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

                                                                                                  • Kaizen #169 - Serialization and Schema Management in Queries

                                                                                                    Hello everyone! Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series! In Kaizen #166, we discussed handling Variables in Queries and associating the query in Kiosk. This week, we will discuss Serialization and Schema management in Queries. Business Scenario
                                                                                                  • Introducing Keyboard Shortcuts for Zoho CRM

                                                                                                    Dear Customers, We're happy to introduce keyboard shortcuts for Zoho CRM features! Until now, you might have been navigating to modules manually using the mouse, and at times, it could be tedious, especially when you had to search for specific modules
                                                                                                  • Feature Request: Notebooks within notebooks (Tree-like structure)

                                                                                                    Dear Zoho! I already migrated all my stuff from Google Keep, Im really fond of Zoho Notebook so far. One thing that could make the service much more powerful is multi-level notebooks (or tree like structure). For example, entering into Notebook named
                                                                                                  • Can't get authorization for Sandbox environment using the self client

                                                                                                    Hello, After creating a self client, and following the client-credentials method (as it's not optimat to manually generate a code for every 10 minutes), after inputting the sandbox org id for SOID parameter, im getting the error: "error": "no_org". For
                                                                                                  • Create landing pages from Zoho Marketing Plus

                                                                                                    Hey everyone, Over the last few months, we've introduced various features and enhancements to bolster the marketing capabilities of Zoho Marketing Plus and make it simpler for everyone. To that end, we're excited to announce that Zoho LandingPage is now
                                                                                                  • Custom service report or Zoho forms integration

                                                                                                    Hello, So far the experience with Zoho FSM and the integration with Books has been good, however there are limitations with service reports. As with my business, many organisations send technicians to different types of jobs that call for a different
                                                                                                  • Email tracking subdomain

                                                                                                    The Email Tracking configuration screen of the ZeptoMail asks for a subdomain. I have gone through the documentation but could not find more information about how that subdomain is used by ZeptoMail to track the emails. Can someone throw some light about
                                                                                                  • Chart View group X-axis values above a value

                                                                                                    I have a data set with X values ranging from 0 up to 300-400, the Y values are an AVG of the values for the given X. I am interested in the values at the low end of the scale, say 0-10 and want the X values 10 and greater to be grouped into a single category
                                                                                                  • How do I get the Text Account name instead of the Reference number?

                                                                                                    Good Morning everyone! I am very new to zoho analytics. I'm trying to create some pivot tables and when I add the Account or Division name it comes up as a reference number. From my research, I need to use a lookup. I'm having a really hard time understanding
                                                                                                  • Custom API - Need to create a string return value, not only MAP

                                                                                                    @Support: When creating a Custom API it only allows a return from a function of MAP type. The service I'm using requires a string return, how can this be achieved?
                                                                                                  • missing video-urgent

                                                                                                    hi..I have a problem regarding zoho meeting. I already record almost 2hrs for my interview session. After end my session, i'm stop the recording. Its happened when i didn't received any meeting recording at my email.But i received recording 7minutes after
                                                                                                  • Duplicate New Ticket Emails

                                                                                                    I am getting two Ticket emails when a ticket is created. The first one goes to me as the Admin helpdesk@ And because I am an Agent as well it also send to helpdesk@, support1@ and support2@ Is there any way to stop this?
                                                                                                  • Ticket Response Email Template

                                                                                                    Is there a way to have an email template automatically selected when I click on Reply for a ticket?
                                                                                                  • Unpublishing Job Post for LinkedIn

                                                                                                    Hi, We have experienced issue with the above. We did unpublish a job in Recruit but it still appear under Job section in our LinkedIn page. It did not remove from LinkedIn as it should be.  Please check and advise. Regards, Snyder 
                                                                                                  • Power of Automation :: Automatically start / pause / stop timer on task status update.

                                                                                                    Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. Requirement:-
                                                                                                  • Editor limitations to define screen types

                                                                                                    Guys I have noticed that even in version 2.0 of the editor (which is this new one we use) we still have a lot to improve... When I compare to some more global solutions like Wix, Zyro, Go Daddy, Squarespace and Weebly feel that we have some limitations
                                                                                                  • Dúvidas do Zoho Creator

                                                                                                    Pessoal, Estou colocando um tópico para dúvidas do Zoho Creator. Um abraço, Leandro
                                                                                                  • Tropicalize Books

                                                                                                    Books is an incredibly powerful tool that works well in many countries. But I feel that it is a product that is not yet "tropicalized" for Brazil as we speak (this would be like adapting the local reality). We have many strong competitors who do more
                                                                                                  • Automatic Sitemap Generation

                                                                                                    Guys are all right? Doesn't make sense for me to have to generate a map site and upload it... because it's not automatically generated just as it is done in WIX? where the customer doesn’t have to worry about this.
                                                                                                  • SEO improvements with ZIA

                                                                                                    Are you okay? I would like to bring an idea that would be amazing to improve the product that is the possibility of being able to improve the SEO of the pages (this of each page or each article on the blog) through ZIA so that it could create page Summary
                                                                                                  • Automatically updating field(s) of lookup module

                                                                                                    I have a lookup field, which also pulls through the Status field from the linked record. When the lookup is first done, the Status is pulled through - this works perfectly. If that Status is later updated, the lookup field does not update as well. As
                                                                                                  • Initiating a SalesIQ Zobot from a custom button on Zoho Sites

                                                                                                    I have created a Zobot set to initiate on a custom action called "Fast_Answers". On Zoho Sites, I created a code snippet button and set it to on-click run the event called "Fast_Answers". I installed the SalesIQ integration code into the Zoho Sites Page
                                                                                                  • Zoho Desk -> Zoho Analytics : Where is the field for "Layout" ?

