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 #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 thisKaizen #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 achieved
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
Almacenamiento
Hola, Quisiera saber como podría hacer para bajar el almacenamiento de 5gb a mis usuarios, en otras palabras los quiero ir limitando de la cuota real, y luego ir agregando poco a poco la cantidad hasta llegar a los 5gb que me dan en el plan free.Will I Get a Refund If I Downgrade Zoho Mail?
Hello, We upgraded an email account for our new employee. However, the employee left after one month, and now I've reduced the number of Zoho Mail users from 7 to 6. Can we get a refund for the remaining portion of our annual payment?JOB WISE INVOICE PROCESS
I WANT TO ENABLE JOB WISE TRACKING OF ALL SALES AND PURCHASEIntroducing the revamped What's New page
Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that Zoho Campaigns' What's New page has undergone a complete revamp. We've bid the old page adieu after a long time and have introduced a new, sleeker-looking page. Without further ado, let's dive into the mainZoho Books - France
L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilitéName autocomplete
Hi, During searching emails the web tool does not always propose the auto-completion of the saved emails. As a result I either have to go to contacts and look up the exact email, or the exact full name including the middle name and any dots, which is very annoying. For example I have a contact that I emailed in the past that has "First M. Last" <email@email.com> type of contact. When I start typing 'First' the email may or may not pop up in the autocomplete menu. Then if I start typing "first last"How do i follow up my email campaign in-thread
Is there a way to follow up the email campaign so that it is in-thread using zoho campaigns? eg customer gets original email with subject line "hello" then 5 days later follow up would be with subject line "RE: hello".Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.29.0)
Hello everyone! Trident for macOS (v1.29.0) is here with new features and enhancements to enhance your business communication. Let's take a quick look at them. Access shared mailboxes. You can now view and access shared mailboxes in Trident, which areBooks is extremely slow again today !
Everything is running slowly even with 500mb connection speedCyclic dependencies in many-to-many relationships...
I have an application which includes a form for companies, and a form for contacts. Each company can be assigned 1 technical and 1 administrative contact. I have this working okay so far, but I want to copy the scripts used so far to a new empty application. When I import the scripts it fails with a message that says: Problem encountered while creating the application Error in resolving form dependency:Cyclic dependency among the forms:[Company, Contact] What can I do to resolve this? After all,Zoho API to create ticket
I'm developing an integration to create tickets via API, but, locally it works (send and recieve requests). In production it also works sending requests, but, my file don't recieve any response data. My URL is available in Zoho API Console and I haveAutomate Timesheet Approvals with Multi-level Approval Rules
Introducing Approval Rules for Timesheets in Zoho Projects. With this automation, teams can manage how timesheets are reviewed and approved by setting up rules with criteria and assigning approvers to handle submissions. Timesheet, when associated toLabels Part 2
Hey Zoho Mail Team, On the labels window on the left-hand pane, alphabetize label name display, rather than displaying in order created. This one should be easy. Thanks, DrewBuilding Toppings #1 - Serving your needs with Bigin Toppings
Hey Biginners! We're excited to kick off our Developer Community series on building toppings for Bigin, and our goal is to provide an accessible, beginner-friendly, and relevant path for every developer. Imagine creating tiny pieces of software that unlockCan we create Sprint with tasks from Multiple projects?
Hi Team, We were using Zoho Sprints for quite sometime. Currently we have started the process of Sprint method. We couldnt create the active sprint board with the tasks from multiple projects. I would like to know whether this is possible or Any timelineTip of the Week #74– Create automated workflows in MS Power Automate
Zoho TeamInbox now connects directly with Microsoft Power Automate, letting you streamline everyday routines tasks such as from sending emails to managing threads, with automated workflows. About the integration Zoho TeamInbox integrates with MicrosoftAccount validation
Hello everyone, I registered my account on ZeptoMail to use the system, but the problem is that the verification period on Zepto's end has already passed and I have limited functionality.Paste issues in ZOHO crm notes
Hi, since a week or so I have issues with the paste function in ZOHO CRM. I use "notes" to copy paste texts from Outlook emails and since a week or so, the pasting doesnt function as it should: some text just disappears and it gives a lot of empty lines/enters.....Is it possible to add a gradient color to a newsletter im designing?
