Building Extensions #3: Setting up the development environment and building extensions for Zoho Desk
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.
Welcome back, Developers!
With our previous post on the basics of extensions and the scope of building them, we'd like to continue the momentum by discussing the process of actually building extensions for Zoho Desk. In this post, we'll address the technical prerequisites to develop extensions for Zoho Desk. We will also take you through the steps involved in creating and testing your extension.
The first step to build extensions for Zoho Desk is to download and install Node.js, followed by ZET (Zoho Extension Toolkit). ZET is the CLI tool offered by Zoho Desk that comes with a built-in http server to render the extension. It also enables you to build, test, validate, and package your extensions.
Setting up the development environment
Installing Node.js
You can install the Node.js runtime environment here (versions 7.1.0 and above are supported). Once you have installed Node.js, run the following command to verify it.
$ node -v $ npm -v |
Installing ZET CLI
Install ZET CLI, which enables you to build your extensions for Zoho products.
- If you are a Mac/Unix user, run the following command to install ZET:
$ sudo npm install -g zoho-extension-toolkit |
- If you are a Microsoft Windows user, run the following command:
$ npm install -g zoho-extension-toolkit |
- Use the following command to check the version:
$ zet -v |
- Use the help command to view all the available commands in ZET CLI and their usage.
$ zet -help |
ZET commands:
init: Creates the skeleton of the extension project. It scaffolds the index file of your project with the necessary code to ease the development process.
run: Starts an https server in the current directory to serve the assets in it.
validate: Helps developers to ensure the extension is in alignment with the Zoho Desk guidelines.
pack: It will create ZIP file in the current directory to host extension's static assets in Zoho servers.
Building your extension
Once the required development environment is set up, you are ready to build and test your extension. To start building your extension, you need to create a new project in ZET CLI.
Create a new project
Open your terminal and move to the directory under which you will be creating a new project for your extension.
- Run the following command. This command will display the list of all Zoho Products for which extensions can be developed.
$ zet init |
- Use the arrow keys to choose Zoho Desk and press Enter.
$ zet init ? Select the Zoho service for your widget and hit enter key (Use arrow keys) > Zoho Desk Zoho CRM YES |
- You will be prompted for the Project Name.
- Provide a project name and click Enter. You will have to choose Yes/No based on your need for module support.
Note: We will be discussing module support in detail in a separate post. If you are a beginner developing your first extension, you can choose No.
Now, the project directory with all the necessary folders, dependency code packages, and files will be created.
D:\zet\projects>D:\zet\projects>zet init ? Select the Zoho service for your widget and hit enter key Zoho Desk ? Project Name demoproject Initializing project at: D:\zet\projects\demoprojects Installing NPM dependencies… Project Initialized D:\zet\projects\demoprojects Run the following commands: cd demoproject zet run |
The image below represents the project's default folder structure. The widget.html file is the default widget created within the project. Let's test this extension using this sample widget.
Testing your extension
You need to perform the following steps to test your extension:
- Start server in your local host
- Activate development mode in Zoho Desk
Starting the server
To start the local host server, navigate to the newly created project's directory and execute the following command.
$ zet run |
The http server will start and be accessible through port 5000 of your local machine.
Activate development mode
- Log into your Zoho Desk account.
- Click on the gear icon in the top right corner and go to the Setup page.
- Click Build Extensions under Developer space.
- Click the Enable Developer Mode button in the top right corner of the page.Developer mode will be enabled.
- Go to the Tickets module and open a ticket.
- Click the Extension icon to the right of the Ticket details page. The extension widget page will appear.
We hope you found this post useful. Try it out and let us know your feedback! We really appreciate hearing from you.
Stay tuned!
See Also
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Nanditha Somasundaram Somasundaram
Andy Wynn
Ash | Zoho Desk
Giovanni Granata
user1
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
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
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
How to create auto populate field based on custom module in Zoho CRM?
