Kaizen #21 - Functions in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week in the Kaizen series!
What will you learn from this post?
- What are Functions in Zoho CRM?
- Creating a function
- Choosing a function category
- Function body
- Integration Tasks
- Triggering Functions
- From Zoho CRM functionalities
- From third-party applications
- Limits of Functions
1. What are Functions in Zoho CRM?
- Functions help you accomplish the tasks that are not available by default in Zoho CRM.
- You must write custom functions using DELUGE [Data Enriched Language for the Universal Grid Environment]—An online scripting language.
- Using custom functions, you can automate actions within Zoho CRM, across Zoho products, or between Zoho CRM and any other third-party application.
Note:
Functions are supported only in the enterprise and ultimate editions.
2. Creating a function
To create a function:
Step 1: Go to Setup > Developer Space > Functions
Step 2: Click +New Function
Step 3: Enter details like the Function Name, Display Name, Description, and choose the function category.
2a. Choosing a function category
Functions can fall under five categories:
- Button: The function gets executed when the user clicks the custom button.
- Automation: The function gets executed based on workflow rules.
- Schedule: The function gets executed based on a schedule.
- Related List: The function gets invoked from a related list.
- Standalone: A stand-alone function that can be triggered externally.
- Validation Rule: The function gets executed based on a validation rule.
Here is an example of a function that automatically generates a quote from a deal on just the click of a button. In DealToQuote() function, the input values are extracted from deals. You can also choose to get them from the users as arguments or JSON request body.
2b. Function Body
potDetails = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Deals",potId.toLong());//integration task /*Extracting details from the deal*/ quotesubject = ifnull(potDetails.get("Deal_Name"),""); contact = ifnull(potDetails.get("Contact_Name").get("id"),""); account = ifnull(potDetails.get("Account_Name").get("id"),""); description = ifnull(potDetails.get("Description"),""); RelatedProducts = zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords("Products","Potentials",potId.toLong()); product_items = List(); sub = 0.0; /*Extracting product details from the deal and adding it to quote*/ for each product in RelatedProducts { proid = product.get("id"); proname = product.get("Product_Name"); productDesc = ifnull(product.get("Description"),"Manque Description Produit !!!"); quantity = 1; price = ifnull(product.get("Unit_Price"),"0.0").toDecimal(); listprice = price * quantity; lineitem = Map(); lineitem.put("product",{"name":proname,"id":proid}); lineitem.put("product_description",productDesc); lineitem.put("quantity",quantity); lineitem.put("net_total",listprice); lineitem.put("total",listprice); lineitem.put("list_price",listprice); sub = sub + listprice; product_items.add(lineitem); } /*Storing quote details*/ paramap = Map(); paramap.put("Product_Details",product_items); paramap.put("Subject",quotesubject); paramap.put("Contact_Name",contact); paramap.put("Account_Name",account); paramap.put("Deal_Name",potId.toLong()); paramap.put("Sub_Total",sub); paramap.put("Grand_Total",sub); paramap.put("Description",description); createResp = zoho.crm.createRecord("Quotes",paramap); info paramap; info createResp; newid = createResp.get("id"); return "Success"; |
Step 5: Once you have written your logic, click save and execute.
Step 6: Enter the argument values, if any.
Step 7: If your function gets executed successfully, you will get a success message.
Step 7: Click Save.
3. Integration Tasks
Integration tasks are pre-defined functions that allow you to get, create, and update records in Zoho CRM. You can simply use these method names in your Deluge script along with the required data to make API calls.
In the above example, we have used the getRecordById() integration task that retrieves the details of the deal. For instance, the Deal Name, Contact Name, Account Name, and so on.
Syntax:
<response>=zoho.crm.getRecordById(<module_name>, <record_ID>, <connections>); |
Parameters:
| Parameter | Description |
response | The response with the list of records matching the criteria. |
module_name string, mandatory | The API name of the module you want to fetch the records from. |
record_ID string, mandatory | The unique ID of the record. |
connections string, optional | The connectors that are associated with the function. |
Example:
potDetails = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Deals",potId.toLong()); |
Some of the other available integration tasks are:
- zoho.crm.convertLead(): To convert a lead into a contact and and an account.
- zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords(): To get records related to a parent record. Example: The products associated with a deal.
- zoho.crm.updateRelatedRecords(): To update the records related to a parent record.
- zoho.crm.searchRecords(): To search for specific records by specifying the criteria for the search.
