Kaizen #16 - Python SDK

Kaizen #16 - Python SDK

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!
This week, we will discuss the Python SDK.

What is the Python SDK for Zoho CRM?

Python SDK allows you to create client Python applications that you can integrate with Zoho CRM, effortlessly. It serves as a wrapper for the REST APIs, thus making it easier to use the services of Zoho CRM.

Here is a sample of how the SDK acts as a middle ware between Zoho CRM and a client Python Application.




What can you do with the Python SDK?
  • Exchange data between Zoho CRM and the client application where the CRM entities are modelled as classes.
  • Authenticate your application easily every time you sync data between Zoho CRM and your application, as the SDK takes care of generating the access/refresh tokens automatically.

Environment Setup
How to Start using the Python SDK?

Follow the below steps:
  • Step-1: Register your application (Self Client or Web-based client)
  • Step-2: Install the SDK
  • Step-3: Import the SDK in your project
  • Step-4: Initialize the SDK
    4.a. Choose the token persistence method
    4.b. Setup the configuration dictionary
    4.c. Generate the tokens
  • Step-5: Connect to Zoho CRM through the available methods
Let us now discuss these steps in detail.

Step-1: Register your application
All the Zoho CRM APIs are authenticated by the OAuth2.0 standards. It is mandatory to authenticate your application with Zoho.
You can register your application either as a Self Client (single user app) or a web-based app (multiple users app).

1.a. Self Client
  • Go to https://api-console.zoho.com.
  • Click ADD CLIENT.
  • Choose the Client Type as Self Client, and click CREATE.
  • You will receive a client ID and a client secret upon successful registration.

1.b. Web-based Client
  • Go to https://api-console.zoho.com.
  • Click ADD CLIENT.
  • Choose the client as Web based and click CREATE NOW.
  • Specify the client name, homepage URL of your application's UI, and a redirect URI to which you want to redirect the users after they grant consent to your application.
  • Click CREATE.
  • Your client ID and client secret will be displayed.
Step-2: Install the SDK

You can install the Python SDK through pip. Pip is a tool for dependency management in Python.

To install the SDK, run the below command in your Python IDE.

pip install zcrmsdk

This command installs the Python and creates a package named zcrmsdk in the installation directory of python (Example: '/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages').

Note
You must also have the Python requests installed. Run the command pip install requests to install them.

Step-3: Import the SDK in your project

Use the below statement in your IDE to import the downloaded SDK in your code.

import zcrmsdk

You can also set an alias for the imported SDK module. Run the below command to import the SDK in a custom name.


import zcrmsdk as your_custom_name

Note that you must use this name while referencing to any class in the SDK.

Example:

import zcrmsdk as my_zoho_sdk
my_zoho_sdk.ZCRMRestClient.initialize(config)

Step-4: Initialize the SDK 

Initializing the SDK involves the following steps.

  • Step 4.a - Choosing the token persistence method
  • Step 4.b - Setting up the configuration dictionary
  • Step 4.c - Generating the tokens

4.a. Token Persistence
Your application should retain tokens (grant, access, and refresh tokens) to automate the process of data sync between your python application and Zoho CRM.

You can persist (store) the tokens in three ways.
  1. MySQL Persistence (default)
  2. File Persistence
  3. Custom DB Persistence

4.a.1. MySQL Persistence

When you want to store the tokens in the MySQL DB, run the below command to install the necessary package.

pip install mysql-connector

In this case, you must include the following keys in the configuration dictionary (discussed in the next section), along with other mandatory keys.

"mysql_username": "root",
"mysql_password": "*****",
"mysql_port":" port_number"

Note
When you use MySQL persistence, ensure that
  • MySQL runs in the same machine serving at the mentioned port (The default port is 3306.)
  • There is a database named zohooauth.
  • There is a table name oauthtokens with the columns useridentifier (varchar(100)), accesstoken (varchar(100)), refreshtoken (varchar(100)) and expirytime (bigint).

4.a.2. File Persistence
If you want to store the tokens in a file, you can create a file named zcrm_oauthtokens.pkl and provide the absolute path of the directory containing this file in the below key of the configuration array.

"token_persistence_path": "path_to_the_folder_containing_the pkl_file"

If you do not create this file, the SDK itself creates this file in the path you have specified, and persists the tokens there.
Note: This method is recommended only for self client apps.