Hello, i'm still new to Zoho CRM and work as administrator in my company. Currently, I'm configuring layout for Quotes Module. So, the idea is, I've created a read-only field in Quotes called "Spec". I want this field automatically filled with Specificationwebinar 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?Making digital signatures accessible to all: Introducing accessibility controls in Zoho Sign
Hi there! At Zoho Sign, we are committed to building an inclusive digital experience for all our users. As part of our ongoing efforts to align with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), we’re updating the application with support that will goIs 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?Transition Criteria Appearing on Blueprint Transitions
On Monday, Sept. 8th, the Transition criteria started appearing on our Blueprints when users hover over a Transition button. See image. We contacted Zoho support because it's confusing our users (there's really no reason for them to see it), but we haven'tDelegates should be able to delete expenses
I understand the data integrity of this request. It would be nice if there was a toggle switch in the Policy setting that would allow a delegate to delete expenses from their managers account. Some managers here never touch their expense reports, andAdd Save button to Expense form
A save button would be very helpful on the expense form. Currently there is a Save and Close button. When we want to itemize an expense, this option would be very helpful. For example, if we have a hotel expense that also has room service, which is aMultiple 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 otherIMAP Server not responding.
Trying to connect a phone via IMAP and getting "imap.zoho.com not responding." Is the server down, for maintenance or otherwise? I've tried this on two different devices and got the same error on both.Error AS101 when adding new email alias
Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.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 formRegarding the integration of Apollo.io with Zoho crm.
I have been seeing for the last 3 months that your Apollo.io beta version is available in Zoho Flow, and this application has not gone live yet. We requested this 2 months ago, but you guys said that 'we are working on it,' and when we search on GoogleOpen filtered deals from campaign
Do you think a feature like this would be feasible? Say you are seeing campaign "XYZ" in CRM. The campaign has a related list of deals. If you want to see the related deals in a deal view, you should navigate to the Deals module, open the campaign filter,How do you print a refund check to customer?
Maybe this is a dumb question, but how does anyone print a refund check to a customer? We cant find anywhere to either just print a check and pick a customer, or where to do so from a credit note.MTD SA in the UK
Hello ID 20106048857 The Inland Revenue have confirmed that this tax account is registered as Cash Basis In Settings>Profile I have set ‘Report Basis’ as “Cash" However, I see on Zoho on Settings>Taxes>Income Tax that the ‘Tax Basis’ is marked ‘Accrual'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 changeFetch 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 theZoho Creator as LMS and Membership Solution
My client is interested in using Zoho One apps to deploy their membership academy offer. Zoho Creator was an option that came up in my research: Here are the components of the program/offer: 1. Membership portal - individual login credentials for eachRecord 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 notHow 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 anyFSM too slow today !!
Anybody else with problem today to loading FSM (WO, AP etc.)?CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive
Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage filesNot 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 screenshotMapping 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 customRuning RPA Agents on Headless Windows 11 Machines
Has anyone tried this? Anything to be aware of regarding screen resolution?The sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on spamrl.com as a source of spam.
Hi, it just two day when i am using zoho mail for my business domain, today i was sending email and found that message "The sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on https://spamrl.com as a source of spam" I hope to know how this will affect the deliveryDelegates - Access to approved reports
We realized that delegates do not have access to reports after they are approved. Many users ask questions of their delegates about past expense reports and the delegates can't see this information. Please allow delegates see all expense report activity,Split functionality - Admins need ability to do this
Admins should be able to split an expense at any point of the process prior to approval. The split is very helpful for our account coding, but to have to go back to a user and ask them to split an invoice that they simply want paid is a bit of an inWhat is a a valid JavaScript Domain URI when creating a client-based application using the Zoho API console?
No idea what this is. Can't see what it is explained anywhere.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 theAuto-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, EdHow 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 associatedCannot 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, customersExport 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 storeswhy my account is private?
when i post on zohodesk see only agent onlyGetting 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.Show/ hide specific field based on user
Can someone please help me with a client script to achieve the following? I've already tried a couple of different scripts I've found on here (updating to match my details etc...) but none of them seem to work. No errors flagged in the codes, it just500 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 allNext Page