Extension pointers - JS SDK Series #1: Learn how to invoke a REST API function from a widget using the execute method
Software development kits (SDK) are sets of tools that are useful when building applications on a platform. They wrap up APIs in the form of libraries, and include sample code, utilities, and documentation that guides you in building your applications.
In our earlier posts we discussed building embeddable widgets for Zoho CRM. These widgets help to seamlessly integrate Zoho CRM with other applications and provide contextual information along with the application's data. Zoho CRM provides the JS SDK bundled with the necessary APIs and utilities to build these widgets using JavaScript. It serves as a mode of interaction between the JavaScript code and Zoho CRM. Through this JS SDK series of extension pointers, we aim to help you gain a deeper understanding of JS SDKs, and how to build efficient extensions.
The JS SDK bundle of Zoho CRM APIs is significant in helping you develop powerful widgets using JavaScript.
The Zoho CRM JS SDK, includes most of the APIs that help you operate with Zoho CRM data. It also includes event listeners that are useful for registering your application's events. The JS SDK also provides support to manage your widget's UI, handle configurations and connections with third party applications, and more. We're going to look at the different options available in the JS SDK, one at a time, throughout this series.
In this post, let's take a look at the ZOHO.CRM.FUNCTIONS.execute() function, its benefits,and how it can be incorporated while building extensions. It's designed to help you invoke and execute a custom function from a widget. Only a standalone REST API function can be invoked from your widget. A few major pointers regarding this API are:
➤ The ZOHO.CRM.FUNCTIONS.execute() function lets you invoke only the REST API function from a widget
➤ It requires that you input the API name of the function along with the constructed set of request data
Syntax
ZOHO.CRM.FUNCTIONS.execute(func_name, req_data) |
Here, 'func_name' is the API name of the REST API function. 'req_data' is the constructed argument set that needs to be passed to the function.
Example
var func_name = "sample_function"; var req_data ={ "arguments": JSON.stringify({ "Company" : "Zoho", "Email" : "saxxxx@xxxxx@.com", }) }; ZOHO.CRM.FUNCTIONS.execute(func_name, req_data) .then(function(data){ console.log("REST API function invoked from widget."+data); }) |
Here, 'sample_function' is the API name of the REST API function. The arguments, namely 'Company' and 'Email',are constructed and passed as the 'req_data' parameter to the ZOHO.CRM.FUNCTIONS.execute() function.
Now let's see how the execute function can be incorporated while creating widgets to build an extension.
Note: Widgets are embeddable GUI components that help extend Zoho CRM's functionality. To get detailed information on widgets and how they work,please refer here.
To demonstrate the use of ZOHO.CRM.FUNCTIONS.execute(), let's assume a scenario in Zoho CRM involving raised product issues or concerns are registered as Cases by an organization. In general, cases originate through different modes, for example through phone, web, or email. Let's build a widget with a customized UI that allows a user to key in certain values pertaining to the 'Cases' module. This widget will fetch the necessary values and pass them to a REST API function that will create a record in the Cases module. This could help the support user on a phone call with the client to quickly build a case by filling out only the specific details.
Code snippet:
sdkwidget.js
Util={}; //assigning api name of REST API function to 'func_name' parameter of the execute function var func_name="jssdkextension__executesdkfunction"; Util.check=function() { console.log("inside function"); //fetching the values provided in the UI var subject = document.getElementById("subject").value; var phoneno = document.getElementById("phnumber").value; var email = document.getElementById("email").value; var x = document.getElementById("cases").selectedIndex; var x1 = document.getElementById("cases").options; var cases=x1[x].text; var y = document.getElementById("status").selectedIndex; var y1 = document.getElementById("status").options; var status=y1[y].text; //constructing the 'req_data' parameter with the values fed by the user through the UI var req_data ={ "arguments": JSON.stringify({ "sub" : subject, "phone" : phoneno, "cases" : cases, "status" : status, "email" : email }) }; //Invoking the execute function to execute the REST API function ZOHO.CRM.FUNCTIONS.execute(func_name, req_data).then(function(data){ var resp=JSON.stringify(data); }) } |
executesdkfunction Rest API function
//retrieving the parameters of the request params = crmAPIRequest.get("params"); //retrieving the set of values from 'arguments' passed as 'req_data' in the javascript code args = params.get("arguments"); data = Map(); sub = args.get("sub"); phone = args.get("phone"); caseorigin = args.get("cases"); status = args.get("status"); email = args.get("email"); data.putAll({"Subject":sub,"Phone":phone,"Case_Origin":caseorigin,"Status":status,"Email":email}); //creating a new record in the Cases module resp = zoho.crm.createRecord("Cases",data); } return args; |
The highlighted text in the code snippet above is used to fetch the values provided by the user through the variable 'arguments' that is passed as the 'req_data' parameter to the REST API function.
Note: You can obtain the API name of the function from the sandbox URL or production URL obtained while using the option 'Invoke as REST API' in the script editor function.
Sample Output of Widget Screen
A new record is inserted in the Cases module according to the inputs provided.