4.a.3. Custom DB Persistence
To use custom DB persistence, you must
  • Implement AbstractBaseClass (AbstractZohoOAuthPersistence from OAuthClient.py), and write a custom implementation of the following functions:
    get_oauthtokens(user_email)
    save_oauthtokens(oauthtokens)
    delete_oauthtokens(user_email)
Include the following keys in the configuration dictionary, along with other mandatory keys.

"persistence_handler_class": "ClassName of the custom implementation",
"persistence_handler_path": "Absolute path of the module (.py file)"

4.b. Configuration dictionary
The below table contains the list of keys you must include in the configuration dictionary based on the type of persistence.

Mandatory keys

File Persistence
MySQL Persistence
Custom DB Persistence
client_id
client_id
client_id
client_secret
client_secret
client_secret
redirect_uri
redirect_uri
redirect_uri
token_persistence_path
mysql_username
persistence_handler_class
--
mysql_password
persistence_handler_path
--
mysql_port
--
currentUserEmail
currentUserEmail
currentUserEmail

Optional keys

File Persistence
MySQL Persistence
Custom DB Persistence
applicationLogFilePath
applicationLogFilePath
applicationLogFilePath
sandbox
sandbox
sandbox
access_type
access_type
access_type
accounts_url
accounts_url
accounts_url
apiBaseUrl
apiBaseUrl
apiBaseUrl
apiVersion
apiVersion
apiVersion

Where,
  • client_id, client_secret, and redirect_uri - Client details you received after registering your application. For self client apps, you can pass a dummy value for the redirect uri.
  • token_persistence_path - The path to store the OAuth tokens in the file. This key is mandatory if you want to use file persistence. If you include this key, this method takes precedence over other persistence methods.
  • mysql_username, mysql_password, mysql_port - The MySQL username, password, and the port, respectively.
  • persistence_handler_class - Name of the class of the custom implementation for persistence. This key is mandatory if you want to use custom persistence.
  • persistence_handler_path - Absolute path of the module (.py file). This key is mandatory if you want to use custom persistence.
  • applicationLogFilePath - The absolute path to log the exceptions during the usage of the SDK.
  • sandbox - Boolean key to make API calls to the sandbox environment. The value true makes API calls to the sandbox. Default value is false.
  • access_type - Must be set to offline as the SDK does not support online OAuth client, now.
  • accounts_url - The domain-specific accounts URL from which you generate the tokens.
  • apiBaseUrl - The domain-specific API URL from which you make API calls. For users from domains other than the US, this key is mandatory.
  • apiVersion - Represents the version of the CRM APIs. The value is v2.
  • currentUserEmail - The email ID of the current user. When you do not specify this value, the SDK throws an exception. This key is mandatory in the configuration dictionary for self-client apps.

For web-based apps, set the user Email ID in the current thread as an attribute.

threading.current_thread().setattr('current_user_email','user@email.com')

Below is a configuration dictionary with all the keys. 

config = {
"apiVersion":"v2",
"currentUserEmail":"email@gmail.com"
"sandbox":"False"
"applicationLogFilePath":"",
"client_id":"1000.3xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX0YW",
"client_secret":"29xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx7e32",
"redirect_uri":"https://www.abc.com",
"token_persistence_path":"/Users/Zoho/Desktop/PycharmProjects",//For File Persistence
"access_type":"offline",
//Use the below keys for MySQL DB persistence
"mysql_username":"",
"mysql_password":"",
"mysql_port":"3306",
//Use the below keys for custom DB persistence
"persistence_handler_class" : "Custom",
"persistence_handler_path": "/Users/Zoho/Desktop/PythonSDK/CustomPersistance.py"
}

Now that you have created and registered your app with Zoho, you must authenticate it. 
Pass the configuration dictionary in the method ZCRMRestClient.initialize(config) and authenticate your app.

4.c. Generating the tokens

As the V2 Zoho CRM APIs follow the OAuth2.0 protocol, it is mandatory to authorize the OAuth2.0 app before using the SDK functions with an access token.
You can generate an access token from a grant token.
You can generate the grant token in two ways based on the type of client.