                                                                                                    I have many different layouts on my helpdesks and I want to be able to identify the stats for each one, however I can not file the field in the raw data from the Zoho Desk datasource. I thought it might be under "Tickets" but there is nothing. There is
                                                                                                  • Set resolution mandatory field

                                                                                                    Hi,  i have 2 questions:) : - i want to set the resolution field mandatory before close the ticket. Because for now, i can close the ticket without writing how i solve it - how can i setup zoho desk to receive ticket by email(e.g. clients sent email to support@mydomain.com) and it create a ticket in zoho desk
                                                                                                  • Impuesto automatico en cotizaciones

                                                                                                    Buen dia Mi pregunta es como se puede poner alguna operacion para que las cotizaciones me salgan automaticamente con impuestos ya que uno al cargarla al final tienen que añadir el porcentaje de impuesto Saludos
                                                                                                  • Zoho Assist "Agree and Download" Button "Greyed Out" ("Light Blued" Out)

                                                                                                    Anyone else having issue where support clients are unable to click "Agree and Download" to access the client so that we can provide remote support? This is for "on demand" support via accessing the support page and entering the support key and name. This
                                                                                                  • Project Billing with the Staff Hours Method in Zoho Projects

                                                                                                    The Staff Hours Billing Method in Zoho Projects allows you to bill your clients based on the actual time spent by each team member on a project, at the rate set for each user. This is useful for projects where different skill sets are needed and service
                                                                                                  • Creator Subform to CRM Subform

                                                                                                    Hello all, Has anyone successfully written data from a Creator Subform into CRM subform? I have been able to get the rows to populate but none of the data will come through. I'll add my code and the result in CRM. Creator Subform is 'Delivery_Receiving_Hours'.
                                                                                                  • custom fields not populating from deluge script into invoice

                                                                                                    Hello, I've created some Deluge script that is meant to take a few inputted invoice custom fields and calculate a few others. I can see when I execute the function that my inputted custom fields are being passed, yet im still ending up with all "null"
                                                                                                  • tax summation function - getting error

                                                                                                    Hello, I'm trying to create a function that adds all of individual tax rates from a few jurisdictions. I'm getting an error on line 9 - Value is empty and 'get' function cannot be applied. I've checked that I have data in each of the required fields,
                                                                                                  • Backstage / Zoho Books integration

                                                                                                    Hello. We have Zoho One and have slowly started using Backstage. Loving it. Problem is, we have ZERO accounting control over what is sold through this product. When will we be able to connect it to our existing Zoho Books tenant? Thank you very much!
                                                                                                  • Getting list of calendar events over api for zoho mail calendar

                                                                                                    Hi, I am using just Zoho mail without using Zoho CRM. I wanted to get all events booked in my zoho mail calendar through an api at regular intervals. I could find such API support for Zoho CRM calendar but not for zoho mail calendar. Can you kindly let
                                                                                                  • Allocate emails to user in a shared mailbox

                                                                                                    Hi, This might be obvious, but I cannot find the answer. I have 3 shared mailboxes so any team member can see the emails. Is there a way of allocating a specific email to a user so that it is their responsibility to deal with it? Thanks in advance.
                                                                                                  • Introducing Zoho Campaigns' own gateway for SMS campaigns

                                                                                                    We are excited to announce the launch of our SMS Gateway to send SMS through Zoho Campaigns. We have also made a few other changes in our current SMS Campaign model to improve your over all user experience. These updates are planned with an aim to expand
                                                                                                  • Update a lookup field in CRM from Creator using deluge

                                                                                                    I have a Creator form that creates a new account. When it creates the new account in the Accounts Module, I need it to also populate the Parent Account, which is a lookup field coming from the Module Parent Accounts, field Parent Account Name. I have
                                                                                                  • SMS Keyword Tracking in Zoho CRM From Zoho Campaigns

                                                                                                    Is there a way to track SMS leads in campaigns by associating them with specific keywords or codes? Additionally, can these leads be pushed to the CRM while retaining the keyword for tracking and reporting purposes?
                                                                                                  • Projects Multiselect API

                                                                                                    Having troubles setting a mutli select field via API. updateMap = map(); updateMap.put("UDF_MULTI1","picklist_id1,picklist_id2"); updateProjectRes = invokeurl [ url :"https://projects.zoho.com/restapi/portal/XXXX/projects/" + projectID + "/" type :POST
                                                                                                  • Bill quantity received / PO quantity

                                                                                                    PO's are raised & often the quantity received is greater than the PO quantity, so when we receive the bill & adjust the quantity on the bill we get.... Quantity recorded cannot be more than quantity ordered. This necessitates the adjustment of the PO
                                                                                                  • ZOHO BOOKS - RECEIVING MORE ITEMS THAN ORDERED

                                                                                                    Hello, When trying to enter a vendor's bill that contains items with bigger quantity than ordered in the PO (it happens quite often) - The system would not let us save the bill and show this error: "Quantity recorded cannot be more than quantity ordered." 
                                                                                                  • Adding Bluesky channel

                                                                                                    Hello, Is Bluesky (AT protocol) soon added on Social ? Bluesky is being developped and is now open to anyone (no more invitation) Thank you
                                                                                                  • Next Page