEO",
            "Owner.role.description": "crm.security.role.admin.desc",
            "Owner.role.share_data_with_peers": true,
            "Owner.role.id": "4876876000000026005",
            "id": "4876876000000333403"
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 1,
        "more_records": true
    }
}

Alias support

Supported operators : =, !=, in, not in, is null, is not null
Alias support in COQL allows users to simplify complex SELECT field names by giving them custom names or aliases. Using aliases in the SELECT column and ORDER BY class can make column names easier to understand and remember. For instance,  What_Id->Leads.Last_Name from our previous example can be given an alias in the SELECT query as follows.

Sample Query

{
    "select_query": "select 'What_Id->Leads.Last_Name' AS 'Lead Name' from Tasks where (('What_Id->Leads.id' in ('4876876000000900134','4876678000000900987')) AND ('What_Id->Leads.Industry' != 'ERP'))"
}

Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": "4876876000001103044",
            "Lead Name": "Perry"
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 1,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

If you compare this response with the sample response in the what_Id section above, you can see that the key 'What_Id->Leads.Last_Name'  is replaced with the Alias 'Lead Name'  in here. 

Aggregate Function Support in COQL

Aggregate functions in COQL allow you to perform calculations on groups of records in a module. The available aggregate functions include SUM, MIN, MAX, AVG, and COUNT.

1. SUM

Use this function to sum up the values of an aggregate field in a module. 

Sample Query 1

{
    "select_query":"select SUM(Grand_Total) from Quotes WHERE Quote_Stage = 'Draft' "
}

This Query uses the SUM function to calculate the total value of the Grand_Total field for all quotes in the Draft stage in the Quotes module.
Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "SUM(Grand_Total)": 1073660
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 1,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

Sample Query 2

{
    "select_query": "select SUM(Grand_Total), Account_Name.Account_Name AS 'Account Name', Billing_Country from Invoices where ((Status != 'Paid') and ((Billing_Country ='USA') OR (Billing_Country = 'Canada'))) GROUP BY Account_Name.Account_Name, Billing_Country ORDER BY 'Account Name' ASC"
}

This query retrieves the total SUM of the Grand_Total field, along with the Account_Name and Billing_Country from the Invoices module for those records whose Status field is not equal to 'Paid' and the Billing_Country field is either 'USA' or 'Canada'. The results are grouped by the Account_Name and Billing_Country fields and ordered in ascending order based on the 'Account Name' field.

Note that the 'Account Name' field is specified using the AS keyword to provide an alias for the Account_Name.Account_Name field. We have used the alias for the ORDER BY clause.
Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "Account Name": "SR Systems",
            "Billing_Country": "USA",
            "SUM(Grand_Total)": 2430000
        },
        {
            "Account Name": "SR Systems",
            "Billing_Country": "Canada",
            "SUM(Grand_Total)": 60000
        },
        {
            "Account Name": "Zylker systems",
            "Billing_Country": "Canada",
            "SUM(Grand_Total)": 378000
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 3,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

The response JSON contains the SUM of the Grand_Total fields, Account Name and Billing_Country for each unique combination of Account Name and Billing Country fields that satisfies the filter criteria specified in the query. 

2. MAX

Use this aggregate function to find the largest value of a field in a module. 

Sample Query

{
    "select_query": "select MAX(Amount) AS 'Maximum Deal Amount', Account_Name.Account_Name from Deals where ((Stage = 'Closed Won') AND  (Type = 'Existing Business')) Group by Account_Name.Account_Name"
}

This Query selects the maximum Deal Amount for each account from the Deals module where the stage is Closed Won and the type is Existing Business.
Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "Maximum Deal Amount": 6750000,
            "Account_Name.Account_Name": "Benton"
        },
        {
            "Maximum Deal Amount": null,
            "Account_Name.Account_Name": "King"
        },
        {
            "Maximum Deal Amount": 945000,
            "Account_Name.Account_Name": "Morlong Associates"
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 3,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

3. MIN

Use this aggregate function to find the smallest value of a field in a module. For example, you can use this function to find the Lowest Annual Revenue in the Leads module.

