Kaizen #18 - Ruby SDK

Kaizen #18 - Ruby SDK

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!
This week, we will discuss the Ruby SDK.

What is the Ruby SDK for Zoho CRM?

Ruby SDK allows you to create client Ruby applications that you can integrate with Zoho CRM, effortlessly. It serves as a wrapper for the REST APIs, thus making it easier to use the services of Zoho CRM.

Here is a sample of how the SDK acts as a middle ware between Zoho CRM and a client Ruby Application.


What can you do with the Ruby SDK?
  • Exchange data between Zoho CRM and the client application where the CRM entities are modeled as classes.
  • Authenticate your application easily every time you sync data between Zoho CRM and your application, as the SDK takes care of generating the access/refresh tokens automatically.
Environment Setup
The client app must have the Ruby version 2.3.7 or above installed. Refer to Ruby Installation for the steps to install Ruby.

How to Start using the Ruby SDK?
Follow the below steps:
  • Step-1: Register your application (Self Client or Web-based client)
  • Step-2: Install the SDK
  • Step-3: Initialize the SDK
    3.a. Choose the token persistence method
    3.b. Set up the configuration dictionary
    3.c. Generate the tokens
  • Step-4: Connect to Zoho CRM through the available methods
Let us now discuss these steps in detail.

Step-1: Register your application

All the Zoho CRM APIs are authenticated by the OAuth2.0 standards. It is mandatory to authenticate your application with Zoho.
You can register your application either as a Self Client (single user app) or a web-based app (multiple users app).
1.a. Self Client
  1. Go to https://api-console.zoho.com.
  2. Click ADD CLIENT.
  3. Choose the Client Type as Self Client, and click CREATE.
  4. You will receive a client ID and a client secret upon successful registration.
1.b. Web-based Client
  1. Go to https://api-console.zoho.com.
  2. Click ADD CLIENT.
  3. Choose the client as Web based and click CREATE NOW.
  4. Specify the client name, homepage URL of your application's UI, and a redirect URI to which you want to redirect the users after they grant consent to your application.
  5. Click CREATE.

  6. Your Client ID and Client Secret will be displayed.
Step-2: Install the SDK

The Ruby SDK is available as a gem. 
Run the below command to install the Ruby SDK for Zoho CRM.

gem install ZCRMSDK

Step-3: Initialize the SDK 

Initializing the SDK involves the following steps.

  • Step 3.a - Choosing the token persistence method
  • Step 3.b - Setting up the configuration dictionary
  • Step 3.c - Generating the tokens

3.a. Token Persistence
Your application should retain tokens (grant, access, and refresh tokens) to automate the process of data transfer between your Ruby application and Zoho CRM.

You can persist (store) the tokens in three ways.
a. MySQL Persistence (default)
b. File Persistence
c. Custom DB Persistence

a. MySQL Persistence
When you want to store the tokens in the MySQL DB, ensure that MySQL2 is installed.
Run the below command to install MySQL2.

gem install mysql2 -v 0.5.2

For this type of persistence, you must include the following keys in the configuration dictionary (discussed in the next section), along with other mandatory keys.

"mysql_username":"root",
"mysql_password":"*****",
"mysql_port":"port_number"

Note
When you use MySQL persistence, ensure that
  • MySQL runs in the same machine serving at the mentioned port. (by default 3306).
  • There is a database named zohooauth.
  • There is a table name oauthtokens with the columns useridentifier (varchar(100)), accesstoken (varchar(100)), refreshtoken (varchar(100)) and expirytime (bigint).

b. File Persistence
If you want to store the tokens in a file, you can create a file named zcrm_oauthtokens.txt and provide the absolute path of the folder containing this file in the below key of the configuration array.

"token_persistence_path":"path_to_the_folder_containing_the_txt_file"

If you do not create this file, the SDK itself creates this file in the path you have specified, and persists the token there.
Note: This method is recommended only for self client apps.

c. Custom DB Persistence
To use this method, you need to provide the following keys in the configuration dictionary.

"persistence_handler_class_path":"absolute path to the custom DB implementation"
"persistence_handler_class":"class name of the custom implementation".

You can use the inbuilt ZohoPersistenceHandler interface and include the following custom functions.

