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
- Go to https://api-console.zoho.com.
- Click ADD CLIENT.
- Choose the Client Type as Self Client, and click CREATE.
- You will receive a client ID and a client secret upon successful registration.
1.b. Web-based Client
- Go to https://api-console.zoho.com.
- Click ADD CLIENT.
- Choose the client as Web based and click CREATE NOW.
- 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.
- Click CREATE.
- 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 '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
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
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
Add Zoho PDF to Zoho One Tool Applications
It should be easy to add from here without the hassle of creating a web tab:JOB WISE INVOICE PROCESS
I WANT TO ENABLE JOB WISE TRACKING OF ALL SALES AND PURCHASEPDF Template have QTY as first column
I want to have the QTY of an item on the sales orders and invoices to be the first column, then description, then pricing. Is there a way to change the order? I went to the Items tab in settings but don't see how to change the order of the columns onRAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) Type Q+A Environment with Zoho Learn
Hi All, Given the ability of Zoho Learn to function as a knowledge base / document repository type solution and given the rapid advancements that Zoho is making with Zia LLM, agentic capabilities etc. (not to mention the rapid progress in the broaderIn App Auto Refresh/Update Features
Hi, I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users. The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps. I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With theIMAP mail after specify date
Hi My customer's mail server is on premise and mail storage is very huge. So It never finish sync. and finally stop sync. Cloud CRM have a option like zoho mail sync mail after some date.Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM Integration – AI-Powered Sales Automation
Hello Zoho Community 👋 I’m excited to share a recent integration we’ve worked on at OfficehubTech: ✅ Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM This integration connects Zoho CRM with Claude AI through our custom MCP Server, enabling intelligent AI-driven responsesSearch Bar positioning
Why is the Search bar on the far right when everything is oriented towards the left?Import Error: Empty values for mandatory fields - Closing Date
Hello, I've tried multiple times to import a CVS Potential list from another Zoho account. But the error message I get is: Empty values for mandatory fields - Closing Date There are valid dates in this field, so I don't understand why this error messagesFeature Requests - Contact Coloured Picklist Visibility & Field Visibility During Ticket Creation
Hi Desk Team, I have 2 feature requests for you. Since Coloured Picklists are now available in Desk, It would be great if the colours were visible on the Related Details (Contact Information) when creating a ticket. In the screenshot below, I have 2 fieldsAccounts Receivable Balances Differs in Balance Sheet, Customer Balance Report, AR Ageing Summary, and AR Ageing Details.
Hello Zoho Accounts Receivable Balances Differs in Balance Sheet, Customer Balance Report, AR Ageing Summary, and AR Ageing Details. Please clarify and fix the issues here. ThanksHow to integrate XML with Zoho CRM
Hi, I have an eCom service provider that gives me a dynamic XML that contains order information, clients, shipments... The XML link is the only thing I have. No Oath or key, No API get... I want to integrate it into Zoho CRM. I am not a developer norFeature Request - Ability to Customise Contact Info Card on Ticket Details View
Hi Desk Team, I've added a "Contact Priority" and "Account Prioirty" field and it would be very useful to agents if they could see that information in the Contact Info card on the Ticket Details view. It would be great if we could choose some fields toTax in Quote
Each row item in a quote has a tax value. At the total numbers at the bottom, there is also a Tax entry. If you select tax in both of the (line item, and the total), the tax doubles. My assumption is that the Tax total should be totalling the tax fromZoho Flow integration with Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp
Hi there, any plans of adding integrations with Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp into Zoho Flow? Seems that more and more business are delivering automated updates such as "your order is received", "your order has been shipped" and so on via these two platforms. Not sure if Whatsapp has the API access needed i am pretty sure that Facebook Messenger has... Kind regards Bo ThygesenCampaigns unsubscribe/manage preferences links
Hi, Where can I edit the unscubscribe and manage preferences link in the footer of the email. I would like it so that when you click 'manage preferences' an form opens up that allows the person to choose what type of emails they do and don't wish toemail address somehow still not verified (?!)
