Building Extensions #15: Creating widgets with the JS SDK bundle in Zoho Desk—Inter-widget communication

Building Extensions #15: Creating widgets with the JS SDK bundle in Zoho Desk—Inter-widget communication

This series aims to equip developers with all they need to build extensions for Zoho Desk in Zoho Sigma and publish them in Zoho Marketplace.

Hello Developers!

In our previous post, we briefed the use of Hooks API and explained it with an example on how to use them in a Desk extension. In this post, we'll learn about the inter-widget communication feature and how it can be used in your extensions with an example.

Inter-widget communication

There are scenarios where an extension could have multiple widgets. In such cases, it is important to have communication between these widgets for the extension to be more user-friendly. The inter-widget communication feature of Zoho Desk helps you create a connection between widgets and facilitate communication between them. When two widgets are communicating, there are a few points to remember during implementation. Let’s consider one widget as the sender and the other as the receiver.

Sender widget
  1. This widget should know the receiving widget's identity.
  2. When it knows that identity, it can send the desired data to the receiving widget.
Receiving widget
  1. This widget needs to be active to receive data from any sender.
  2. It can then process the received data.
You can achieve this with the help of a couple of SDK methods provided by the Zoho developer platform.
  1. App.instance.getWidgets(): The getWidgets() method will return an array of all the widgets available in the extension, including the one from where this call is made.
  2. siblingwidgetId: Every widget associated to the extension will have a unique ID. You can use the code widgets[0].widgetID to get the widget ID of the desired widget from the array of widgets available. The array index for the widget is defined based on the order in which the widgets are listed in the plugin-manifest file of the extension.
  3. var siblingWidget = App.instance.getWidgetInstance(siblingwidgetId): This returns the whole instance of the selected widget.
  4. siblingWidget.emit('event', data): This sends the data from the selected widget on the event occurrence.
Once we pass the data from the first widget (sender), we need to enable the other widget (receiver) to receive the event sent from the first widget. The following code snippet needs to listen to an event emitted by the sibling widget.

App.instance.on('event', function(data){});

Sender Widget
Receiving Widget
Need to know the receiving widget's IdentityNeed to be active to receive the data
Get the instance of the desired widgetReceive data and process it as required
Send the data

Let’s learn about inter-widget communication with an example.

Scenario

Consider a scenario where an agent is provided with detailed information about a particular customer within Zoho Desk itself that is easily accessible. Wouldn’t it be useful for the agents to understand the value of their customer easily? Yes, this can be done using an extension.
  1. Fetch the details of the customer from Zoho CRM.
  2. Showcase the required customer’s information in Zoho Desk.

Platform features

To implement the above scenario, the following Desk platform features are used.
  1. Background widget: This widget runs on its own in the background by default. In our use case, as soon as an agent opens a ticket, the customer's email ID needs to be fetched and the corresponding details are imported from Zoho CRM accordingly. In this case, we can use the background widget feature to fetch the data from Zoho CRM. This can be implemented using the background widget.
  2. Tickets subtab widget: In our example use case, we need the customer’s details to be shown to the agent. Let’s choose the ticket's subtab location to display the same.
  3. Inter-widget communication: Because there are two widgets being used, we can use the inter-widget communication feature for a seamless data flow between the two widgets.

Subtab widget

An agent opens a ticket. Now the background widget gets loaded by default. When the agent moves to the subtab widget to view the customer details, the subtab widget is loaded and we communicate to the background widget about the same. The customer data transferred to the subtab widget will be displayed to the agent.


Background widget

As soon as the background widget gets a communication from the subtab widget, the customer's details are fetched and transmitted back to the subtab widget.





We have attached the entire code of our sample in this post. You can download the same and reuse, if required.

Sample output



Hope you found this post to be useful. Stay tuned for more posts in this space!

