Kaizen #166 - Handling Query Variables in Zoho CRM
Hello, Code Enthusiasts!
Welcome to another week of Kaizen!
This week, we'll dive into handling variables in Zoho CRM Queries and see how they can be deployed in Kiosk to dynamically retrieve data. This technique is especially useful for integrating data from third-party applications or CRM itself into your custom interface, such as Canvas and Kiosk.
Variables
Variables are placeholders in Queries that are replaced with real values at runtime. Instead of hard coding data, you can use variables to make your Queries flexible and reusable.
Syntax: {{Variable_Name}}
Query variables in Zoho CRM function differently from conventional Zoho CRM variables. While CRM variables act as containers for dynamic values that can be stored and reused anywhere within the organization, query variables are designed to receive their values at runtime.
Query variables enhance flexibility and are specifically used in:
- COQL: To dynamically filter and retrieve data.
- REST API: For runtime data fetching based on specific parameters.
- Query Criteria: To define conditions dynamically for fetching records.
How to Use a Variable?
To use variables, ensure the fields providing the variable values are available in the context where the Query is executed.
Let’s say you want to evaluate a marketing campaign's performance. For this, you need to fetch all leads with a specific lead source. Since each campaign is associated with a different lead source, you can define the lead source as a variable. When viewing a campaign's details, the lead source will be passed dynamically to the Query.
Business Scenario : Nearby Delivery Hubs
Imagine a telecommerce platform using Zoho CRM to manage sales and deliveries. When a customer provides their PIN code, the salesperson must confirm with the customer for a nearby post office for package pick-ups and drop-offs in Kiosk.
With Zoho CRM Queries, you can achieve this by dynamically fetching the nearby post offices list based on the customer's PIN code and displaying it on the Contact record’s detail page. Here's how to set it up using the Kiosk feature.
Setting Up the Query in Kiosk
1. Access Kiosk Studio
- Log in to Zoho CRM.
- Go to Setup > Customization > Kiosk Studio and click Create Kiosk.
2. Configure the Current Module
- Choose the module where the Kiosk will be deployed.
For this example, select Contacts to use the PIN code from the Contact record.
- Configuring this Current Module is mandatory to use variables from the current record.
3. Add a Screen
- Click the + icon on the flowchart and select Screen.
- Name the screen and click Add.
4. Add a Query
- Under Display Elements, choose Get Data Via Queries.
- Click New Query and then Add Query to create a new one.
5. Set Up the Data Source
- Any custom source has to be enrolled either in the Trusted Domains or in the Connections. For demo,
- Add the base URL https://api.postalpincode.in/pincode to Trusted Domain.
- Skip Connections as the Postal PIN Code API is an open source.
- In the Add Query pop-up, click Source and create a new source.
For this demo, we’ll add India Post to fetch post offices based on PIN codes.
- Add default Headers and Parameters to the source if any. This will be added by default whenever the source is used in a query.
6. Define the Query
- In the Information section, provide the query’s Name and API Name to refer to the query wherever needed.
- Use the endpoint URL with a variable, e.g., https://api.example.com/post_offices/{{Mailing_Zip}}.
- You can add headers and parameters specific to the query, but let us skip that for the demo.
- Add a JavaScript serializer to process the Query response. For our case, we will serialize the response with return result[0].PostOffice;.
- You can test your serializer with the help of Preview. Once finished, provide a test value to the variable for generating Schema for the Query Response.
The test value you provide is temporary and not permanent. The value of a variable will be declared using merge fields when you associate the query with a component. Check Step 7 to know how it is used in our demo.
You can also manipulate the response by changing data types of keys in the raw response. To keep the demo simple, let's go with the raw response.
7. Link the Query to Kiosk
- Use Dynamic Parameters to map the variable to the Mailing Zip field from the Contact record. Enter # to merge the fields.
- In Choose Fields, select which data to display in the Kiosk.
- You can further manipulate the query response in the Record Preferences section.
Select your preference to view the response as a Single Record or Multiple Records. - For Single Record, choose the data that has to be displayed from the query response and click Save.
- For Multiple Records, fill in the following details as shown in this image.
- The Selection Limit helps you with the maximum number of records that have to be chosen in the kiosk after publishing.
- Identifier field functions as the primary field to identify each record.
- In the fields section, choose the data that has to be displayed from the query response.
Customize the Kiosk button and click Done to save your configuration.
8. Test and Publish
Test the Kiosk using a sample Record ID from the Contacts module. If successful, the list of nearby post offices will display in an iframe as it would appear on the Contact detail page.
Once satisfied, publish the Kiosk to make it live.
Let us check the Kiosk from the Contacts detail page.
Example Scenarios
- Loan Approval: You can display a customer's CIBIL score using their Social Security Number (SSN) directly within a Canvas. The SSN serves as a runtime variable, allowing you to approve loans without manual data entry and shifting tabs.
