Add Claude in Zoho Cliq

Add Claude in Zoho Cliq


​

Let’s add a real AI assistant powered by Claude to your workspace this week, that your team can chat with, ask questions, and act on conversations to run AI actions on.

This guide walks you through exactly how to do it, step by step, with all the code you'll need.

Just copy, paste, replace the placeholders and you'll be good to go.


By the end of this guide, you’ll have:

  1. A Claude bot inside Zoho Cliq to have real back-and-forth conversations.
  2. The ability to @mention Claude in any channel and reply to a message and ask Claude to act on it.
  3. A message action to act on messages in Cliq by Claude. Additionally, pre-built actions to review code, generate mind maps, draft a reply for the selected message, or explain it like you’re new.
IdeaBefore you start:
1. A Zoho Cliq account with Developer access.
2. An Anthropic API key
3. Basic comfort with Deluge (optional — all code is provided 😉)

A. How to get an Anthropic API key?



1. To get an Anthropic API key, sign up at the Anthropic Console (console.anthropic.com).
2. Navigate to the API Keys tab, and click Create Key. 
3. You must add credits via the Billing section to activate the key. Copy the key immediately, as it cannot be viewed again.

Alert
Note: In this guide, the API key is pasted directly into the code for simplicity. But never, ever share your API key to others and double-check before sharing screenshots or code.

B. Create a Connection 

Claude needs permission to: Read chat messages and Fetch attachments (like PDFs) when prompted, for that let's create a connection for it.  ⓘ Learn more about connections

1. Go to the Connections module (in Bots & Tools) → Create Connection
2. Add a Connection name, for eg. "readmessageandfile"
3. Select:
ZohoCliq.Attachments.READ
ZohoCliq.Messages.READ
4. Create
Click Create, then authorize the connection. Copy the connection name, you'll paste it into the handlers in the next steps.

How to start

Go to Zoho Cliq → Settings → Bots & Tools 

Claude Bot:




  • Go to Bots → Create Bot.

  • Name it Claude and give it any description of choice.

  • First, let's create a Message handler to handle the conversations first.

  • Click edit code and copy paste the below code in it (follow along the comments to understand what each part does)

Idea

One API endpoint. That's all.


Both the bot and the message action use the same single Anthropic endpoint: POST /v1/messages. The only thing that changes between them is the system prompt and what you put in the messages array. Once you understand that, the rest is just assembly.
Explore API docs →


Message Handler:



What does this do: Fetches last 10 (customizable - but keep message limit small ( around 10–15 to avoid token overuse)) chat messages for additional context and enables natural chat conversations 


