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
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
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! CommandsKaizen #165 : How to call Zoho CRM APIs using Client Script
Welcome back to another exciting Client Script post! In this post, we will discuss one of the most frequently asked questions: How do you call Zoho CRM APIs from Client Scripts? In this kaizen post, 1. Ways to make calls to Zoho CRM APIs using ClientKaizen#162 : Add Tags and Open Pre-filled Email Drafts via Client Scripts
Hello everyone! Welcome to another informative Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how to accomplish the following using Client Script. 1. How to auto-tag a record based on field update? 2. How to Open a pre-filled email draft This post will provideExtension Pointers - JS SDK series #4: Managing data from a widget using ZOHO.CRM.HTTP
Handling and managing the data between two applications is a major factor for an efficient business. There are a variety of ways to handle data between Zoho CRM and other third-party applications. You can use deluge CRM tasks, create connectors, use APIKaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms
Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho DataPrep Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho Campaigns 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
Pre-fill TO and CC fields for Email Templates
This would be a game changer to be able to set either specific email addresses or merge fields based on deal role titles into email templates. Please pass this along to *hopefully* add to future features of Zoho CRM.Pick list - Cannot save list "Special Characters not Allowed" error message
Bulk uploading values. All values are pretty standard - with the exception of a "-" (dash). Like: Industry - Prepared Food Is the simple dash a special character too? JanFlow with CRM
Hello, I have a simple flow that uses a web hook to enter data into a Sales Order. I have the web hook sending Flow data which has a PO field. If the PO has a special character like - or / or \ the task fails. How can I get the flow to be okay with theMaking the Resolution Tab Mandatory
Hello Everyone! This edition is here to show you how to make the Resolution mandatory when closing a ticket. The Ticket Resolution tab helps keep a record of the solution provided for the ticket query. The resolution can serve as a quick reference toNotificación de cumpleaños
Hola: Se puede enviar alguna alerta de felicitación al personal que cumple años, que se dispare solo? Si existe como se puede hacer? SaludosAutomation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline
Hello Everyone, Welcome to this week's Community Series! 'Tis the holiday season—a time when work often takes a brief pause. The holiday spirit is in full swing at Zylker Techfix too, with employees taking some well-deserved time off. During this period,Callback URLs
I need to connect to an external service through an API that requires me to provide a Callback URL so that a status update can be sent back when the API request has been processed. Is there a way to do this in Creator without having to use a middlewareEmail signature not being included if user creates ticket / sends email
When I create a ticket (send email), the signature doesn't appear to be added to the ticket. Can you confirm if this is the case? It would obviously be useful to include the user's signature even when sending a client an email and not only on replieZoho Notebook window ignores taskbar
When maximized to full screen, the Zoho Notebook window ignores the presence of the taskbar and overlaps it. What could be the problem? Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon. Zoho Notebook 3.2.0URL for job opening
I would like to ask you to add this feature to the product: create an unique url for each job opening on Zoho Recruit, so that I can add a link to it when I post the opportunity in a mailing list or on a forum.Document images
We used to be able to rotate the images but this has now been removed ???VENDORS ARE NOT SYNCHED WITH CONTACTS IN CRM
Hello, While the ACCOUNTS and CONTACTS (Including the primary contact) are synced with the CONTACTS module in CRM, the vendor's CONTACTS are not synced with CRM - which basically forces the users to re-enter all vendor's contacts twice and then updateInvolved account types are not applicable when create journals
{ "journal_date": "2016-01-31", "reference_number": "20160131", "notes": "SimplePay Payroll", "line_items": [{ "account_id": "538624000000035003", "description": "Net Pay", "amount": 26690.09, "debit_or_credit": "credit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000403", "description": "Gross", "amount": 32000, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000427", "description": "CPP", "amount": 1295.64, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000376", "description":KB Templates
* It would be nice if Zoho can provide users an option to create custom templates for KB articles. Also, it would be nice as well if the users can have an option to 1.) select a default template and 2.) declare default tag/tags, for KB articles created through Ticket's resolution.Zoho CRM Reports Module on Mobil App
I have the mobile app and the reports module doesn't appear in the sidebar for some reason. I saw a Youtube video where the user had the Reports module on mobile. Is there a setting to show it on mobile? Thanks.Contacts Don't Always Populate
I've noticed that some contacts can easily be added to an email when I type their name. Other times, a contact doesn't appear even though I KNOW it is in my contact list. It is possible the ones I loaded from a spreadsheet are not an issue and the onesZoho Projects Android app update - List view enhancement
Hello, everyone! In the latest android version(v3.9.15) of the Zoho Projects app update, we have enhanced the List view of tasks. We have also introduced a complete scroll of the tasks in the list view without scrolling the task fields(status, start date,On the US Data Centre rather than the UK but dont know how to migrate it
We have a new staff member with an external email address and cant add them to Zoho chat - we have been told its becuase we are in the UK but on a US Data centre - we therefore need to change it but no idea how to can anyone else as we are going roundZoho Sheet Custom function column showing Error #EVAL!
