Kaizen #103 - Bulk Write API using PHP SDK (v5) - Part I
Hi everyone and welcome to another amazing Kaizen week!
This week, we will discuss and explore Bulk Write API in detail, and how to implement the same using Zoho CRM PHP SDK. Please note that the information in the article holds true for Zoho CRM PHP SDK supporting version 5 of Zoho CRM APIs.
What is Bulk Write API?
The Bulk Write API enables you to efficiently insert, update, or upsert a large dataset into your CRM account. As this is an asynchronous API, the records will not be added immediately, instead a job will be scheduled to do so. You will receive a notification at the specified callback URL or you can periodically check the job status.
The Bulk Write API allows you to insert, update, or upsert up to 25,000 records in a single API call. This is much more than the maximum of 100 records that you can insert, update, or upsert using the Insert, Update, and Upsert Records API.
When to use Bulk Write API?
- When you want to schedule a job to import a huge volume of data in your CRM account.
- When you want to insert, update, or upsert more than 100 records in a single API call.
- When you want to perform background processes like migration and initial data sync between Zoho CRM and external services.
However, the Bulk Write API consumes 500 credits per job, while the Insert, Update, and Upsert records API consumes 1 credit per 10 records. So, if you only need to insert, update, or upsert a small number of records (5,000 or less), it is economical to use the Records API as it will consume fewer credits.
Here are the major differences between Record APIs and Bulk Write API.
Insert, Update, Upsert Records API | Bulk Write API |
You can insert, update, or upsert only up to 100 records per API call. | You can insert, update, or upsert 25000 records per API call. |
The response is available instantly. | The response to the Bulk Write API request will not be available immediately. You can check the status of the job by polling for it, or you can wait for the status to be available in the callback URL after the job has completed. |
The API consumes 1 credit per 10 records. | Bulk Write API consumes 500 credits per API call. |
Bulk Write API
To insert, update, or upsert records in bulk, follow the below steps:
- Prepare your CSV file
- Upload your file in zip format
- Create a bulk write job
- Check the job status
- Download the result
1. Prepare the CSV file
To use the Bulk Write API, you must first create a CSV file containing the data you want to import to Zoho CRM. The first row of the CSV file must contain the field API names, and each subsequent row must contain the data. You can insert, update, or upsert records in a single module using one Bulk Write API call.
Input format for each data type:
Datatype | Description |
Single Line | Accepts up to 255 characters. Accepts alphanumeric and special characters. Ex: Mike O'Leary |
Multi-Line | Small - accepts up to 2000 characters. Large - accepts up to 32000 characters. Ex: This is a sample description. |
Email | Accepts valid email IDs. |
Phone | Accepts up to 30 characters. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Number of characters allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts only numeric characters and '+' (to add extensions). Ex: 9800000099 |
Picklist | You can pass an existing pick list value. If you give a new one, it is automatically added to the pick list set. The pick list value accepts all alphanumeric and special characters. Ex: auto mobile |
Multiselect Picklist | You can either pass the existing pick list values separated by a semicolon(;) or add a new one. The pick list value accepts all alphanumeric and special characters. Ex: Analytics;Bigdata |
Date | Accepts date in different formats as mentioned here. Ex: 2023-05-03 |
DateTime | Accepts date in different formats as mentioned here. Ex: 2023-05-03T20:39:19+05:30 |
Number | Accepts numbers up to 9 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. The accepted formats are mentioned here. Accepts numeric values. Ex1: 350 Ex2: 123,344 |
Currency | Before decimal point - accepts numbers up to 16 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. After decimal point - accepts precision up to 9 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Number of decimal paces' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Please note that comma separated digits are accepted. Ex1: 250000.90 Ex2: 123,456.657483 |
Decimal | Before the decimal point - accepts numbers up to 16 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. After the decimal point - accepts precision up to 9 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Number of decimal places' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts comma separated numeric values. Ex1: 250000.50 Ex2: 123,235.345 |
Percent | Accepts numbers up to 5 digits. Accepts only numeric values. Ex: 25 |
Long Integer | Accepts numbers up to 18 digits. This limit may vary based on the value configured in 'Maximum digits allowed' in the properties pop-up of the field, in UI. Accepts only numeric values. Ex: 0012345600012 |
Checkbox | Accepts only Boolean values(true,false). Ex: true |
URL | Accepts valid URLs. |
Lookup | Use the dot(.) operator to link the record. For instance, if there is an account lookup in the Contacts module, you can give the column name as - Account.id Ex: Account.id : 4150868000001136302 |
User | This is a default look-up field for users in Zoho CRM. Accepts the unique ID of the user, which you can get through the get users API. Ex: User.id |
Note:
- To give multiple values for a multi-select pick list field, enclose them in double quotes("") and separate each value with the semicolon(;).
