Kaizen #90 - CRM Variables and APIs

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series!

This week, we will discuss what are CRM Variables and variable groups, how to create, update, and delete them through an API and the UI, and a simple example in Deluge of using a CRM variable in a function. 

Let's get started!

What are CRM Variables?

Often, we have the need to reuse certain data in CRM at various places. Instead of creating separate fields to hold such values in every module, we can create an org-level field and use the same value across the CRM system. This field is called a CRM Variable. 

These variables can be of any of the following data types:

• Decimal
• Single line
• Multi line
• Integer
• Long integer
• Percent
• Currency
• Date
• DateTime
• Email
• Phone 
• URL
• Checkbox

Where can you use CRM Variables?

You can use CRM variables in mail merge templates, email templates, functions, workflows, buttons etc,.

What are Variable Groups?

When you have multiple variables, you can group them together for easy accessibility. For example, it makes sense to group all the authentication variables such as access token, refresh token etc., under a group called "Auth parameters".

How can you create a CRM Variable?

You can create CRM Variables from the UI or through the CRM API.

1. From the UI

1. Go to Setup > Developer Space > Zoho CRM Variables > Create New Variable.
2. In the Create Zoho CRM Variable pop up, enter the following details:
   a. The name of the variable in the Variable Name field.
   b. The API name of the variable in the API name field.
   c. A brief description of the variable in the Description field.
   d. The data type of the variable from the Variable Type drop-down.
   e. The group that the variable must belong to in the Grouped Under drop-down.
3. Click Save.
   

2. Creating a variable through an API

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/variables

Request method: POST

Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.variables.ALL or ZohoCRM.settings.variables.CREATE

Input JSON keys

{     "variables": [        {             "name": "Company Address",             "api_name": "Company_Address",             "variable_group": {                 "api_name": "General",                 "id": "3652397000004992001"             },             "type": "textarea",             "value": "#24, Austin, TX",             "description": "The address of the company when the state is Texas"         }     ] }

where,

Key name and data type	Description
name string, mandatory	The name of the variable.
api_name string, mandatory	The API name you want to set for the variable.
variable_group JSON object, mandatory	The API name and the ID of the variable group you want to group your variable under. If you do not have a variable group, you can only group it under "General". Use the Get Variable Groups API to get the ID and name of the variable group.
type string, mandatory	The data type of the variable. The possible values are integer, text(for single line), percent, decimal, currency, date, datetime, email, phone, url, checkbox(for Boolean), textarea(for multi-line), and long.
value string, mandatory	The value of the variable.
description string, optional	A short description of the variable.

Sample Response

How can you update a CRM variable?

1. From the UI

1. Go to Setup > Developer Space > Zoho CRM Variables.
2. Hover over the variable you want to edit. 
3. Click the "Edit" icon on the left-corner of the variable.
4. In the Edit Zoho CRM Variable pop up, update the relevant details.
   
   
5. Click Save.

Note

You cannot edit the Variable Type and Grouped Under fields.

2. Through an API

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/variables (or)

{api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/variables/{variable_API_name or Variable_ID}

Request method: PUT

Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.variables.ALL or ZohoCRM.settings.variables.UPDATE

Input JSON keys

Note that besides "id", all the keys are optional based on what details you want to update.

{     "variables": [        {  "id":"3652397000012482002";             "name": "Company_Address",             "api_name": "Company_Address",             "value": "#24, Austin, TX",             "description": "The address of the company when the state is Texas"         }     ] }

where,

Key name and data type	Description
id string, mandatory	The ID of the variable you want to update. You can get this ID from the Get Variables API.
name string	The name of the variable.
api_name string	The API name you want to set for the variable.
value string	The value of the variable.
description string	A short description of the variable.

Sample Response

How can you delete a CRM variable?

1. From the UI

1. Go to Setup > Developer Space > Zoho CRM Variables.
2. Hover over the variable you want to delete. 
3. Click the "Delete" icon on the left-corner of the variable.
   
   
4. Click Delete in the pop up that asks for confirmation.

2. Through an API

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/variables/{variable_id} (or) 
                       {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/variables?ids=id1,id2..

