Kaizen #149: Using GraphQL APIs to fetch data in a consolidated way

Kaizen #149: Using GraphQL APIs to fetch data in a consolidated way



Hello everyone!
Welcome to this week's post in the Kaizen Series! This week, we will discuss GraphQL APIs, a query language that provides an efficient, powerful, and flexible method for fetching and manipulating data from Zoho CRM.
Let us consider the scenario of a large industrial equipment manufacturer,  Zylker Manufacturing.  They utilize Zoho CRM to streamline their sales processes and customer relationship management. Their sales support team uses a legacy system to manage their activities. When a contact seeks support, the support team must have access to the latest data from Zoho CRM to assist them better. They need:
  • details of the contact, such as email, phone, and Account details
  • details of the ongoing deals of the contact, including potential revenue and stages .
With GraphQL APIs, with a single API call, you can create custom unified view that combine information from multiple Zoho CRM modules. This allows the support team to view all relevant information in one place, making it easier to manage sales processes and customer interactions. To create the view, metadata of the fields is also required.  This structured approach in GraphQL allows Zylker Manufacturing to efficiently aggregate data.


You need to construct a GraphQL query to fetch specific data related to a contact and associated deals, as well as metadata about the fields in the Contacts and Deals modules. Let's break down each part of the query that can achieve this.

1. Fetching Contact and Deal Information


  • Records: Records comprises the records from the different Zoho CRM modules.
  • Contacts: Specifies that we want to query the records of the Contacts module. The where clause filters the contacts based on their email address.
  • _data: This indicates the fields we want to retrieve from the records. In this case:
    • Email: Fetches the email of the contact.
    • Full_Name: Fetches the full name of the contact.
    • Deals__r: Fetches the related deal record of the Contact. 
      • Expected_Revenue: Fetches the expected revenue from each deal.
      • Deal_Name: Fetches the name of each deal.
      • Stage: Fetches the current stage of each deal.


Records {
    Contacts(where: { Email: { equals: "krismarrier@noemail.com" } }) {
        _data {
            Email {
                value}
            Full_Name {
                value}
            Deals__r {
                _data {
                    Expected_Revenue {
                        value}
                    Deal_Name {
                        value}
                    Stage {
                        value
                    }}}}}}




2. Fetching Metadata for Contacts


  • Meta: This fetches the details of the metadata for Contacts module. It uses the alias "contact_meta"
  • Modules(filter: { api_name: "Contacts" }): Specifies that we want to fetch the metadata of the Contacts module.
  • _data: This indicates the fields we want to retrieve. In this case:
    • id: The unique identifier for the module.
    • api_name: The API name for the module.
    • module_name: The name of the module.
    • description: The description of the module.
    • plural_label, singular_label: Labels used for the module.
    • fields: Retrieves metadata for specific fields within the module. filter: { api_names: ["Last_Name", "Email"] }: Specifies which fields' metadata to retrieve.For each field, it retrieves:
      • id: Field identifier.
      • api_name: API name for the field.
      • display_label: The display name of the field.
      • json_type: The data type as represented in JSON.
      • data_type: The Zoho CRM data type of the field.
 contact_meta: Meta {
    Modules(filter: { api_name: "Contacts" }) {
      _data {
        id
        api_name
        module_name
        description
        singular_label
        plural_label
        fields(filter: { api_names: ["Last_Name", "Email"] }) {
          _data {
            id
            api_name
            display_label
            json_type
            data_type
          }
        }
      }
    }
 }

3. Fetching Metadata for Deals


  • Meta: This fetches the details of the metadata for Deals module. It uses the alias "deal_meta"
  • Modules(filter: { api_name: "Deals" }): Specifies that we want to fetch the metadata of the Deals module.
  • _data: This indicates the fields we want to retrieve. In this case:
    • id: The unique identifier for the module.
    • api_name: The API name for the module.
    • module_name: The name of the module.
    • description: description of the module.
    • plural_label, singular_label: Labels used for the module.
    • fields: Retrieves metadata for specific fields within the module.
    • filter:  api_names: ["Expected_Revenue", "Deal_Name","Stage"] }: Specifies which fields' metadata to retrieve.For each field, it retrieves:
      • id: Field identifier.
      • api_name: API name for the field.
      • display_label: The display name of the field.
      • json_type: The data type as represented in JSON.
      • data_type: The Zoho CRM data type of the field.
deal_meta: Meta {
    Modules(filter: { api_name: "Deals" }) {
        _data {
            id
            api_name
            module_name
            description
            singular_label
            plural_label
            fields(filter: { api_names: ["Expected_Revenue", "Deal_Name","Stage"] }) {
                _data {
                    api_name
                    id
                    display_label
                    json_type
                    data_type
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The complete query will look this:


query {
  Records {
    Contacts(where: { Email: { equals: "krismarrier@noemail.com" } }) {
      _data {
        Email {
          value
        }
        Full_Name {
          value
        }
        Deals__r {
          _data {
            Expected_Revenue {
              value
            }
            Deal_Name {
              value
            }
            Stage {
              value
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  contact_meta: Meta {
    Modules(filter: { api_name: "Contacts" }) {
      _data {
        plural_label
        id
        api_name
        module_name
        description
        singular_label
        fields(filter: { api_names: ["Last_Name", "Email"] }) {
          _data {
            id
            api_name
            display_label
            json_type
            data_type
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  deal_meta: Meta {
    Modules(filter: { api_name: "Deals" }) {
      _data {
        plural_label
        id
        api_name
        module_name
        description
        singular_label
        fields(
          filter: { api_names: ["Expected_Revenue", "Deal_Name", "Stage"] }
        ) {
          _data {
            api_name
            id
            display_label
            json_type
            data_type
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}


If you were to fetch this data using REST APIs, it will involve multiple calls to the 
  • Query API
  • Related Records API
  • Modules meta API, and 
  • Fields meta API.
Using the GraphQL query you can fetch the required data alone in a less round trip time. While constructing a query for your custom requirement, please note that you can query up to three levels of depth (nesting levels of a field) for Records and 7 levels of depth for Metadata. 

Constructing GraphQL query using Postman

To construct a GraphQL query in Postman to suit your requirements, type {api_domain}/crm/graphql in the URL box. Postman will automatically fetch the query schema in the schema explorer, which can be used to explore the types of queries that can be made, including what fields are available on each type, what arguments those fields accept, and what other types they return.   
Constructing a Zoho CRM GraphQL query in Postman using schema explorer



You can refer to the help documentation on GraphQL APIs for more details on GraphQL APIs. 

Update 25th Sep 2024:
GraphQL APIs are now open across all DCs including IN DC for Enterprise, Zoho One Enterprise, CRM Plus and Ultimate edition orgs. Please note that GraphQL APIs are not available for Trial Edition of these editions.



We hope you found this post useful. We will meet you next week with another interesting topic!
If you have any questions, let us know in the comment section or reach out to us directly at support@zohocrm.com.

Further Reading.                                                                                                                                



    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





                                                          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

                                                                                                          • Uploading data to S3

                                                                                                            Has anyone successfully uploaded data from Creator to S3 using the InvokeURL command or any other method in Deluge? (keywords: S3, AWS, Amazon, bucket)
                                                                                                          • UPS Label size when generated via Zoho

                                                                                                            We've integrated UPS with Zoho inventory. When creating and downloading the shipping labels they are created in a larger paper size. I'd like them to be generated to print on a 4x6 printer. Zoho have told me I need to do this within our UPS portal. UPS
                                                                                                          • Credit Management: #4 Credits on Unused Period

                                                                                                            Recall a familiar situation. You sign up for a monthly gym membership. You pay the subscription fee upfront, get motivated, and show up consistently for the first week. Then, suddenly, you get caught up in work deadlines, travel plans, or a dip in motivation.
                                                                                                          • Zoho Analytics Automatically Deletes Queries and Reports When a Synced CRM Field Is Removed

                                                                                                            We’ve encountered a serious and recurring issue that poses a massive data integrity risk for any Zoho Analytics customer using Zoho CRM integration. When a field is deleted in Zoho CRM — even an unused one — Zoho Analytics automatically deletes every
                                                                                                          • Prevent new Record Association

                                                                                                            Hello all, We have a small sales organization therefore, it's helpful for everyone on the sales team to be able to view the full list of accounts to assist in preventing duplicate accounts from being created. However we want to prevent people from creating
                                                                                                          • Tip of the Week #73– Automate workflow with Make integration.

                                                                                                            Make is a no-code workflow automation platform designed to connect your favorite apps and automate repetitive tasks across services. By integrating Make with Zoho TeamInbox, you can streamline everyday inbox management and save valuable time. With this
                                                                                                          • Viewing attachments

                                                                                                            I'm using a Web Form integrated in my web site to collect Leads several info, including a image upload. In order to to approve each lead, we have to view the image uploaded. Unfortunately, in the Leads view, the Attachments can only be downloaded, not
                                                                                                          • Kaizen #89 - Color Coding using Client Script

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. Today let us see how you can apply color codes to the List and Detail Pages of Zoho CRM using Client Script. Need for color code in Zoho CRM When you mark things with different colors as a
                                                                                                          • Instant Sync of Zoho CRM Data?