Sample Query: 1:

{
        "select_query": "select MIN(Annual_Revenue) from Leads where Annual_Revenue is not null"
}

Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "MIN(Annual_Revenue)": 348.3
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 1,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

4. AVG

Use this aggregate function to find the average value of a field in a module. 

Sample Query

{
    "select_query": "SELECT AVG(Amount) AS 'Average Deal Amount' FROM Deals WHERE Type = 'New Business'"
}

This query calculates the average deal amount for all new business deals in the "Deals" module. 
Sample Response:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "Average Deal Amount": 877366.8359999999
        }
    ],
    "info": {
        "count": 1,
        "more_records": false
    }
}

5. COUNT

Use this aggregate function to count the number of records in a module satisfying a certain criteria. You can use this aggregate function only for number, lookup, and picklist fields.

Sample Query:

{
    "select_query": "SELECT COUNT(Product_Category) FROM Products WHERE Product_Active = 'false'"
}
This sample query queries for the total number of inactive products in the Product module. Please be aware that if there are any products with no value for the product category field, they will not be included in the count.

Important points to remember

  • COQL keywords are not case-sensitive.
  • To prevent ambiguity, the criteria listed in the WHERE clause must be properly enclosed in brackets. If WHERE has more than two criteria such as A, B, and C, use them as either of the following:
    • (A and (B and C))
    • ((A and B) and C)
    • A and (B and C)
    • (A and B) and C.
  • COQL supports only SELECT queries with WHERE, FROM, ORDER BY, LIMIT, and OFFSET clauses and aggregate functions SUM(), MAX(), MIN(), AVG(), and COUNT().
  • The default sort order is ascending based on record ID if ORDER BY is not specified.
  • Use the following format for :
    • Date : YYYY-MM-DD
    • DateTime : YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss+/-HH:mm
  • The default value for LIMIT is 200 and OFFSET is 0.
  • A maximum of 10,000 records can be fetched using the API.
  • Multi-line fields cannot be used in criteria.
  • COQL doesn't support consent_lookup, subform, profileimage, multiselectlookup, fileupload datatypes.
  • A maximum of 25 criteria can be included in the WHERE clause.
  • A maximum of 50 field API names can be used in the SELECT column of the query.

     Data Type
     Supported Operators
     text
     =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null
     picklist
     =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null
     ownerlookup
     =, !=, in, not in, is null, is not null
     lookup
     =, !=, in, not in, is null, is not null
     date
     =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null
     datetime
     =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null
     currency
     =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null
     boolean
     =
     email
     =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null
     phone
     =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null
     website
     =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null
     double
     =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null
     bigint
     =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null
     integer
     =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null
     formula
     If the return type is:
          Decimal/Currency/Date/Datetime : =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null
          String : =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null
          Boolean : =
     autonumber
     =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null
We hope you found this post useful. We will meet you next week with another interesting topic.

If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in the comments below, or write to us at support@zohocrm.com. We would love to hear from you! 


Additional Reading:








    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

      Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

    • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how

    • Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

      Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.

    • Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

      Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are

    • Recent Topics

    • Email Field Validation Incorrectly Rejects RFC-Compliant Addresses (Forward Slashes)

      I've encountered a validation issue with Zoho Creator's Email field that rejects RFC-compliant email addresses containing forward slashes, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. The Issue When entering an email address containing

    • Call result pop up on call when call ends

      I’d like to be able to create a pop up that appears after a call has finished that allows me to select the Call Result. I'm using RingCentral. I have seen from a previous, now locked, thread on Zoho Cares that this capability has been implemented, but

    • ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly

      I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",

    • Payment system for donations management

      I manage an organization where we receive donations from payers. Hence, there is no need to first create invoices and then create payments received against the invoices. What are the recommended best practices to do this in ZohoBooks?

    • Recording the deducted TDS on advance received from Customer (Zoho Books India)

      Hi, How can we record the tds that has been deducted by my customer for the advance that he has paid to me. 1) My customer has paid Rs 10000 to me as advance (Rs 9800 as cash and deducted Rs 200 as TDS). I am not able to record the tds that has been deducted

    • Changing Account Type in Chart of Accounts

      Does anyone know how to change/edit the account type for an Account name in Chart of Accounts. Zoho will not let me do this for some reason

    • Bulk bank rule creatioin

      Hi team, I am exploring Option to create a multiple bank rule. Could please suggest the option to implement this?

