Extension pointers - JS SDK Series #1: Learn how to invoke a REST API function from a widget using the execute method

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:



<<Previous                                                                                                                                                    Next>>


    Access your files securely from anywhere

        All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.






                              Zoho Developer Community



                                  Bootcamp
                                  Community
                                  Pricing
                                  Webinars
                                  What's New
                                  Integrations
                                  Contact Support
                                  Contact Sales
                                    Zoho Survey Resources
                                      Features
                                      Survey Templates
                                      Integrations
                                      Community
                                      iOS Mobile Surveys
                                      Pricing
                                      Android Mobile Surveys
                                      Insurvey Blogs
                                      Insight Blogs
                                      Tips & Tricks





                                                  Latest Feature Updates

                                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                    • Digest


                                                    • Functions


                                                    • Meetups


                                                    • Kbase


                                                    • Resources


                                                    • Glossary


                                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                                    • MVP Corner


                                                    • Word of the Day


                                                    • Ask the Experts




                                                        Zoho SalesIQ Resources

                                                              • Sticky Posts

                                                              • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

                                                                Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

                                                              • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

                                                              • 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 how

                                                              • Kaizen #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 are


                                                              Manage your brands on social media
                                                              Access Zoho Social

                                                                Zoho Pagesense Resources


                                                                    Zoho TeamInbox Resources

                                                                      Zoho DataPrep 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

                                                                                                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

                                                                                                                • Marketer's Space: Plan smarter with Zoho Campaigns' Calendar

                                                                                                                  Hello Marketers, Welcome to another post! Today, we'll talk about a discreet yet significant feature that's neatly tucked inside Zoho Campaigns: the calendar. It might look like an optional but somewhat unnecessary feature that you can use occasionally,

                                                                                                                • Accounting for Territories

                                                                                                                  We have different territories i.e. Europe and US and although we can manage the sales process for each and allocate different currencies in the CRM - we want to keep the accounting separate for each territory as there are different reporting and accounting requirements - is there any way to do this?   We want to avoid having two separate instances of zoho.

                                                                                                                • User

                                                                                                                  If user is already part of manage engine endpoint central , what hapens when i try to add them to another Zoho org / directory? Are these users added as external users?

                                                                                                                • Outlook - Zoho CRM Calendar Integration

                                                                                                                  I'm facing an issue integrating Outlook with Zoho CRM. Has anyone successfully connected their Outlook to Zoho, and are all your meetings and emails being captured correctly in the CRM? Any insights or troubleshooting tips would be appreciated

                                                                                                                • 【Zoho CRM】ポータル機能のアップデート

                                                                                                                  ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、ポータル機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 ポータル管理の新機能「自動招待」により、Zoho CRMからポータルへの招待を自動化できるようになりました。これまで必要だった、ユーザーごとの手動設定は不要になります。設定した条件に基づいて、対象ユーザーに自動で招待が送信されます。 ポータルの新機能 条件に基づく自動招待：指定した条件を満たすユーザーに、自動で招待を送信 招待設定：招待メールの言語を選択し、言語ごとに条件を設定可能

                                                                                                                • Contact data removes Account data when creating a quote

                                                                                                                  Hi, Our customer has address fields in their quote layout which should be the address of the Account. They prefill the information, adding the account name - the address data is populated as per what is in the account - great. However when they then add

                                                                                                                • Export all of our manuals from Zoho Learn in one go

                                                                                                                  Hi, I know there's a way to export manuals in Zoho Learn, but I want to export everything in one go so it won't take so long. I can't see a way to do this, can I get some assistance or is this a feature in the pipeline? Thanks, Hannah

                                                                                                                • Automation#31: Automate Splitting Names for New Contact Records

                                                                                                                  Hello Everyone, This week, we present to you a custom function, which allows you to split the first and last names from the user's email ID based on the separator used in the ID. Having grown into a large firm, Zylker Techfix aims to optimize its processes,

                                                                                                                • Automatically remove commas

                                                                                                                  Team, Please be consistent in Zoho Books. In Payments, you have commas here: But when we copy and paste the amount in the Payments Made field, it does not accept it because the default setting is no commas. Please have Zoho Books remove commas autom