Hope you found this information useful! For more about JS SDKs, keep following this space.
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
cwcarvey
Praveen Sankar
Newjoinee
Sticky Posts
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 howKaizen #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 areKaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms
Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achievedKaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.
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
Turning the page for Zoho SalesIQ: 2025 to 2026
As we wrap up 2025, we would like to take a moment to reflect on what we set out to achieve this year, what we’ve delivered, and where we’re headed next. What we focused on in 2025 This year was all about strengthening the core of engagement and AI, makingStage-probability mapping feature in custom module
Hi, I'm building a custom module for manage projects. I would like to implement the stage-probability feature that Potentials has. Is this possible?Temporary Outage in Zoho Cliq Affecting US Users – July 23, 2025
We experienced a service disruption in Zoho Cliq that impacted core functionality for users in the US region. The issue occurred between Jul 23, 2025, 06:54:00 PM IST and 07:13:13 PM IST, lasting approximately 19 minutes. To restore service stability,Why Sharing Rules do Not support relative date comparison???
I am creating a Sharing Rule and simply want to share where "Last Day of Coverage" (Date field) is Greater than TODAY (Starting Tomorrow). However, sharing rules don't have the option to compare a date field to a relative date (like today), only to StaticZoho Cliq not working on airplanes
Hi, My team and I have been having this constant issue of cliq not working when connected to an airplane's wifi. Is there a reason for this? We have tried on different Airlines and it doesn't work on any of them. We need assistance here since we are constantlyProblem with Workdrive folders
I'm having a problem a problem accessing files in a Zoho work drive folder when using the Zoho writer app. The problem folder appears grayed out in the Zoho work drive window in both the online and writer application. However I can open the folder inMulti-currency and Products
One of the main reasons I have gone down the Zoho route is because I need multi-currency support. However, I find that products can only be priced in the home currency, We sell to the US and UK. However, we maintain different price lists for each.Create an Eye-Catching Announcement Widget for Your Help Center
Hello Everyone! In this week’s edition, let’s explore how to keep your customers updated with exciting news in the Help Center. See how ZylkerMobile wowed their customers by bringing updates right to their portal. ZylkerMobile, the renowned brand forSend Whatsapp with API including custom placeholders
Is is possible to initiate a session on whatsapp IM channel with a template that includes params (placeholders) that are passed on the API call? This is very usefull to send a Utility message for a transactional notification including an order numberCustomer Management: #6 Common Mistakes in Customer Handling
Managing customers doesn't usually fall apart overnight. More often, slight gaps in the process slowly become bigger problems. Incidents like missed follow-ups, billing confusion, and unhappy customers will lead to revenue loss. Many businesses don'tZoho Desk iOS app update: UI enhancement of picklist and multi picklist fields
Hello everyone! We have enhanced the UI of the picklist and multiselect picklist fields on the Zoho Desk iOS app to provide a more refined, efficient, and user-friendly experience. We have now supported an option to Search within the picklist and multiselectZoho Desk iOS app update: Revamped scribbles with Apple pencil kit
Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce a revamped Scribble experience, rebuilt from the ground up using Apple PencilKit for smooth strokes, proper scaling, and seamless image uploads. Please update the app to the latest version directly from the AppZoho Desk Android app update: Norwegian language support
Hello everyone! In the most recent Android version of the Zoho Desk app update, we have brought in support to access the app in Norwegian language. We have introduced the Norwegian language on the IM module of the Zoho Desk app as well. Please updateField Description is very small
Hello, The field Description in the activity is very small. Why don't try open a new window, or a bigger popup, or increase the width of the "popup". Example:Function #53: Transaction Level Profitability for Invoices
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! We have previously provided custom functions for calculating the profitability of a quote and a sales order. There may be instances where the invoice may differ from its corresponding quote or sales order.Payment Vouchers
Is there any Payment Vouchers in Zoho? How can we create payment for non-trade vendors, i.e. professional fees, rent, and payment to commissioner income tax?API in E-Invoice/GST portal
Hi, Do I have to change the api in gst/e-invoice portal as I use zoho e books for my e-invoicing. If yes, please confirm the process.When I click on PDF/PRINT it makes the invoice half size
When I click PDF / Print for my invoice in Zoho Books, the generated PDF appears at half size — everything is scaled down, including the logo, text, and layout. The content does not fill the page as it should. Could someone advise what causes Zoho BooksSearch by contain letter in a column
Hello, everyone I need a filter function that searches by letter in a cell, and it should be a macro. To clarify further, if I have a column with several names and I chose a search cell and what I want is search by a single letter, for example, "a" thenEnrich your contact and company details automatically using the Data Enrichment topping
Greetings, I hope you're all doing well. We're happy to announce the latest topping we've added to Bigin: The Data Enrichment topping, powered by WebAmigo. This topping helps you automatically enhance your contact and company records in Bigin. By leveragingEasier onboarding for new users with stage descriptions
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a recent enhancement we've made to Bigin. You can now add descriptions to the stages in your pipeline. Previously, when creating a pipeline, you could only add stages. With this update,Zoho Books Invoices Templates
It would be really helpful to have more advanced features to customise the invoice templates in Zoho Books. Especially I´m thinking of the spacing of the different parts of the invoice (Address line etc.). If you have a sender and receiver address inCan add a colum to the left of the item in Zoho Books?