    • Zoho books aide

      Bonjour, je rencontre un problème avec Zoho Books. J’ai effectué une demande de support via l’interface prévue à cet effet, mais je n’ai jamais de retour. Je ne reçois ni email de confirmation, ni information concernant la prise en charge de ma demande,

    • Smart Data, Smarter Contracts — Ensuring Consistency Between Metadata and Documents

      In contract management, data accuracy is not just a nice-to-have—it is essential. A single mismatch between what your system shows and what is written in the contract can ripple into approval delays, compliance risks, and broken trust in your data. Imagine

    • Join Zoho Meeting only via Web browser and not with Zoho Meeting App

      Dear Zoho team, according to the documentation [1], Zoho Meeting only offers web view for Chrome and Firefox on a desktop. For other browsers and devices, participants can only join a Zoho Meaning with the Zoho Meeting App installed. This is a big hurdle

    • CRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more

      Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),

    • Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

      Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions

    • inability to use different primary address on invoice per location

      my company operates in two different locations with different email address. The problems then is the inability to edit the primary to suite the invoice for the second location.

    • AI Search and Record Retrieval Inside Zoho Creator – Is This Possible?

      Is it possible to integrate an AI assistant into Zoho Creator that can intelligently search, retrieve, and analyze records within the application’s forms and reports? Can AI access and query existing Creator data securely using Deluge or APIs to provide

    • I have a requirement to integrate Zoho Books with Zoho Projects at both project and task levels.

      Currently, when i create transactions in Zoho Books (Expenses, Invoices, Bills), we can only map them at the project level. However, our requirement is to: Map records at both project and task levels Sync these transactions back to Zoho Projects under

    • Scheduled AU Data Center Database Version Upgrade for Zoho Forms

      Dear Zoho Forms' users, We would like to update you on a scheduled AU Data Center database version upgrade for Zoho Forms. Find the schedule below: Migration window: Sunday, 22nd February 2026 12.00 AM to 12.30 AM AEDT This migration is a part of our

    • Cannot get code to work with v2.mergeAndStore!

      Please can someone help me pass subform items into a repeating mail merge table row using v2.mergeAndStore? I have a mail merge template created in Writer and stored in Workdrive. This template is referenced by a custom CRM function which merges all of

    • Hotmail is blocking the zoho mail IP

      Greetings, Since last Tuesday (5 days ago today) I wrote to Zoho support and I still haven't received a single response (Ticket ID: 2056917). Is this how you treat people who pay for your email service? I am making this public so that those who want to

    • Zoho Bookings and Survey Integration through Flow

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

    • Zoho CRM Community Digest - December 2025 | Part 2

      Hello Everyone! During the final weeks of December, Zoho CRM introduced updates that not only enhanced product capabilities but also offered deeper guidance through Kaizen posts. This section highlights what was released and shared in the last two weeks

    • CRUD actions for Resources via API

      Hello, is it possible to perform CRUD actions through the API for Resources? We want to create a sync from Zoho CRM Car record to Bookings resources to create availabilities for Car bookings. For Test drives, not only the sales person needs to be available,

    • Kaizen #186 : Client Script Support for Subforms

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post on Client Script! In this edition, we’re taking a closer look at Client Script Support for Subforms with the help of the following scenario. " Zylker, a manufacturing company, uses the "Orders"

    • Unable to Assign Multiple Categories to a Single Product in Zoho Commerce

      Hello Zoho Commerce Support Team, I am facing an issue while assigning categories to products in Zoho Commerce. I want to assign multiple categories to a single product, but in the Item edit page, the Category field allows selecting only one category

    • オンライン勉強会のお知らせ Zoho ワークアウト （2/19 参加無料）

      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。 2月開催のZoho ワークアウトについてお知らせします。 今回はZoomにて、オンライン開催します。 ▶︎参加登録はこちら（無料） https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6AyVUxp6QDmMQiDGXGkxPA ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは？ Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目指すイベント「Zoho

