Kaizen #20 - Node JS SDK
Hello everyone!
Welcome to another week of Kaizen!
In today's post, we will discuss the Node JS SDK.
What is the Node JS SDK for Zoho CRM?
Node JS SDK allows you to create client Node JS 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.
What can you do with the Node JS SDK?
- Exchange data between Zoho CRM and the client application where the CRM entities are modelled as functions.
- 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.
How to start using the Node JS SDK?
Follow the below steps:
- Step-1: Register your application (Self Client or Web-based client)
- Step-2: Install the SDK
- Step-3: Import the SDK in your project
- Step-4: Initialize the SDK
4.a. Choose the token persistence method4.b. Setup the configuration files or dictionary4.c. Generate the tokens - Step-5: Connect to Zoho CRM through the available functions
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
You can install the Node JS SDK through npm package manager. Run the below command.
npm install zcrmsdk |
Run the below command to update your SDK to the latest version.
npm install --upgrade zcrmsdk |
After the installation, a package named 'zcrmsdk' will be created in the node modules folder in your machine.
Step-3: Import the SDK in your project
Use the below statement in your code to import the downloaded SDK.
var ZCRMRestClient = require('zcrmsdk') |
Step-4: Initialize the SDK
Initializing the SDK involves the following steps.
- Step 4.a - Choosing the token persistence method
- Step 4.b - Setting up the oauth and configuration properties files
- Step 4.c - Generating the tokens
4.a. Token Persistence
Your application should retain tokens (grant, access, and refresh tokens) to automate the process of data sync between your Node JS application and Zoho CRM.
You can choose to persist (store) the tokens in two ways.
a. MySQL Persistence (default)
b. Custom DB Persistence
a. MySQL Persistence
When you want to store the tokens in the MySQL DB, include the following keys in the configuration.properties file (discussed in the next section) or the configuration JSON array, along with other mandatory keys.
username=mysql_username
password=mysql_password
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. Custom DB Persistence
To use custom DB persistence, you must write a custom implementation of the following functions:
- getOAuthTokens() - This method returns the user identifier, access and refresh tokens, and their respective expiry time.
- saveOAuthTokens(token_obj) - This method saves the access and refresh tokens, their respective expiry time. This method is called when you generate the access token through the grant token or the refresh token.
- updateOAuthTokens(token_obj) - This method updates the access token and the expiry time every time an access token is refreshed. This method is called when the access token expires.
Include the absolute path of the file that contains the above methods in the following key of the configuration.properties file.
api.tokenmanagement=absolute_path_to _the_custom_implementation
The below images contain a sample of the custom implementation of the above three methods. You can find the code for the same as an attachment to this post.
This implementation of custom persistence creates a token file named zcrm_oauthtokens.txt and this file will contain the below keys with their values.
{"tokens": [{"access_token":"1000.xxxxx","expires_in":1582804396157,"user_identifier":"Patricia.boyle@abc.com","refresh_token":"xxx"}]} |
getOAuthTokens()
updateOAuthTokens()
saveOAuthTokens()
Note
- While updating the tokens, the next execution happens irrespective of the response. So, you must exercise care to handle this in your module.
- All methods must return a Promise.
4.b. Configuration
You can set the configuration details in property files (oauth_configuration.properties and configuration.properties) or pass the details during run time as JSON key-value pairs.
oauth_configuration.properties
This file must contain the below client details.
[zoho] crm.iamurl=accounts.zoho.com crm.clientid=1000.xxxxxxx.6WJ crm.clientsecret=99xxxxx0e16 crm.redirecturl=https://www.zoho.com |
Where,
- crm.iamurl - The domain-specific accounts URL from which you generate the grant token (authorization code). Possible domains are accounts.zoho.com (US), accounts.zoho.eu (EU), accounts.zoho.in (India), accounts.zoho.com.cn(China), accounts.zoho.com.au (Australia). The default value is accounts.zoho.com.
- crm.clientid, crm.clientsecret - The client ID and client secret, respectively, you received while registering your application.
- crm.redirecturl - The redirect URI you specified while registering your client. For self client apps, you can specify a dummy value for this key.
configuration.properties
This file must contain the below details.