  1. info environment;
  2. botUniqueName = "BOT-UNIQUE-NAME";
  3. // Replace with your bot unique name
  4. cliqBaseUrl = environment.get("base_url");
  5. fetchRecentMessages = invokeurl
  6. [
  7. url :cliqBaseUrl + "/api/v2/chats/" + chat.get("id") + "/messages?limit=10"
  8. type :GET
  9. connection:"CONNECTION-NAME"
  10. //Read below how to create a connection, and paste here:
  11. ];
  12. info fetchRecentMessages;
  13. contentList = list();
  14. contentList.add({"role":"user","content":"Act as a conversational assistant. Reply to the message below in a friendly, informative, and well-organized way.\n\nGuidelines:\n- Respond only to the message provided.\n- Do not use memory or external context.\n- Be warm but professional.\n- Be clear and structured (use short paragraphs or bullet points if helpful).\n- Provide helpful details or clarification where useful.\n- If something is unclear, ask a polite follow-up question.\n- If action is needed, suggest a simple next step.\n- Do not include meta commentary.\n- Output only the reply.\n\n\nSTRICTLY USE * FOR BOLD, AND NEVER ** FOR BOLD MARKDOWN."});
  15. allMessages = fetchRecentMessages.get("data");
  16. for each  data in allMessages
  17. {
  18. type = data.get("type");
  19. if(type == "card" || type == "text")
  20. {
  21. getMessage = data.get("content").get("text").replaceAll("\n"," ");
  22. senderID = data.get("sender").get("id");
  23. if(senderID.startsWith("b-"))
  24. {
  25. contentList.add({"role":"assistant","content":getMessage});
  26. }
  27. else
  28. {
  29. contentList.add({"role":"user","content":getMessage});
  30. }
  31. }
  32. }
  33. info contentList;
  34. // Set up API headers
  35. apiHeaders = Map();
  36. apiHeaders.put("anthropic-version","2023-06-01");
  37. apiHeaders.put("Content-type","application/json");
  38. apiHeaders.put("X-Api-Key","INSERT-API-KEY-HERE");
  39. // Don't forget your API key!
  40. model = "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929";
  41. requestPayload = {"max_tokens":1024,"messages":contentList,"model":model};
  42. // Make API call to Claude
  43. claudeApiResponse = invokeurl
  44. [
  45. url :"https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages"
  46. type :POST
  47. parameters:requestPayload + ""
  48. headers:apiHeaders
  49. detailed:true
  50. ];
  51. info claudeApiResponse;
  52. if(claudeApiResponse.get("responseCode") == 200)
  53. {
  54. responseBody = claudeApiResponse.get("responseText");
  55. parsedResponse = responseBody.toMap();
  56. claudeMessage = parsedResponse.get("content").get(0).get("text").replaceAll("\n\n","\n").remove("---").remove("#");
  57. if(claudeMessage.length() > 4000)
  58. {
  59. claudeMessage = claudeMessage.subString(0,4000) + "...";
  60. }
  61. info "Claude's Response: " + claudeMessage;
  62. }
  63. else
  64. {
  65. responseBody = claudeApiResponse.get("responseText");
  66. parsedResponse = responseBody.toMap();
  67. claudeMessage = "*" + parsedResponse.get("error").get("type") + "* \n" + parsedResponse.get("error").get("message");
  68. info "API Error: " + claudeApiResponse;
  69. }
  70. responseContent = {"text":claudeMessage,"card":{"title":"Claude says...","icon":"https://uxwing.com/wp-content/themes/uxwing/download/brands-and-social-media/claude-ai-icon.png"}};
  71. info responseContent;
  72. info zoho.cliq.postToBot(botUniqueName,responseContent);
  73. return Map();


⚙️ Replace These Placeholders

BOT-UNIQUE-NAME (ⓘ How to find it?)
CONNECTION-NAME
INSERT-API-KEY-HERE


Mention Handler:



What does this do: This is to allow Claude to be @mentioned in any chat.
  1. userMessageText = "";
  2. fileAction = false;
  3. repliedMessage = false;
  4. if(message_details.get("message").containKey("replied_message"))
  5. {
  6. repliedMessage = true;
  7. replyMessageID = message_details.get("message").get("replied_message").get("id");
  8. messageType = message_details.get("message").get("replied_message").get("type");
  9. if(messageType == "text" || messageType == "card")
  10. {
  11. userMessageText = message_details.get("message").get("replied_message").get("text");
  12. }
  13. else
  14. {
  15. fileType = message_details.get("message").get("replied_message").get("file").get("type");
  16. if(fileType != "application/pdf")
  17. {
  18. return {"type":"banner","text":"Only PDF files are supported for this action","status":"failure"};
  19. }
  20. else
  21. {
  22. fileAction = true;
  23. }
  24. }
  25. }
  26. promptInstruction = "\"### Instructions ⓘ \nProvide a human-digestible, highly organized response (300-500 characters). Break down your output into bite-sized paragraphs and use bolding to guide the reader's eye. *Strictly avoid tables.* Use plenty of white space and only ### headings for a clean look. \n\n ### Formatting Protocol • \n - Bold: *text* \n - Italic: _text_ \n - Strike: ~text~ \n - Underline: __underline__ \n - Headers: ### Title \n - Quote: \"quote\" \n - Blockquote: > text \n - Bullets: Use • or → for lists \n - Emojis: Use ✨, 🚀, or 💡 to highlight key takeaways \n - Separator: --- \n\n ### and replace ** to *";
  27. userPrompt = "";
  28. if(message.trim().length() > 0)
  29. {
  30. userPrompt = "Action: " + message + "\n\n\n" + userMessageText + "\n\n\n" + promptInstruction;
  31. }
  32. else
  33. {
  34. userPrompt = "Action: " + userMessageText + "\n\n\n" + promptInstruction;
  35. }
  36. // Set up API headers
  37. apiHeaders = Map();
  38. apiHeaders.put("anthropic-version","2023-06-01");
  39. apiHeaders.put("Content-type","application/json");
  40. apiHeaders.put("ENTER-APIKEY-HERE");
  41. // Don't forget your API key!
  42. // Check if message is text-only or contains a file
  43. if(!fileAction)
  44. {
  45. // Handle text-only message
  46. requestPayload = {"max_tokens":1024,"messages":{{"content":userPrompt,"role":"user"}},"model":"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"};
  47. }
  48. else
  49. {
  50. // Handle message with file attachment
  51. uploadedFile = invokeurl
  52. [
  53. url :message_details.get("message").get("replied_message").get("file").get("url")
  54. type :GET
  55. connection:"ENTER-CONNECTION-NAME"
  56. ];
  57. info uploadedFile;
  58. // uploadedFile = message.get("content").get("file").get("name");
  59. base64EncodedFile = zoho.encryption.base64Encode(uploadedFile);
  60. if(message_details.get("message").get("replied_message").containKey("comment"))
  61. {
  62. comment = message_details.get("message").get("replied_message").get("comment");
  63. userPrompt = userPrompt + "\n" + comment;
  64. }
  65. else
  66. {
  67. userPrompt = userPrompt;
  68. }
  69. mediaType = "application/pdf";
  70. requestPayload = {"max_tokens":1024,"messages":{{"role":"user","content":{{"type":"document","source":{"type":"base64","media_type":mediaType,"data":base64EncodedFile}},{"type":"text","text":userPrompt}}}},"model":"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"};
  71. }
  72. info requestPayload;
  73. // Make API call to Claude
  74. claudeApiResponse = invokeurl
  75. [
  76. url :"https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages"
  77. type :POST
  78. parameters:requestPayload + ""
  79. headers:apiHeaders
  80. detailed:true
  81. ];
  82. info claudeApiResponse;
  83. // Extract the actual text response
  84. if(claudeApiResponse.get("responseCode") == 200)
  85. {
  86. responseBody = claudeApiResponse.get("responseText");
  87. parsedResponse = responseBody.toMap();
  88. claudeMessage = parsedResponse.get("content").get(0).get("text").replaceAll("\n\n","\n").remove("---").remove("#");
  89. if(claudeMessage.length() > 4000)
  90. {
  91. claudeMessage = claudeMessage.subString(0,4000) + "...";
  92. }
  93. info "Claude's Response: " + claudeMessage;
  94. }
  95. else
  96. {
  97. responseBody = claudeApiResponse.get("responseText");
  98. parsedResponse = responseBody.toMap();
  99. claudeMessage = "*" + parsedResponse.get("error").get("type") + "* \n" + parsedResponse.get("error").get("message");
  100. info "API Error: " + claudeApiResponse;
  101. }
  102. responseContent = {"text":claudeMessage,"card":{"title":"Claude says...","icon":"https://uxwing.com/wp-content/themes/uxwing/download/brands-and-social-media/claude-ai-icon.png"}};
  103. info responseContent;
  104. if(repliedMessage)
  105. {
  106. responseContent.put("reply_to",replyMessageID);
  107. }
  108. info zoho.cliq.postToChat(chat.get("id"),responseContent);
  109. return Map();


Message Action
What does it do: Allow Claude to act on any message or file.

Quoteⓘ For files, we've extended this to only PDF file formats for now to keep implementation predictable and to avoid unsupported file formats

What we're adding:
1. When executed on any message, a form opens to prompt:

A. 🔍 Review code
Claude acts like a senior engineer who finds bugs, lists risks, suggest improvements, provides corrected code.



B. ✨ Explain like I'm new
Claude teaches you what it is, why it matters, how it works, an analogy or common mistakes for any concept.


C. 🧠 Make Mindmap
Converts content into a structured ASCII flow chart for explaining system designs, feature breakdowns or general product thinking.


D. 📌 Draft a reply
Give professional, concise business replies to address, asks clarifications, suggests next steps in a human tone. 