    • doubts about customer happiness in zoho desk

      Good afternoon, Desk community. The reason for my message is that I have a question regarding the customer satisfaction surveys we can ask our clients to rate our service. I know that in Desk, you can activate Customer Happiness to send a survey to the

    • COQL API in JS Widget only pulling 200 records

      Hello! We've been building a custom homepage widget using the Zoho JS SDK, and it seems that this https://help.zwidgets.com/help/latest/ZOHO.CRM.API.html#.coql only allows 200 records. I thought the limit was 2000 for COQL queries, but am I mistaken?

    • Standard Description Field - Can I change label or add dd tooltip

      Is there a way fo you guys to allow the customer to change the label name for the description field in the customer portal when submitting tickets. Or at least allow us to add a tooltip to clarify what description we need from them. I know I can create my own separate multi line description field but if I do that, it doesn't have the nice toolbar with Bold, Italic, Underline, color, font, indent, etc. Can you please allow us to add a tooltip to the zoho standard description field?

    • Introducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]

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

    • Compensation | Salary Packages - Hourly Wage Needed

      The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says 55.7% of all workers in the US are paid by the hour. I don't know how that compares to the rest of the world, but I would think that this alone would justify the need for having an hourly-based salary package option.

    • Customizing Helpcenter texts

      I’m customizing the Zoho Desk Help Center and I’d like to change the wording of the standard widgets – for example, the text in the “Submit Ticket” banner that appears in the footer, or other built-in widget labels and messages. So far, I haven’t found

    • Ability to Edit Ticket Subject when Splitting a Ticket

      Often someone will make an additional or new request within an existing ticket that requires we split the ticket. The annoying part is that the new ticket maintains the subject of the original ticket after the split so when the new ticket email notification

    • Automatically Update Form Attachment Service with Newly added Fields

      Hi, When I have a Form Setup and connected to a 3rd Party Service such as OneDrive for Form Attachments, when I later add a new Upload Field I have to remove and redo the entire 3rd Party Setup from scratch. This needs to be improved, such as when new

    • Unable to produce monthly P&L reports for previous years

      My company just migrated to Books this year. We have 5+ years financial data and need to generate a monthly P&L for 2019 and a monthly P&L YTD for 2020. The latter is easy, but I'm VERY surprised to learn that default reports in Zoho Books cannot create

    • Reopen ticket on specific date/time

      Is there a way that we can close a ticket and setup a reopen of that ticket on a specific date and time? (without using the "on hold" ticket option)

    • API credit COQL COUNT

      The docs describe API credits in COQL from the LIMIT perspective: https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/v8/COQL-Overview.html When using aggregate functions such as `COUNT` or `SUM`, is that billed as 1 API credit?

    • Anyone Building AI-Based SEO Dashboards in Zoho Analytics?

      Hey everyone, I’m currently working on an SEO reporting dashboard in Zoho Analytics and looking to enhance it with AI-based insights—especially around AI visibility, keyword trends, and traffic sources. The goal is to track not just traditional metrics

    • Weekly Tips : Save Time with Saved Search

      Let's assume your work requires you to regularly check emails from important clients that have attachments and were sent within a specific time period. Instead of entering the same conditions every time—like sender, date range, and attachments included—you

    • Remove 'This is an automated mail from Zoho Sign' in footer

      Hi there, Is it possible to remove or change the text under the e-mail templates? I can't figure out how to do that: Would love to hear from you. Kind regards, Tristan

    • Organize and manage PDFs with Zoho PDF Editor's dashboard

      Hello users, Zoho PDF Editor's dashboard is a one-stop place to upload, sort, share PDF files, and more. This article will explore the various capabilities that Zoho PDF Editor's dashboard offers. A few highlights of Zoho PDF Editor's dashboard: Upload

    • Custom function return type

      Hi, How do I create a custom deluge function in Zoho CRM that returns a string? e.g. Setup->Workflow->Custom Functions->Configure->Write own During create or edit of the function I don't see a way to change the default 'void' to anything else. Adding

    • Next Page