[crm] api.url=www.zohoapis.com api.user_identifier=p.boyle@abc.com [customDB]//If you want to use custom DB persistence api.tokenmanagement= [mysql]//If you want to use MySQL DB persistence username=***** password=***** |
Where,
- api.url - The domain-specific URL from which your app must make API calls to Zoho CRM. Possible URLs are www.zohoapis.com (US), www.zohoapis.eu (EU), www.zohoapis.in (India), www.zohoapis.com.cn(China), www.zohoapis.com.au (Australia). The default value is www.zohoapis.com.
- api.user_identifier - The email ID of the current user.
- api.tokenmanagement - The absolute or relative path to the file that contains the token storage mechanism. This key is mandatory for custom DB persistence.
- username, password - The MySQL username and password, respectively. These keys are mandatory for MySQL DB persistence.
Note
Both these files must be placed under the resources folder of your project.
Config JSON Array
Instead of specifying the configuration details in properties files, you can choose to pass the details to the SDK during run time as JSON key-value pairs, as shown below.
var ZCRMRestClient = require('zcrmsdk'); var configJson={ "client_id":"{client_id}",//mandatory "client_secret":"{client_secret}",//mandatory "redirect_uri":"{redirect_url}",//mandatory "user_identifier":"{user_identifier}", "mysql_username":"{mysql_username}",//optional ,"root" is default value "mysql_password":"{mysql_password}",//optional ,"" is default value "base_url":"{api_base_url}",//optional ,"www.zohoapis.com" is default value "iamurl":"{accounts_url}",//optional ,"accounts.zoho.com" is default value "version":"{api_version}",//optional ,"v2" is default value "tokenmanagement":"{token_management_module}"//optional ,mysql module is default } ZCRMRestClient.initialize(configJson).then(function() { //do whatever required after initialize }) |
Now that you have created and registered your app with Zoho, you must authenticate it.
4.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 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.
ZCRMRestClient.generateAuthTokens(user_identifier,grant_token).then(function(auth_response){ console.log("access token :"+auth_response.access_token); console.log("refresh token :"+auth_response.refresh_token); console.log("expires in :"+auth_response.expires_in); }); |
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 or the properties file, and refreshes the access token as and when required.
Step-5: Connect to Zoho CRM through the available methods
Here is a sample to insert a lead. You can find the code for this sample in the attachment.
The isTokenGenerated Method
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 REST API samples.
We hope you found this post useful. Stay tuned for more!
Cheers!
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Shylaja S
Jeremy Nagel - www.smooth.tel
Praveen Sankar
Matt
Đạt
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs
🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint
Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.Celebrating 200 posts of Kaizen! Share your ideas for the milestone post
Hello Developers, We launched the Kaizen series in 2019 to share helpful content to support your Zoho CRM development journey. Staying true to its spirit—Kaizen Series: Continuous Improvement for Developer Experience—we've shared everything from FAQsKaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API
🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.Client Script | Update - Introducing Commands in Client Script!
Have you ever wished you could trigger Client Script from contexts other than just the supported pages and events? Have you ever wanted to leverage the advantage of Client Script at your finger tip? Discover the power of Client Script - Commands! Commands
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
CC and/or BCC users in email templates
I would like the ability to automatically assign a CC and BCC "User (company employee)" into email templates. Specifically, I would like to be able to add the "User who owns the client" as a CC automatically on any interview scheduled or candidate submittedIs there a way to show contact emails in the Account?
I know I can see the emails I have sent and received on a Contact detail view, but I want to be able to see all the emails that have been sent and received between all an Accounts Contacts on the Account Detail view. That way when I see the Account detailLive webinar: Transform data into impactful visuals with Zoho Show
Data is frequently a core part of a presentation, whether it’s a sales pitch, project update, research report, or performance review. But when it’s just numbers on a page, the message you’re trying to convey can get buried. The real magic happens whenZoho Projects - Q2 Updates | 2025
Hello Users, With this year's second quarter behind us, Zoho Projects is marching towards expanding its usability with a user-centered, more collaborative, customizable, and automated attribute. But before we chart out plans for what’s next, it’s worthFile attachments not working - web version
Since Notebook announced better file attachments, I have experienced file attachments failing. When uploaded from my pc to the web version, notebook just spins. Acting like the attachment is very large. When it's 30k. If I cancel out of this, the notecardAPI - Barebones Data for Send Doc For Signiture
I am learning how to use with Zoho Sign API. I am wondering if someone can give me a bare bones JSON data sample for "Send Document For Signature". Below is the blank data that is pre-populated in postman. Seems like there is more here than the bare minimumRevenue Management: #2 How to compute revenue?