4. Triggering functions
A function needs a trigger to get executed. You can trigger a function in two ways:
4a. From Zoho CRM functionality
4b. From third-party applications
Scenario:
Functions are primarily used to write custom business logic in Zoho CRM. Consider a scenario, where you want your sales representatives to create a quote after reviewing the deal. Instead of letting them create each quote manually, you can add a custom button in the Edit Deal page, which when clicked upon, triggers a function that creates a quote.
Also, you can configure a third-party system to automatically create a quote in Zoho CRM when the deal amount is less than 1000 OR the deal stage is closed-won. Thus, avoiding manual intervention and enabling them to emphasise on substantial deals.
Let us discuss how to trigger the DealToQuote() function via a custom button and a third-party application. You can also trigger the same function from a third-party application as a REST API webhook.
4a. From Zoho CRM functionality (Custom Button)
- Go to Setup > Customization > Modules and Fields.
- From the List of Modules, select the required module.
- In the Links & Buttons tab, click Create New Button.
- In the Create Your Button page, do the following:
- Enter the name of the button. The button name should not exceed 30 characters.
- Click the Add Description link and specify the details of your custom button. The description should not exceed 250 characters.
- Choose the location of your custom button from the drop-down list.
- Custom buttons can be placed in 6 different places in your CRM account - Create/Clone page, Edit page, View page, List View page, a button to each record in the list view and Related Lists Page. Note that you can create up to 50 buttons for each module.
- Choose an action to be executed when a user clicks the custom button. You can either choose a predefined action from the gallery or the existing functions that were already created by the users in your organization. Also, define your own action by writing a custom function, open a new web tab or invoke a URL based on your needs. It is mandatory to choose the button action. In our case, From Existing Actions in Functions. Choose the function and click Configure.
6. Map the input values to the fields in that module and click Save.
Once the custom button is associated with an action, CRM Administrators can manage permissions by assigning only specific profiles to view and access the custom button.
Similarly, you can associate functions with Schedules, Workflows, Validation Rules, and Related Lists.
4b. From third-party applications
Here, we are going to configure a third-party system to automatically create a quote in Zoho CRM when the deal amount is less than 1000 OR the deal stage is closed-won, thus avoiding manual intervention.
To achieve this, we are going to trigger the DealToQuote() function from a third-party application (automate.io), whenever the above conditions are met.
If you want to trigger a function from a third-party application, you must make it available as REST API.
1. Go to Setup > Developer Space > Functions
2. Choose the function > Click more options > Click REST API
3.Enter the API name for the function.
4. Enable OAuth 2.0 to share the function as an API within your organization and enable API key to share the function as a webhook with any third-party user.
Click Save.
You must make the API call from the third-party application using the request URL received here.
The DealToQuote() function is triggered from a third-party application (automate.io). You can achieve the same using:
- Zoho Flow
- Zoho CRM workflow rule that is triggered whenever a deal is updated
Sample bot configuration in automate.io:
We have triggered the DealToQuote() function using custom button as well as a third-party application.
5. Limits of Functions
Function calls in Zoho CRM are associated with credits. Each function call results in reduction of one credit from your account.
Maximum credit limit based on your edition
Edition | Allowed Credits | Maximum credits that can be availed in a 24 hour window |
Starter | 5,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 200) | 10,000 credits |
Standard | 5,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 200) | 15,000 credits |
Professional | 5,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 200) | 20,000 credits |
Enterprise/Zoho One/CRM Plus | 20,000 credits + (Number of User licenses x 500) | 1,00,000 credits |
Ultimate | 20,000 credits + (Number of User licenses X 1000) | 2,00,000 credits |
Limits based on properties of a function
Functionality | Description | Limits |
Execution Time | Function should be executed within the specified time. | 1 minute |
Response Limit | Function should return the response within a particular size. | 10 MB |
Lines of execution | The number of lines in a function code has a limit. | 200,000 |
Send Mail | The number of emails that you can using the send mail syntax has a limit. | 1000 per day |
Webhooks | GET and POST URLs | 50,000 requests per day |
We hope you found this post useful. Stay tuned for more!
Cheers!