Hello I have a custom function in Zoho Sheet developed to convert a date time from one time zone to another. The custom function takes date and time columns and then using subHour( ) converts the time to PST time. However, though the custom function works,How to add a Data Updated As Of: dynamically in text?
I need to add a "Data Updated As Of" in the dashboard to show when was the last date the data was updated. I tried to create a widget but it does not look really good, see below. Is there a way I can do this through the text widget and update it automaticallyCreate Your Own Issue Management System
Effective issue management is a cornerstone of project success. Every bug or issue, no matter how small, needs to be tracked and resolved in time to maintain project momentum. In this post, we’ll explore how an issue management system in Zoho ProjectsResource utlisation
Dear Team, We use the excel for the weekly predicted people utilization how the resource are allocated , is there any way that i can use any of the zoho products.Ask the experts - A live Q & A discussion on Zoho Recruit
We are delighted to come back with another edition of Ask the Experts community series. This edition, we'll be focusing on everything about Zoho Recruit. The topics will focus on the features that are used/asked by the majority of users and also basedBug - OTP (email) and No Duplicates
Scenario: Form with an email field, Validation: "No Duplicates" (because I want to ensure 1 entry per email). Embedded form into website (JS option). Enabled email based OTP. 1st test (via my website) - entered my email address - sent OTP - entered pin,Personal Facebook page posting instead of Business Page
I have a Facebook page that is associated with my Personal Profile and I am the Admin of that Page. I would like to schedule and Post to my Personal Page not the Business Page. Each time I try to connect to the "Page" it takes me to the Business Page. Is there a way of connecting to my personal page?Fixed asset management
I want to know if there is any individual module for fixed assets managementRecording depreciation of fixed assets as a percentage of residual value
In India, fixed assets are depreciated as a percentage of their residual value at the beginning of each fiscal year. I went through the documentation for creating recurring journal entries, but could only find ways to depreciate by a fixed rupee amountFunction #28: Automatically calculate Customer Loyalty points
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Today, we're excited to share a workflow designed to streamline the management of loyalty points. Many businesses offer incentives or rewards in the form of loyalty points to their customers as a way toFunction #6: Calculate Commissions for paid invoices
Zoho Books helps you automate the process of calculating and recording commissions paid to sales persons using custom functions. We've written a script that computes the commission amount based on the percentage of commission you enter and creates anHow to Add Product SKU in Invoice?
How to Add Product SKU in Invoice?Tracking movement between departments
I've been developing a reporting system in Zoho and one of the groups I want to develop a report on primarily moves tickets from department to another. Is there a way to set up the reporting on Zoho (or Zoho Reports) that can tell me the number of ticketsZoho CRM Calendar View
Hello Zoho team, We need desperately a calendar view next to list, kandan and other views. I think it should be easy to implement as you already have the logic from Projects and also from Kanban View in CRM. In calendar view when we set it up - we chooseCall transcrition working for ringcentral?
I don't see anything about what telephony providers can be used. The Zoho support person A said that RingCentral isn't supported. Zoho support person B said that it works, just make sure the call recording link works. Excellent instructions here: CallWhat is syntax to call creator function (or trigger a creator workflow) from CRM deluge?
What is syntax to call creator function (or trigger a creator workflow) from CRM deluge?WhatsApp and Zoho Creator Integration
How we have integrate WhatsApp App with Zoho Creator without using external application ?Improve Creator Calendar Report
Please can you improve the Creator Calendar Report General There is no way to highlight certain days, for example weekends or public holidays. There is no way to hide certain days, for example weekends. There is no way to modify the day header, it justImportant updates to Zoho CRM's email deliverability
Last modified on: Jul 24, 2024 These enhancements are released for all users across all data centers. Modified on: Oct 30, 2023 Organisations that are in the Enterprise and above editions of Zoho CRM, and have not authenticated their email-sending domainsCustom modules not showing in developer console
I'm trying to create a custom summing function for a custom module I made in my CRM. When I go to create the function, my module isnt showing up. Do I need to share the custom moldule with my developer console or something of the like?Chart with Filtered Data vs Unfiltered Data
I am looking to create a chart view that displays the full data set vs a subset of the data filtered by user filter. However I do not seem to find any method by which to exclude a plot from the applied filter or any other method by which to display theStorage addon failed to upgrade
Hi, I am trying to purchase addon storage, but i am getting upgrade failed error Sorry! We are unable to process your information. Please try again after some time. If the problem occurs again, please visit our Contact Us page to reach out to the appropriateNext Page