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
Send email template "permission denied to access the api"
Hello, Per the title, I'm trying to send a Zoho CRM Email template based on the advice given here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/specify-an-email-template-when-sending-emails-in-custom-functions (I'd prefer to send right from Delugehow to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS
Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I tryCopy, Paste, Highlighted text
when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this. WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service.Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing
"Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machinePublish to LinkedIn via API
Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks AdrianFSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses
Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies toDo Unpublished Products in Shopify Sync to Zoho POS?
Will an unpublished product in Shopify sync to Zoho POS? I would like to know how Zoho POS handles products that are in draft/unpublished status in Shopify.Problem in Zoho POS frontend ERP.
We are facing some difficulties in our billing and inventory processes and require your support to resolve them at the earliest. Customer Advance Payments We receive advance payments from customers for upcoming sales. Please guide us on how to recordCategorize Items with Item Headers
Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title. Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates. To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, InvoicesDiscount on the transaction level in POS
"Is it possible to apply a discount on the total bill before tax in Zoho POS?" I want to apply a discount on the total transaction amount in Zoho POS, but the discount should be calculated before the taxes are applied. Is there an option to do this inCreate Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3
In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way toSend Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now useJobs at multiple locations
Hi A lot of times we have same job open at multiple locations. So I would like an option where we can create a job and choose multiple locations. Currently we have to create individual jobs for each location. If we can create one job and mention multipleFrom Zoho CRM to Paper : Design & Print Data Directly using Canvas Print View
Hello Everyone, We are excited to announce a new addition to your Canvas in Zoho CRM - Print View. Canvas print view helps you transform your custom CRM layouts into print-ready documents, so you can bring your digital data to the physical world withTag Adding Option in Kanban Card Customization Bigin CRM Mobile App
I would like to request an option to add and display tags on Kanban cards in the Bigin CRM mobile app. This feature would make it easier to categorize deals and quickly identify priorities while working on the go.Empowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individualsAssociating a Candidate to a Job Listing
Hello, I am trying to use Zoho Forms embedded on my website for candidates to apply for a job opening. I want the form then to tie directly with zoho recruit and have the candidate be automatically inputed into Recruit as well as associated with the specificWhatsApp Voice Message Sending Option in Bigin CRM
I would like to request a feature that allows users to send WhatsApp voice messages directly from Bigin CRM. This would help improve communication efficiency and make it easier for teams to respond quickly to customer inquiries.CRM: hosting a single html file in Zoho and displaying it as a widget
I have seen that CRM offers the option of uploading a web project to Zoho itself and displaying it as a widget in CRM. The instructions then talk about setting a development environment with Node and developing an application to upload to Zoho. But IHow to change position button transtition of Blueprint?
Hi Everyone, Look at my screenshoot, it is possible move the reject button to the right? I couldn't find that setting in the blueprint. Thank you.Multi file upload
Hi, I just wonder if one could upload multiple files in one shot, say between one and three files, without adding multiple File Upload fields? Thanks, AlalbanySorting Descending in a lookup
I have a case number lookup on multiple forms. I need the most recent added to appear at the top of the lookup or as the list of cases grom it's too much to scroll. Is there a way to have a look up sort descending?Auto-upload Creator Files to WorkDrive
Hi everyone, I’m working on a workflow that uploads files from Zoho Creator to specific subfolders in Zoho WorkDrive, as illustrated in the attached diagram. My Creator application form has two multi-file upload fields, and I want—on successful form submission—toAsap Widget 2.0
Where's the documentation for the new ASAP widget? https://www.zoho.com/desk/developers/asap/#introduction this one is outdated How can we dynamically navigate between different views? How can we prefill ticket forms using ASAP 2.0?Can the Trigger be changed?