L.S. After creating a new email template in CRM I was about to send a group email to my clients, then Zoho CRM announced that they would change the sender address to some kind of Zoho-e-ddress because my email address "has not been verified". Not onlyMarketing Tip #17: Add credibility to your online store with Review Widgets
One of the fastest ways to build trust in an online store is to show real customer feedback right where people are deciding to buy. Third-party widgets let you embed things like Google Reviews, Instagram feeds, or even a WhatsApp chat button. These addadding several team members to an Opportunity
How can we add several team members to one opportunity for collaboration? I have researched and only found something called Deal Team which I cannot find in my CRM to configure.Bulk update Profile Permissions
Dears, What should we do if we add new forms or reports and need to update more than 20 permissions? Updating them one by one feels pretty harsh, doesn’t it?Filter in fields from Jira extension
We have installed the Jira extension so we can maken Jira issues from Zoho desk. In Zoho desk I can also see the Jira issue status for example but I can not filter on this field. I would like to setup an filter showing me the closed Jira issues. How canZoho Creator customer portal limitation | Zoho One
I'm asking you all for any feedback as to the logic or reasoning behind drastically limiting portal users when Zoho already meters based on number of records. I'm a single-seat, Zoho One Enterprise license holder. If my portal users are going to add records, wouldn't that increase revenue for Zoho as that is how Creator is monetized? Why limit my customer portal to only THREE external users when more users would equate to more records being entered into the database?!? (See help ticket reply below.)Add Reporting feature to display variance/change columns when comparing periods
When running reports to compare periods (for example, Profit and Loss comparing current year to previous), I would like to be able to display variance columns in both (a) amount or (b) percentage.Link Contacts to Billed Accounts
Hello, I want to do a survey on all my customers of 2025. For that I want to select all contacts linked to accounts who where billed in 2025. How to I create this link to I can then use Zoho Survey with this database of contacts?Pre-Zoho Sales Info - Best Way to Add to Desk / CRM
My company has been using Zoho One since 2021, with sales data going back through 2020. However, we have been in business much longer, and we have historical sales information that we want to have at our fingertips when talking with customers (usuallyCRM function REST API response format
Is there a way to control the JSON response returned by the CRM function REST API? If I call a function using either OAuth or an API key it returns a 200 OK response with a string in the format shown below. I am using a particular feature of an externalUsing MPN across multiple SKUs and inventory tracking
I have several different SKU's that share a common MPN and would like to track inventory by MPN. SKU1 has MPN1 assigned SKU2 has MPN1 assigned Here is an example If I start with 5 of MPN 1 in stock I want each SKU1 and SKU2 to show as 5 in stock, If IUnable to Access Application:
Whenever I try to access my application from the desktop, say I am editing it and want to test something in the desktop environment I get: An error has occurred. An internal error has occurred. Please check the URL , or try refreshing the page I can editEvernote (ENEX) import limitations
I have been with Evernote since 2010, but the latest price increase is ridiculous. I am currently testing Zoho Notebook as a replacement. I am impressed so far - if it were not for critical need to import legacy Evernote notes, I would 100% migrate toCannot see Application from Lookup field
Hi all, I am trying to access data for an application on our account via a lookup field; however, the application doesn't appear in the dropdown at all. Can anyone shed any light on this, please? I have asked Zoho support; however, they're just as confused,Zoho CRM Meetings Module Issues
We have a use-case that is very common in today's world, but won't work in Zoho CRM. We have an SDR (Sales Development Rep) who makes many calls per day to Leads and Contacts, and schedules meetings for our primary Sales Reps. He does this by loggingZoho Books integration sync from Zoho CRM does not work
Hi Zoho Community & Zoho Support We just tried to get a sync some products into Zoho Books from CRM using the native sync and we're getting an error: "It looks like some mandatory fields you're trying to map are empty. Please provide valid field namesDisable Auto Send Email Notification in Invoice Creation
Here is what I am facing Make payment via Razor Pay (All Good) Capture payload data on my webapp Send this data, along with other data to Zoho books to create the invoice However in this step - An email goes to the client + The Invoice remains as draftP & L Sub-categorized accounts
How can I show sub-categorized Income and Expense accounts on the P & L report?Report showing Bill Details with Project and Sales Invoice Number
Hi There, I am hoping that someone can help, I am looking for report that can show the bill and expense details along with project its as assigned to and the invoice number that the sales has been raised in. The goal is I can filter a customer/projectAdvanced Payment for Inventory Items with serial numbers
Hello, We sell equipment that we track the unique serial numbers on using Sales Orders. We can charge the customers an advanced payment, then the balance on delivery. We cannot figure out a way to do this in Books/Inventory: - Cannot part invoice a SOIs it possible to restrict ZCRM user to see only custom views created by administrator
I have segmented data in my CRM and I want to allow different users to be able to see only parts of it based on some criteria. I've tried to create and share a custom view, but then there is always an option for user to see all open lead for example.Issues Logging into ZOHO
Hello, one of my coworkers is having issues logging into ZOHO, she has requested a code when entering and the email is correct but she has not received the code. can you help us with this?Google Fonts Integration in Pagesense Popup Editor
Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to enhance Zoho Pagesense’s popup editor with Google Fonts support. Current Limitation: Currently, Pagesense offers a limited set of default fonts. Google FontsAdd Popup Rejection Metrics to Reports
Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We would like to request improved reporting for popup interactions. Current Limitation: PageSense currently provides conversion data, but there is no clear visibility into: Popup rejections Popup closes (✕ button clicks) DismissalsNext Page