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
- Client app must use Python 2.7 or above. You can download Python through https://www.python.org/downloads/
- Client app must have python requests installed. Refer to Installation of Python Requests or use the command pip install requests to install them.
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.
Refer to https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/ to install pip.
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.
- MySQL Persistence (default)
- File Persistence
- 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.For US: https://accounts.zoho.com
For EU: https://accounts.zoho.eu
For CN: https://accounts.zoho.com.cn
For IN: https://accounts.zoho.in - apiBaseUrl - The domain-specific API URL from which you make API calls. For users from domains other than the US, this key is mandatory.For US: https://www.zohoapis.com
For EU: https://www.zohoapis.eu
For CN: https://www.zohoapis.com.cn
For IN: https://www.zohoapis.in - 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 = { "apiBaseUrl":"https://www.zohoapis.com", "apiVersion":"v2", "currentUserEmail":"email@gmail.com" "sandbox":"False" "applicationLogFilePath":"", "client_id":"1000.3xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX0YW", "client_secret":"29xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx7e32", "redirect_uri":"https://www.abc.com", "accounts_url":"https://accounts.zoho.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
- Log in to Zoho and go to Zoho Developer Console.
- Select your Self Client.
- Provide the necessary scopes separated by commas, along with the scope aaaserver.profile.READ.
- Select the Time Duration from the drop-down. This is the time the grant token is valid for.
- Provide a description for the scopes. Click GENERATE.
- 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
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Shylaja S
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint
Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In thisKaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List
Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore howKaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
I Need Help Verifying Ownership of My Zoho Help Desk on Google Search Console
I added my Zoho desk portal to Google Search Console, but since i do not have access to the html code of my theme, i could not verify ownership of my portal on Google search console. I want you to help me place the html code given to me from Google searchTimeline Tracker
Hi Team, I am currently using Zoho Creator – Blueprint Workflows, and I would like to know if there is a way to track a timeline of the approval process within a Blueprint. Specifically, I am looking for details such as: Who submitted the record Who clickedPrimary / Other Billing Contacts
If you add an additional contact to a Zoho Billing Customer record, and then mark this new contact as the primary contact, will both the new primary and old primary still receive notifications? Can you stop notifications from going to the additional contactsIs it possible to enforce a single default task for all users in a Zoho Projects ?
In Zoho Projects, the Tasks module provides multiple views, including List, Gantt, and Kanban. Additionally, users can create and switch to their own custom views. During project review meetings, this flexibility creates confusion because different users[Free Webinar] Zoho Creator webinars - Learning Table and Creator Tech Connect Series in 2026
Hello everyone, Wishing you all a wonderful new year! May 2026 and the years ahead bring more opportunities, growth, and learning your way 🙂 We’re excited to kick off the 2026 edition of the Learning Table Series and Creator Tech Connect Series ! LearningReply and react to comments
Hi everyone! We're excited to bring to you a couple of new features that'll make your sprint process simpler. A cloud application brings with it an array of social media features that can be efficiently used in your organizational setup. As an agile scrumModule Customisation - Lookup function not available
Good evening, Within my business, I can have multiple customers, who have multiple mobile assets. When I set these assets up, I enter information such as vehicle registration, Vehicle identification number (VIN), Unit number, YOM, in addition to others.zoho click, and nord VPN
Unfortunately, we've been having problems with Zoho Click, where essentially the line cuts off after about a minute's worth of conversation every time we are on VPN. Is there a way we can change this within the settings so it does not cut the line offZoho Calender
a) does the clanender in zoho project allow you to see the name of the event in the celnder view, it currently says either "Task (1) or "Milestoen (1)" b) Alternatively does the calender in Zoho project integrate with zoho calender?Matching ZOHO Payments in Banking
Our company has recently integrated ZOHO Payments into our system. This seemed really convenient at first because our customers could pay their account balance by clicking on a link imbedded in the emailed invoice. Unfortunately, we can't figure out howWork Type - Limitation
Hello, I'm setting up work types and have noticed, a limitation on the parts area to 10 lines. Can this be increased to 20 or greater? In addition to this, when I attempt to add the work type to a work order, the correct labour hours doesn't flow through.Locked out of MFA due to changing phones
I have been locked out of my Zoho Books account since i changed my mobile phone over. I can get the OTP through the ZOHO Books software but i cant confirm using my phone app as nothing appears to authorise. I need to know how to register/set up my newEmails sent through Bigin are not posting in IMAP Sent folder
I have set up my email to work from within Bigin using IMAP. I am using IMAP so I can sync my email across multiple devices - phone / laptop / desktop / iPad / etc. I want all my emails to populate my email client (outlook & iphone email) whether orTurning the page for Zoho SalesIQ: 2025 to 2026
As we wrap up 2025, we would like to take a moment to reflect on what we set out to achieve this year, what we’ve delivered, and where we’re headed next. What we focused on in 2025 This year was all about strengthening the core of engagement and AI, makingCustomer Management: #6 Common Mistakes in Customer Handling
Managing customers doesn't usually fall apart overnight. More often, slight gaps in the process slowly become bigger problems. Incidents like missed follow-ups, billing confusion, and unhappy customers will lead to revenue loss. Many businesses don'tZoho Desk iOS app update: UI enhancement of picklist and multi picklist fields
Hello everyone! We have enhanced the UI of the picklist and multiselect picklist fields on the Zoho Desk iOS app to provide a more refined, efficient, and user-friendly experience. We have now supported an option to Search within the picklist and multiselectZoho Desk iOS app update: Revamped scribbles with Apple pencil kit
Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce a revamped Scribble experience, rebuilt from the ground up using Apple PencilKit for smooth strokes, proper scaling, and seamless image uploads. Please update the app to the latest version directly from the AppZoho Desk Android app update: Norwegian language support
Hello everyone! In the most recent Android version of the Zoho Desk app update, we have brought in support to access the app in Norwegian language. We have introduced the Norwegian language on the IM module of the Zoho Desk app as well. Please updatePayment Vouchers
Is there any Payment Vouchers in Zoho? How can we create payment for non-trade vendors, i.e. professional fees, rent, and payment to commissioner income tax?When I click on PDF/PRINT it makes the invoice half size
When I click PDF / Print for my invoice in Zoho Books, the generated PDF appears at half size — everything is scaled down, including the logo, text, and layout. The content does not fill the page as it should. Could someone advise what causes Zoho BooksSearch by contain letter in a column
Hello, everyone I need a filter function that searches by letter in a cell, and it should be a macro. To clarify further, if I have a column with several names and I chose a search cell and what I want is search by a single letter, for example, "a" thenCan add a colum to the left of the item in Zoho Books?
