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
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 #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms
Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achievedKaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI
Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over theKaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs
🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! 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 #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.
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
Member Accounts in Related List
Hi Team, Currently, when a parent account is associated with an account in FSM, there is no related list displaying the associated member accounts under the parent account’s related list section. To view member accounts, I have to manually search usinghow do i remove a specific Zoho Service from my account
I no longer need Zoho CRM, ZRM Assist nor ZRM BugTracker. How do I remove them from the list of apps for my account?I Want migarte all invoice details to zoho sheets
I want to migrate all existing invoice details to Zoho Sheet, and automatically update the sheet whenever a new invoice is created.were can i find my invoices i need this for my accountant
were can i find my invoices i need this for my accountant, how can i get id direct to my email?ONLY email field not populating Writer fillable document (randomly)
I have a Zoho Writer fillable document that has pulled all my data from my Zoho Sheets file, EXCEPT the email column. It pulled every data before and after that column with no issues. Screenshots attached. It's not my first time using the app or the feature,My number is marked as spam
Hello Zoho Mail Support, My phone number was incorrectly flagged as “spam” during sign-up. This is my personal number, and I have not engaged in any spam activities. Kindly review and verify my account so I can proceed with my email setup. Thanks.Personnalisation des paramètres dans Zoho Mail
Pourquoi cela compte-t-il ? La personnalisation des paramètres dans Zoho Mail permet aux administrateurs de configurer l’environnement de messagerie en fonction des besoins spécifiques de leur organisation. Que ce soit pour alléger l’interface pour certainesHow To Save Data Into Zoho CRM Sandbox
Hi Community, I want to save data into my zoho sandbox , for this I am using this api endpoint - https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Patients but I am getting this error - { "success": false, "message": "Zoho API request failed", "error": { "code": "INVALID_MODULE",Automate pushing Zoho CRM backups into Zoho WorkDrive
Through our Zoho One subscription we have both Zoho CRM and Zoho WorkDrive. We have regular backups setup in Zoho CRM. Once the backup is created, we are notified. Since we want to keep these backups for more than 7 days, we manually download them. TheyQuestion about retrieving unsubscribed contacts (outside of lists) via API
Hello, I am currently using Zoho Marketing Automation and would like to integrate it with our company’s core system. For this purpose, I am exploring the API options available to retrieve contact information. Specifically, I would like to know if thereGetting “mandatory field missing: Service_Line_Items” When Creating Work Order via Zoho Flow Deluge
Hi Team, I’m trying to create a Work Order in Zoho FSM with only a Service Line Item (no Parts). However, I keep getting this error: Work Order Response: {"code":"MANDATORY_NOT_FOUND","details":{"api_name":"Service_Line_Items"},"message":"required fieldHow to customize the colors of the Client Portal login screen and add the company logo?
As title, how to customize the colors of the Client Portal login screen and add the company logo?Daily updates/fixes and how to see what was changed?
When I receive the notification that zoho was updated and I need to refresh it. How can I see what was changed or fixed? Sometimes they change things that effect my books and I need to know what they did. For example over this past weekend something wasUpcoming Change: Snowflake Username/Password Authentication Deprecation – Action Required
Hello Users, Snowflake has officially announced that username and password-based authentication will be deprecated by November 2025. You can find the official announcement [here]. If you're using a Snowflake connection in Zoho Analytics to import data,Why should I choose Zoho Inventory vs Odoo?
Hello there! I have used Zoho in different companies I've worked in, and I have a positive perception of it. I am starting a new import business for pipes, tubes, fittings, valves, elbows, etc., which all have serial numbers, cast numbers, etc., so IProduct Updates in Zoho Workplace applications | July 2025
Hello Workplace Community, Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that went live across all Workplace applications this July. Zoho Mail Import bookmarks from Pocket Worried about losing your Pocket bookmarks? Don't worry we have got you.PLEASE FIX YOR BUGS
PICTURES ARE BEING REJECTED DESPITE THEM FOLLOWING THE GUIDELINES ON DIMENTIONS.Kaizen# 204 - Answering Your Questions | Perform Field Updates before Blueprint transition via Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. One of the questions we received through your Kaizen feedback was: “How can I update fields before Blueprint transition and how to prevent a transition based on a condition using Client Script?”Create online meetings for Booking Pages with Zoho Meetings and Zoom
Greetings, We hope you're all doing well. We're excited to share some recent enhancements to Bigin's Booking Pages. As you know, Booking Pages let you create public pages to share your availability so that your customers can easily book time slots withFilters in audit logs
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin. We'll go over each one in detail. Previously, there were no filters available to narrow down data in audit logs. Now, we've introducedEnhanced help options in Bigin
Greetings, We're excited to introduce a new enhancement to Bigin's Help section: a comprehensive Help Options panel that brings together all your support resources in a single, well-organized space. Previously, the Need Help? menu provided only a limitedZoho FSM API Developer Needed
Hi, I’m looking for a developer with experience using Zoho FSM APIs. Scope: Connect WordPress website booking form to Zoho FSM Check availability (date, time, region) Create Work Orders + Service Appointments automatically Notify both customer and schedulerRevenue Management: #4 What if there are uncertainties in project or service delivery?