Request method: DELETE

Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.variables.ALL or ZohoCRM.settings.variables.DELETE

Sample Response

Use cases

Here are a few use cases where you can use CRM Variables.

• Consider that you have integrated with RazorPay and want to send payment links to deals that you have won. Here, you can store the payment link in a variable and use it in the function that sends the link to the deal through an email.
• You can improvise the above function, and have a condition that checks whether the payment link is valid or has expired. If it is invalid or expired, you can send an alternate payment link that is stored in another CRM variable.
• Consider you have scheduled a function to run everyday. Now, you want to run this function except on Saturday and Sunday of a particular month. In this case, you can hard-code the Saturday and Sunday in CRM variables of the DateTime type, and check this while running your function. You case would be "if datetime =={CRM variable}, stop execution".
• Another classic example of using CRM Variables would be in the banking sector. Consider that you have multiple modules that deal with the rate of interest. This rate will differ based on the tenure, the type of loan, the age of a person etc, and used at multiple places across the org. Here, you can set up variables for the different rates of interests and use them in various places. The best part is, when the rate of interest changes, you have to just change it at one place - CRM Variable. 
  

Let us see this example in detail.

I have a module called Loans. For home loans, the rate of interest is 10% for all, irrespective of the tenure. 

So, I have created a CRM variable called Interest, whose data type is decimal, and has the value 10.

In the Loans module, I have the following fields:

• Customer Name(single line) to represent the name of the customer who has opted for the loan.
• Principal(decimal) to represent the principal they have borrowed.
• Tenure(number) that depicts the number of years they will repay the loan in.
• EMI(decimal) to represent the monthly installment.
• Total(decimal) to represent the total amount they will repay including the interest.

I have a function that calculates the EMI and the Total. Here is the code.

// In this function, we are getting principal, tenure and record id from the record and Interest from CRM Variables.  //Calculate Total  Total = Principal + Principal * Interest / 100 * Tenure; info Total; //Calculate EMI  EMI = Total / (Tenure * 12); info EMI; //Variable with MAP type to hold the fields and values record_info = {"EMI":EMI,"Total":Total}; info record_info; info zoho.crm.getRecordById("Loans",record_id); //Updating the record zoho.crm.updateRecord("Loans",record_id,record_info);

The following image shows the function argument mapping.

I have now set up a workflow that is triggered upon record creation. This workflow has the Calculate EMI function associated to it as shown in the following image.

As you can see, in Argument Mapping, I have chosen the CRM variable Interest.

Here is a demo of how the workflow is triggered and function execution.

As you can see, based on the value in the CRM variable, the Total and EMI is calculated through the function triggered by the workflow upon record creation.

We hope you liked this post. We will see you next week with another interesting topic.

Please let us know if you have any questions in the comment section or write to us at support@zohocrm.com.

Cheers!

• Topic Participants

• Shylaja S

  

• 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

• Project Statuses

  Hi All, We have projects that sometimes may not make it through to completion. As such, they were being marked as "Cancelled". I noticed that these projects still show as "Active" though which seems counter intuitive. In fact, the only way I can get them

• 👋 Welcome to the Zoho MCP Community

  Hello all, glad to have you here! This is your space for everything AI agents, MCP tools, and intelligent business apps. This community is for you — developers, partners, creators, and businesses exploring how agents can transform work. Whether you’re

• DNS Manager

  Where Can I find my DNS manager so I can link this to click funnels or AWEBER

• How do I sync multiple Google calendars?

  I'm brand new to Zoho and I figured out how to sync my business Google calendar but I would also like to sync my personal Google calendar. How can I do this so that, at the very least, when I have personal engagements like doctor's appointments, I can

• Need to extract date from datetime field

  I have a datetime field and need only the date part from it. I am unable to find a built-in function that would be <DateTime>.Date(). I don't think I want to go the string conversion route of converting the datetime to string and then parsing out values and create a date out of it. Any one out there has a better solution to this? Thanks in adavnce. Regards Moiz Tankiwala Smart Training & IT Solutions

• New in Cadences: WhatsApp follow-ups, upgraded limits, and options for add-ons

  Hello everyone, We're rolling out two key updates to help you engage better and scale smarter with Cadences in Zoho CRM. Reach customers on WhatsApp, directly from Cadences Previously, Cadences have enabled you to automate follow-ups through emails, calls,

• additional accounts

  If I brought 5 emails to my account. Can I later buy additional emails.

