Kaizen #17 - PHP SDK
Hello everyone!
Welcome to yet another post in the Kaizen series.
PHP Software Development Kit
PHP SDK allows you to create client PHP applications that can be integrated 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 PHP SDK acts as a middleware between Zoho CRM and Client PHP Application.
What can you do with the PHP SDK?
- You can use the PHP SDK to exchange data between Zoho CRM and the client PHP application.
- Authenticate your application easily every time you sync data between Zoho CRM and the client PHP application, as the SDK takes care of generating the access/refresh tokens automatically.
Installing the PHP SDK
You can install the PHP SDK for Zoho CRM through the Composer—a dependency manager for PHP applications.
The pre-requisites for the client PHP application, before you start using the PHP SDK are:
- The client app must have PHP 5.6 or above with a curl extension.
- The client app must have the PHP SDK installed through Composer.
- The ZCRMRestClient::initialize($configuration) function must be called once while starting the client app. It contains the configuration details as key-value pairs.
PHP SDK and the PHP client application
- Include the following line to your client application (wherever you intend to use the PHP SDK) to access all the functionalities of the PHP SDK.require ‘vendor/autoload.php’
- Include the namespaces of the class in the "use" statement. For instance, if you use the ZCRMRestclient class, you must add the following.use zcrmsdk\crm\setup\restclient\ZCRMRestClient;
How to start using the PHP SDK?
- Step-1: Prerequisite: Register your application
- Step-2: Install the PHP SDK
- Step-3: Authenticate the client application
- Step-4: Knowledge Base: Token Persistence
- Step-5: Initialization
Step-1: Prerequisite: Register your application
All the Zoho CRM APIs are authenticated by the OAuth2.0 standards. It is mandatory to authenticate the client application with Zoho.
2. Click ADD CLIENT.
3. Choose a client type. For instance, Self Client.
4. Choose the Client Type, and click CREATE.
In the case of a web-based client, you need to specify the Client Name, Homepage URL and redirect URIs. 
5. Once you successfully register your self-client, you will receive a Client ID and Client Secret.
Step-2: Install the PHP SDK
Installing Composer
As discussed earlier, you can install the PHP SDK through the Composer. To install the composer:
Operating System | Procedure |
Mac/Linux | Run the following command in your terminal: curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md#installation-linux-unix-osx |
Windows | Click here to download the .exe file and install composer. |
Installing the PHP SDK through the Composer
- Navigate to the workspace of your client app.
- Run the following command in the workspace of your client app.composer require zohocrm/php-sdk
- Once you run this command, the system installs the PHP SDK and creates a package named vendor in the workspace of your client app.
Step-3: Authenticate the client application
You must authenticate the client PHP application before it can use the PHP SDK. To authenticate the client PHP application, pass the configuration associative array to the initialization process.
- Create $configuration associative array. It must contain the authentication credentials required.
- The configuration associative array must then be passed using the ZCRMRestClient::initialize($configuration); function.
Configuration associative array
You must add the configuration values to the PHP associative array (key-value pair) and pass it as an argument to the ZCRMRestclient::initialize($configuration); function. Below is the list of keys that are to be in the associative array.