Previous 'Kaizen' - Node JS SDK
Next 'Kaizen' - Connections in Zoho CRM
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
Sneha Sridharan
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
Multiple organizations under Zoho One
Hello. I have a long and complicated question. I have a Zoho One account and want to set it up to serve the needs of 6 organizations under the same company. Some of the Zoho One users need to be able to work in more than 1 organization’s CRM and otherError AS101 when adding new email alias
Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.Unbundle feature for composite items
We receive composite items from our vendors and sell them either individually or create other composite items out of them. So, there is a lot of bundling and unbundling involved with our composite items. Previously, this feature was supported in formRegarding the integration of Apollo.io with Zoho crm.
I have been seeing for the last 3 months that your Apollo.io beta version is available in Zoho Flow, and this application has not gone live yet. We requested this 2 months ago, but you guys said that 'we are working on it,' and when we search on GoogleHow do you print a refund check to customer?
Maybe this is a dumb question, but how does anyone print a refund check to a customer? We cant find anywhere to either just print a check and pick a customer, or where to do so from a credit note.MTD SA in the UK
Hello ID 20106048857 The Inland Revenue have confirmed that this tax account is registered as Cash Basis In Settings>Profile I have set ‘Report Basis’ as “Cash" However, I see on Zoho on Settings>Taxes>Income Tax that the ‘Tax Basis’ is marked ‘Accrual'workflow not working in subform
I have the following code in a subform which works perfectly when i use the form alone but when i use the form as a subform within another main form it does not work. I have read something about using row but i just cant seem to figure out what to changeFetch data from another table into a form field
I have spent the day trying to work this out so i thought i would use the forum for the first time. I have two forms in the same application and when a user selects a customer name from a drop down field and would like the customer number field in theRecord comment filter
Hi - I have a calendar app that we use to track tasks. I have the calendar view set up so that the logged in user only sees the record if they are assigned to the task. BUT there are instances when someone is @ mentioned in the record when they are notHow to View Part Inventory and Warehouse Location When Creating a Work Order in Zoho FSM
Hi everyone, We’re currently setting up Zoho FSM and would like to improve how our team selects parts when creating a Work Order. Right now, when we add a part or item to a Work Order, we can select it from our Zoho Inventory list but we don’t see anyFSM too slow today !!
Anybody else with problem today to loading FSM (WO, AP etc.)?CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive
Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage filesNot able to Sign In in Zoho OneAuth in Windows 10
I recently reset my Windows 10 system, after the reset when I downloaded the OAuth app and tried to Sign In It threw an error at me. Error: Token Fetch Error. Message: Object Reference not set to an instance of an object I have attached the screenshotMapping a custom preferred date field in the estimate with the native field in the workorder
Hi Zoho, I created a field in the estimate : "Preferred Date 1", to give the ability to my support agent to add a preferred date while viewing the client's estimate. However, in the conversion mapping (Estimate to Workorder), I'm unable to map my customThe sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on spamrl.com as a source of spam.
Hi, it just two day when i am using zoho mail for my business domain, today i was sending email and found that message "The sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on https://spamrl.com as a source of spam" I hope to know how this will affect the deliveryDelegates - Access to approved reports
We realized that delegates do not have access to reports after they are approved. Many users ask questions of their delegates about past expense reports and the delegates can't see this information. Please allow delegates see all expense report activity,Split functionality - Admins need ability to do this
Admins should be able to split an expense at any point of the process prior to approval. The split is very helpful for our account coding, but to have to go back to a user and ask them to split an invoice that they simply want paid is a bit of an inIs there a way to request a password?
We add customers info into the vaults and I wanted to see if we could do some sort of "file request" like how dropbox offers with files. It would be awesome if a customer could go to a link and input a "title, username, password, url" all securely and it then shows up in our team vault or something. Not sure if that is safe, but it's the best I can think of to be semi scalable and obviously better than sending emails. I am open to another idea, just thought this would be a great feature. Thanks,Single Task Report
I'd like a report or a way to print to PDF the task detail page. I'd like at least the Task Information section but I'd also like to see the Activity Stream, Status Timeline and Comments. I'd like to export the record and save it as a PDF. I'd like theAuto-response for closed tickets
Hi, We sometimes have users that (presumably) search their email inbox for the last correspondence with us and just hit reply - even if it's a 6 month old ticket... - this then re-opens the 6 month old ticket because of the ticket number in the email's subject. Yes, it's easy to 'Split as new Ticket', but I'd like something automated to respond to the user saying "this ticket has already been resolved and closed, please submit a new ticket". What's the best way to achieve this? Thanks, EdHow to Push Zoho Desk time logged to Zoho Projects?