• Why I am unable to configure Zoho Voice with my Zoho CRM account?

  I have installed Zoho Voice in my Zoho CRM, but as per the message there is some config needed in Zoho Voice interface. But when I click on the link given in the above message, I get an access denied page.

• Cliq Meeting Calls No Audio and Screen Share

  When in a Cliq channel meeting, the audio does not work at all on pc. When i use my phone as audio source, screen share on pc does not work. I have updated audio drivers but the strangest thing is that during a 1 on 1 call, it works well. Therefore the

• Work anniversary and birthdays on connect

  Hello, I like the idea of having employee's work anniversary and birthdays on the dashbaord. Do you have to have the employee complete this information themselves in connect settings, or does it pull from their directory settings? (ie. we use Zoho one

• Alias Email Id already exists

  Hi I'm trying to create an alias : contact @ yoavarielevy.co.il but i get the message  Alias Email Id already exists I had an account with the same name but I deleted it. Can you help? Thanx Yoav

• Feature Request: Ability to Set a Custom List View as Default for All Users

  Dear Zoho CRM Support Team, We would like to request a new feature in Zoho CRM regarding List Views. Currently, each user has to manually select or favorite a custom list view in order to make it their default. However, as administrators, we would like

• Adding Multiple Products (Package) to a Quote

  I've searched the forums and found several people asking this question, but never found an answer. Is ti possible to add multiple products to a quote at once, like a package deal? This seems like a very basic function of a CRM that does quotes but I can't

• webinar registration confirmation are landing in SPMA folders

  I am trialing zoho webinar and do not have access to custom domains. When I test user registrations, they are working but the resulting confirmation email is landing in a spam folder. How can I avoid this?

• Multiple organizations under Zoho One

  Hello. I have a long and complicated question. I have a Zoho One account and want to set it up to serve the needs of 6 organizations under the same company. Some of the Zoho One users need to be able to work in more than 1 organization’s CRM and other

• Unbundle feature for composite items

  We receive composite items from our vendors and sell them either individually or create other composite items out of them. So, there is a lot of bundling and unbundling involved with our composite items. Previously, this feature was supported in form

• workflow not working in subform

  I have the following code in a subform which works perfectly when i use the form alone but when i use the form as a subform within another main form it does not work. I have read something about using row but i just cant seem to figure out what to change

• Fetch data from another table into a form field

  I have spent the day trying to work this out so i thought i would use the forum for the first time. I have two forms in the same application and when a user selects a customer name from a drop down field and would like the customer number field in the

• Record comment filter

  Hi - I have a calendar app that we use to track tasks. I have the calendar view set up so that the logged in user only sees the record if they are assigned to the task. BUT there are instances when someone is @ mentioned in the record when they are not

• How to View Part Inventory and Warehouse Location When Creating a Work Order in Zoho FSM

  Hi everyone, We’re currently setting up Zoho FSM and would like to improve how our team selects parts when creating a Work Order. Right now, when we add a part or item to a Work Order, we can select it from our Zoho Inventory list but we don’t see any

• FSM too slow today !!

  Anybody else with problem today to loading FSM (WO, AP etc.)?

• Not able to Sign In in Zoho OneAuth in Windows 10

  I recently reset my Windows 10 system, after the reset when I downloaded the OAuth app and tried to Sign In It threw an error at me. Error: Token Fetch Error. Message: Object Reference not set to an instance of an object I have attached the screenshot

• Mapping a custom preferred date field in the estimate with the native field in the workorder

  Hi Zoho, I created a field in the estimate : "Preferred Date 1", to give the ability to my support agent to add a preferred date while viewing the client's estimate. However, in the conversion mapping (Estimate to Workorder), I'm unable to map my custom

• Is there a way to request a password?