Key | Description |
client_id, client_secret mandatory | You can get these details after registering your client. |
redirect_uri mandatory for a web based client | The redirect URI of your web-based PHP client application. |
currentUserEmail mandatory | It is the email ID of the current user. You can set it in two ways: a. Through the currentUserEmail key in the configuration associative array (or) b. Through the ZCRMRestClient::setCurrentUserEmailId({user_email_id}) line in the code. |
fileUploadUrl Mandatory when using the Bulk Write API | The value for this key must be https://content.zohoapis.com. |
applicationLogFilePath optional | The SDK automatically creates a file to store the log information. The absolute file path of the folder in which the system must create the log file must be specified. The default file name is the ZCRMClientLibrary.log. If not specified, the system creates the file inside the project. |
sandbox optional | Represents whether to make API calls from the sandbox account. true: Make the API calls from the sandbox account. false: Do not make the API calls from the sandbox account. This is the default value. |
apiBaseUrl optional | Represents the URL to make API calls. It denotes the domain of the user. The possible values are: www.zohoapis.com (default) www.zohoapis.eu www.zohoapis.com.cn |
apiVersion optional | Represents the API version. Specify the value as v2 (default). |
access_type optional | Specify the value as offline. There is no support for Online OAuth client in PHP SDK as of now. |
accounts_url optional | The accounts URL. Possible values are: https://accounts.zoho.com (default) |
persistence_handler_class optional | The implementation of ZohoOAuthPersistenceInterface |
token_persistence_path optional | The absolute path to the folder that contains zcrm_oauthtokens.txt 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. |
persistence_handler_class_name optional | The name of the custom class for persistence. This key is available only in PHP SDK 2.0.7 and above versions. |
db_port optional | You can specify this key if you want to use DB persistence. The default value is 3306. |
db_username, db_password optional | Specify the username and password of your database. The default value for db_username is root. |
host_address optional | The address of the machine in which the MySQL server is running. The default value is 'localhost'. This key is available only in PHP SDK 2.0.7 and above versions. |
Sample containing the mandatory keys alone:
$configuration=array("client_id"=>"1000.xxxxxxxxxxx"","client_secret"=>"831bxxxxxxxxxxxx","redirect_uri"=>"","currentUserEmail"=>"patricia@zylker.com"); ZCRMRestClient::initialize($configuration); |
Sample containing all the keys:
$configuration=array("client_id"=>"1000.xxxxxxxxxxx", "client_secret"=>"831bxxxxxxxxxxxx", "redirect_uri"=>"redirect_uri", "currentUserEmail"=>"patricia@zylker.com", "applicationLogFilePath"=>"absolute/path/to/folder", "sandbox"=>"false","apiBaseUrl"=>"www.zohoapis.com", "apiVersion"=>"v2","access_type"=>"offline", "accounts_url"=>"https://accounts.zoho.com", "persistence_handler_class"=>"absolute/file/path/to/persistence/implementation", "token_persistence_path"=>"absolute/path/to/folder/zcrm_oauthtokens.txt", //should not contain "zcrm_oauthtokens.txt" "persistence_handler_class_name"=>"Persistence_class_name", "fileUploadUrl"=>"https://content.zohoapis.com"); ZCRMRestClient::initialize($configuration); |
Step-4: Token Persistence
Your application should retain tokens (grant, access, refresh tokens) to automate the process of data-sync between your PHP application and Zoho CRM.
You can persist tokens in your application in three ways:
- a. Using a Database
- b. Using a File
- c. Custom Persistence
a. Using a Database
If you prefer using database persistence, you can use the MySQL.
Prerequisites while using the database persistence
- The name of the database must be zohooauth.
- There must be a table oauthtokens with columns
a. useridentifier (varchar(100))
accesstoken (varchar(100))
refreshtoken (varchar(100))
expirytime (bigint)
b. Using a File
This type of persistence uses a file to read and write OAuth tokens. The file persists the token of a single user. So, it is best used for the 'self-client' type of authentication since it involves only one user. If you prefer using the file persistence, you must create an empty file in the local drive named zcrm_oauthtokens.txt. Further, set the file path in the token_persistence_path, of the $configuration associative array. Do not include "zcrm_oauthtokens.txt" in the path.
For example, if the file is in a folder named "TokenStorage", then
token_persistence_path="{path/to/TokenStorage}"
c. Custom Persistence
From the PHP SDK version 2.0.0, you can have your own implementation of persistence.
You must mention the name of the persistence class in the persistence_handler_class_name key of configuration associative array. Provide the file path of the PHP file that implements the custom persistence, in the persistence_handler_class key of the configuration associative array. The class must implement the ZohoOAuthPersistenceInterface.