- If your multi-line field has more than one line, input them directly by enclosing them in double quotes("").
- You can only zip one CSV file to upload for bulk write. Adding more than one CSV file into the zip file will result in an error.
- You can specify a specific format for your number, currency, decimal, date and datetime fields using format key.
Subform Data in Bulk Write API:
The Bulk Write API allows you to import and update records with subforms. To insert or update records with subforms, you must import the parent records first with Bulk Write API, and then the subform records with another Bulk Write API.
For example, consider an instance where you have a subform named "Contact Details" in the Account module. The subform has the following fields - Contact_Name, Contact_Email and Contact_Phone. You must first create a csv file with the parent records, compress it as a zip file, upload it, and create a bulk write job.
This is an example csv file. Note the Field API names are in the first row, and the record data is in the subsequent rows.
Once you have imported the parent records, you can upload the subform data CSV. When you prepare the subform data CSV file, it is mandatory to have the parent record ID in the subform data file, along with the subform data.
This is a sample CSV file for the subform data. The subform data in each row will be added to the corresponding parent record.
Multiselect Lookup Fields in Bulk Write API
To upload records with multiselect lookup fields, you can follow the same steps as for subforms. First, import the parent records. Then, import the multiselect lookup field data. The CSV file should contain both the parent record ID and the multiselect lookup field data. Please note that this method does not work for line items.
User Lookup in Bulk Write API
To import records with user lookup fields, you can include them in the same CSV file as the parent records. Use the field API name of the user lookup field in the CSV header, and add the unique IDs of the lookup records in the data column for each record.
Once you have prepared the CSV file, compress it as a zip file to upload in the next step. We will add examples of how to add subform data, user lookup and multiselect lookup field data in subsequent sections.
2. Upload your zip file
Once you have your csv file ready and compressed into a zip file, you should upload the same using a POST request. Use the following code snippet to upload the file.
<?php namespace bulkwrite; use com\zoho\crm\api\bulkwrite\FileBodyWrapper; use com\zoho\crm\api\bulkwrite\BulkWriteOperations; use com\zoho\crm\api\util\StreamWrapper; use com\zoho\crm\api\bulkwrite\UploadFileHeader; use com\zoho\crm\api\HeaderMap; require_once "vendor/autoload.php"; class UploadFile { public static function initialize() { // Add init code here. // Refer to this post for more details } public static function uploadFile1(string $orgID, string $absoluteFilePath) { $bulkWriteOperations = new BulkWriteOperations(); $fileBodyWrapper = new FileBodyWrapper(); $streamWrapper = new StreamWrapper(null, null, $absoluteFilePath); $fileBodyWrapper->setFile($streamWrapper); $headerInstance = new HeaderMap(); //To indicate that this a bulk write operation $headerInstance->add(UploadFileHeader::feature(), "bulk-write"); $headerInstance->add(UploadFileHeader::XCRMORG(), $orgID); //Call uploadFile method that takes FileBodyWrapper instance and headerInstance as parameter $response = $bulkWriteOperations->uploadFile($fileBodyWrapper, $headerInstance); // Add your code to handle the response received in the $response. } } UploadFile::initialize(); $orgID = "add_your_org_id_here"; // add your zgid which you can obtain using Get Organization API. $absoluteFilePath = "/Users/test/bulk-write.zip"; //add the absolute file path of your zip file here. UploadFile::uploadFile1($orgID, $absoluteFilePath); |
The uploadFile() method takes two parameters: the organization ID ($orgID) and the absolute file path ($absoluteFilePath) of the file to be uploaded. Within the uploadFile() method, an instance of BulkWriteOperations is created to call the Bulk Write API. This API is used to upload files to the Zoho File System. The HeaderMap instance is created to hold the necessary headers for the API request. The UploadFileHeader::feature() and UploadFileHeader::XCRMORG() methods are used to set the feature and organization ID headers, respectively. These headers are required to identify the type of operation being performed and the organization that the file is being uploaded.