  • saveOAuthData(ZohoOAuthTokens tokens)
  • deleteOAuthTokens($userEmailId)
  • getOAuthTokens($userEmailId)
Note
The order of precedence for token persistence is custom, file, and DB persistence. That is, if you provide the details for custom persistence (in persistence_handler_class_path) and file persistence details (in token_persistence_path), then custom persistence is given priority over file.

3.b. Configuration dictionary
The below tables contains the list of keys you must include in the configuration dictionary based on the type of persistence.

Mandatory Keys

File Persistence
MySQL Persistence
Custom DB Persistence
client_id
client_id
client_id
client_secret
client_secret
client_secret
redirect_uri
redirect_uri
redirect_uri
token_persistence_path
db_username
persistence_handler_class
-
db_password
persistence_handler_class_path
-
db_port
-
current_user_email
current_user_email
current_user_email

Optional Keys

File Persistence
MySQL Persistence
Custom DB Persistence
application_log_file_path
application_log_file_path
application_log_file_path
log_in_console
log_in_console
log_in_console
sandbox
sandbox
sandbox
access_type
access_type
access_type
accounts_url
accounts_url
accounts_url
api_base_url
api_base_url
api_base_url
api_version
api_version
api_version

Where,
  • client_id, client_secret, and redirect_uri - Client details you received after registering your application. For self client apps, you can pass a dummy value for the redirect uri.
  • token_persistence_path - The relative path to store the OAuth tokens in the zcrm_oauthtokens.txt file. This key is mandatory if you want to use file persistence.
  • db_username, db_password, db_port - The MySQL username, password, and the port, respectively.
  • persistence_handler_class - Name of the class of the custom implementation for persistence. This key is mandatory if you want to use custom persistence.
  • persistence_handler_class_path - The absolute path to the custom DB implementation (.rb file).
  • application_log_file_path - The absolute path to log the exceptions during the usage of the SDK.
  • log_in_console - To print the exceptions on the console screen, when set as "true".
  • sandbox - Boolean key to make API calls to the sandbox environment. The value true makes API calls to the sandbox. Default value is false.
  • access_type - Must be set as offline as the SDK does not support online OAuth client, now.
  • accounts_url - The domain-specific accounts URL from which you generate the tokens.
    This key is mandatory when the user is not in the "com" domain.
    For US:
    https://accounts.zoho.com
    For EU:
    https://accounts.zoho.eu
    For CN:
    https://accounts.zoho.com.cn
    For IN:
    https://accounts.zoho.in
  • api_base_url - The domain-specific API URL from which you make API calls. For users from domains other than the US, this key is mandatory.
    For US:
    https://www.zohoapis.com
    For EU:
    https://www.zohoapis.eu
    For CN:
    https://www.zohoapis.com.cn
    For IN:
    https://www.zohoapis.in
  • api_version - Represents the version of the CRM APIs. The value is v2.
  • current_user_email - The email ID of the current user. You must set this either in the configuration array or ZCRMSDK::RestClient::ZCRMRestClient.current_user_email = "current user email id".

Below is a configuration dictionary with all the keys. 

config_details = { 'client_id' => 'xxxxx', #mandatory
'client_secret' => 'xxxxxx', #mandatory
'redirect_uri' => 'https://www.zoho.com', #mandatory
'api_base_url' => 'https://www.zohoapis.com', #optional, default is https://www.zohoapis.com
'accounts_url' => 'https://accounts.zoho.com', #optional, default is https://accounts.zoho.com
'current_user_email' => 'abc@xyz.com', #mandatory (should be either set in config array or ZCRMSDK::RestClient::ZCRMRestClient.current_user_email = "current user email id" )
'api_version' => 'v2', #optional,default is v2
'sandbox' => 'false', #optional default is sandbox
'application_log_file_path' => "/Users/xxxx/Desktop/log.log", #optional, absolute path of log file
'log_in_console' => 'true', #optional default is false, to log on the console
'persistence_handler_class_path' => 'absolute/path/to/customClass.ruby', #absolute path to the custom db implementation
'persistence_handler_class' =>'classname', #name of the class
'token_persistence_path'=>'relativepath/to/zcrm_oauthtokens.txt', #for file persistence
'db_username' => 'username', #optional, default root
'db_password' => 'password', #optional, default ''
'db_port' => 'port_number', #optional, default 3306
}

Now that you have created and registered your app with Zoho, you must authenticate it. 
Pass the configuration dictionary in the method ZCRMRestClient.init(config) and authenticate your app.