I'm afraid I already know the answer, but here goes... After activating a workflow (under Campaigns > Automations), Then later choosing to Edit the workflow, Can the Workflow's Trigger be changed? Currently the entire Trigger section + options are goneMarketer's Space: Proven tips to improve open rates – Part I
Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! In this week's post, we'll discuss the ever-important concept of open rates. This will be a multi-part series, as we have a range of topics to cover. Open rates—which measure the percentageCan't send nor receive emails on my external email accounts since this morning
Greetings, I have two external accounts integrated into Zoho mail through POP3 + SMTP. These accounts have always worked normally since the day I've set them up. Starting 10:30 AM this morning (Western European Time) both suddenly stopped sending andCreating Custom PDF Template from Form
I am trying to create a custom PDF from form submissions. I have the standard subscription and it indicates that PDF forms are included. I cannot find anywhere to create PDF forms. I try to follow the instructions from here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/forms/form-settings/pdf-settings/pdf-editor/articles/creating-your-own-pdf-template#Creating_your_template_from_the_scratchImportant Update: Facebook Metrics Deprecation & Impact on Zoho Analytics
Dear Zoho Analytics users, Facebook has deprecated a set of metrics from the Facebook Pages Insights API, effective November 15, 2025. As a result, these changes will affect any reports and dashboards in Zoho Analytics that rely on Facebook Pages data.Quick Copy Column Name
Please add the ability to quickly copy the name of a column in a Table or Query View. When you right-click the column there should be an option to copy the name, or if you left-click the column and use the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut it should copy theConditional Field Visibility in Bigin CRM
I would like to request support for conditional field visibility within Bigin CRM. This feature should allow administrators to configure show/hide rules for fields based on predefined criteria (e.g., field values, picklist selections, stage changes,Introducing Zoho MCP for Bigin
Hello Biginners! We're excited to introduce Zoho MCP for Bigin, a completely new way of interacting with Bigin data using AI. With Zoho MCP, you can securely connect your Bigin account with popular AI agents like Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code,MCP > Creator connection failing with Claude
I'm trying to get claude to access any of my Zoho Creator apps and it keeps failing. I have enabled all tools for creator and ensured in claude settings that everything is authorised. Here is what claude says : Unfortunately, the error messages I'm receivingIs it possible to sync data every 5–10 minutes in Zoho Analytics (CRM or Excel imports)?
Hello Team, I want to know if Zoho Analytics supports near real-time syncing of data from different sources. My requirements: I am importing data from Zoho CRM → Zoho Analytics I also have some datasets maintained in Excel/CSV I want both data sourcesFeature Request: Dynamic Dimension Control for zc_LoadIn Popups
As detailed in this community discussion, Zoho Creator's zc_LoadIn parameter is a vital tool for opening components (forms, reports, or pages) in modal dialogs via HTML snippets, Notes, or Rich Text Fields. While powerful, this feature suffers from aSubforms in stateless forms
I think the title says it all. We need to be able to add subforms to stateless forms. Currently the only workaround is to create a Form and delete each record upon submission of the form. I need to build an interface to update our inventory. BasicallyText wrap column headers in reports?
Is it possible to auto wrap column headers so that a longer multi-word header displays as two lines when the column is narrower than the width of the header title?What’s New in Zoho Inventory — Latest Features, Integrations & Updates | December 2025
Zoho Inventory has evolved significantly over the past months, bringing you smarter, faster, and more connected tools to streamline your operations. Whether you’re managing multichannel sales, complex fulfillment workflows, or fast-moving stock, our newestMarketer’s Space - Multi-Channel Campaigns for the Biggest Shopping Week with Zoho Marketing Automation
Hello marketers, Welcome back to another post in Marketers Space! The biggest shopping week of the year is almost here, and it’s your moment to shine without the stress. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, being present across email,Pricing Strategies: #5 Stay local, Price & Sell Global
Arun had always dreamed of taking his handmade craft business beyond his hometown. For years, he sold locally. Most of his customers are familiar faces, in our usual currency and with the exact expectations. But one day, a traveller visited his workshopNext Page