- Customer Support: In a Records Detail View kiosk, display all high priority tickets linked to an account. The current account's ID acts as a runtime variable, ensuring that support agents have immediate access to relevant queries and resolve issues faster.
- Insurance Verification: In a Records Detail View kiosk, the customer's ID proof number can be used to verify their details on official government sites. The ID proof number dynamically functions as a variable, streamlining the insurance verification process.
We hope you found this post informative and beneficial.
If you have any queries or a topic to be discussed, reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com or drop your comments below.
Cheers!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous Kaizen: Kaizen #165 - How to call Zoho CRM APIs using Client Script | Kaizen Collection: Directory
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
Kiruthiga G
Piyush Goyal
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
Any recommendations for Australian Telephony Integration providers?
HI, I am looking for some advice on phone providers as we are looking to upgrade our phone system, does anybody have experience with any of the Australian providers that integrate with CRM Telephony? So far we are looking at RingCentral and Amazon Connect, and would love to hear feedback on any of the other providers you might have tried. Thank youCRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more
Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),Enhance Appointment Buffers in Zoho Bookings
There was previously a long-standing feature request related to enhancing the way appointment buffers work in Zoho Bookings, but it looks like the original post has been deleted. I am therefore adding a new request that Zoho Bookings adjust how appointmentSubscriptions for service call
So we install products and we want to offer a service contract for the customers yearly service calls to be billed monthly. So ideally at some point we want to email them a quote for their needs. WE will choice it our end based on the equipment. It wouldDelay in rendering Zoho Recruit - Careers in the ZappyWorks
I click on the Careers link (https://zappyworks.zohorecruit.com/jobs/Careers) on the ZappyWorks website expecting to see the job openings. The site redirects me to Zoho Recruit, but after the redirect, the page just stays blank for several seconds. I'mHow to add interviews through API
I'm trying to add an interview without much luck. The documentation gives examples of adding just about everything except an interview. However, the issue might be the way I'm formatting it, because the documentation is unclear to me. It seems as if the xml should be passed in the url, which seems unusual. I've tried the data as both plain and character escaped, but nothing seems to work, nor do I even get an error response. https://recruit.zoho.com/recruit/private/xml/Interviews/addRecords?authtoken=***&scope=recruitapi&version=2&xmlData=<Interviews> <rowConnection to other user
Zoho Cliq handles sharing of Custom OAuth Connections that require individual user logins.How to invite friends on other social media platforms to one of my group chats in arattai?
Hello, I have formed chat groups in arattai. I want to invite my friends on other social media platforms like WhatsApp/ FB to one of my groups. Different friends would be invited to different groups. How to share an invite link of one of my groups toCliq does not sync messages after Sleep on Mac
I'm using the mac app of Cliq. When I open my mac after it was in sleep mode, Cliq does not sync the messages that I received. I always have to reload using cmd + R, which is not what I want when using a chat application.Facing Issues with Sites Mobile font sizes
my page renediaz.com is facing issues mobile view, when i try to lower font sizes in home page, instead of changing the size, it changes the line spaceSet expiration date on document and send reminder
We have many company documents( for example business registration), work VISA documents. It will be nice if we can set a expiry date and set reminders ( for example 90 days, 60 days, 30 days etc.,) Does Zoho workdrive provide that option?Analytics : How to share to an external client ?
We have a use case where a client wants a portal so that several of his users can view dashboards that we have created for them in Zoho Analytics. They are not part of our company or Zoho One account. The clients want the ability to have user specific,Automatically Update Form Attachment Service with Newly added Fields
Hi, When I have a Form Setup and connected to a 3rd Party Service such as OneDrive for Form Attachments, when I later add a new Upload Field I have to remove and redo the entire 3rd Party Setup from scratch. This needs to be improved, such as when newPayroll and BAS ( Australian tax report format )
Hello , I am evaluating Zoho Books and I find the interface very intuitive and straight forward. My company is currently using Quickbooks Premier the Australian version. Before we can consider moving the service we would need to have the following addressed : 1.Payroll 2.BAS ( business activity statement ) for tax purposes 3.Some form of local backup and possible export of data to a widely accepted format. Regards Codrin MitinZoho Desk API - Send Reply to CUSTOMERPORTAL
Hello! I'll try to send a reply to Customer Portal, But the response is 500 (INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR in service response). {"Error":"{\"errorCode\":\"INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR\",\"message\":\"An internal server error occurred while performing this operation.\"}"}Python - code studio
Hi, I see the code studio is "coming soon". We have some files that will require some more complex transformation, is this feature far off? It appears to have been released in Zoho Analytics alreadyIssue with open-rate reporting in Zoho Campaigns
Hello, Since yesterday I’ve been experiencing an issue with the open-rate reports in Zoho Campaigns. The campaigns I send appear in the reports as if none of the emails have been opened, even though I know they have. To verify this, I replicated the campaignBest practices for managing Project Charters, Business Case and RAID logs within Zoho?