I would need to add a column to the left of the item column in Books. When i create custom fields, i can only display them to the right of the item.Verifying Zoho Mail Functionality After Switching DNS from Cloudflare to Hosting Provider
I initially configured my domain's (https://roblaxmod.com/) email with Zoho Mail while using Cloudflare to manage my DNS records (MX, SPF, etc.). All services were working correctly. Recently, I have removed my site from Cloudflare and switched my domain'sAI Bot and Advanced Automation for WhatsApp
Most small businesses "live" on WhatsApp, and while Bigin’s current integration is helpful, users need more automation to keep up with volume. We are requesting features based on our customer Feedbacks AI Bot: For auto-replying to FAQs. Keyword Triggers:2025 Ask the Experts sessions wrap-up : Key highlights from the experts
Here is a rewind journey of our Ask the Experts (ATE) Sessions, where we brought you expert insights and practical best practices together in one place. This recap highlights the key takeaways, learnings, and best practices from all these sessions soHow to disable the edit option in subform
How to disable the edit option in subformAdding non-Indian billing address for my Zoho subscription
Hey Need help with adding a non-Indian billing address for my Zoho subscription, trying to edit the address to my Singapore registered company. Won't let me change the country. Would appreciate the help. Regards, RishabhMove record from one custom module to another custom module
Is it possible to create a button or custom field that will transfer a record from one custom module to another? I already have the 'Leads' module used for the Sr. Sales department, once the deal is closed they convert it to the 'Accounts' module. I would like to create a 'Convert' button for a custom module ('Locations') for the department that finds locations for each account. Once the location is secured, I want to move the record to another custom module called 'Secured Locations'. It's basicallyConvert Lead Automation Trigger
Currently, there is only a convert lead action available in workflow rules and blueprints. Also, there is a Convert Lead button available but it doesn't trigger any automations. Once the lead is converted to a Contact/Account the dataset that can be fetchedNotes Not Saving
Hello, My notes are continuously not saving. I make sure to save them, I know the process to save them. It is not operator error. I go back into a Leads profile a while later and do not see the previous notes that I have made. I then have to go back and do unnecessary research that would have been in the notes in the first place. Not a good experience and it is frustrating. Slows me down and makes me do unnecessary work. Please resolve. As a quick heads up, deleting cookies is not a fixIntegration between "Zoho Sprints Stories" and "Zoho Projects Tasks/Subtasks"
We have two separate teams in our organization using Zoho for project management: The Development team uses Zoho Sprints and follows Agile/Scrum methodology. The Infrastructure team uses Zoho Projects for traditional task-based project management. InPrefill form with CRM/Campaigns
I created a form in zForms and created prefill fields. I added this to the CRM and selected the fields so when sending from the CRM, the form works great. However, I want to use the same form in Campaigns and I want it to pull the data from CRM (whichTriggering a campaign automation from a Form
I used Forms to create a lead form that is accessed by a button on my website. The field information flows into the CRM. However, I am trying to figure out how to use Campaign automations to start a workflow (series of campaign emails) that is triggeredName changed in settings for mailbox but still not changed when typed in To field
In the email account secretary@ i have updaetd the new staff members details but the old members name still appears when I type secretary@ in the To field. I cant work out where Zoho is finding the old name from. I have deleted the browser cache. If IEmployee Appraisal Applicability - Why is Date of Joining Hard-Coded?
In the new (to me, at least) Performance Appraisal Cycle wizard, it's possible to set criteria to determine for whom the appraisal process should apply. This makes sense on its face. However, one MUST use the Date of Joining criterion as a filter. WhyFormula fields
Zoho People now supports formula fields. This post illustrates it. Formula fields are fields whose value is calculated instead of being entered by the user. Using this, number, decimal and date manipulations can be done. The value of this field could be numeric or date depending on the output of the formula. In date manipulations, the result will be given in milliseconds, which you can format as per you need. The operators we support are +, - , *, /. Formula fields get recalculated automaticallyCopy paste from word document deletes random spaces
Hello Dear Zoho Team, When copying from a word document into Notebook, often I face a problem of the program deleting random spaces between words, the document become terribly faulty, eventhough it is perfect in its original source document (and withoutIs it possible to use module field filters via URL parameters?
It would be really convenient if I could quickly link to a filter. For reference, this is the filter functionality I'm referring to: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/advanced-filters/articles/advanced-filters For example: MyTransitioning FESCO Bill Project to Zoho Sheets and Integration Options
Hello Zoho Support, I'm considering transitioning my FESCO bill project from Google Sheets to Zoho Sheets and wanted to know if there are integration options to seamlessly migrate our existing work. You can view our platform here, any guidance would beNext Page