From where i sit it looks like you can only choose a single color but not combine 2 colors?Account disabled
I have an issue I need help with. Whilst trialing ZOHO CRM I created the following: Account1 (-------------) using m__ame@m__rg___s__i__.___.__ and 2 personal emails Account2 (-------------) using a personal email and 2 users _al__1@______________._o_.__Blocked Email
We are a Zoho One subscriber and use Yahoo as our MX provider. A few times each year, for the past four years, CRM blocks one or more of my Zoho One users from receiving internal email from CRM. This includes "@mentions" in all modules, and emails frommessage var is empty in bot mention handler
Hi, I'm encountering a problem: in my bot's mention handler, I want to retrieve the text the user typed when mentioning the bot. Example: On the #tests-cyril channel, I send this message: “@Donna hello how are you ?” I expect the system variable "message"Remembrance Day to Remember – Recalling Values
The phrase “at the eleventh hour” refers to the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, when the hostilities of World War I came to an end—but it still holds meaning today. Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the US) is observed on NovemberHow to display two measures (sales and price) divided by categories on one line chart
Hi everyone, I’m having trouble figuring out how to display two columns on a line chart with category breakdowns. What I need is a line chart where one line represents Sales and the other represents Price. However, the Price data is divided into aroundCreate custom rollup summary fields in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, In Zoho CRM, rollup summary fields have been essential tools for summarizing data across related records and enabling users to gain quick insights without having to jump across modules. Previously, only predefined summary functions wereIntroducing the locking option for CRM records
Last modified on 06/04/2023: Record locking option in CRM is now available for all Zoho CRM users in all DCs. Note that it was an early access feature available only upon request. Hello All, Hope you're doing well! We're thrilled to introduce our latestTwo new enhancements in Zoho CRM: Introducing new criteria for user fields and displaying group information in users page
Announcement moderated on 14th June, 2023. Dear All, These enhancements are opened for all users in all DCs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear All, Hope you're well! We are here with two usefulTip #49- Navigating the Remote Support Dashboard in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'
The Remote Support dashboard in Zoho Assist is designed to help technicians quickly access, manage, and monitor all their support sessions from a single, intuitive interface. Whether you’re starting a new session, managing ongoing connections, or reviewingBMI formula
I've been trying for hours to calculate BMI using height and weight as my only inputs. It's a simple calculation and I even went to ChatGPT to help me figure this out in Zoho Forms, but it led me down a path of "try this" and "try this". None of my attemptsSEO on blogs
Hello, google is not able to find my blogs. Can you advice me if I need to change some settings or anything else to make it retrievable via SEO many thanks, hansDuplicated Notebooks
Out of the blue, almost all of my notebooks got duplicated and the different copies contain different information. Some seem like older copies than the others. I use the linux desktop app and sometimes the Android app. I assume that the sync failed at some point and was unable to merge the two versions together. But I'm afraid to add anything else to my notebook because if it can't properly sync 5 notebooks with only a handful of notes each, what will happen when I have hundreds of notes and I loseMind mapping in Zoho Projects
Good morning, I would like to congratulate the Zoho team for building such an inovative and responsive application that fits in the daily challenges of so many work groups. I would like suggest you another functionality that helps a lot in project planning and development: mind mapping. Mind mapping would be of great help for brianstorming, knowledge management and other needs in online collaboration. Thanks and wish you all the best! George Maha Empresa Júnior Multidisciplinar do Instituto deRetainer invoice in Zoho Finance modlue
Hello, Is there a way of creating retainer invoices in the Zoho Finance module? If not can I request this is considered for future updates please.Documents don't sync properly
Hello, My team recently moved to Zoho workDrive, some of my team, work remotely so we believed Zoho would be the best way to share and edit files as well as access files withing the team. However we are experiencing sync issues, when a file is uploaded in the file explorer and shows sync complete, same file can be seen on the Zoho web app but other team members can't see the said file because it is not syncing properly. i figured out that if i were to go to preferences in settings and resync theWe are looking for an experienced Zoho Developer
Hi Everyone! We’re on the lookout for a skilled Zoho Developer with hands-on experience in the Zoho Developer Platform (The Vertical CRM Platform) and if you don't know what that is, then you are not the person we are looking for. You would also needInitiate approval workflow after "on edit --> on success"
Dear Community, currently I am working on a initiative tracker which should handle approval workflows based on different initiative status. As far as I understand, an approval workflow can be triggered (only?) when data is entered for the input form to the database. Example: A new initiative is created and submitted. --> Approval Workflow triggered Here comes my question: Is it also possible to trigger an approval workflow if the form was "simply" updated? (on edit --> on success) Imagine the initiativeTax Deductible Donations to a Charity Organisation
For Australia, what's the best/proper method for entering an expense that is a tax deductible donation to a charitable organisation. And thus is appears correctly in Accounts and BAS as a GST payable deduction?Simultaneous use of WhatsApp Account in SalesIQ and ZohoDesk
Hi, We have only one number registered in Meta, it's possible use same account for two apps? All times here we try is stopping in SalesIQ. Regards,External lookup fields to synchronise with Analytics
Hello. I suggest adding external lookup custom fields to the Zoho Analytics integration settings. Currently, these types of fields are not available for synchronisation, so they cannot be used to generate reports with related tables in Analytics. ThankWe should have an option to Toggle Off KB Article Links in AI Answer Bot Replies
Hi everyone, I'm creating this topic to share a feature idea that I think would improve the customer experience when using the AI Answer Bot for self-service. The Current Behavior (The Problem) Currently, when the AI Answer Bot generates a summary orNext Page