I am on the last leg of my journey of finally automating time tracking, payments, and invoicing for my minutes based contact center company - I just have one final step to solve - I need time logged in zoho desk to add time a project which is associatedCannot access KB within Help Center
Im working with my boss to customize our knowledge base, but for some reason I can see the KB tab, and see the KB categories, but I cannot access the articles within the KB. We have been troubleshooting for weeks, and we have all permissions set up, customersExport to excel stored amounts as text instead of numbers or accounting
Good Afternoon, We have a quarterly billing report that we generate from our Requests. It exports to excel. However if we need to add a formula (something as simple as a sum of the column), it doesn't read the dollar amounts because the export storeswhy my account is private?
when i post on zohodesk see only agent onlyGetting ZOHO Invoice certified in Portugal?
Hello, We are ZOHO partners in Portugal and here, all the invoice software has to be certified by the government and ZOHO Invoice still isn´t certified. Any plans? Btw, we can help on this process, since we have a client that knows how to get the software certified. Thank you.500 Internal Server Error
I have been trying to create my first app in Creator, but have been getting the 500: Internal Server Error. When I used the Create New Application link, it gave me the error after naming the application. After logging out, and back in, the application that I created was in the list, but when I try to open it to start creating my app, it gives me the 500: Internal Server Error. Please help! Also, I tried making my named app public, but I even get the error when trying to do that.Client Script | Update - Client Script Support For Portals
Dear All! We are excited to announce the highly anticipated feature: Client Script support for Portals. We understand that many of you have been eagerly awaiting this enhancement, and we are pleased to inform you that this support is now live for allProfessional Plan not activated after payment
I purchased the Professional Plan for 11 users (Subscription ID: RPEU2000980748325) on 12 September 2025, and the payment has been successfully processed. However, even after more than 24 hours, my CRM account still shows “Upgrade” and behaves like ahow to edit the converted lead records?
so I can fetch the converted leads records using API (COQL), using this endpoint https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v5/coql and using COQL filter Converted__s=true for some reasons I need to change the value from a field in a converted lead record. When I tryAuto Update Event Field Value on Create/Edit
Hi there, I know this question has been posted multiple times and I've been trying many of the proposed similar scripts for a while now but nothing seems to work... what might I do wrong? The error I receive is this: Value given for the variable 'meetingId'Pre-orders at Zoho Commerce
We plan to have regular producs that are avaliable for purchase now and we plan to have products that will be avaliable in 2-4 weeks. How we can take the pre-orders for these products? We need to take the money for the product now, but the delivery willConstant color of a legend value
It would be nice if we can set a constant color/pattern to a value when creating a chart. We would often use the same value in different graph options and I always have to copy the color that we've set to a certain value from a previous graph to makeZoho Pagesense really this slow??? 5s delay...
I put the pagesense on my website (hosted by webflow and fast) and it caused a 5s delay to load. do other people face similar delays?Payroll and BAS ( Australian tax report format )
Hello , I am evaluating Zoho Books and I find the interface very intuitive and straight forward. My company is currently using Quickbooks Premier the Australian version. Before we can consider moving the service we would need to have the following addressed : 1.Payroll 2.BAS ( business activity statement ) for tax purposes 3.Some form of local backup and possible export of data to a widely accepted format. Regards Codrin MitinProblem with Email an invoice with multiple attachments using API
I have an invoice with 3 attachments. When I send an email manually using the UI, everything works correctly. I receive an email with three attachments. The problem occurs when I try to initiate sending an email using the API. The email comes with onlyPage Layouts for Standard Modules like CRM
For standard modules like quotes, invoices, purchase orders, etc, it would be a great feature to be able to create custom page layouts with custom fields in Zoho Books similar to how you can in Zoho CRM. For example, and my current use case, I have aNon-depreciating fixed asset
Hi! There are non-depreciable fixed assets (e.g. land). It would be very useful to be able to create a new type of fixed asset (within the fixed assets module) with a ‘No depreciation’ depreciation method. There is always the option of recording landFixed asset management
I want to know if there is any individual module for fixed assets managementOne time sale item in billing automatically detects as service
if i have some items which i don't want to add in my "item" list because its sold only for one time. but when i type item name in invoice, it (system) automatically takes it as a service and despite of HSN , it shows SAC code to be entered. if its selectable i.e. either item or service , it would be very helpful and a must have feature.Project template after project creation
How can I apply a project template AFTER the project has been created?Next Page