                                                                                                                • Project Change Orders and Additions

                                                                                                                  We are in the process of migrating from QuickBooks Online to Zoho Books. We have Zoho One and like the ability to sync all of our data across everything. And I like that projects work in a way that's less dumb than QuickBooks. I'm trying to figure out

                                                                                                                • ZOHO Desk - Description of slave ticket disappeared after Merge

                                                                                                                  Dear Support, On Zoho Desk the description of a ticket disappeared after merging two ticket. The one which was the slave one completely disappeared. The problem that in this description there was an image which i had only on Desk in that ticket. Could

                                                                                                                • How do I insert a cross-reference link to a different section within one Knowledge Base article using Zoho Desk?

                                                                                                                  I would like to insert a link within a Knowledge Base article to a different section of that same article. The section I want to link to is formatted with the Heading 3 style and is displayed within my TOC. However, I do not see any way to add a link

                                                                                                                • Problem Adding Facebook Account

                                                                                                                  Hi, I'm new here, I'm having trouble setting up my Facebook account as a social channel. I think the issue is down to how my Facebook is set up, which is pretty confusing. I have a personal Facebook account (let’s called it A) which is my main Facebook

                                                                                                                • Zoho Desk Teams App is not loading

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho Desk support. Need an assistance on the Zoho Desk Teams app. Once I click View Ticket, it isn't showing anything. Kindly refer to attached: ZohoDesk Teams App_View Ticket Error.jpg For our Dashboard, we are still experiencing the same issue. Kindly

                                                                                                                • Mapping a new Ticket in Zoho Desk to an Account or Deal in Zoho CRM manually

                                                                                                                  Is there any way for me to map an existing ticket in Zoho desk to an account or Deal within Zoho CRM? Sometimes people use different email to put in a ticket than the one that we have in the CRM, but it's still the same person. We would like to be able

                                                                                                                • Which WhatsApp API works seamlessly with Zoho CRM?

                                                                                                                  I’m exploring WhatsApp API solutions that integrate seamlessly with Zoho CRM for customer communication, lead nurturing, and automation. I would love to hear insights from those who have successfully implemented WhatsApp within Zoho CRM. My Requirements:

                                                                                                                • Allow people to sign a zoho form by using esign or scanned signature

                                                                                                                  Allow people to sign a zoho form by using esign or scanned signature

                                                                                                                • Button to Reapply Filters on Sheet(s)

                                                                                                                  I wrote a macro that I attached to a button to reapply the filters on all my sheets and it says it works, but it doesn't actually do anything. What is wrong with it? Is there another way? Or even make it work for one sheet? Sub UniversalFilterRefresh()

                                                                                                                • Integrate Multiple ZohoBooks organization with zoho projects

                                                                                                                  We have successfully connected our Zoho Books with Zoho Projects for synronizing timesheet data. Our Business specialty is, that the staff of the Main company (A) is working on several projects, but the Clients are sometimes contracted and paying to a

                                                                                                                • Zoho OAuth Connector Deprecation and Its Impact on Zoho Desk

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, Zoho believes in continuously refining its integrations to uphold the highest standards of security, reliability, and compliance. As part of this ongoing improvement, the Zoho OAuth default connector will be deprecated for all Zoho services

                                                                                                                • How do I add todays date to merge field

                                                                                                                  I don't see any selection of todays date when creating a letter. Surely the date option of printing is standard? John

                                                                                                                • Tracking Emails sent through Outlook

                                                                                                                  All of our sales team have their Outlook 365 accounts setup with IMAP integration. We're trying to track their email activity that occurs outside the CRM. I can see the email exchanges between the sales people and the clients in the contact module. But

                                                                                                                • Whats that

                                                                                                                  Price?

                                                                                                                • The same Contact associated to multiple Companies - Deals

                                                                                                                  Hi, I would like to know if there is an option to associate the same contact with multiple companies (two or more) deals, using the same contact details for all. This is because we have contacts who are linked to different companies or branches of the

                                                                                                                • Portals-Adjust Column Sizes

                                                                                                                  I am trying to adjust the column widths in Portals tabs. Columns that don't need to be wide are wide and longer ones are very short. I thought adding more to the digits box in Edit would widen them, but it doesn't. Anyone know how to adjust these?