  We add customers info into the vaults and I wanted to see if we could do some sort of "file request" like how dropbox offers with files. It would be awesome if a customer could go to a link and input a "title, username, password, url" all securely and it then shows up in our team vault or something. Not sure if that is safe, but it's the best I can think of to be semi scalable and obviously better than sending emails. I am open to another idea, just thought this would be a great feature.  Thanks,

• Single Task Report

  I'd like a report or a way to print to PDF the task detail page. I'd like at least the Task Information section but I'd also like to see the Activity Stream, Status Timeline and Comments. I'd like to export the record and save it as a PDF. I'd like the

• Auto-response for closed tickets

  Hi, We sometimes have users that (presumably) search their email inbox for the last correspondence with us and just hit reply - even if it's a 6 month old ticket... - this then re-opens the 6 month old ticket because of the ticket number in the email's subject. Yes, it's easy to 'Split as new Ticket', but I'd like something automated to respond to the user saying "this ticket has already been resolved and closed, please submit a new ticket". What's the best way to achieve this? Thanks, Ed

• How to Push Zoho Desk time logged to Zoho Projects?

  I am on the last leg of my journey of finally automating time tracking, payments, and invoicing for my minutes based contact center company - I just have one final step to solve - I need time logged in zoho desk to add time a project which is associated

• Cannot access KB within Help Center

  Im working with my boss to customize our knowledge base, but for some reason I can see the KB tab, and see the KB categories, but I cannot access the articles within the KB. We have been troubleshooting for weeks, and we have all permissions set up, customers

• Export to excel stored amounts as text instead of numbers or accounting

  Good Afternoon, We have a quarterly billing report that we generate from our Requests. It exports to excel. However if we need to add a formula (something as simple as a sum of the column), it doesn't read the dollar amounts because the export stores

• why my account is private?

  when i post on zohodesk see only agent only

• Getting ZOHO Invoice certified in Portugal?

  Hello, We are ZOHO partners in Portugal and here, all the invoice software has to be certified by the government and ZOHO Invoice still isn´t certified. Any plans? Btw, we can help on this process, since we have a client that knows how to get the software certified. Thank you.

• 500 Internal Server Error

  I have been trying to create my first app in Creator, but have been getting the 500: Internal Server Error. When I used the Create New Application link, it gave me the error after naming the application. After logging out, and back in, the application that I created was in the list, but when I try to open it to start creating my app, it gives me the 500: Internal Server Error. Please help! Also, I tried making my named app public, but I even get the error when trying to do that.

• Client Script | Update - Client Script Support For Portals

  Dear All! We are excited to announce the highly anticipated feature: Client Script support for Portals. We understand that many of you have been eagerly awaiting this enhancement, and we are pleased to inform you that this support is now live for all

• Professional Plan not activated after payment

  I purchased the Professional Plan for 11 users (Subscription ID: RPEU2000980748325) on 12 September 2025, and the payment has been successfully processed. However, even after more than 24 hours, my CRM account still shows “Upgrade” and behaves like a

• Auto Update Event Field Value on Create/Edit

  Hi there, I know this question has been posted multiple times and I've been trying many of the proposed similar scripts for a while now but nothing seems to work... what might I do wrong? The error I receive is this: Value given for the variable 'meetingId'

• Payroll and BAS ( Australian tax report format )

  Hello , I am evaluating Zoho Books and I find the interface very intuitive and straight forward. My company is currently using Quickbooks Premier the Australian version. Before we can consider moving the service we would need to have the following addressed : 1.Payroll 2.BAS ( business activity statement ) for tax purposes 3.Some form of local backup and possible export of data to a widely accepted format. Regards Codrin Mitin

• Problem with Email an invoice with multiple attachments using API

  I have an invoice with 3 attachments. When I send an email manually using the UI, everything works correctly. I receive an email with three attachments. The problem occurs when I try to initiate sending an email using the API. The email comes with only

• Page Layouts for Standard Modules like CRM

  For standard modules like quotes, invoices, purchase orders, etc, it would be a great feature to be able to create custom page layouts with custom fields in Zoho Books similar to how you can in Zoho CRM. For example, and my current use case, I have a

• Non-depreciating fixed asset

  Hi! There are non-depreciable fixed assets (e.g. land). It would be very useful to be able to create a new type of fixed asset (within the fixed assets module) with a ‘No depreciation’ depreciation method. There is always the option of recording land

• Fixed asset management

  I want to know if there is any individual module for fixed assets management

• Next Page