Kaizen #26 - Linking module and Multi-select Lookup fields
Hello everyone!
Welcome to another post in the Kaizen series!
This week, we will discuss how to add/delete values to a multi-select lookup field through linking modules via API and achieve many-to-many relationships.
Your data in CRM are often inter-related. For example, you may want to associate an account with contact. You can easily achieve this through a lookup field in the Contacts module that looks up to an account in the Accounts module.
As you can see, this is a one-to-many relationship. However, you can select only one value using a lookup field.
Now, consider a scenario where you want to associate the same contact with two accounts. Here, the lookup field is not helpful as it lets you choose only one record.
To establish many-to-many relationships, you must use the multi-select lookup field.
Example Scenario
Problem
Zylker Real Estates manages buying/renting apartments. They have two modules in their CRM—Listings and Leads.
Jack Smith is one of the leads and is interested in looking at three listings (C-807, B-196, and H-786).
Apart from Jack, three other leads—Jane, Jill, and Derek—are all interested in looking at C-807.
When you create a Lead record for Jack Smith, there must be a provision to choose from the three listings he is interested in. Also, the listing C-807 should have four leads associated with it. So there is a need to choose many values from a lookup field. A regular lookup field lets you choose only one value.
Solution
In this case, Zylker Real Estates could create a multi-select lookup field in the Leads module, as shown in the image below.
So, data in both modules would look like below.
Consider Jack Smith requests a negotiation for each listing, and the negotiated rent differs for all three listings. Now, where can this field be stored?
- It cannot be a field in Jack's record, as there are three different prices based on each house.
- It cannot be a field in the listing's record either, as other prospects apart from Jack may have offered different negotiations for it.
To manage this diversity, Zoho CRM allows you to create a Linking Module. Each association between two modules (created via a multi-select lookup field) is a record in the linking module. So, when three listings are associated with Jack, three separate records are created in the Linking Module that lets you create separate Negotiated Rent in each record.
Adding values to a multi-select lookup field through an API
When you manipulate records through the API, it is not possible to add values to a multi-select lookup field directly from the module where the multi-select lookup field is present, like how you add values to a lookup field.
Instead, you can create a record in the linking module by passing the values of both the lead and listing's IDs.
Now, let us try to add another Listing (A-101) to the lead Jack Smith.
Details required
- API name of the Linking module. You can obtain this through the Modules API. The value "linking" of the key "generated_type" indicates that this is a linking module. In our case, it is Leads_vs_Listings.
- API Names of the lookup fields pointing to the Leads and the Listings module. They are the fields of the Linking module. Here, they are Interested_Leads and Interested_Listings.
- Record IDs of the records from the two modules that you want to associate with the multi-select lookup field.
Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Leads_vs_Listings
Request Method: POST
Sample Input
{ "data": [ { "Interested_Leads": { "id": "3652397000001970024" //ID of the Lead Jack Smith }, "Interested_Listings": { "id": "3652397000001988001" //ID of the Listing A-101 } } ] } |
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "Modified_Time": "2020-04-02T18:27:10+05:30", "Modified_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017" }, "Created_Time": "2020-04-02T18:27:10+05:30", "id": "3652397000001987014", "Created_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017" } }, "message": "record added", "status": "success" } ] } |
In the UI, for the lead Jack Smith
In the UI, for the listing A-101
In the UI, in the linking module
Deleting/dissociating values from a multi-select lookup field through an API
Deleting the record from the linking module deletes the association between the two modules.
Here, let us delete the association between the lead Jack Smith and the listing A-101. Pass the ID of the record that associates these two in the linking module.
Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Leads_vs_Listings/{{record_id_in_the_linking_module}}
Request Method: DELETE
Sample URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Leads_vs_Listings/3652397000001987014
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "id": "3652397000001987014" }, "message": "record deleted", "status": "success" } ] } |
In the UI, for the linking module
Fetching the Related Records of a Linking Module
When you view a record's details, you can find a multi-select lookup field as a related list in the associated module. In our case, you can find Listings as a related list in the Leads module, while Leads is a related list in the Listings module.
This related list will also display details of the Linking Module, if you have chosen to create one, as in the below image.
To fetch the related list details from a module, you need
- The API name of the related list. You can obtain this through the Related List Metadata API.
To fetch the related records associated with the Listings module, the request URL must contain the module name, the ID of the record whose related records you want to fetch, and the related list API name.
Let us now fetch the related records associated with the Listing H-786.
Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v2/Listings/3652397000001978027/Leads3
Request Method: GET
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "$approval": { "delegate": false, "approve": false, "reject": false, "resubmit": false }, "Owner": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017", "email": "p.boyle@abc.com" }, "Modified_Time": "2020-04-02T17:54:05+05:30", "Email": null, "$currency_symbol": "Rs.", "Interested_Leads": { "name": "Jack Smith", "id": "3652397000001970024" }, "Interested_Listings": { "name": "H-786", "id": "3652397000001978027" }, "Created_Time": "2020-04-02T16:12:27+05:30", "$review_process": null, "$editable": true, "$orchestration": null, "Name": "10004", "Last_Activity_Time": "2020-04-02T17:54:05+05:30", "Modified_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017", "email": "p.boyle@abc.com" }, "$review": null, "$state": "save", "$process_flow": false, "Negotiated_Rent": "4500", "id": "3652397000001980020", "Created_By": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "3652397000000186017", "email": "p.boyle@abc.com" }, "Secondary_Email": null, "Email_Opt_Out": false, "$approved": true } ], "info": { "per_page": 200, "count": 1, "page": 1, "more_records": false } } |
In the UI,
We hope you found this post useful. Write to us at support@zohocrm.com if you have any questions, or let us know in the comment section.
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?
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #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 achievedKaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI
Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over theKaizen #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.
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
Zoho inbuilt Telephony made a lot of issues!
Hi there, I am a user that I am working with zoho inbuilt telephony around 1 month. Non of my colleagues are happy with this app! most of the time customer cannot hear my customer service team, customers say our voice is breaking. whenever Telephony supportSending workflow notifications using popular chat services
Hello everyone, We have introduced instant and scheduled notifications on some of the most popular chat platforms to facilitate easy collaboration, quick action, and wider reach. Workflow notifications can be sent to the following chat platforms: ZohoWebhook not firing.
I created a webhook using the Web UI, it looks very nice and the testing worked without an issue, but when i save/ update a ticket, the webhook is not firing. Here are the details of the web-hook i get from using the API "modifiedTime": "2019-10-22T09:23:37.380Z",Adding Images to a Quote in Zoho CRM
We are currently preparing to use Quotes in Zoho CRM and we are building out our Quote templates. We came across an issue of not being to add Images of the products to the Quote - specifically in the body of the Quote templates. This is a problem,Applications built with Zoho Creator
Hi, I’m really interested in seeing how others have built their application using Zoho Creator, especially those designed for external users (clients, vendors, or the public). If you’ve developed something along those lines and don’t mind sharing, I’dIs it posssible to add Asap Widget on Wordpress?
I have tried to add the ASAP widget so users could iniciate chats and see the KB information but nothings seems to work. I have tried to add the script using a php snippet that adds the to the footers and also tried one for the header in the functioRequire ticket resolution
Hi Zoho team, Is there a way to require resolution even if an agent did not use a blueprint? for example, our blueprint has a "resolve" transition but what if agent revoked blueprint and manually set the status of ticket to closed? Is there a way whereTables from ZohoSheets remove images when updated from source
I have a few tables from a ZohoSheet in a ZohoWriter document that will remove the images in the cells when I refresh from the source. The source still has the images in the table when I go to refresh. After updating from the source, as you can see theAPI Pagination Error: 'from' Parameter Limit
Hello, I am encountering an error while paging through the Zoho Desk API results: Status code: 422 - {"errorCode":"UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY","message":"The value passed for field 'from' exceeds the range of '0-4999'."} Is 5000 the maximum number of recordsHow to go to the next open ticket in the queue when agents closes ticket
Zoho Desk When agent closes a ticket - eg when they choose 'Send and Close" - where is the setting that automatically redirects them to the next open ticket in the queue?External download link limit
Can You please help us to understand this For Zoho WorkDrive external users, the download limit is a maximum of 5 GB total download size and a maximum of 50 first-level files and folders What is the meaning of first level? We are using these files inCRM verify details pop-up
Was there a UI change recently that involves the Verify Details pop-up when changing the Stage of a Deal to certain things? I can't for the life of me find a workflow or function, blueprint, validation rule, layout rule ect that would randomly make itCustom templates for calendar report
What about being able to design custom templates for the calendar report, as well as for other types of reports? I think more users are waiting for this.Print a price list or price book
Hi Community. Am I right in concluding that Zoho has no functionality to print a price list from either Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory or Zoho Books? I won't get stuck on the fact that Zoho doesn't sync price books between Zoho CRM and Books/Inventory (moreDisable payment thank-you emails
Hello, can someone please tell me how to disable sending of the "Payment Thank-You" emails?Maximum tags possible in Contacts Records
I read in some documentation that Zoho allows a total of 200 tags across all records. Is this correct? So is it not possible to have one tag per record for 500 records?Any way to "Pay with Check" or "Refund with Check" for Credit Notes?
When we have a Bill in Zoho Books, we can select the "Pay with Check" option which then allows us to print/cut the check directly out of Zoho Books. When we created a Credit Note and want to refund the customer, is there any way to Refund with Check,CRM Mobile reports
When our engineers finish a job they like to email the customer a job report. This is best done todate as an email template but we can find no way to include an image field from that module. Is there any other options?When Zoho Tables Beta will be open to EU data center
Hello all, We in EU are looking at you all using and testing and are getting jealous :) When we will be able to get into the beta also? We don't mind testing and playing with beta software. Thank you!Start Form on a different page (i.e., hide form pages)?
I have a Zoho form that uses the `Field Alias - Prefill URL` feature. My goal is to have a pre-filled field that directs the user to a specific starting page in the form. For example: The URL will have a field alias that will auto-populate a field withHow can we disable "My Requests"?