How to create:

1. Create a Message Action, name it Ask Claude and give any description of your choice.



2. Message properties:  Text messages, Attachments, Links
3. Enter code as instructed below:
(Copy the function name and replace it in Line. 14)
  1. info message;
  2. returnForm = false;
  3. if(message.get("type") == "file")
  4. {
  5. fileType = message.get("content").get("file").get("type");
  6. if(fileType != "application/pdf")
  7. {
  8. return {"type":"banner","text":"Only PDF files are supported for this action","status":"failure"};
  9. }
  10. }
  11. inputs = list();
  12. inputs.add({"label":"Choose an action","name":"action","mandatory":true,"type":"radio","options":{{"value":"reviewcode","label":"🔍 Review Code"},{"value":"explainthis","label":"🧠 Make Mindmap"},{"value":"ExplainlikeImnew","label":"✨ Explain like I’m new"},{"value":"Draftreplyforthis","label":"📌 Draft reply for this"}}});
  13. inputs.add({"label":"More instructions","name":"additionalInstructions","placeholder":"You can provide additional instructions if needed.","min_length":"0","max_length":"500","mandatory":false,"type":"textarea"});
  14. return {"type":"form","title":"Ask Claude","hint":"What would you like Claude to do? Choose an action or write your own.","name":"INSERT-FUNCTION-NAME","button_label":"Submit","inputs":inputs,"action":{"type":"invoke.function","name":"INSERT-FUNCTION-NAME"}};
Next, let's create a function and then link it up to the built-Message action to open the form:


Form Function:



1.Go to Functions → Name your function (Eg. askclaude) and add description
2. Select Form function
3. Create