See Also



    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community





                                                  Use cases

                                                  Make the most of Zoho Desk with the use cases.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  eBooks

                                                  Download free eBooks and access a range of topics to get deeper insight on successfully using Zoho Desk.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Videos

                                                  Watch comprehensive videos on features and other important topics that will help you master Zoho Desk.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Webinar

                                                  Sign up for our webinars and learn the Zoho Desk basics, from customization to automation and more

                                                   
                                                    
                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Ask the Experts


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner






                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner







                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                              Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ








                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                            • Recent Topics

                                                                                                            • New Zoho triggers Google Dangerous flag due toabnormal charcters

                                                                                                              Just signed up and doing my first email test. I sent it to my google email account but it got flagged as Dangerous" due abnormal characters. My DNS setup looks ok. Page snips attached Help Please Thanks, Rick DC PowerWorld
                                                                                                            • Top Bar Shifting issue still not fixed yet

                                                                                                              I mentioned in a previous ticket that on Android, the top bar shifts up when you view collections or when you're in the settings. That issue still hasn't been fixed yet. I don't wanna have to reinstall the app as I've noticed for some reason, reinstalling
                                                                                                            • Triggering Zoho Flow on Workdrive File Label

                                                                                                              Right now Im trying to have a zoho flow trigger on the labeling/classification of a file in a folder. Looking at the trigger options they arent great for something like this. File event occurred is probably the most applicable, but the events it has arent
                                                                                                            • Is there a way to set Document Owner/Sender via the API

                                                                                                              When sending requests for zoho sign, it would seem zoho uses the id of the person that created the zoho api cred to determine the owner_id, is there a way to set a default for this?
                                                                                                            • SendMail to multiple recipients

                                                                                                              Hi, I'm trying to send an email to a list of recipients.  Right now the "to" field is directed to a string variable. (List variables won't work here). In the string variable, how can I make it work? trying "user@app.com;user2@app.com" or "user@app.com; user2@app.com" just failed to send the emails. Ravid
                                                                                                            • Populate drop down field from another form's subform

                                                                                                              Hello, I found how to do that, but not in case of a subform. I have a Product form that has a subform for unit and prices. A product might have more than one unit. For example, the product "Brocoli" can be sold in unit at 3$ or in box of 10 at 25 $. Both
                                                                                                            • Usar o Inventory ou módulo customizado no CRM para Gestão de Estoque ?

                                                                                                              Minha maior dor hoje em usar o zoho é a gestão do meu estoque. Sou uma empresa de varejo e essa gestão é fundamental pra mim. Obviamente preciso que esse estoque seja visível no CRM, Inicialmente fiz através de módulos personalizados no próprio Zoho CRM,
                                                                                                            • Signup forms behaviour : Same email & multiple submissions

                                                                                                              My use case is that I have a signup form (FormA) that I use in several places on my website, with a hidden field so I can see where the contact has been made from. I also have a couple of other signup forms (FormB and FormC) that slight differences. All
                                                                                                            • getting error in project users api

                                                                                                              Hello, I'm getting a "Given URL is wrong" error when trying to use the Zoho Projects V3 API endpoint for adding users to a project. The URL I'm using is https://projectsapi.zoho.com/api/v3/portal/{portalid}/projects/{projectid}/projectusers/ and it's
                                                                                                            • Change total display format in weekly time logs

                                                                                                              Hi! Would it be possible to display the total of the value entered in the weekly time log in the same format that the user input? This could be an option in the general settings -> display daily timesheet total in XX.XX format or XX:XX.
                                                                                                            • In the Zoho Creator Customer Payment form i Have customer field on select of the field Data want to fetch from the invoice from based on the customer name In the Customer Payment form i Have subf

                                                                                                              In the Zoho Creator Customer Payment form i Have customer field on select of the field Data want to fetch from the invoice from based on the customer name In the Customer Payment form i Have subform update Invoice , there i have date field,Invoice number
                                                                                                            • Different Company Name for billing & shipping address

                                                                                                              We are using Zoho Books & Inventory for our Logistics and started to realize soon, that Zoho is not offering a dedicated field for a shipping address company name .. when we are creating carrier shipping labels, the Billing Address company name gets always
                                                                                                            • How to display historical ticket information of the total time spent in each status

                                                                                                              Hi All, Hoping someone can help me, as I am new to Zoho Analytics, and I am a little stuck. I am looking to create a bar chart that looks back over tickets raised in the previous month and displays how much time was spent in each status (With Customer,
                                                                                                            • Zoho Projects iOS app update: Global Web Tabs support