                                                                                                            With how valuable Zoho Analytics is to actually creating data driven dashboards/reports, we are surprised that there is no instant or near instant sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics. Waiting 3 hours is okay for most of our reports, but there are
                                                                                                          • Is it possibly to directly set the tax amount on order instead of indirectly via tax rates?

                                                                                                            We own an eCommerce application and want to funnel submitted orders from that system into Zoho. We're already calculating tax in our application and just need a way to set it in Zoho. We tried to use Zoho's tax objects for tax by setting the rates to
                                                                                                          • Zoho account sign in with passkey

                                                                                                            Hello, I am trying to sign in using passkey, but the option doesn't show up in the web and is disabled in Oneauth on mobile, saying the admin has restricted the use. On the Admin page in Security MFA I can find no option for passkey. Help would be greatly
                                                                                                          • Rescheduled US meetups: Zoho Desk user meetups are coming to seven U.S. cities in October and November, 2025

                                                                                                            Hello to our Zoho Desk users in the United States, We're excited to share the revised dates for the upcoming Zoho User Groups happening across the US this summer. Our product experts are heading to seven cities throughout the country, and for the first
                                                                                                          • Checklists as templates

                                                                                                            Is it possible to save checklists as templates to reuse them in other tasks? Example: I have a web project. I maintain individual web URLs as tasks. Within the tasks the same checklist should be used again and again: - Page created in CMS - Properties
                                                                                                          • Send mass email using my secondary email

                                                                                                            Hello, When I send an email to just one person from Zoho CRM, a complete email editor appears, where I can choose which of my email addresses I want to use in the From field. When I send a mass email, there is not such option. I can only select the email
                                                                                                          • Add the same FROM email to multiple department

                                                                                                            Hi, We have several agents who work with multiple departments and we'd like to be able to select their names on the FROM field (sender), but apparently it's not possible to add a FROM address to multiple departments. Is there any way around this? Thanks.
                                                                                                          • ZOHO TEAM INBOX Calendar Integration

                                                                                                            The Problem: Clients send meeting invitations to our TeamInbox address. TeamInbox receives these invites, but we cannot accept them. We do not use individual inboxes for transparency purposes. Ideal Solution: A way to accept calendar invites sent to our
                                                                                                          • Unearned / Deferred Revenue Automatic Calculation for Subscriptions

                                                                                                            As a SaaS business, we have multiple active subscriptions with varying dates and amounts. Is there a way to have a monthly automatic calculation for all of them that debits or credits the unearned revenue and revenue accounts accordingly? Alternatively,
                                                                                                          • Zoho Desk Limit for Comma Separated Queries

                                                                                                            Hi, I have just discovered a limit that I believed is not mentioned in any of Zoho's documentations. My search query looks like so: "query: {"accountId":"786050000091629966,786050000163589273,786050000163589427,786050000162753705,786050000162112971,786050000161987643,786050000160752868,786050000167089504,786050000167089378,786050000167089024,786050000167070005,786050000166295256,786050000128153693,786050000110560021,786050000046594575,786050000039106461,786050000002225356,786050000076889093,786050000047895103,786050000043365354,786050000044765191,786050000041790249,786050000040359116,786050000037945198,786050000024605077,786050000000525015,786050000155333895,786050000157741437,786050000000718125,786050000011574353,","departmentId":"786050000042648070","status":"Finished","sortBy":"createdTime","customField2":"cf_completion_date:2025-01-28T03:00:00.000Z,2025-10-28T03:00:00.000Z","customField3":"cf_billed:false"}"
                                                                                                          • Module Name doesn't exist

                                                                                                            I am trying to create a module named Activity, with plural Activities, but I have an error that module name already exists. This module is doesn't exist, and I don't have a single field called Activity or Activities.
                                                                                                          • Zoho Desk iOS and Android app update: AI powered: Reply Assistance and Refine Messages on IM module.

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce new AI powered features on the IM module of the Zoho Desk app. Reply Assistance: Reply Assistance generates suggested responses for incoming chat messages, which you can directly insert into the conversation
                                                                                                          • Unify All Zoho Video Meeting Experiences into One Standardized Platform

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho Team, We would like to share an important user experience concern regarding the current state of video meeting functionality across the Zoho ecosystem. The Problem Within Zoho, there are multiple ways to initiate or schedule a video meeting: Zoho
                                                                                                          • Is it possible to embed Youtube shorts?

