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
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
Jonathan Thirkill
Praveen Sankar
Momin
Pardha Teja M
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
Service op locatie organiseren met Zoho FSM: waar lopen organisaties tegenaan?
Bij organisaties met service teams op locatie merken we vaak dat de complexiteit niet zozeer in de planning zelf zit, maar in wat er rond die planning gebeurt. Denk aan opvolging na interventies, consistente servicerapporten, en het bijhouden van installatiesPossible to delete the "Big Deal Alert" in Zoho CRM?
Hi, Is it possible to delete the "Big Deal Alert" in Zoho CRM? My company has no need for it and I want to remove it to clean up my email templates list. Thank you. Moderation Update: Currently, the option to delete the "Big Deal Alert" template is inAllow selection of select inactive users in User data fields
Hello, We sometimes need to select a previous employee that has an inactive account in the User data field. For example, when doing database cleanup and indicating actions are done by a certain employee that weren't filled out when they were part of the[Webinar] Top 10 Most Used Zoho Analytics Features in 2025
Zoho Analytics has evolved significantly over the past year. Discover the most widely adopted features in Zoho Analytics in 2025, based on real customer usage patterns, best practices, and high-impact use cases. Learn how leading teams are turning dataNeed advice for product/item search functionality when adding invoices.
My client uses "Catalog or Vendor" name and Product code to search for his items. But Zoho only allow to search by product name and SKU when adding items to Invoices/Estimates. Clients product codes are not unique as they may overlap from different catalogs/vendors.Super Admin Logging in as another User
How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are workingDo buttons and vba msgbox work on mobile, specifially the iPhone zoho sheets app?
In Zoho sheets on the web, I inserted a button and assigned a VBA macro to it. It pops up a msgbox with some text. When I go onto the iPhone mobile zoho sheets app, the button is there. When I click on that button, the spinning asterisk appears for a[Webinar] Solving business challenges- Handling the challenge of transitioning to Zoho Writer from legacy tools
Moving to Zoho Writer is a great way to consolidate your business tools and become more agile. With multiple accessibility modes, no-code automation, and extensive integration with business apps and content platforms, Zoho Writer helps solve your organization'sHow can I effectively manage a website with your help?
I’m wondering if it’s possible to develop a custom website with specific features using Zoho as an alternative platform. My goal is to create a website similar to https://tmsim.ph, with the same kind of functionality and user experience. I would trulyIntroducing the Yes/No field: Binary decisions made beautiful
Greetings, form architects! What would you do when you need a simple yes/no answer on your form? Normally, you add a Radio field. Type Yes. Type No. Until now. The new Yes/No field is purpose-built for binary decisions. It is preconfigured, visually consistent,Move email between inboxes?
Is it possible to move emails from one team inbox to another? We would like to be able to have a single "catch-all" inbox for incoming requests, and then move the email to the appropriate department inbox. I was hoping we would be able to accomplish thisThe power of workflows in Zoho Marketing Automation - Video Webinar
In this Zoho Marketing Automation video webinar, our experts walk you through: Why you may want to create marketing workflows How to create marketing workflows Use Zoho CRM data and apply workflows to automate your marketing strategy How workflows canOffer already made- but I withdrew it
I made an offer letter, but made a mistake on it. I withdrew the offer but now I can't recreate the correct offer. Zoho keeps saying that "A same offer has already been made". I look in the "offers" and there are NO offers (this is the first time I'veZoho CRM's sales trend and sales follow-up trend dashboards are now customizable
Dear Customers, We're here with good news! Sales trend and sales follow-up trend are two system-defined dashboards that help you understand trends and anomalies in your sales outreach and conversion efforts. They use Zia's intelligence to identify patternsIntroducing Rule-Based AI Coding Assistants for Zoho Finance Widgets
Hello customers, We’ve introduced rule-based AI coding assistants to speed up Zoho Finance widget development. You can try them out in Cursor AI and GitHub Copilot. This helps you build widgets quickly using simple prompts, while ensuring the generatedMarketing Tip #21: Create an About Us page
People don’t just buy products, they buy from brands they trust. An About Us page helps customers understand who you are, what you stand for, and why your business exists. It adds a human touch to your store and reassures shoppers that there’s a realZobot to handle single choice menu when dynamic list content is more than 10 items
Whatsapp supports maximum of only 10 items for its single choice menu. When we need to show a dynamic list with content more than 10, this could be challenging. We essentially need to add a next and previous buton here in order to make it functional.Add 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 onlyColumn letter from number
Hello, I am trying to select a cell and i have the column number. How do i do this or is there a way of getting the letter from the number? Thank youZoho CRM NextGen UI
Zoho CRM の Everyone 画面の UI がまた変わるのですね。NextGen UI 更新日時が1ヶ月前で、Zoho Japan でもアナウンスされていたようですが、気が付きませんでした。 【Zoho CRM】Zoho CRM for EveryoneのUIアップデートのお知らせ https://support.zoho.co.jp/portal/ja/kb/articles/zoho-crm-zoho-crm-for-everyone-s-nextgen-ui-gets-an-upgradeComposite Product (kit) - Dynamic Pricing
I am setting up Composite Products for item kits that I sell. I also sell the items from the kit individually. Problem is when pricing changes on an individual part, the Composite Product price does not change meaning when the cost of item # 2 in theView Answer Bot conversations?