For Self Client Applications
  1. Log in to Zoho and go to Zoho Developer Console.
  2. Select your Self Client.
  3. Provide the necessary scopes separated by commas, along with the scope aaaserver.profile.READ.
  4. Select the Time Duration from the drop-down. This is the time the grant token is valid for.
  5. Provide a description for the scopes. Click GENERATE.
  6. Copy the grant token.

For Web-based Applications

It is the responsibility of your client app to generate the grant token for the users trying to login.
Your Application's UI must have the Login with Zoho option to open the grant token URL of Zoho, which would prompt for the user's OAuth2.0 authorization.
Upon the successful login of the user, the grant token will be sent as a parameter to your registered redirect URL.

Generating an access token from the grant token
Use the below code snippet in your main class.

zcrmsdk.ZCRMRestClient.initialize(config)
oauth_client = zcrmsdk.ZohoOAuth.get_client_instance()
grant_token = "paste_grant_token_here"
oauth_tokens = oauth_client.generate_access_token(grant_token)

Note
  • The code snippet to generate the access token from the grant token is valid only once per grant token. If the grant token expires before you generate the access token, you must generate a new grant token only.
  • Generating access and refresh tokens is a one-time process. After the tokens are generated the first time, the SDK persists them based on the keys defined in the configuration dictionary, and refreshes the access token as and when required.

Step-5: Connect to Zoho CRM through the available methods

The below image shows the sample code to get the current user details. You can find the code for this sample in the attachment.


The below image contains the response to the above code.



We hope you found this post useful. Stay tuned for more!

Cheers!

    Access your files securely from anywhere

          Zoho Developer Community




                                    Zoho Desk Resources

                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                    • Digest


                                    • Functions


                                    • Meetups


                                    • Kbase


                                    • Resources


                                    • Glossary


                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                    • MVP Corner


                                    • Word of the Day



                                        Zoho Marketing Automation


                                                Manage your brands on social media



                                                      Zoho TeamInbox Resources

                                                        Zoho DataPrep Resources



                                                          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                            Zoho Books Resources


                                                              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                    Qntrl Resources


                                                                      Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                          Zoho Campaigns 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 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

                                                                                                  • This mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support.

                                                                                                    Hi Support, Can you tell me why number was marked as spam. I have having difficult to add my number as you keep requesting i must use it. My number is +63....163 Or is Zoho company excluding Philippines from their services?
                                                                                                  • Something went wrong. One or more fields contain errors

                                                                                                    I am getting this error but there is no way to debug what field is causing the issue . I have over 100 fields. Everything was working fine and then i fixed some fields that should have the same field names but had a typo and i am getting this error. It
                                                                                                  • Integrating Zoho Desk Instances from two separate organizations

                                                                                                    Is it possible to integrate Zoho Desk with an instance from another organization? For example, creating a ticket in one organization can cause the creation of a ticket in the second organization? Or certain tickets from one organization be viewable by
                                                                                                  • Knowledge base bug - Error: Article couldn't be updated.

                                                                                                    It took me a while to figure this out, truly one of the most irritating bugs in Zoho. I hope you find this information helpful. When using the knowledge base to create articles, make sure your keywords are in lowercase and separated by commas. Otherwise,
                                                                                                  • Is this possible with Campaigns?

                                                                                                    My company is currently moving CRM's from Monday to Zoho One. Currently, our marketing lead process is send out 7 sms messages over 14 days if the lead is in a certain status. If we don't get a response the lead is put into a "Closed" status. Do we buy
                                                                                                  • How to view two portals (Zoho CRM & Zoho Books) in single login

                                                                                                    Hello there, I need to create a portal access for the Customers. Customer data present in two applications namely Zoho CRM & Zoho Books. My requirement is to show the two different portals(Zoho CRM Portal & Zoho books Portal) in single login. I could
                                                                                                  • Updating Bounced Contacts in Campaigns to the CRM

                                                                                                    The article explains how to update Opt-outs from Campaigns to CRM, but not bounces. While Campaigns will automatically remove any bounced emails from future campaigns, is there a process by which a bounce will update or make a notification in the CRM
                                                                                                  • Bandwidth, voice and poor video

