Kaizen #106 - Functions and Invoke URLs - Part 2

Kaizen #106 - Functions and Invoke URLs - Part 2

Hello everyone! Welcome to Kaizen #106.
In continuation to our last post, today, we will discuss invoke URLs in functions, how they are different from integration tasks, and how authentication works for them.

What are invokeURL tasks?

invokeUrl task is a task designed to trigger HTTP API endpoints of Zoho apps or any external services. invokeUrl makes the authorization part much easier by setting up connectors.

How are invoke URLs authenticated?

Using Connections.
Connections allow you to connect to various third-party apps or other Zoho services. Connections essentially use the OAuth 2.0 protocol. It abstracts the entire OAuth2.0 authorization flow and keeps your code simple, clean, and crisp.
If you set up a connection once, and authorize it once, you can make API calls to and from the external system and Zoho CRM.
You can create a single connection for your org and other users of your org can use the same connection by authenticating it with their credentials. Other users of your org can use your connection. In such cases, your connection will appear as a "shared connection" in their accounts.
Similarly, if you use your credentials to authenticate a connection created by some other user, it will be listed under the "shared connections" of your account.
For more details on types of connections, refer to this page.

Default Services

Zoho CRM has integrated with various third-party apps and they are listed under Default Services. All you have to do is
  1. Go to Setup > Developer Space > Connections > Create Connection.
  2. Under "Pick your service", choose the app you want to connect to. Here, I have chosen Gsheet.
  3. Click Create Connection.
  4. Specify the Connection Name and choose the scopes from the list. Note that this will vary based on the service you choose.

  5. Click Create and Connect.
  6. You will be redirected to a screen asking for your consent to connect to the service.
  7. Provide your login credentials.
  8. Click Connect. You will be redirected to Zoho Flow's authentication page, asking for your consent to connect to the service and redirect you to the service's login page.

  9. On the service's login page, provide your credentials and login.
  10. The service shows a pop up explaining the data that Zoho flow will use through the connection.

  11. Click Allow.
  12. The connection will be created in Zoho CRM.

  13. The sample code contains the snippet of the invoke URL you must use in your function to use the Gsheet's endpoints.
By simply using the connection name in your code, you can connect to third-party apps without worrying about token generation or configuration.

Components of the invoke URL

url - The third party's API endpoint you want to access.
type - The type of API call it is going to be. Supports GET, POST, PUT and DELETE.
parameters - The body of the request.
connection - The name of the connection you want to use.
For more details on invoke URL task, refer to this page.

Custom Service

Use this option when the service you want to connect to is not listed under "Default Services".
To create a custom service and connect to it, you must give the details of the service like its name, authorization type, and other attributes, and take care of token generation.


Differences between integration tasks and invoke URLs

Integration Tasks
Invoke URLs
API wrappers to Zoho APIs. Can be called just like built-in functions.
HTTP requests that are triggered explicitly.
All integration task actions are triggered under the admin’s authorization.
All invokeUrl actions that are triggered pertain to the user that authorized the connection.

Here is a sample of a function using invoke URL and the connection named "mine".

headermap = map();
headermap.put("this goes in the header", "value");
paramMap = map();
paramMap.put("this goes in the body", "body");
info paramMap;
response = invokeUrl [
type: POST
headers: headermap
content-type: "application/json"
parameters: paramMap.toString()
connection: "mine"
];
info response;
return "";

Here is the response.


As you can see, as the connection is already authenticated using OAuth2.0, the connection directly supplies the access token.
We hope you found this post useful. Let us know what you think in the comments, or email us at support@zohocrm.com.

Cheers!




    Access your files securely from anywhere









                          Zoho Developer Community




                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts



                                                          • Sticky Posts

                                                          • 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
                                                          • Kaizen #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
                                                          • Kaizen #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.
                                                          • Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI

                                                            Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the


                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                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

                                                                                    • 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

                                                                                                            • Trigger Zapier on Deluge Insert Into Function?

                                                                                                              Hello, To get around the limitation of not being able to trigger a Zapier Zap on Record Update(this would be extremely useful to be able to do btw), I have created a Deluge script to copy the data from Form A to a Trigger Form B using the Insert Into expression from a Custom Action button on a Report from Form A.  This action does not trigger the Zapier Zap whereas manually adding a record or duplicating an existing record does trigger the Zap. Is Insert Into not the same as a manual Add in the context
                                                                                                            • Can you inject JS in an HML+CSS+Deluge Page?

                                                                                                              I have an HTML + CSS + Deluge page and need just a little vanilla JS functionality. However, it seems like Zoho Creator does not allow that. I'm required to create a JS widget. Is this correct? If so: 1. Won't this quickly consume my API limit if there
                                                                                                            • Display Client Name in Zoho Creator Client Portal Dashboard

                                                                                                              Hello Zoho Creator Team, We hope you are doing well. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for providing a personalized portal experience. However, there is currently
                                                                                                            • Zoho unified inbox

                                                                                                              The new changes have definitely improved things for switching between accounts.  But zoho still desperately needs a unified inbox.  It sucks to have to enter filters and folders for each and every inbox.  This seems like such a simple thing, i wonder why Zoho hasn't done it?
                                                                                                            • Marketer’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,
                                                                                                            • Is there a problem with sharing workdrive files with links since last night?