In our previous post, we discussed the revenue recognition standards under IFRS 15 and ASC 606 and the five-step model. Now, let's examine three distinct business scenarios to see how the standards and model work in practice. This will help you understandExternal lookup in CRM (as in Books)
Hello Context: We have a CRM module, similar to Deals, but for Purchasing. Once the PO is created, a link to this PO should be updated in that "deal". In Books, you can add a custom 'external' field which can look up into CRM modules. I'm asked to have"Undo Send" Feature
Would love it if TeamInbox had an "Undo Send" feature, that gives you 10 seconds or so to "undo" the sending of an email. Many other email clients already have this feature, and my clients really miss it, as it has saved them many times in the past whenBetter Notes Commenting
Hi, I'd like to suggest better collaboration tools for NOTES. The current notes section for Accounts, Contacts and Deals is not ideally suitable for any degree of communication or collaboration. When responding to a note, there is no ability to leaveZoho Sites
Does anyone have experience building Zoho sites or know how I can find someone who does?Zoho Crm Lagging
Hi Zoho Support Team, Starting from today, my Zoho CRM has been extremely slow and laggy when accessing any pages or modules. This is affecting my work and overall productivity. Could you please help to check if there are any ongoing issues or if there’sIs there a way to reference/attach mails to deals/contacts when the mails haven't come through their contacts normal email and the mail comes through software / app who use their mail system
There are often system mails that come through systems or other software which use their email addresses since they use their own mail servers to mail. This causes an issue as it does not record the mail in the history of the CRM since the email is notRecommendation
I give up on Zoho. It's never going to be an all in one solution, their own apps don't even connect. Can any one recommend an alternative at least for the crm / people.CRM - Site/Location
Hi Zoho, One massive oversight of the Zoho CRM is the inability to add multiple sites or locations to one account. Many organisations have several (in some cases, hundreds) of sites across the country or even the globe. The workaround to this, of course,An unknown error occurred. Please contact support
Whenever I visit this page I see this. I changed browser and still the same. Can someone from Zoho help me please?How to Streamline Pick & Ship
Is there a way to streamline the built-in pick and ship process? I guess mostly on the ship side. Our current process allows us to choose shipping super fast. It's an EasyPost plugin for WooCommerce. You have to populate the boxes / weights / shippingHow to add, delete or rename the "payment method" drop down?
When we recorded payment in invoice, there's a "payment method" drop down with choices like cash, bank transfer... We want to add and delete or rename some new selection. How to do such adjustment? Please advice.Smarter data gathering with Query component in Wizards
Dear All, Introducing the Query Component in Wizards for CRM! A smart search field that saves you time and effort, and helps you manage and gather data more efficiently than ever before. Long and complex record entries can be overwhelming and prone toIntroducing teamspaces and team modules in Zoho CRM mobile app
Hello everyone, We have an exciting update to share in the Zoho CRM mobile app. As part of CRM For Everyone—a new set of features that reflect our vision to democratize CRM and make it accessible for all—teamspaces and team modules are now available onClient Script - change page and/or section background colours
Hello, Would anyone be willing to help me with a bit of Client Scripting code? I have had a go myself but only been able to alter the form field styles, not the overall page/section/heading styles. I want to set a different page background colour forClient Script | Update - Introducing Subform Events and Actions
Are you making the most of your subforms in Zoho CRM? Do you wish you could automate subform interactions and enhance user experience effortlessly? What if you had Client APIs and events specifically designed for subforms? We are thrilled to introduceZoho SalesIQのチャットボット、ブロックのコピー機能
Zoho SalesIQのチャットボットの構築でドラッグアンドドロップで作成を行っているます。 内容は同じブロックのコピーペースト機能がないみたいなのですが、同一のブロック、同一の複数のブロックをいくつも作成する場合は、皆様はどのように行われていますか？ 例えば添付の４つのブロックをまとめてコピーして、別のフローの先につなげる場合です。 教えていただけますと幸いです。よろしくお願いいたします。Questions About Zoho Commerce Member Portal
Hello, A couple questions about the Zoho Commerce Member Portal: 1. Can I add only specific pages be added to the Members Portal, and not the entire website? 2. When a customer signs up on my Zoho Commerce site, is there a setting that gives me a chanceCancel and refund
Hi, Yesterday I paid for the Zoho email subscription. Within a few minutes, I realized that the subscription counts one email ID as one user. To make another email ID for the same domain name, I'd have to pay for another user. I emailed right away toOnline Payment Fees
We don't take many online credit card payments so the merchant service provider (PayPal) charges us the 2.9% fee for processing the amount. I would like the ability for the fee to be automatically added to the total amount for "ease of payment". We'dError occured. please try again!!!