                                                                                                    Dear Team, The webinar has made things quite easy and convenient for educators around the world. We are an art & culture-based organization where students and researchers are our major audience.  While using the Zoho webinar platform, we have observed that the audio lags and the video is of poor quality and often freezes. Some participants don't hear what is being spoken.  We also found that even a slightly slow internet connection disrupts the webinar while it should be working well even on lower
                                                                                                  • Zoho books and venmo

                                                                                                    Hi, Is there a way to hook Venmo into zoho books? I have a Venmo business account and want to be able to sync that. I know you can do it with the paypal integration but I dont want to use paypal for the fees and that doesnt allow me use/integrate my current
                                                                                                  • Global Sets for Multi-Select pick lists

                                                                                                    When is this feature coming to Zoho CRM? It would be very useful now we have got used to having it for the normal pick lists.
                                                                                                  • 550 5.4.6 Unusual sending activity detected. Please try after sometime. <a href=https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/usage-policy.html target=_blank>Learn more.</a>

                                                                                                    Please help me with this. Sending of mails is blocked.
                                                                                                  • The Social Wall: November 2024

                                                                                                    Hey everyone, As we move into December, we're excited to share all the updates that went live in Social during November. View, monitor, and respond to your WhatsApp and Telegram messages from Inbox Take your communication a step further by integrating
                                                                                                  • Segmenting Contacts Based on Product Purchased

                                                                                                    I am trying to organize our main Marketing Automation email list in a way that segments contacts based on products they have purchased (for example in this case it is 3 different products). To my knowledge, this would require the sync from Zoho CRM to
                                                                                                  • Urgent Assistance Needed with DKIM Verification

                                                                                                    Hi, I have been trying to verify the DKIM for the past month using your instructions as well as other resources. Unfortunately, I have not been able to resolve the issue, and it remains persistent. I need to address this problem as soon as possible so
                                                                                                  • How do I attach tasks from one task to other tasks in the same project

                                                                                                    How do I attach tasks from one task to other tasks in the same project
                                                                                                  • Incorrect Handling of XLSX data

                                                                                                    Trying to import an XLSX schedule of bills into Zoho Books I ran across the problem of date formatting. To replicate: Build a CSV file with bill dates in whatever format you like and import it - this should work if you match the "dd/MM/yyy" etc. format
                                                                                                  • Zoho Books Invoice Salesperson: requires ID but there is no "Fetch salesperson" action

                                                                                                    Hi, I am trying to attach a Salesperson to a Zoho Books invoice. In Zoho Flow, the salesperson field required an ID. However, I only have the salesperson name, I need to fetch salesperson by name and then provide the ID. There is no option to fetch salesperson...
                                                                                                  • Change format of quantity format

                                                                                                    Hi,  I would like to change the qunatity format from 1,00 to 1.  Is this possible?   thanks!
                                                                                                  • Ticket Views: filter criteria -> dynamic date values in relation to the current date

                                                                                                    Hello all, It would be very helpful if you could build custom views in such a way that you do not have to adjust the criteria daily or at whatever interval in order to change the fixed date value as needed. For example, I would like to create a view that,
                                                                                                  • Captchas: No support for Google reCAPTCHA or similar

                                                                                                    Hi all, The current captcha integrated into Creator is very basic, and often near-impossible to read. I'm building an app for a charity which includes a couple of public-facing forms, and this is a real issue for people with dyslexia and related conditions - it's effectively excluding them if you want any form of spam protection at all on your published forms (and that being said, the current captcha doesn't even seem very effective - bots can often read it more easily than humans). I've raised this
                                                                                                  • Maintain consistency in ticket responses with shared snippets

                                                                                                    Hello everyone! We are excited to announce that our highly anticipated snippet sharing feature is now available to all users. As you know, snippets are pre-defined message templates, or canned messages, that help agents respond to tickets with efficiency.
                                                                                                  • Tickets - Zoho Desk

                                                                                                    Hi Team, My Clients need to see their tickets created and the status of the ticket in the Zoho Support Desk itself. How can I do this? My Client doesn't have a Zoho Account. They need to access the ticket by the provided link without signing in.
                                                                                                  • Automatically assign Contacts to Account owners

                                                                                                    Hi, I have a finite number of accounts set up in the CRM, and each new contact that comes in is automatically assigned to an Account according to a rule I set up. I want the Contact owner in the Contacts module to be assigned to the relevant Account owner.
                                                                                                  • Making Copies/Duplicates of Zoho Forms (Shared)

                                                                                                    Question to the community: is there a way to take a 'shared form' , make a duplicate copy and save under My Forms, so that i can use that which was already created as a template to make updates to and use as a test form and be able to have full access,
                                                                                                  • Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

                                                                                                    Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure
                                                                                                  • Can you help us creating a customised form with payment link?