                                                                                                              As per title, we can't access folders/files through share links since last night. I created ticket but we need quick solution and didn't hear back from the support yet. The files are still accessible by the main account but all zoho files that we are
                                                                                                            • Enable Screen Recording in Zoho WorkDrive Mobile Apps (Android & iOS)

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, How are you? We are enthusiastic Zoho One users and rely heavily on Zoho WorkDrive for internal collaboration and content sharing. The screen-recording feature in the WorkDrive web app (similar to Loom) is extremely useful- however,
                                                                                                            • Production Management Tool (MRP / BOM)

                                                                                                              Hi Guys, is there any recommended App available that works with zoho and covers the needed applications for a production? What we need is a system that covers the BOM (bill of materials), MRP (material ressources planning), MRP II (manufacturing ressources
                                                                                                            • Function #53: Transaction Level Profitability for Invoices

                                                                                                              Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! We have previously provided custom functions for calculating the profitability of a quote and a sales order. There may be instances where the invoice may differ from its corresponding quote or sales order.
                                                                                                            • Bug in Zoho Cliq Signup Flow – "%s" Placeholder Visible Instead of Product Name

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho Team, I would like to report a UI bug in the Zoho Cliq signup/enable flow. During the step where Cliq asks to enable the product for the company, the following text appears: Great! Your company is already available in Zoho, so you just have to
                                                                                                            • Zoho Invoice Customer Login Portal

                                                                                                              Are there any plans for a customer portal to Zoho Invoice, ala Freshbooks?  I would like customers that I invoice to be able to login to review invoices and invoice history.  I have not switched from Freshbooks for this very reason.
                                                                                                            • Exporting tickets

                                                                                                              I went to Setup -> Organization -> Import/Export in order to export tickets but found 2 issues: 1. The email body never gets exported. 2. There are some large numbers (like 5.57E+16) under certain columns of the exported CSV file. I could not find any export options. Please can you help with this?
                                                                                                            • Editing the Ticket Properties column

                                                                                                              This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I cannot figure out how to configure/edit the sections (and their fields) in this column: For example, we have a custom "Resolution" field, which parked itself in the "Ticket Information" section of this
                                                                                                            • Copy field information to clipboard

                                                                                                              I need to be able to transfer some field information in to the clipboard, so that I can then paste it in to our helpdesk system. Is there a way I could add a button to a detail report that does this?
                                                                                                            • Issuing reconciling a bank statement

                                                                                                              HELP! I'm trying to reconcile a bank statement. The prior month reconciled perfectly. Beginning balance is correct yet I'm off by the same amount each time. Both myself and my office manager, separately and together, have tried to complete this reconciliation
                                                                                                            • Unknown table or alias 'A1'

                                                                                                              I would like to create a subquery but i am getting the following error: Unknown table or alias 'A1' used in select query. This is the sql statement:  SELECT A1.active_paying_customers, A1.active_trial_customers, A1.new_paying_signup, date(A1.date_active_customers), 
                                                                                                            • Detect and ignore bots in visitors

                                                                                                              The SalesIQ visitor numbers are basically useless to us because there is no bot detection. We get the same bots coming in from the same countries looking at the same pages every day. It can't be that difficult to tell the difference between an actual
                                                                                                            • Add Real-Time Microphone Audio-Level Indicator During Screen Recording

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement to the Zoho WorkDrive screen-recording experience. Current Limitation: During a recording session, there is no visual indication that the microphone is
                                                                                                            • Zero Personalization of the File Sharing Experience

                                                                                                              By now (2025) this is the maximum level of personalization available for a Zoho sharing link. We gently asked Zoho if we could modify at least the background, and they replied that it cannot be customized. We're truly disappointed – and surprised every
                                                                                                            • External Share > Edit: Cannot Create Zoho Files

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho, When we create an external share link with Edit permission, our external users are unable to create a Zoho file (Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet and Zoho Show). They can only upload files. They can edit the Zoho files if we create them internally and
                                                                                                            • Two factor authentication for helpdesk users

                                                                                                              The company i work for wants use the helpdesk site in Zoho desk, as a place for their distribution partners to ask question and look for information about our product. The things there is suppose to go up there is somewhat confidential between my company
                                                                                                            • Kiosk can't merge picklist or multiselect

                                                                                                              There is no ability to load a multiselect or picklikst field into a kiosk with the values that have been previously selected. So, I essentially have 3 unacceptable options: 1.)Load the value into a text string and include instructions like this: "Picklist
                                                                                                            • AGE field from DATE OF BIRTH Field.