Once created, in the Form Submit Handler, paste this code:
  1. info form;
  2. info message;
  3. // Set up API headers
  4. apiHeaders = Map();
  5. apiHeaders.put("anthropic-version","2023-06-01");
  6. apiHeaders.put("Content-type","application/json");
  7. apiHeaders.put("ENTER-APIKEY-HERE");
  8. // Don't forget your API key!
  9. actionType = form.get("values").get("action").get("value");
  10. promptInstruction = "\"### Instructions ⓘ \nProvide a human-digestible, highly organized response (250-300 characters). Break down your output into bite-sized paragraphs and use bolding to guide the reader's eye. *Strictly avoid tables.* Use plenty of white space and only ### headings for a clean look. \n\n ### Formatting Protocol • \n - Bold: *text* \n - Italic: _text_ \n - Strike: ~text~ \n - Underline: __underline__ \n - Headers: ### Title \n - Quote: \"quote\" \n - Blockquote: > text \n - Bullets: Use • or → for lists \n - Emojis: Use ✨, 🚀, or 💡 to highlight key takeaways \n - Separator: --- \n\n ### and replace all ** to *";
  11. if(actionType == "reviewcode")
  12. {
  13. userPrompt = "🔍 You are a senior engineer. \nReview this code: \n• List bugs or logical errors \n• Note assumptions and risks \n• Suggest improvements \n• Provide corrected code \n• Explain why your version is better\n\n\n" + promptInstruction;
  14. }
  15. else if(actionType == "explainthis")
  16. {
  17. userPrompt = "🧠 You are a systems thinker. \n•Convert the input into a visual flow chart using plain text. \n•Strict Output Rules \n•Output ONLY inside a triple backtick code block \n•Do NOT use Mermaid \n•Do NOT write paragraphs \n•Do NOT explain anything \n•Do NOT use bullet lists outside structure \n•Use ASCII connectors to form a real flow chart \n•Use arrows (→, ↓, ↳, ├──, └──) to show relationships \n•Maintain clear hierarchy and spacing \n•One single root at the top \n•Logical directional flow (top → down) \n•Structure Requirements \n•Root node at top \n•First-level branches below \n•Subpoints indented \n•Cross-links if relevant \n•Clean spacing \n•No duplicated nodes \n•Required Format Example \n•MAIN IDEA \n•Branch 1 -> Subpoint -> Subpoint \n•Branch 2 -> Subpoint ->Subpoint \n•Branch 3 -> Subpoint -> Subpoint\n\n\n" + promptInstruction;
  18. }
  19. else if(actionType == "ExplainlikeImnew")
  20. {
  21. userPrompt = "✨ You are a teacher for beginners. \nExplain: \n• What it is \n• Why it matters \n• How it works (steps) \n• A simple analogy \n• One common beginner mistake\n\n\n" + promptInstruction;
  22. }
  23. else if(actionType == "Draftreplyforthis")
  24. {
  25. userPrompt = "📌 You are a professional responder. \nReply to this message: \n• Directly address main point \n• Ask for clarification if needed \n• Suggest next steps \n• Keep it concise and clear \n• Make sure message in a buisness casual tone, consise, human written.\n\n\n" + promptInstruction;
  26. }
  27. if(form.get("values").get("additionalInstructions").length() > 0)
  28. {
  29. userPrompt = userPrompt + "\n" + form.get("values").get("additionalInstructions");
  30. }
  31. // Check if message is text-only or contains a file
  32. if(message.get("type") == "text" || message.get("type") == "card")
  33. {
  34. // Handle text-only message
  35. userMessageText = message.get("text");
  36. requestPayload = {"max_tokens":1024,"messages":{{"content":userPrompt + "\n\n" + userMessageText,"role":"user"}},"model":"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"};
  37. }
  38. else
  39. {
  40. // Handle message with file attachment
  41. uploadedFile = invokeurl
  42. [
  43. url :"https://cliq.zoho" + environment.get("tld") + "/api/v2/files/" + message.get("content").get("file").get("id")
  44. type :GET
  45. connection:"ENTER-CONNECTION-NAME"
  46. ];
  47. info uploadedFile;
  48. base64EncodedFile = zoho.encryption.base64Encode(uploadedFile);
  49. if(message.get("content").containKey("comment"))
  50. {
  51. comment = message.get("content").get("comment");
  52. userPrompt = userPrompt + "\n" + comment;
  53. }
  54. else
  55. {
  56. userPrompt = userPrompt;
  57. }
  58. mediaType = message.get("content").get("file").get("type");
  59. mediaType = "application/pdf";
  60. requestPayload = {"max_tokens":1024,"messages":{{"role":"user","content":{{"type":"document","source":{"type":"base64","media_type":mediaType,"data":base64EncodedFile}},{"type":"text","text":userPrompt}}}},"model":"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"};
  61. }
  62. info requestPayload;
  63. // Make API call to Claude
  64. claudeApiResponse = invokeurl
  65. [
  66. url :"https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages"
  67. type :POST
  68. parameters:requestPayload + ""
  69. headers:apiHeaders
  70. detailed:true
  71. ];
  72. // info claudeApiResponse;
  73. // Extract the actual text response
  74. if(claudeApiResponse.get("responseCode") == 200)
  75. {
  76. responseBody = claudeApiResponse.get("responseText");
  77. parsedResponse = responseBody.toMap();
  78. claudeMessage = parsedResponse.get("content").get(0).get("text").replaceAll("\n\n","\n").remove("---").remove("#");
  79. if(claudeMessage.length() > 4000)
  80. {
  81. claudeMessage = claudeMessage.subString(0,4000) + "...";
  82. }
  83. info "Claude's Response: " + claudeMessage;
  84. }
  85. else
  86. {
  87. responseBody = claudeApiResponse.get("responseText");
  88. parsedResponse = responseBody.toMap();
  89. claudeMessage = "*" + parsedResponse.get("error").get("type") + "* \n" + parsedResponse.get("error").get("message");
  90. info "API Error: " + claudeApiResponse;
  91. }
  92. responseContent = {"text":claudeMessage,"card":{"title":"Claude says...","icon":"https://uxwing.com/wp-content/themes/uxwing/download/brands-and-social-media/claude-ai-icon.png"},"reply_to":message.get("id")};
  93. info responseContent;
  94. info zoho.cliq.postToChat(chat.get("id"),responseContent);
  95. return Map();

When triggered: Opens a form → User selects an action → Adds additional instructions → Submits → Claude processes the selected message


And that's it. You're Claude integration is ready to be used. 


What's Next:

What you built today is just the foundation.

Shape it around how your team actually works. Extend it to turn discussions into action items, review PRs before they’re merged, generate standup updates, extract tasks automatically, or create knowledge snippets from resolved threads.

Start with one real pain point. Solve it well. Then layer more intelligence on top.

The structure is already there. The possibilities are yours.

🔗 Explore Zoho Cliq: Developer Platform
🔗 Explore Anthropic API Docs

Questions? Comments below. 
Looking forward how you'll build and go make it your own. 🚀