                                                                                                    I would like to create a customised Transport form where the user will be asked to make payment basis the drop/ pick up they select.
                                                                                                  • Deleting or disabeling predefined ticket list views

                                                                                                    Is it possible to delete or disable predefined views or is this still not possible? For instance, we are not using the chat function and therefore have no use for the "Missed Chats" view. Thanks!
                                                                                                  • Email an Invoice from API

                                                                                                    When calling the API to email an invoice, it seems it does not actually send it. Below is a screen shot where I used an API call for the bottom record, and it updated its' status to "Due Today", but no email was actually sent. The top record, I hit the
                                                                                                  • Unable to load your extension. Please check your plugin-manifest or Resources.json.

                                                                                                    Hi Team, I am using the config module with multiple fields of different types, such as checkboxes and picklists. However, I am encountering the following issues: Error Message: When loading the extension, I get the error: "Unable to load your extension.
                                                                                                  • Layout Rules / Quick create

                                                                                                    Hello, is there a way to create a layout rule for quick create option? Regards, Katarzyna
                                                                                                  • Issue with Create Note Button and Popup Form in Leads Module

                                                                                                    Hello Zoho Community, I am trying to implement a "Create Note" button in the Leads module with the following functionality: 1. When the button is clicked, a form should pop up with fields to add notes. 2. After filling out the form and clicking Send,
                                                                                                  • Finding draft ticket replies

                                                                                                    Is there a way to see all tickets which have draft replies?
                                                                                                  • Guidance on Making Zoho Desk Connections Available for All Data Centers

                                                                                                    Hi Team, I’m currently developing an application using Zoho Desk connections to manage OAuth for my third-party products. Could you please advise on the steps required to make it available across all data centers? Looking forward to your thoughts on
                                                                                                  • Able to change project on timelog entries

                                                                                                    Ability to move the timesheet entry from one project to another. When a user adds a wrong entry a manager can change/update the timesheet entry to the correct project.
                                                                                                  • Caso de Uso | Menos trámites, más salud: Clínicum optimiza sus recursos con Zoho One

                                                                                                    "La automatización del proceso de solicitud de bajas y su trazabilidad a través de Zoho nos ha supuesto una mejora en el ROI." - Carol Rodríguez, Responsable de Experiencia del Cliente interno y externo en Clínicum ¡Hola a todos! Estamos emocionados de
                                                                                                  • How do I stop getting notified about upgrading to Upgrade now and save big!

                                                                                                    How do I stop getting notified about upgrading to Upgrade now and save big! There is no way to clear this notification, and EVERY Day I get alerted to upgrade, but there is no permanent way to dismiss this alert! How can I permanently dismiss this a
                                                                                                  • Double opt-in notifications and customizable confirmation messages for your webforms

                                                                                                    Dear CRM Community, We are excited to announce a major upgrade to our Webforms feature. You can now customize the confirmation message shown to your users who double opt-in from your webform and also customize your confirmation emails when they submit
                                                                                                  • Bulk create tasks - Zoho Projects API

                                                                                                    Hi Zoho/Community, I am trying to create multiple tasks in a single API call, is there a way we can combine multiple request bodies into one single payload? The issue I am facing is the rate limiting on the API, I wanted to create certain amount of tasks
                                                                                                  • Task Due dates and Reminder Date & Time

                                                                                                    I like to have a reminder on many tasks in Zoho Recruit. I find the process cumbersome in that each task requires the following: 1. click and select due date 2. Click the reminder box 3. Click on (Reminder) Start Date 4. Click on (Reminder )Time If one
                                                                                                  • Unable to Access Admin Console and Email Sending Issues

                                                                                                    Hello Zoho Support Team and Community, I hope this post finds you well. I am currently facing two significant issues with Zoho services: Admin Console Access Issue: Every time I try to access the Zoho Admin Console, it gets stuck on the loading screen
                                                                                                  • Next Page