You must write an implementation of the inbuilt ZohoPersistenceHandler interface, with the following methods:
- getOAuthTokens($userEmailId)—invoked to fetch the saved tokens. This method should return ZohoOAuthTokens object for the library to process it.
- saveOAuthData(ZohoOAuthTokens tokens)—invoked to store the tokens.
- deleteOAuthTokens($userEmailId)— invoked to delete the tokens.
Step-5: Initialization
Once you define the OAuth configuration, you can initialize the PHP client application.
You need to generate the tokens (grant/access/refresh) to run the app.
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.
$configuration =array("client_id"=>"1000.xxxxxxxxxxx","client_secret"=>"831bxxxxxxxxxxxx","redirect_uri"=>"","currentUserEmail"=>"patricia@zylker.com"); ZCRMRestClient::initialize($configuration); $oAuthClient = ZohoOAuth::getClientInstance(); $grantToken = "paste_the_self_authorized_grant_token_here"; $oAuthTokens = $oAuthClient->generateAccessToken($grantToken); |
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 for 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.
App Startup
Invoke the following line of code every time you start your client app.
$configuration =array("client_id"=>"1000.xxxxxxxxxxx","client_secret"=>"831bxxxxxxxxxxxx","redirect_uri"=>"","currentUserEmail"=>"patricia@zylker.com"); ZCRMRestClient::initialize($configuration); |
Sample SDK Code
The following image shows the sample SDK code to create a new record. The downloadable sample code is attached.
For more sample codes, refer to our SDK guide.
We hope you found this post useful. Keep a tab on this series for more exciting topics!
Reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com if you have any questions, or let us know in the comment section.
We will meet you next week with another useful topic.
Cheers!
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
Shylaja S
Jonathan Thirkill
Praveen Sankar
Momin
Pardha Teja M
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #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 areKaizen #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.
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
Revenue Management: #2 How to compute revenue?
In our previous post, we discussed the revenue recognition standards under IFRS 15 and ASC 606 and the five-step model. Now, let's examine three distinct business scenarios to see how the standards and model work in practice. This will help you understandExternal lookup in CRM (as in Books)
Hello Context: We have a CRM module, similar to Deals, but for Purchasing. Once the PO is created, a link to this PO should be updated in that "deal". In Books, you can add a custom 'external' field which can look up into CRM modules. I'm asked to have"Undo Send" Feature
Would love it if TeamInbox had an "Undo Send" feature, that gives you 10 seconds or so to "undo" the sending of an email. Many other email clients already have this feature, and my clients really miss it, as it has saved them many times in the past whenZoho Sites
Does anyone have experience building Zoho sites or know how I can find someone who does?Zoho Crm Lagging
Hi Zoho Support Team, Starting from today, my Zoho CRM has been extremely slow and laggy when accessing any pages or modules. This is affecting my work and overall productivity. Could you please help to check if there are any ongoing issues or if there’sIs there a way to reference/attach mails to deals/contacts when the mails haven't come through their contacts normal email and the mail comes through software / app who use their mail system
There are often system mails that come through systems or other software which use their email addresses since they use their own mail servers to mail. This causes an issue as it does not record the mail in the history of the CRM since the email is notRecommendation
I give up on Zoho. It's never going to be an all in one solution, their own apps don't even connect. Can any one recommend an alternative at least for the crm / people.CRM - Site/Location
Hi Zoho, One massive oversight of the Zoho CRM is the inability to add multiple sites or locations to one account. Many organisations have several (in some cases, hundreds) of sites across the country or even the globe. The workaround to this, of course,An unknown error occurred. Please contact support
Whenever I visit this page I see this. I changed browser and still the same. Can someone from Zoho help me please?How to Streamline Pick & Ship
Is there a way to streamline the built-in pick and ship process? I guess mostly on the ship side. Our current process allows us to choose shipping super fast. It's an EasyPost plugin for WooCommerce. You have to populate the boxes / weights / shippingHow to add, delete or rename the "payment method" drop down?