3.c. Generating the tokens

As the V2 Zoho CRM APIs follow the OAuth2.0 protocol, it is mandatory to authorize the OAuth2.0 app before using the SDK functions.
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
  • 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.

client = ZCRMSDK::OAuthClient::ZohoOAuth.get_client_instance
grant_token = 'grant_token'
client.generate_access_token(grant_token)
Note
  • The code snippet to generate the access token from the grant token is valid only once per grant token. If the grant token expires before you generate the access token, you must generate a new grant token only.
  • Generating access and refresh tokens is a one-time process. After the tokens are generated the first time, the SDK persists them based on the keys defined in the configuration dictionary, and refreshes the access token as and when required.

Step-4: Connect to Zoho CRM through the available methods
Here is a sample to get a specific user's details. You can find the code for this sample in the attachment.


The isTokenGenerated Method

def self.is_token_generate(user)
    tokens = ZCRMSDK::OAuthClient::ZohoOauth.get_persistence_instance.get_oauth_tokens(user)
    unless tokens.nil?
        return true
    end
    rescue Exception => e
        return false 
  end
You need to add this method to check if the access token has already been generated or not. It returns a Boolean value.
  • true - The access token has already been generated. 
  • false - The access token has not been generated previously, thus, it shifts the control to the code snippet that leads to access token generation.
For more sample codes, refer to our SDK guide.
We hope you found this post useful. Stay tuned for more!

Cheers!




    Access your files securely from anywhere

        All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.






                              Zoho Developer Community




                                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                    • Digest


                                                    • Functions


                                                    • Meetups


                                                    • Kbase


                                                    • Resources


                                                    • Glossary


                                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                                    • MVP Corner


                                                    • Word of the Day


                                                    • Ask the Experts



                                                              • 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 this
                                                              • 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 how
                                                              • Kaizen #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


                                                              Manage your brands on social media



                                                                    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

                                                                                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                          CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                        • Kaizen

                                                                                          Kaizen

                                                                                        • Functions

                                                                                          Functions

                                                                                        • Meetups

                                                                                          Meetups

                                                                                        • Kbase

                                                                                          Kbase

                                                                                        • Resources

                                                                                          Resources

                                                                                        • Digest

                                                                                          Digest

                                                                                        • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                          CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        • MVP Corner

                                                                                          MVP Corner







                                                                                            Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                            Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                            Get Started Now


                                                                                              Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                                Zoho Writer

                                                                                                Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                                Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                  Zoho CRM コンテンツ




                                                                                                    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                        ご検討中の方




                                                                                                                • Recent Topics

                                                                                                                • Why am I getting event Pop-up Notification for events that have been cancelled?

                                                                                                                  Why is Calendar Notification still popping up for events that have been cancelled or changed? Each time events are cancelled or changed, I have observed that I am still getting notifications for them. Below is a sample pop-up notification for one of the
                                                                                                                • Create a draft in reply to an email via Emails API

                                                                                                                  Hi, I’d like to use the outgoing webhook to automatically create a draft reply to incoming mail. How can I use the Emails API to create a draft reply that is linked to an existing email thread? I couldn’t find the relevant method in the documentation.
                                                                                                                • India Tech Support

                                                                                                                  Is there no phone tech support number for India? And no chat facility either?
                                                                                                                • Billing Management: #1 Billing a Universal Business Routine

                                                                                                                  Hello, As the saying goes, "Do the hardest job first." We started with the complex subject of finance and revenue management, which is considered the backbone of any business. Now, let's shift our focus and take a deep dive into this Billing Management,
                                                                                                                • What is a a valid JavaScript Domain URI when creating a client-based application using the Zoho API console?

                                                                                                                  No idea what this is. Can't see what it is explained anywhere.
                                                                                                                • 5名限定 課題解決型ワークショップイベント Zoho ワークアウト開催のお知らせ (9/25)

                                                                                                                  ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。Zoho ユーザーコミュニティチームの藤澤です。 9月開催のZoho ワークアウトについてお知らせします。 今回はZoomにて、オンライン開催します。 諸事情につき、今月の開催回は中止となりました。 次回は10/31(金)14時からの開催を予定しています。 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは? Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目的とした「Zoho ワークアウト」を開催します。 Zoho
                                                                                                                • Workdrive 5.0 / API Documentation Workflows

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho, When will the API documentation of the workflows be published? We are interested in using it to trigger manual workflows from an external application. Greetings, Justin
                                                                                                                • How many ZOHO-Sites does the ZOHO-One Suite allow for?