We are not using this functionality in our system at all and our users get confused.PayPal payment received recording problem
Hi, A little while back one of our customers used the PayPal payment option to pay an invoice For some reason though the payment is showing up twice within the Payments section of the invoice! Instead of setting the invoice value to ZERO, it now shows a negative value Anyone else face this problem? I've checked PayPal and there is only 1 payment in reality... A bug? Actonia ps: for anyone from Zoho Customer Service or tech team, its Invoice 785 in our accountstring(87) "{"code":"INVALID_TOKEN","details":{},"message":"invalid oauth token","status":"error"} " grtting this error
Using access token i am trying to add sales orders through api but it is throwing errors like the above i have mentioned. Please help me for thatHow to mute chat notification sound by default in Zoho SalesIQ?
We’ve recently embedded the Zoho SalesIQ chatbot on our website, and we’ve noticed that notification sounds sometimes play even when the visitor hasn’t interacted with the chat widget yet. We’re trying to understand two things: Why do these sounds occurKanban View for Projects.
At our organization, we describe active projects with various statuses like "In Proofing" or "Printing" or "Mailing". In the Projects view, one can set these project statuses by selecting from the appropriate drop-down. While this works, it's difficult to view and comprehend the progress of all of your projects relative to each other in a table. Creating a Kanban view for projects where I can move them from one status to another allows me to see where each project is in the order of our workflow.How to Hide Article Links in SalesIQ Answer Bot Responses
I have published an article in SalesIQ, and the Answer Bot is fetching the data and responding correctly. However, it is also displaying the article link, which I don’t want. How can I remove the link so that only the message is shown?Add RECURRING option when adding email to calendar events
When you add an email to a calendar event, there is no option to make that new calendar event into a recurring event. It is counterproductive to make an event from your email to then have to go to your calendar, find the event, and make it recurring.LINE Auto Message Connect to Zoho
When I integrated LINE into the CRM, I was prompted to disable “Chat,” “Auto Response,” and “Greeting Messages,” and to enable the webhook. However, since I have already set up some auto-reply features in LINE, including Rich Messages and greeting automation,Option to block bookings from specific email address or ip adresss in zoho booking
Sometime few of our client keep booking irrelevant booking service just to resolve their queries and they keep booking it again and again whenever they have queries. Currently its disturbing our current communication process and hierarchy which we haveThreaded conversations for emails sent via automation
Hi Guys, I hope you are doing well. Don't you guys think we should have an option in a workflow to notify users either as a new email or the previous email thread. For example, if you have one deal in the process and there are 10 different stages duringCreate folder is fetch fails
coming from zapier... zapier has a google drive task that searches for a specific folder in google drive, and if it fails to find the folder it will create a folder based on the search criteria, and contine along the singluar path of the flow. TryingMeetups de Usuarios de Zoho - Noviembre 2025
¡Hola, Comunidad! Durante el mes de noviembre celebraremos los Meetups de usuarios de Zoho, encuentros presenciales pensados para quienes queráis mejorar vuestras estrategias de lead nurturing y aprender a sacar el máximo partido a herramientas como ZohoIntroducing 7 New Connectors in Zoho DataPrep!
We’ve just made data management even easier - Zoho DataPrep now supports 7 new external connectors to help you build more robust, scalable ETL pipelines. Why it matters: ✅ Broader data access ✅ More automation, less manual work ✅ Smarter pipelines, betterSales Order, Invoice and Payment numbers
Hi zoho friends, it is me again, the slow learner. I'm wondering if there is a way to have it so the Sales order, invoice and payment numbers are all the same? It would be easier for me if they were the same number so there is not so many reference numbersMissing information data Zoho inventory
there some missing data in Zoho inventory connection. pick list stock counts bin location we have requested it via mail and the support team doesn’t gove feedback. has anyone achieve to get these info or to ask other ya lesFirst day of trying FSM in the field.
What we found. 1. with out a network connection we were unable to start a service call? 2. if you go to an appointment and then want to add an asset it does not seem possible. 3. disappointed not to be able to actually take a payment from within the appZoho Desk app update: AI powered features
Hello everyone! We’ve introduced various AI-powered services on the Zoho Desk app. Let's take a look at what's new. Generate Content: Generate Content uses AI to formulate responses based on the your query and provides a ready-to-use reply which can beHow to Automate Email Sequence
I'm having trouble trying to set up a workflow to automate an email sequence. Once a group of emails in a Task has been tagged by a certain tag, I want an instant email template to be sent. After 7 days with no response, another email template would beTurning off the new UI
Tried the new 'enhanced' UI and actively dislike it. Anyone know how to revert back?Zoho Sprints Android v2.0.4 app update: Item reminders, archive Epics, Kanban projects, Epic progress
Hello everyone! In the latest version(v2.0.4) of the Zoho Sprints Android app update, we have introduced various new features. Let's take a look at what's new! Item Reminder Stay organized and never miss an important date with the all-new Item ReminderNext Page