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho desk support, This is Ryan from Accuver America. While I'm trying to create a knowledge base article with embed video, I ran into this issue. "www.youtube.com refuse to connect" A little bit background is that because this video is recorded on
                                                                                                          • Zoho Inventory - Move Orders

                                                                                                            Quick question about Move Orders... Why is there no status to say something like "Draft", "In Progress" and "Completed", similar to Transfer Orders? I'm assuming that when something needs to be moved it should be planned in Inventory, executed and then
                                                                                                          • Split functionality - Admins need ability to do this

                                                                                                            Admins should be able to split an expense at any point of the process prior to approval. The split is very helpful for our account coding, but to have to go back to a user and ask them to split an invoice that they simply want paid is a bit of an in
                                                                                                          • Delegates - Access to approved reports

                                                                                                            We realized that delegates do not have access to reports after they are approved. Many users ask questions of their delegates about past expense reports and the delegates can't see this information. Please allow delegates see all expense report activity,
                                                                                                          • How to include total km for multiple trips in expense report.

                                                                                                            Whenever I create a mileage report it only shows the total dollar amount to be reimbursed. The mileage for each individual trip is included but I also need to see the total distance for all trips in a report? How do I do this?
                                                                                                          • Get logged in user ID in Deluge script

                                                                                                            Hello all, How do I get the id of the logged-in user in a deluge script? the "zoho.loginuserid" function actually returns the users email address or whatever the user id they use to login to zoho with and not the id of the user record, and given that
                                                                                                          • Item Details Field - New Barcode / Document option?

                                                                                                            Is this a new feature??? its in both books and inventory.
                                                                                                          • Super Admin Logging in as another User

                                                                                                            How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are working
                                                                                                          • Shared Mailbox - Mark as read for all users

                                                                                                            Hi all, Maybe someone can help me out. At the moment we have a shared mailbox without streams. When a users reads an mail or marks it as read other users will not see this. How can we resolve this? We now archive the mails when read and followed up. However
                                                                                                          • How do I increase the email attachment size in Zoho CRM ?

                                                                                                            It looks like I'm limited to 10MB when sending an attachment using the email widget on a record in Zoho CRM. Is there a way to increase the size? Or can I use some other tool? From what I'm reading online, I'm maxed out at 10MB. Any insight would be greatly
                                                                                                          • Can I export to PDF in Zoho Learn

                                                                                                            I have seen help pages where export to pdf options are available but I do not see that option available from the application. I see that exprt is available in my free trial version but that is only to html pages. I need to be able to export my manuals
                                                                                                          • Zoho Sites "pages" management page

                                                                                                            I have 80 plus pages on zoho sites. When I go to the "pages" link to view and edit pages, They are not in any kind of order, so I spend lots of time searching for pages when I need to edit or create new. How can I change the view order of all my pages
                                                                                                          • Staff rules

                                                                                                            Hi! Do you people know what are the default staff rules when a new booking is created? We have two staff members in my team (me as the admin, and my employee). As we share the same services, I'm wondering how Zoho will pick the staff for new apointments.
                                                                                                          • Add Image Upload Field to Zoho Bookings Registration Form

                                                                                                            Hi, We would like to request the addition of an image upload field to the Zoho Bookings registration form. Currently, Zoho Bookings only supports text-based fields (e.g., Single Line, Multi-Line, Email, Checkbox, Dropdown, Radio Button, and Date), but
                                                                                                          • Merge Tags Output Incorrect Placeholder Text After CRM Sync

                                                                                                            Hi everyone, I’m experiencing an issue with merge tags in Zoho Campaigns after last sync of contacts and leads from Zoho CRM (days before everything worked perfectly). Here’s the situation (seems like a default configuration in Campaigns) : My leads have
                                                                                                          • UI Improvement - Ability to Collapse Flow

                                                                                                            The UI for Flow is generally pretty good. However, when multiple decision trees are used, the layout can get pretty convoluted and hard-to-follow (see one of my Flows below): In these cases, even the auto-arrange fails to make this something that a normal
                                                                                                          • Windows agent 2025_M02 release notes

                                                                                                            Agent Version: 111.0.3.300 Release date: 24 February, 2025 Various Major enhancements to improve overall performance and optimize the user experience. Squashed a few bugs to improve overall product quality.
                                                                                                          • Windows agent 2025_M01 release notes

                                                                                                            Agent Version: 111.0.3.299 Release date: 05 February, 2025 Major Enhancement: Live Monitor feature compatibility released. Major Enhancement: Updated Scaling for multi technician cases with Android and Web based viewers. Various other bug fixes and performance
                                                                                                          • how to record deferred revenue?

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Team, We issue invoices relating to 12-month web hosting service. When we issue the invoice, we should record the entire amount of the invoice as DEFERRED REVENUE (ie. $10 x 12 mths = $120, balance sheet item). After the particular month of the hosting service, $10 of revenue has been earned and deferred revenue amount will be $110. We must keep adjusting the balance sheet and income statement over the course of the service until the company has fulfilled its obligation of services and
                                                                                                          • Next Page