I created a new list. Added two new contact's email addresses. I try to EDIT either one of them to add their first name, last name and phone number. Whatever I try to edit and update, I get the error message Error occured. please try again!!! And it doesn't update any of their info. I tried just editing first and last name. Still get the error. No matter what I try to update, I get the error. I tried creating a new list, and adding just one email address and then edit it and also get the error."Send email as" not work
Hi team, I currently use ZOHO MAIL services on the MAKE platform (formerly INTEGROMAT). In MAKE I entered my ZOHO MAIL credentials but the problem is that when the emails are sent from the automation in MAKE, the emails do not come in with the name set*UPDATE: ISSUE RESOLVED, SEE HOW FOR HELP* Issue imbedding Youtube Videos
**UPDATE: RESOLVED** For anyone that is having a similar issue, try this workaround before attempting to have the Zoho techs fix it. I have been in communication with them for weeks about this and they can't seem to fix the issue. Thinking it may have just been my computer or my browser, I tried two different computers on two different networks, each running different versions of Windows, and tried it on Chrome, Firefox and IE; nothing worked. So, needless to say, it's an issue with Zoho somewhere.Backorder For Composite Items
Hello If i released SO for composite item and use backorder feature of zoho inventory then it should backorder child item items of composite and not composite item.This is basic of backordering.I conveyed this to zoho call center but no solution yet.Paid Support
We are in the process of creating tiers for our support offerings. There will be three tiers of support available - 2 paid and 1 free. The paid tiers will be purchased in allotted hours. I need to figure out how to a) work in the out of the box SLA, ContractsWhere is the desktop app for Zoho Projects???
As a project manager, I need a desktop app for the projects I manage. Yes, there's the web app, which is AWESOME for cross browser and platform compatibility... but I need a real desktop app for Projects that allow me to enter offline information whereAutomatically CC supervisor
Hello, in our organization agents are replying to tickets and they are required to CC their supervisor on all emails to and from customers. is there a way to have an email address automatically populate in the CC field when reply to a ticket? thaZoho One - White Label
Releasing a white-label feature for Zoho One, or any software or service, can offer several advantages and benefits for both the company providing the software (Zoho in this case) and its users. Here are some key reasons for releasing a white-label featureAre this Features included in the Road Map
1. Sync between description/short description in Zoho Books/Inventory and Zoho Commerce: I am unsure how it works now. I belive the description is not pulled. 2. Pick Up: This feature is great. It is added on Zoho Commerce but not on Books/Inventory whichReconciliation - Show Transactions After End Date
I did a quick search, and I've only seen this brought up indirectly. In the reconciliation interface, transactions dated up to a week after the end date should be available for being reconciled. The use case is pretty simple... many times, transactionsAuto populate email field in zoho form
Hi, Is there a way the email field in zoho forms can be auto populated based on the name selected from a drop down list?Option to accept and pay for estimate from Public Estimate link?
Is there any way that our customers can get the Estimate in their email, click on "View Estimate" and from the public link, click Accept and Pay? When they click that, in the background Zoho would create the invoice record in the so that the payment wouldKaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In last week's post in the Kaizen series, we discussed how subforms work in Zoho CRM and how to manipulate subform data using Zoho CRM APIs. In this post, we will discuss how to manipulate a multi-selectEasily track referrals with Zoho Forms
Referral tracking can be a powerful way for businesses to understand where their leads are coming from. With Zoho Forms, tracking the referral sources of your leads is an easy and straightforward process. Here are some tips to help you make the most ofNext Page