Our previous post taught us how Zoho Billing makes life easy for businesses with its automated revenue recognition rule. However, certain businesses have more challenges that an automated system cannot handle, and there are certain situations where automatedThis mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com
Bom dia, estou tentando colocar o número 11 94287-6695 e esta com erro "This mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com" pode me ajudar, por favor?Items Serial Tracking Issue
We enabled Zoho Items inventory tracking then disabled it after some time now we want to enable it again When I check the missing serial number reports I see one item But I cant see any option to Add the serial numbers Where and how to add the serialZoho Payroll integration with Zoho Books - unable to match multiple bank feeds to one wage payment
For one employee's wage, I make two partial payments. Those bank feed transactions come into Zoho Books via bank integration. I make one pay-run for the month in Zoho Payroll and that comes into Zoho Books via the Zoho integration. Zoho Books doesn't let me match multiple bank feed transactions against a single wage item. Please fix urgently. I can't complete my books because of this.Add Checkbox Selection & Bulk Actions to Delivery Challans Module
Hi Zoho Team, I’ve noticed that in the Sales Orders module, there are checkboxes beside each entry that allow users to select multiple records for bulk actions such as print, email, or delete. However, in the Delivery Challans module, this option appearsCan't be able to check-in in laptop
even after giving location access still i can't be able to check-in in laptop.Compensation Cess on Coal ₹400 per tonne. ?????
The compensation cess rate varies by the type of product. And the cess is calculated based on the value of the product without GST. Coal, for example, comes with a cess of ₹400 per tonne. That means that if you sell 2 tonnes of coal that have a value7 month over zoho book purchase but still not immpliments Golive
7 month over zoho book purchase but still not immpliments Golive one problems zoho team short out then other problems come still very poor mangments and immliments team . struggling with the templates in ZOHO Books. Especially with the placement of someSMS to customers from within Bigin
Hi All, Is there anyone else crying out for Bigin SMS capability to send an SMS to customers directly from the Bigin interface? We have inbuilt telephony already with call recordings which works well. What's lacking is the ability to send and receiveParent & Member Accounts (batch updating / inheritance)
Hello, I find the Parent Account functionality very useful for creating custom views and reports, but was wondering if I can also carry out batch editing on all members (aka children) of a Parent Account at the same time. Alternatively, can I set members to automatically inherit the values of the parent? For example: We have a chain of supermarkets that buy our products. These supermarkets are all members of a Parent Account in our CRM. We release a new product and all of the member stores wish toEdit Legend of Chart
I would like to edit the legend of the chart. Every time I enable the legend, I get a very unhelpful (1), and when I try to type to change to what I would desire, nothing happens, which is very frustrating. I've gone through your online tutorials and nowhere can I find a legend settings button. This seems a simple fix, where can edit the legend? Thanks.Extended timeouts for APIs beyond 40secs for to accomodate LLMs
A 40 second max response time for API calls is fine when connecting to most services, however is unsuitable when dealing with LLMs (ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini) where the response timing is very uncertain. Is there any way to increase this? It would be greatDeletion of Zoho Account
To whom it may concern, Good day, My account has been created incorrectly in Zoho and I am not able to join my Company's Zoho account - attached screenshot for your kind reference Alphatronmarine - Portal Kindly advise procedure to delete this currentWorkflow for deposit to bank account
Hello, Is it possible to make a workflow when a deposit is made to your bank account which is coupled to Zoho books? I want Zoho to sent an email each time a deposit is made to our bank account via a workflow. Regards, StevenMarking Retainer invoice paid through Deluge
Hey Everyone, We have a scenario where we are collecting deposit payments on our website. Now, in zoho books, we need to create a retainer invoice and mark it as paid automatically using deluge just like we can mark normal invoices as paid. I have triedCreate a new record in custom module vi custom button
I have zoho books premium plan . I have 2 custom modules in zoho books. 1. Goods Receipt 2. Delivery Order, I need to select multiple records from Goods Receipt and create a new Delivery order from these multiple records. (like multilple sales order intoProfile date settings
At present I have "EEE, MMMM dd, yyyy" but this takes an exessive amount of column space, we should be able to input our own format. I would like to use "EEE, MMM dd, yy" - a much shorter version of the above but with the same abbreviated info, requiringDelivery Method Field in Sales Order Module
In Books and in Sales orders, the "Delivery Method" field seems to allow for anything to be entered and it seems to store those entries for future use. When you chose to convert a sales order to a purchase order, the related field is now called "ShipmentNext Page