                                                                                                              HI! I have a field called date of birth in my CRM (LEADS, CONTACT etc…)     How can I know the AGE today   I would like to create a field AGE. I now how to create a field but I don´t which calculation (CUSTOM FUCTION) to make ¿ANY HELP?
                                                                                                            • How to update/remove file in zoho creator widgets using javascript API

                                                                                                              Hi Team, I have developed a widget which allows inserting and updating records I have file upload field with multiple file upload. Now while doing insert form record, I am using uploadFile API to upload files for that record. I am using updateRecord API
                                                                                                            • Introducing Enhanced Storage Management

                                                                                                              We’re excited to roll out two new enhancements in Zoho Recruit, Subscription Information and Storage Management — designed to give admins complete visibility into subscription details, feature limits, and storage consumption — all from one place inside
                                                                                                            • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.34.4.0)

                                                                                                              Hello Community! Trident for Windows just got better! With this update we have features that make your daily work easier and more efficient. We've added some features that are exclusive to our app and we're sure you'll find them useful. Let’s dive into
                                                                                                            • Report Hover Setting

                                                                                                              Would be great if we will able to show information to the user while hovering a record in a report.
                                                                                                            • Vertical images displayed as horizontal

                                                                                                              Some pictures that originally are in vertical position are displayed in horizontal after the upload. It seems that system rotates them by 90 degrees. How can I fix this issue?
                                                                                                            • Zoho Desk iOS app update: Saved filters and sort options

                                                                                                              Hello everyone! Saved filters created on the web(desk.zoho.com) for tickets are now accessible on the Zoho Desk iOS app. You can easily rename, delete, or clear filters on the go. We have also introduced Sort options on the ticket listing screen, allowing
                                                                                                            • Introducing VeriFactu Support in Zoho Books

                                                                                                              Hello users, Spain has introduced the VeriFactu system under Real Decreto 1007/2023 to ensure integrity, traceability, and anti-fraud compliance in e-invoicing. Starting January 1, 2026, all B2B invoices must be reported to Agencia Estatal de Administración
                                                                                                            • Big Things Just Dropped in the SalesIQ Universe: Top Upgrades You’ll Love in Nova’25

                                                                                                              Nova'25 has landed, and it’s packed with meaningful upgrades to help you engage smarter, work faster, and scale with ease. Whether you're into proactive messaging, smarter automation, or better admin control, there's something here for everyone. Here's
                                                                                                            • Time Entries in Analytics

                                                                                                              I am trying to import a zoho sheet into zoho analytics. In my sheets one of the columns has "time Entries" in this "format HH:MM am/pm" example 11:00 PM. After import, i noticed that analytics converted the time to "00 Jan 1900 23:00:00".. how do i maintain
                                                                                                            • Amazon invoice in Zoho Books

                                                                                                              I have just made my first few sales on Amazon India. Amazon Seller account generates invoices for the sales made on Amazon. These invoices are sent to customers also. Now when I was only making offline sales, I used to create Invoices in Zoho Book. Now
                                                                                                            • Zoho Creator Upcoming Updates - November 2025

                                                                                                              Hello everyone, Welcome to your monthly roundup of new features and enhancements! We hope you've already taken a look at Release Projection 2—it details the features coming your way for the rest of the year. And this month, we're excited to start rolling
                                                                                                            • Zoho Webinar + HubSpot : Simplifiez la gestion de vos données de webinaires

                                                                                                              Les webinaires sont aujourd’hui essentiels pour interagir avec vos prospects et vos clients. Cependant, la gestion des données entre plusieurs plateformes peut vite devenir complexe. Grâce à la nouvelle intégration entre Zoho Webinar et HubSpot, vos outils
                                                                                                            • I am trying to give access to one of our educators access to 3 forms in Zoho and she is not able to view the data - Access issue

                                                                                                              Hi Team, When I try to provide read access to one of our educators on Zoho for Pre-training , post training and Impact survey forms submit form access which also allows them to read , it does not show them data
                                                                                                            • How to book GST paid in zoho books

                                                                                                              hi, i am a new user to Zoho books and not able to book GST paid in books, kindly suggest how i can book it in books. thanks, siddharth
                                                                                                            • PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK (CORPORATE) INDIA - NOT AVAILABLE IN BANKING

                                                                                                              Dear sir, Kindly fix it. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK (INDIA) is available but PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK (CORPORATE) is not available. Kindly enable this banking since we need to categorize the entries. Regards, Sanjay Jena email id/ user id : travewithmerchant@
                                                                                                            • Is it possible to create a word cloud chart in ZoHo Analystics?

                                                                                                              Hi there, I have a volume of transaction text that I would like to analyse using word cloud (or other approcah to detect and present word frequency in a dataset). For example, I have 50,000 records describing menu items in restaurants. I want to be able
                                                                                                            • 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
                                                                                                            • Next Page