                                                                                                              Hello everyone! In the latest version(v3.10.10) of the Zoho Projects app update, we have brought in support for Global Web Tabs. You can now access the web tabs across all the projects from the Home module of the app. Please update the app to the latest
                                                                                                            • Zoho Community Weekend Maintenance: 13–15 Sep 2025

                                                                                                              Hi everyone, We wanted to give you a heads-up that Zoho Community will undergo scheduled maintenance this weekend. During this period, some community features will be temporarily unavailable, while others will be in read-only mode. Maintenance Window:
                                                                                                            • Agent Performance Report

                                                                                                              From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports An agent performance report in a ticketing system provides a comprehensive view of how support agents manage customer tickets. It measures efficiency and quality by tracking key performance
                                                                                                            • Show both Vendor and Customers in contact statement

                                                                                                              Dear Sir, some companies like us working with companies as Vendor and Customers too !!! it mean we send invoice and also receive bill from them , so we need our all amount in one place , but in contact statement , is separate it as Vendor and Customer, 
                                                                                                            • URL validation

                                                                                                              We use an internal intranet site which has a short DNS name which Zoho CRM will not accept.   When attempting to update the field it says "Please enter a valid URL". The URL I am trying to set is http://intranet/pm/ Our intranet is not currently setup with a full DNS name and given the amount of links using the shortname probably isn't a feasible change for us.
                                                                                                            • Pourquoi dans zohobooks version gratuite on ne peut ajouter notre stock d'ouverture??

                                                                                                              Pourquoi dans zohobooks version gratuite on ne peut ajouter notre stock d'ouverture ??
                                                                                                            • How can I adjust column width in Zoho Books?

                                                                                                              One issue I keep running into is as I show or hide columns in reports, the column widths get weird. Some columns have text cut off while others can take a fourth of the page for just a few characters. I checked report layout guides and my settings, but
                                                                                                            • Invalid value passed for file_name

                                                                                                              System generated file name does not send file anymore - what is the problem?
                                                                                                            • Custom Function for Estimates

                                                                                                              Hey everyone, I was wondering if there was a way to automate the Subject of an estimate whenever one is created or edited: * the green box using following infos: * Customer Name and Estimate Date. My Goal is to change the Subject to have this format "<MyFirm>-Estimate
                                                                                                            • This domain is not allowed to add. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

                                                                                                              I am trying to setup the free version of Zoho Mail. When I tried to add my domain, theselfreunion.com I got the error message that is the subject of this Topic. I've read your other community forum topics, and this is NOT a free domain. So what is the
                                                                                                            • Search in module lists has detiorated

                                                                                                              Every module has a problem with the search function :-/
                                                                                                            • YouTube Live #1: AI-powered agreement management with Zia and Zoho Sign

                                                                                                              Hi there! We're excited to announce Zoho Sign’s first YouTube live series, where you can catch the latest updates and interact with our Zoho Sign experts, pose questions, and discover lesser-known features. We're starting off by riding the AI wave in
                                                                                                            • Search in module lists has detiorated

                                                                                                              Every module has a problem with the search function :-/
                                                                                                            • Sales Receipts Duplicating when I run reports why and how do we rectify this and any other report if this happens

                                                                                                              find attached extract of my report
                                                                                                            • Add Zoho Forms to Zoho CRM Plus bundle

                                                                                                              Great Zoho apps like CRM and Desk have very limited form builders when it comes to form and field rules, design, integration and deployment options. Many of my clients who use Zoho CRM Plus often hit limitations with the built in forms in CRM or Desk and are then disappointed to hear that they have to additionally pay for Zoho Forms to get all these great forms functionalities. Please consider adding Zoho Forms in the Zoho CRM Plus bundle. Best regards, Mladen Svraka Zoho Certified Consultant and
                                                                                                            • Bigin: filter Contacts by Company fields

                                                                                                              Hello, I was wondering if there's a way to filter the contacts based on a field belonging to their company. I.e.: - filter contacts by Company Annual Revenue field - filter contacts by Company Employee No. field In case this is not possibile, what workaround
                                                                                                            • Has Zoho changed the way it searches Items?

                                                                                                              Right now all of our searches have broken and we can no longer search using the SKU or alias. It was fine last night and we came in this morning to broken.....this is impacting our operations now.
                                                                                                            • 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,
                                                                                                            • 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 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
                                                                                                            • Next Page