When we recorded payment in invoice, there's a "payment method" drop down with choices like cash, bank transfer... We want to add and delete or rename some new selection. How to do such adjustment? Please advice.Smarter data gathering with Query component in Wizards
Dear All, Introducing the Query Component in Wizards for CRM! A smart search field that saves you time and effort, and helps you manage and gather data more efficiently than ever before. Long and complex record entries can be overwhelming and prone toIntroducing teamspaces and team modules in Zoho CRM mobile app
Hello everyone, We have an exciting update to share in the Zoho CRM mobile app. As part of CRM For Everyone—a new set of features that reflect our vision to democratize CRM and make it accessible for all—teamspaces and team modules are now available onClient Script - change page and/or section background colours
Hello, Would anyone be willing to help me with a bit of Client Scripting code? I have had a go myself but only been able to alter the form field styles, not the overall page/section/heading styles. I want to set a different page background colour forZoho SalesIQのチャットボット、ブロックのコピー機能
Zoho SalesIQのチャットボットの構築でドラッグアンドドロップで作成を行っているます。 内容は同じブロックのコピーペースト機能がないみたいなのですが、同一のブロック、同一の複数のブロックをいくつも作成する場合は、皆様はどのように行われていますか？ 例えば添付の４つのブロックをまとめてコピーして、別のフローの先につなげる場合です。 教えていただけますと幸いです。よろしくお願いいたします。Questions About Zoho Commerce Member Portal
Hello, A couple questions about the Zoho Commerce Member Portal: 1. Can I add only specific pages be added to the Members Portal, and not the entire website? 2. When a customer signs up on my Zoho Commerce site, is there a setting that gives me a chanceOnline Payment Fees
We don't take many online credit card payments so the merchant service provider (PayPal) charges us the 2.9% fee for processing the amount. I would like the ability for the fee to be automatically added to the total amount for "ease of payment". We'dError occured. please try again!!!
I created a new list. Added two new contact's email addresses. I try to EDIT either one of them to add their first name, last name and phone number. Whatever I try to edit and update, I get the error message Error occured. please try again!!! And it doesn't update any of their info. I tried just editing first and last name. Still get the error. No matter what I try to update, I get the error. I tried creating a new list, and adding just one email address and then edit it and also get the error."Send email as" not work
Hi team, I currently use ZOHO MAIL services on the MAKE platform (formerly INTEGROMAT). In MAKE I entered my ZOHO MAIL credentials but the problem is that when the emails are sent from the automation in MAKE, the emails do not come in with the name set*UPDATE: ISSUE RESOLVED, SEE HOW FOR HELP* Issue imbedding Youtube Videos
**UPDATE: RESOLVED** For anyone that is having a similar issue, try this workaround before attempting to have the Zoho techs fix it. I have been in communication with them for weeks about this and they can't seem to fix the issue. Thinking it may have just been my computer or my browser, I tried two different computers on two different networks, each running different versions of Windows, and tried it on Chrome, Firefox and IE; nothing worked. So, needless to say, it's an issue with Zoho somewhere.Backorder For Composite Items
Hello If i released SO for composite item and use backorder feature of zoho inventory then it should backorder child item items of composite and not composite item.This is basic of backordering.I conveyed this to zoho call center but no solution yet.Paid Support
We are in the process of creating tiers for our support offerings. There will be three tiers of support available - 2 paid and 1 free. The paid tiers will be purchased in allotted hours. I need to figure out how to a) work in the out of the box SLA, ContractsAutomatically CC supervisor
Hello, in our organization agents are replying to tickets and they are required to CC their supervisor on all emails to and from customers. is there a way to have an email address automatically populate in the CC field when reply to a ticket? thaZoho One - White Label
Releasing a white-label feature for Zoho One, or any software or service, can offer several advantages and benefits for both the company providing the software (Zoho in this case) and its users. Here are some key reasons for releasing a white-label featureAre this Features included in the Road Map
1. Sync between description/short description in Zoho Books/Inventory and Zoho Commerce: I am unsure how it works now. I belive the description is not pulled. 2. Pick Up: This feature is great. It is added on Zoho Commerce but not on Books/Inventory whichReconciliation - Show Transactions After End Date
I did a quick search, and I've only seen this brought up indirectly. In the reconciliation interface, transactions dated up to a week after the end date should be available for being reconciled. The use case is pretty simple... many times, transactionsAuto populate email field in zoho form
Hi, Is there a way the email field in zoho forms can be auto populated based on the name selected from a drop down list?Option to accept and pay for estimate from Public Estimate link?