We are trialing Zia and are experimenting with Answer Bot on our knowledge base. So far so good! Management asks me if it is possible to view Answer Bot conversations, the purpose being to look over its shoulder and confirm that it is working as desTrain Zia answer bot on only part of Knowledge Base?
We are trialing Zia answer bot and hope to use it on the knowledge base to help our users find the information they are looking for. I have found how to train Zia on the entirety of our knowledge base. But is there a way to train it on only certain categoriesSmarter holiday planning with yearly-specific Holiday Lists
Hello everyone! Managing holidays and business hours is now easier and more efficient. Holiday Lists now support holidays that fall on different dates every year, while business hours now supports more than one holiday list. This helps businesses manageTemporary Outage in Zoho Cliq Affecting US Users – July 23, 2025
We experienced a service disruption in Zoho Cliq that impacted core functionality for users in the US region. The issue occurred between Jul 23, 2025, 06:54:00 PM IST and 07:13:13 PM IST, lasting approximately 19 minutes. To restore service stability,ERROR CODE :550 - 550 5.1.1 Invalid email recipients
This message was created automatically by mail delivery software. A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. mustafa.ashraf@techlink-eg.net, ERROR CODE :550 - 550 5.1.1 Invalid email recipientsFunction #20: Custom calculation in item table of invoices
When you create an invoice in Zoho Books, the 'Amount' of a line item is typically calculated as the product of the "Quantity" and the "Rate" of the item. For instance, if an item has a sales rate of $50 and a quantity of 5 is sold, then the amount wouldImpossible to import Journal from Freshbooks
I have been trying to import journals from Freshbooks since August 30th. Every time I try to import, I get an error message. I have already made sure every row has a date. First it was saying the account and notes had unexpected input and that every debit/creditHow to Create a Fixed Sliding Time Window (D-45 to D-15) in Zoho Analytics ?
Hello, I would like to create a report in Zoho Analytics based on a sliding time window between D-45 and D-15, with a fixed snapshot of that specific period. The data displayed should strictly reflect activity recorded between D-45 and D-15 only, withoutWie veröffentliche ich ein PDF Datei?
Hallo! Wie veröffentliche ich PDF Datein ich habe ein PDF Datei und den sieht ihr im Upload ich möchte ihn veröffentlichen wie? Mit Freundlichen Grüßen, Herr Bahaa Addin ChkiridZoho Campaigns: An Outstanding Email Marketing Tool
Introducing Zoho Campaigns! A product designed by Zoho, the Zoho Campaigns is made to create, deliver, and manage integrated email campaigns that can help in boosting the sales of a company and its customer base. Zoho Campaigns is actually an email marketingZoho Creator Developer Console | Improved Distribution and Lifecycle Management for apps
Hello everyone, We're excited to introduce new enhancements now in the Zoho Creator Developer Console. These updates strengthen private app distribution through licensing controls and extend environment support across all installed apps, helping teamsAnchor Links in Dashboards
Hello, Our dashboards frequently have multiple sections that would be more easily skipped between using anchor links. Please consider adding an anchor link feature to the text widget? This could be done by adding an anchor link option to the text widget next to the "remove" option (see screenshot). The option would assign an ID to the <div> containing the text widget in the live dashboard. Then, the chosen ID could be linked using a traditional <a href="#link_id"> in the html section of the textZoho Books emails suddenly going to Spam since 11 Nov 2025 (Gmail + now Outlook) — anyone else?
Hi everyone, We migrated to Zoho Books in July 2025 and everything worked fine until 11 Nov 2025. Since then, Zoho Books system emails are landing in customers’ Spam (first Gmail, and now we’re seeing Outlook/Office 365 also starting to spam them). ImpactedSync images with Shopify/Cart
Hello, sync images with shopify or other cart, it cuts out the double work of having to upload to shopify/cart and zoho. ThanksIs it Possible to Modify Standard Report Urls
Is there a way to permanently modify standard report Urls? Use case: Suppose I have a Products report. Showing list as timeline, calendar, or kanban doesn't make sense. Want to hide that from users by adding #Report:Products?zc_ShowAs=false&zc_Print=falsePrice List
II want to restrict the items to display in sales, quote, etc for which custom rates are added in price list. How I can do the same in Zoho booksExternal User onboarding for zoho connect is not really intuitive.
So the external user is sent an invite, which has a button that directs them to login to zoho to view the invite, but if they don't have a zoho account, they cannot access that invite, which seems kinda silly, as there is not real way on for them to createHaving trouble fetching contents of Zoho Connect Feeds using the API, requesting alternative API documentation.
I'm trying to retrieve feed/post data from Zoho Connect using the API but facing challenges with the current documentation. What I've tried: OAuth authentication is working correctly (getting 200 OK responses) Tested multiple endpoints: /pulse/nativeapi/v2/feeds,How to upload file to Connect using API?
Hi there. I looked at the API documentation and nowhere did it mention how to use the API method to upload a file even though it is mentioned that it is possible to be done so. Please help.Next Page