The uploadFile() method is called on the BulkWriteOperations instance, passing the FileBodyWrapper and HeaderMap as parameters. The response from the API call will be stored in the $response variable, which contains the file ID as well. We will use this file ID in the next step, creating a bulk write job.
We hope you found this post on the Bulk Write API useful. In next week's post, we will cover how to create a bulk write job, including lookup and user lookup fields and subform data. We will also show you how to check the job status and download the job result.
If you have any specific questions about the Bulk Write API, please leave a comment below, or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com. We are happy to help!
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more useful posts in the series. See you all next week!
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
Anu Abraham
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
Meet Canvas' Grid component: Your easiest way to build responsive record templates
Visual design can be exciting—until you're knee-deep in the details. Whether it's aligning text boxes to prevent overlaps, fixing negative space, or simply making sure the right data stands out, just ironing out inconsistencies takes a lot of moving parts.hard-bounced email list
Hi, Below pops up when I try to send an Email to some of my customer. Please guide me how to take it out from hard-bounced list? I am not sure how they were marked in hard-bounced listRegister the 'Contact Role' addition and change as a Potential edition so it can trigger Workflows
We are trying to use "Contact Roles" in Potentials. Contact Roles are special and different than the other Related lists, so, it may have a special behavior. Something to keep in mind is that you will never have 100 Contact Roles as you can have 100 Tasks, Calls, or any other Related list. In our case we will have 2 in average and up to 4 or 5 maximum. The problem is that we need to bring information from 3 key Contact Roles to the Potential and adding a Contact to the Contacts Roles area never triggerCan I change the format of the buttons in the email templates?
Hi all! We have been working hard trying to brand our email templates, and have some way to go yet. One of the things we can't seem to edit is the green ${Cases.CUSTOMER_PORTAL_BUTTON} button and the font of the View Ticket text. Is there any way of doingBest practice to structure reporting to include events covering multiple months / quarters.
Hi, I'm new to Zoho, have some experience of more "enterprise" tools, looking for some input from the community. I'm looking to create a report that includes events that cover a long period, each event has a start / end date and I'm struggling undertandingMarketing Tip #11: Turn features into benefits that sell
We all love talking about our products, but here’s a secret: customers don’t just buy features, they buy benefits. Instead of just saying "Made from 100% organic cotton," try "Soft, breathable comfort that lasts all day." Benefits tell shoppers how yourZoho Sheet - Printing - Page Breaks and Printing Customization
I think the title is descriptive enough in that I cannot find help documentation on a simple task of adding in page brakes for separating pages on print. ThanksSynchronise item image between Zoho Commerce and Zoho Books/Inventory/CRM
Here is a blindingly simple idea to tie several Zoho products together. Zoho - please include a method to synchronise the item image (or images) from one Zoho application to another. For example, if you upload an item image in Zoho Inventory, a user shouldHow do I migrate from zoho mail to Office 365?
The manual migration of Zoho Mail to Microsoft 365 typically requires using IMAP to move emails and configuring Microsoft Outlook to sync Zoho Mail. This approach can be error-prone, especially if there are multiple accounts or large email archives. Moreover,New Update: Convert External Users in Bulk in Zoho Directory
Greetings to all Zoho Directory users out there! We’re excited to introduce a new update that makes user management in Zoho Directory even more efficient; you can now convert external users in bulk! Earlier, admins could convert only one external userNew Update: Convert External Users in Bulk in Zoho One
Greetings to all Zoho One users out there! We’re excited to introduce a new update that makes user management in Zoho One even more efficient; you can now convert external users in bulk! Earlier, admins could convert only one external user at a time.How to edit form layout for extension
I am working on extension development. I have created all the fields. I want to rearrange the layout in Sigma platform. But there is no layout module in Sigma. How can I achieve this for extensions other than Zet CLI and putting the fields into widgetWebsite not properly connecting with Zoho Creator app portal (embed & data sync issue)
Hello Zoho Community, I’m currently facing an issue while trying to connect my external website with a Zoho Creator app portal. I have a tool-based website ( https://mygardencalculator.com/ ) where users interact with calculators and dynamic content.日本語フォントの選択肢拡充についての要望
日本語フォントの選択肢がとても少ないと感じたことはありませんか？ 多くのアプリ（たとえば Invoice）ではフォントが1種類しかなく、正直あまり使いやすい・見た目が良いとも言えません。 そろそろ、もっと多くの日本語フォントを追加してほしい、そしてすべてのアプリで同じフォント選択肢を使えるようにしてほしいと、私たちユーザーが声を上げる時期だと思います。 ご存じのとおり、現状ではアプリごとにフォント周りの仕様にほとんど一貫性がありません。 みなさん、一緒に要望を出していきましょう！Does anyone know how to setup Zoho Desk or Zoho CRM as a custom outgoing/incoming Call Centre?