                                                                                                                  The free version of ZOHO-Sites allows for two sites, but it seems that the professional version (which is included in the ZOHO-One Suite) only allows for two websites. Is that correct? How many sites can I have within one ZOHO-One account?
                                                                                                                • Webhook from Zobot to Zoho Flow fails

                                                                                                                  I'm trying to connect from zobot to zoho flow. When testing in zflow, I am receiving all entered data from the connector correctly. The SalesIQ connector's "outputreaction" is {} (is this normal or is there a problem?). But as soon as I try my chat bot
                                                                                                                • Transition from Sole Proprietorship to GmbH (Limited Liability Company) – Best Approach in Zoho Books / Zoho One

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, I am currently operating under a Zoho One plan with a sole proprietorship in Switzerland. As of January 1st, 2026, I will be incorporating a new legal entity – a GmbH (Swiss equivalent of a Limited Liability Company). While the business
                                                                                                                • Issue Connecting My Domain to Zoho Sites Despite Purchasing It from Zoho

                                                                                                                  Hello, I am facing an issue connecting my domain to my website on Zoho Sites. Details of the issue: I purchased the domain directly from Zoho. I am already using the same domain successfully with Zoho Mail. However, when I try to assign this domain to
                                                                                                                • Insert auto number from main form into subform rows

                                                                                                                  Hello. I'm trying to take from my main form "order number" which i have setup as an auto generated number into every line created in my subform. So when a row is created in my subform i want the "order number " from the main form to be inserted automatically.
                                                                                                                • Integrate Bunq with ZOHO Bookes

                                                                                                                  We are new users of ZOHO Books, and our bank (BUNQ, in the Netherlands) isn't listed on the bank integrations. Is there a way to handle this?
                                                                                                                • Access Denied

                                                                                                                  I am iOS Developer and updating our clients project and shifted ZohoDeskPortalCore SDKs from cocoapods to SPM and changed few lines of code but now i am get access denied, the help center app is unavailable. please contact administrator.
                                                                                                                • Using Zoho Desk to support ISMS process

                                                                                                                  Hi, I am evaluating using Zoho Desk for security incident management. This seems to be aligned with Zoho Desk purpose as its just another type of incident. However in security incident management, ideally I can link incidents (tickets) with a risk from
                                                                                                                • TaxJar vs Avalara

                                                                                                                  Hi, I'm evaluating adoption of a sales-tax service for US based business. Anyone else have experience with TaxJar and Zoho Books? I am a Zoho One subscriber so anticipate needing to use Flow to make this work. It seems like Avalara are simply too expensive
                                                                                                                • How to check Leads with no Task (open activity)

                                                                                                                  Hi everyone, I was wondering if there’s a way to view leads that don’t have any tasks assigned or open activities linked to them.
                                                                                                                • What can we do on our end to improve the Answer bot answers?

                                                                                                                  Hi, I'm using the Answer bot card in the Codeless bot builder. I've input several questions and their answers in the FAQ section to feed the Answer bot. The text is all in French, as this is the language our customers communicate in. I've tried testing
                                                                                                                • Group Tax in Service Line Items

                                                                                                                  Hi FSM Team! I noticed that when you update a tax in the service line item the group tax is not showing up as an option. Let me know what can be done thank you!
                                                                                                                • OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH Error for Marketing Automation APIs with CRM Plus Account

                                                                                                                  I'm trying to integrate Marketing Automation journey triggering via API but getting OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH errors. I need clarification on API access for CRM Plus users.
                                                                                                                • Function #4: Schedule Customer Statements

                                                                                                                  Regularly sending statements to customers is an imperative part of many business processes as it helps foster strong customer relationships and provides timely guidance on payments. While you can generate the statement of accounts and have it sent over
                                                                                                                • Limiting search or dependencies with an asterisk "*".

                                                                                                                  I have a form with several dependency fields with options still developing for each field. Since these options were developing and not yet ready to be a selection in the field, I placed a filter for the dropdown field. In this filter, I selected fields
                                                                                                                • Cross Data Center Support for 1:1 Chats with External Users

                                                                                                                  Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We appreciate the recent enhancement that enables cross data center collaboration in external channels, which has already improved communication across distributed teams. However, we’ve noticed that this
                                                                                                                • Handling Greetings/Small Talk at the Beginning of a Zobot Conversation

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, I’m currently configuring a **Zobot** in Zoho SalesIQ and everything is working as expected, except for one specific scenario at the very beginning of the conversation. My target audience has the habit of starting with a **greeting or
                                                                                                                • Regex in Zoho Mail custom filters is not supported - but it works!