I would need to add a column to the left of the item column in Books. When i create custom fields, i can only display them to the right of the item.2025 Ask the Experts sessions wrap-up : Key highlights from the experts
Here is a rewind journey of our Ask the Experts (ATE) Sessions, where we brought you expert insights and practical best practices together in one place. This recap highlights the key takeaways, learnings, and best practices from all these sessions soHow to disable the edit option in subform
How to disable the edit option in subformMove record from one custom module to another custom module
Is it possible to create a button or custom field that will transfer a record from one custom module to another? I already have the 'Leads' module used for the Sr. Sales department, once the deal is closed they convert it to the 'Accounts' module. I would like to create a 'Convert' button for a custom module ('Locations') for the department that finds locations for each account. Once the location is secured, I want to move the record to another custom module called 'Secured Locations'. It's basicallyNotes Not Saving
Hello, My notes are continuously not saving. I make sure to save them, I know the process to save them. It is not operator error. I go back into a Leads profile a while later and do not see the previous notes that I have made. I then have to go back and do unnecessary research that would have been in the notes in the first place. Not a good experience and it is frustrating. Slows me down and makes me do unnecessary work. Please resolve. As a quick heads up, deleting cookies is not a fixPrefill form with CRM/Campaigns
I created a form in zForms and created prefill fields. I added this to the CRM and selected the fields so when sending from the CRM, the form works great. However, I want to use the same form in Campaigns and I want it to pull the data from CRM (whichTriggering a campaign automation from a Form
I used Forms to create a lead form that is accessed by a button on my website. The field information flows into the CRM. However, I am trying to figure out how to use Campaign automations to start a workflow (series of campaign emails) that is triggeredEmployee Appraisal Applicability - Why is Date of Joining Hard-Coded?
In the new (to me, at least) Performance Appraisal Cycle wizard, it's possible to set criteria to determine for whom the appraisal process should apply. This makes sense on its face. However, one MUST use the Date of Joining criterion as a filter. WhyFormula fields
Zoho People now supports formula fields. This post illustrates it. Formula fields are fields whose value is calculated instead of being entered by the user. Using this, number, decimal and date manipulations can be done. The value of this field could be numeric or date depending on the output of the formula. In date manipulations, the result will be given in milliseconds, which you can format as per you need. The operators we support are +, - , *, /. Formula fields get recalculated automaticallyZobot operator information
I am working on a zobot that calls a plug to send data to our API. I want the response data from that API to be shown only to the operator and not the customer. I have tried writing this data out to the visitorCity field but nothing gets updated on theCopy paste from word document deletes random spaces
Hello Dear Zoho Team, When copying from a word document into Notebook, often I face a problem of the program deleting random spaces between words, the document become terribly faulty, eventhough it is perfect in its original source document (and withoutYou are not a part of any org. So Campaigns permission(s) will not be granted.
I have an issue while calling the access token by my email "kessam@axisapp.com" please give me suggestions for resolving this problem!Is it possible to use module field filters via URL parameters?
It would be really convenient if I could quickly link to a filter. For reference, this is the filter functionality I'm referring to: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/advanced-filters/articles/advanced-filters For example: MyTransitioning FESCO Bill Project to Zoho Sheets and Integration Options
Hello Zoho Support, I'm considering transitioning my FESCO bill project from Google Sheets to Zoho Sheets and wanted to know if there are integration options to seamlessly migrate our existing work. You can view our platform here, any guidance would beCredit card
Coming from another software, is it possible here to typically have credit card payment off, but independently per customer, click a box (possibly on the invoice when I go to to send) allowing that 1 allowed customer credit card payment, NOT ALL of myLightbox Pop-up form
I would like to embed my form using the lightbox pop up. I don't want it to load automatically. I want it to load when some clicks the button. I can see this option, however when I use the "show pop-up launch button" on the website, the button automaticallyLightbox Pop-up form
I would like to embed my form using the lightbox pop up. I don't want it to load automatically. I want it to load when some clicks the button. I can see this option, however when I use the "show pop-up launch button" on the website, the button automaticallyConnecting Portals from different Zoho apps
Hi, I note that Zoho has functionality for customer portals for several of the Zoho apps, like CRM, Projects, Desk etc. Is there any way to connect these portals? It would be great if we could give our customers access to a portal in which they couldCustomer Management: #5 Never Let the Customer Slip
When Rahul started Knight's Watch Consulting, his focus was simple: deliver good work and keep clients happy. He offered one-time consulting projects, monthly advisory retainers and usage-based support for growing clients. Business was steady, and customersNext Page