I need to setup a call center so I can setup agents to make phone calls across Canada to market our services. I am trying to figure out the most reliable and cost efficient way to do this? I am currently paying for two phone services and neither seemDisplay actual mileage on an invoice
My users are creating expenses in Zoho expense. For example, they expense 10 miles and get paid 7 dollars (10 miles * IRS rate of .70). If I look at the expenses in Zoho Books, it does show them at 10 miles at .70 cent When I add these expense to an invoicePrevent Unapproved Quotes from Exporting to Zoho CRM Finance Module
Is it possible to prevent unapproved quotes in Zoho Books from being exported from Zoho Finance module inside Zoho CRM?Default font size for printing is too big
A recent issue in printing e mails is that the default font size is huge. This happens in both Edge and Firefox. In order to get what I would call a "normal" printout of an e mail it is necessary to go into the printer preferences / options and set the scale to 75%, otherwise a short e mail with signature and logos etc printed at 100% can take 3 or 4 pages. The annoying thing is that it is necessary to do this each time a printout is to be made as a change in scale only applies to that particularConsultant-Only Booking Page
Zoho Bookings does not allow for Meeting Type OR Workspace-Wide booking pages to be turned off. This is detrimental to organizations that have territory-based or assigned accounts, because if prospects can go to these booking pages and either select theRequest for Auto PO - Min–Max based Automated Purchase Feature
Dear Zoho POS Team, I’m writing to request a feature enhancement that would significantly streamline inventory management for businesses using Zoho POS — particularly supermarkets, FMCG retail, and multi-store operations like ours. Feature Requested:Export Invoices to XML file
Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunitiesissue with deluge script
i used chat gpt to build this script and I am getting 2 errors which I cannot figure out how to fix: void monthly_sales_order_generation() { try { // ---------------- CONFIG ------------------- analytics_url_1 = "https://analytics.zoho.com/api/<workspaceID>/report/<reportID1>/data";Introducing LinkedIn Apply Connect for Zoho Recruit
Attract up to 3x more qualified candidates and hire more efficiently with LinkedIn Apply Connect. Let candidates fill-in job applications without any redirections, gain deeper insights with applicant highlights within Zoho Recruit, and keep candidatesRecruit paid support?
Hi all, Could anyone who has paid support package advise if it provides value for money with regards to support response times? Exploring the idea as unfortunately when we have faced issues with Recruit it has been a 7+ day timescale from reporting toTicket Status email
Good day, This was discussed in the past, but it would be helpful if we could have the system assign a custom response to a status. We have various statuses for tickets, e.g. "closed due to no response", or "Pending Status", it would be helpful for theFuture Orders - Due Date
Hi In my role, I can receive tickets where the work required is requested months in advance. Using a Future Orders option, which I believe was setup under the On Hold status type, hides the Due Date, in all views/ticket etc. Whilst I understand the reasoningIntroducing Withdrawal Reasons for Offers
We’re excited to introduce a new enhancement to the Offer module that brings more clarity and accountability to every withdrawn offer. The Withdrawal Reason update ensures that each withdrawal — manual or automatic — is backed by a clear explanation,Zoho Creator customer portal users
Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal. At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3GPS tracking only or Check out facility
Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides CheckinAppraisals on Employee Information Profile
Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other rolesKaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2
Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST WebhookStandard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation
Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get theManage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)
Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages ofSystematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains
Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered dueAccessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users
Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center usersZoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente
La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurantItem/service subtotal
Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great featureSend 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.Next Page