                                                                                                                  I recently asked Zoho for help using regex in Zoho Mail custom filters and was told it was NOT supported. This was surprising (and frustrating) as regex in Zoho Mail certainly works, although it does have some quirks* To encourage others, here are 3 regex
                                                                                                                • Importing a new list into campaigns

                                                                                                                  I'm in the middle of switching my email platform to campaigns. I have a list that I want to import, and it overlaps with my existing Zoho CRM list. The fields in my Zoho CTM are more robust. Will this new list that I upload into my campaigns overwrite
                                                                                                                • when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent

                                                                                                                  when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent?
                                                                                                                • CRM Blueprint Notification by Cliq

                                                                                                                  Dear Zoho team, In Workflow, there is nofication by cliq, but in blueprint, there is no option as cliq notification. I think it is very convenient to get notified by Cliq , as there are multi modules in apps, but we will always check Cliqs
                                                                                                                • Sync Contacts in iOS

                                                                                                                  What does the "Sync Contacts" feature in the iOS Zoho Mail app do?
                                                                                                                • Live webinar: Craft the ideal sales pitch deck with Show

                                                                                                                  Every great sale starts with a great story. And your pitch deck? That’s where the story takes shape. But too often, these presentations end up looking generic, overloaded with text, or lacking structure. The good news is, it's easier to fix than you think!
                                                                                                                • Project Statuses

                                                                                                                  Hi All, We have projects that sometimes may not make it through to completion. As such, they were being marked as "Cancelled". I noticed that these projects still show as "Active" though which seems counter intuitive. In fact, the only way I can get them
                                                                                                                • 👋 Welcome to the Zoho MCP Community

                                                                                                                  Hello all, glad to have you here! This is your space for everything AI agents, MCP tools, and intelligent business apps. This community is for you — developers, partners, creators, and businesses exploring how agents can transform work. Whether you’re
                                                                                                                • DNS Manager

                                                                                                                  Where Can I find my DNS manager so I can link this to click funnels or AWEBER
                                                                                                                • Need to extract date from datetime field

                                                                                                                  I have a datetime field and need only the date part from it. I am unable to find a built-in function that would be <DateTime>.Date(). I don't think I want to go the string conversion route of converting the datetime to string and then parsing out values and create a date out of it. Any one out there has a better solution to this? Thanks in adavnce. Regards Moiz Tankiwala Smart Training & IT Solutions
                                                                                                                • New in Cadences: WhatsApp follow-ups, upgraded limits, and options for add-ons

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, We're rolling out two key updates to help you engage better and scale smarter with Cadences in Zoho CRM. Reach customers on WhatsApp, directly from Cadences Previously, Cadences have enabled you to automate follow-ups through emails, calls,
                                                                                                                • additional accounts

                                                                                                                  If I brought 5 emails to my account. Can I later buy additional emails.
                                                                                                                • Why I am unable to configure Zoho Voice with my Zoho CRM account?

                                                                                                                  I have installed Zoho Voice in my Zoho CRM, but as per the message there is some config needed in Zoho Voice interface. But when I click on the link given in the above message, I get an access denied page.
                                                                                                                • Cliq Meeting Calls No Audio and Screen Share

                                                                                                                  When in a Cliq channel meeting, the audio does not work at all on pc. When i use my phone as audio source, screen share on pc does not work. I have updated audio drivers but the strangest thing is that during a 1 on 1 call, it works well. Therefore the
                                                                                                                • Work anniversary and birthdays on connect

                                                                                                                  Hello, I like the idea of having employee's work anniversary and birthdays on the dashbaord. Do you have to have the employee complete this information themselves in connect settings, or does it pull from their directory settings? (ie. we use Zoho one
                                                                                                                • Alias Email Id already exists

                                                                                                                  Hi I'm trying to create an alias : contact @ yoavarielevy.co.il but i get the message  Alias Email Id already exists I had an account with the same name but I deleted it. Can you help? Thanx Yoav
                                                                                                                • Next Page