Is there any way that our customers can get the Estimate in their email, click on "View Estimate" and from the public link, click Accept and Pay? When they click that, in the background Zoho would create the invoice record in the so that the payment wouldKaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In last week's post in the Kaizen series, we discussed how subforms work in Zoho CRM and how to manipulate subform data using Zoho CRM APIs. In this post, we will discuss how to manipulate a multi-selectEasily track referrals with Zoho Forms
Referral tracking can be a powerful way for businesses to understand where their leads are coming from. With Zoho Forms, tracking the referral sources of your leads is an easy and straightforward process. Here are some tips to help you make the most ofAdd an email to an existing ticket is not working
I noticed that in Zoho Desk the funcionality to add an email to an existing ticket is not working using the syntax [##12345##], has the method changed? In red is the syntax we use to add email to an existing ticket As you can see, he did not add the emailNew CRM to Campaigns Sync Doesn't Continue Making Updates
Changes made in CRM are not appearing in mapped fields in matching Campaign records after migrating to the new sync process. The only way we've found to get records to update is to call into Support and point out the problem. After convincing SupportZoho Integration with UPS
I have 2 questions: Firstly, is there a way to notify UPS that we have a package to collect once we have done the shipping label? Secondly, how do I get the tracking number and shipment method onto the Invoice and Package Slip for the customer? ThanCannot log in to IMAP account as of last night
Hey I've been using MFA with an authenticator for a while and have had to use application passwords for Outlook and Edison Mail on my Android devices. Last night the app passwords started to be rejected on my Android devices so I created new ones forLow Stock View
We use the Low Stock view frequently as a guide to inform us when to reorder items, but the view is misleading because it does not take into account Purchase Orders that have already been raised. Unless you are aware and check item by item, this can leadImprove History Feature in Zoho Inventory
At present there is a "history" tab on Zoho Inventory Items, however this only shows a date and time stamp along with the users name. It doesn't say what was changed. What is the value of this if you can't see what was changed? My Ideal is to includeShow backordered items on packing slip
We send out a lot of large orders, and often there are one or two things backordered. How can I fix the packing slips to show quantity ordered & quantity packed There should also be the ability to "ship" 0 of an item so the receiver knows that thingsDocument | Files
The vendor "Partial matches" still not fixed here after years of putting up with having to select most vendors manually ! ( again, the banking "Transaction rules" would solve a lot of these issues ) Some unwanted, irrelevant pdf's also arrive. It wouldbooks+POS+ tap to pay+ stripe
So in the UK we now have tap to pay with stripe. So we can use the stripe app as a POS terminal. Brilliant news. Can we hope that the Books App might add this feature ASAP. It would be great to have one system rather than using the not very good SquareCanvas Form View - Client Script Page on load - Url params not working
We have a custom module with a canvas page for form view. We have a button in Customers module to open this canvas page using invokeurl function. We send few parameters as in the URL as query parameters. https://crm.zoho.in/crm/orgxxxxxxxx/tab/CustomModule12/create/canvas/64333200000261xxxx?layoutId=643332000002605001&c=${Customers.CustomerNext Page