Hello everyone, I’m currently refining our PMO setup within Zoho Projects and I’m curious how others are handling high-level governance documentation. We’ve been using the standardized Project Charter, Business Case and RAID frameworks from projectmanagertemplate.comZoho Books Payroll
How am I supposed to do payroll and pay my employees with Zoho Books? I think it's pretty strange that an accounting software doesn't have the ability to perform one of the most common functions in business; paying your employees. Am I missing something,Sort Legend & stacked bar chart by value
I'd love to see an option added to sort the legend of graphs by the value that is being represented. This way the items with the largest value in the graph are displayed top down in the legend. For example, let's say I have a large sales team and I createIs It Possible to Convert a Custom Module to a Quote?
I recently created a custom module in our CRM environment for RFQs so that our sales team can submit quote requests directly in Zoho rather than by email/phone. This allows for a cleaner overall process, minimizing potential errors and potentially encouragingNewsletter in multiple languages
Hi We are planning on starting to use Zoho Campaigns for our newsletters. Since we send our newsletters in three languages, I would need the "unsubscribe page" and other pages related to the NL (Thank you page and so on) to be available in different languagesProposal: Actionable API Error Messages to Reduce Support Ticket Volume
I've encountered a long-standing frustration with how Zoho Creator's API communicates errors to developers, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. This issue has persisted for over 9 years based on community discussions, andAllocating inventory to specific SO's
Is there a way that allocate inventory to a specific sales order? For example, let's say we have 90 items in stock. Customer 1 orders 100 items. This allocates all 90 items to their order, and they have a back order for the remaining 10 items which couldCliq iOS can't see shared screen
Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? RegardsClosing the Loop: Why Lookup Asymmetry is Harming Data Integrity in Creator
TL;DR: Lookup fields allow users to add new related records inline via the "+" icon, but there's no equivalent ability to edit an existing related record without navigating away and losing form context. Adding a native "Edit" icon—with automatic UserAdd the ability to Hide Pages in Page Rules
Hi, We have Field Rules to show and hide fields and we have page Rules, but we can't hide a page in Page Rules so it isn't completed before the previous page (And then have the Deny Rules to prevent submitting without both pages completed), we can onlyusing the Client script on the load of the form if service no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to is Service
using the Client script on the load of the form if service no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to field is Service if Purchae no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to is PurchaseChanges to the send mail Deluge task in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, At Zoho, we continuously enhance our security measures to ensure a safer experience for all users. As part of our ongoing security enhancements, we're making an important update on using the send mail Deluge task in Zoho CRM. What's changing?Work Order wont mark as Completed
I have a couple of work orders that won't mark as completed even when I've marked the Service Appointments as completed fully.Item name special charaters <>
Im trying to input speical characters such as < and > into item name and item description but comes up with following error: Invalid value passed for Item Name and Invalid value passed for Item Description How do i allow speical characters?Zoho Analytics Dashboard - How to hide the user filter
I am using the same dashboard template across different external clients and applying a user filter to the data by site URL. How can I hide the user filter in View Mode so the external client won't see the list of other clients in the drop-down menu?Customer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account
Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, theyKaizen #229: Email-Deal Associations in Zoho CRM
Hi All, Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Emails are a core channel for customer communication in any CRM system. In Zoho CRM, emails can be associated with records across multiple modules. In this post, we will focus on email associations withAction Required: Update Microsoft SQL Server Security Settings Before February 2026
Dear Users, We recently deployed security updates in Zoho Analytics that inadvertently caused connection failures for a few customers using Microsoft (MS) SQL Server hosted on older Windows versions (Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, and 2014). To restoreContacts limit in basic vs standard - what counts? Are customers contacts?
I’ve been using books for a number years for my small business. I only ever work with 20 clients at any given time. I do purchase services from a number of vendors to run my business, so there are some comtacts there too. I used to use the basic package,Saving issue
First problem I opened a MS word file in writer. after the work is done, it does not save instantly, I waited for like 10min and it still did not save. second problem When I save a file, then file gets saved as another copy. I just did save, not saveAutomating Employee Birthday Notifications in Zoho Cliq
Have you ever missed a birthday and felt like the office Grinch? Fear not, the Cliq Developer Platform has got your back! With Zoho Cliq's Schedulers, you can be the office party-cipant who never forgets a single cake, balloon, or awkward rendition ofCreate Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3
In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way toAbility to Set a Unified Tab Order/View for All Users in Zoho Projects
Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit a feature request regarding tab/menu organization in Zoho Projects. Current Behavior: The tab (module) order in Zoho Projects is user-specific. Each user (internal or external)Next Page