                                                                                                                • Add link/button to open approved record from approval list and detail views?

                                                                                                                  Hi, How do I allow users to click on an approval record and open that submission? For example, userA submits a quotation then userB approves/rejects. They both can see the quotation on "completed task" list & detail views, but there's no way for them

                                                                                                                • record submitted from creator and invoice is creating in books , but the workflow of books is not tiggering on create of record in books

                                                                                                                  record submitted from creator and invoice is creating in books , but the workflow of books is not tiggering on create of record in books headermap = Map(); headermap.put("X-ZOHO-Execute-CustomFunction","true"); response_inv = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3/invoices/fromsalesorder?salesorder_id="

                                                                                                                • Prevent editing of a record after getting approved/rejectedr

                                                                                                                  Hi, I'd like to block any user from editing a record after it was approved or rejected, how can I do that?

                                                                                                                • Formula Field/Campo de Fórmula

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, I have a purchase requisition form in which each department submits a request, and the request is automatically routed to the person responsible for that department. In this form, I have several fields with the following link names: Quantidade1,

                                                                                                                • Formatting Problem | Export to Zoho Sheet View

                                                                                                                  When I export data to Zoho Sheet View, ID columns are automatically formatted as scientific notation. Reformatting them to text changes the actual ID values. For example, 6557000335603071 becomes 6557000335603070. I have attached screenshots showing this

                                                                                                                • Feature Request - The Ability to Link A Customer with a Vendor

                                                                                                                  Hi Finance Suite Team, Many businesses buy and sell products from the same companies or individuals. For example, a car sales business may buy a car from a member of the public, and that member of the public may also buy a new car from us. This makes

                                                                                                                • Long table name (sync from Zoho Creator)

                                                                                                                  Dears, How can I remove the suffix in parentheses? These tables are synced from Zoho Creator and are treated as system tables, so their names cannot be changed. This issue makes the aggregation formulas look awful.

                                                                                                                • [Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - Streamlining incident management process with Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, We’re excited to invite you to another edition of the Learning Table Series webinar. As you may already know, we've moved to a purpose-based approach in the Learning Table Series this year. Each session now focuses on how a Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                • Unattended - Silent

                                                                                                                  How can I hide the tray icon / pop up window during unattended remote access for silent unattended remote access?

                                                                                                                • Text snippet

                                                                                                                  There is a nice feature in Zoho Desk called Text Snippet. It allows you to insert a bit of text anywhere in a reply that you are typing. That would be nice to have that option in Zoho CRM as well when we compose an email. Moderation Update: We agree that

                                                                                                                • Marketing Tip #18: Make your online store mobile-friendly to improve traffic

                                                                                                                  Most online shoppers browse on their phones first. If your store is hard to read, slow to load, or tricky to navigate on mobile, they’ll bounce fast. A mobile-friendly store doesn’t just look nice; it improves engagement, reduces drop-offs, and helps

                                                                                                                • [Need help] Form closed. Please contact your form administrator for further assistance.

                                                                                                                  https://forms.zohopublic.com/cceinfoifly1/form/CCE2025CCEFocusGroupRegistrationForm2025Fall/formperma/s_8XcLETTbFxZ_TAS4r_W6W5UBl8o5oxEnIX35IBKg4 I checked we didn't exceed the usage limit and form availability is enabled, Please help us enable this form

                                                                                                                • Zoho People. Updating TabularData

                                                                                                                  I am trying to update tabular data in the record. I always have the same response. I have checked many times. Section ID is correct. May be something wrong with request structure itself. Can someone help me. Body content type: form urlencoded query params

                                                                                                                • Automatically CC an address using Zoho CRM Email Templates

                                                                                                                  Hi all - have searched but can't see a definitive answer. We have built multiple email templates in CRM. Every time we send this we want it to CC a particular address (the same address for every email sent) so that it populates the reply back into our

                                                                                                                • Unable to Send Different Email Templates for Different Documents in Zoho Sign

                                                                                                                  Hello Zoho Community, I am facing a limitation with Zoho Sign regarding email notifications sent to customers when a document is sent for signing. Currently, whenever I send any template/document for signing, the email notification that goes to the customer

                                                                                                                • Next Page