Portal APIs in Zoho CRM - Part I
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen everyone!
This week, we will be discussing the Portals API in Zoho CRM.
What are Portals in Zoho CRM?
Portals in Zoho CRM allow businesses to extend access to their CRM to external stakeholders, such as customers, partners, vendors or franchisees. Portals allow users to view, edit and create records within the CRM, depending on their level of access and permissions. This helps businesses to manage customer and partner interactions, share information and improve communication.
Sample Business Cases:
In Health care Industry - If you run a health care facility, you can provide your patients the access to their medical records using portals. Through the portal, the patients can have controlled access to their medical records like their appointments, tests done and medication prescribed. Patients can request appointments, provide updates to their information, and request copies of their medical records through the portal.
In a consulting firm - If you run a consulting firm, you would want to keep your clients updated about the status of their projects in real time. To do this, you can create a portal and share it with your clients. The clients can view the status of their projects, including the progress, the budget, and the schedule. Clients can view the updates and provide feedback on the project through the portal.
In the automobile industry - If you have an automobile shop, and you want to track the customer details, your sold vehicle details and service schedules, you can create a portal and share it with your customers. They can view and update their details and book for services using through the portal.
Creating a Portal via API
Let us consider the context of the automobile industry. To create a portal for your customers, you can use the Create Portal API.
Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals
Request Method : POST
Scope : ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/CREATE
Sample Input
{ "portals": [ { "name": "ZylkerAutomobiles" } ] } |
Input Keys
| Key | Description |
| name | Unique name of the portal. |
Sample Response
{ "portals": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "name": "ZylkerAutomobiles" }, "message": "Portal created successfully with given name.", "status": "success" } ] } |
Update Portal via API
You can update the portal name via Update Portal API.
Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/{portal-name}
Request Method : PUT
Scope : ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/UPDATE
For instance, the following request renames the already created portal ZylkerAutomobiles to ZylkerAutos.
Sample Request : https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v4/settings/portals/ZylkerAutomobiles
Sample Input
{ "portals": [ { "name": "ZylkerAutos" } ] } |
Input Keys
Key Description name Unique name of the portal.
| Key | Description |
| name | Unique name of the portal. |
However, changing the portal name will also alter the portal URL. As a result, it is crucial to communicate this change to all existing portal users.
Get Portals via API
At any point, if you want to get the details of all the portals configured in your CRM account, use the Get Portal API.
Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals
Request Method : GET
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/READ
Sample Response:
{ "portals": [ { "created_time": "2023-02-07T20:13:20+05:30", "modified_time": "2023-02-07T20:13:20+05:30", "modified_by": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "4876876000000327001" }, "name": "ZylkerAutos", "active": true, "zaid": "10052946888", "created_by": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "4875876000000327001" } } ] } |
Response Keys
| Key | Description |
| name | The name of the portal |
| active | Represents whether the portal is active or not. |
| zaid | The unique id of the portal. |
Now let us consider the case where you may want to extend the portal access to beyond your customers. There would be multiple user groups you may want to extend the access to, including the employees and partners. For instance, you may want to share the portal with your employees to give them access to customer information, sales data and service schedules. If you have partners, you may want to share the portal with them to keep them informed about the customer behaviors, sales data etc. Each of these groups may require to access to different types of data within the CRM.
To accommodate the different needs and access levels of the different types of users, you may need to create multiple user groups in the portal. For example, you could create a user group for customers and another user group for employees. The business can then configure different permissions for each user group, allowing or restricting access to the relevant data in the CRM account. This way, each type of user will be able to access the information that is most relevant to them, without compromising the security and privacy of the rest of the data in the CRM account.
Get Portal User Types API
The Get Portal User Types API allows you to retrieve the user types available in the portal of your org. It is important to note that when you create a portal, the default user type Client Portal is added by default.
Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/{portal_name}/user_type
Request Method : GET
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/READ
Sample Request : https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v4/settings/portals/ZylkerAutos/user_type
Sample Request : https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v4/settings/portals/ZylkerAutos/user_type
Sample Response
{ "user_type": [ { "created_time": "2023-02-08T11:56:16+05:30", "default": true, "modified_time": "2023-02-08T11:56:16+05:30", "personality_module": { "plural_label": "Contacts", "api_name": "Contacts", "id": "1306462000000000129" }, "name": "Client Portal", "modified_by": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "1306462000083528405" }, "active": true, "id": "1306462000001813022", "created_by": { "name": "Patricia Boyle", "id": "1306462000083528405" }, "no_of_users": 1 } ] } |
Response Keys
| Key | Description |
| default | Represents whether the user type is the default one for the portal. |
| personality_module | Details of the module for which the user type was configured. |
| name | The name of the user type. |
| active | Represents whether the user type is active or not. |
| id | The unique id of the user type. |
| no_of_users | The number of users in the portal assigned with this user type. |
Invite users to Portal via API
Once the portal is created, you can invite the customers to join the portal using the Invite Users to Portal API. This provides the customers with access to the information regarding their automobile including the servicing details, and their information.
Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v4/{personality_module}/{record_id}/actions/portal_invite
where, personality_module is the API name of the module for which the portal was created and record_id is the ID of the record that you want to invite to the portal
Request Method : POST
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/CREATE
Parameters
| Parameters | Parameter Description |
user_type_id : integer, mandatory | The id of the user type you want to assign the user with. |
type : string, mandatory | Represents whether the user is invited (invite) the first time or is re-invited(reinvite). |
language : string, optional | The language code of the user you want to invite to the portal |
Please note that for the client portal user type, you can invite only clients/customers and not users with the same email domain like your employees or partners.
Sample Request : https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v4/Contacts/1306462000000659009/actions/portal_invite?user_type_id=1306462000001813022&type=invite&language=en_US
In this sample request, 1306462000000659009 is the record id of the customer in Contacts module, and 1306462000001813022 is the user type id.
Sample Response
{ "portal_invite": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "record_id": "1306462000000659009" }, "message": "An Invite has been sent to the personality.", "status": "success" } ] } |
Get Users of a User Type API
The Get Users of a User Type API enables you to retrieve the list of users available in a specific user type of a portal.
Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/{portal_name}/user_type/{user_type_id}/users
Request Method : GET
Scope : ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/READ
Parameters
| Parameters | Parameter Description |
type : string, optional | The type of user. Possible values are AllUsers, AllActiveUsers, ActiveUsers, DeactiveUsers, NotConfirmedUsers, ConfirmedUsers, and ActiveConfirmedUsers. |
filter : JSON object, optional | To filter based on the value disabled on updation of email of the status_reason__s field in the Users module. The allowed comparators are equal and not_equal. Note that you must encode this JSON object. |
The following request retrieves the details of users in your ZylkerAutos portal, with Client Portal user type.
Sample Request : https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v4/settings/portals/ZylkerAutos/user_type/1306462000001813022/users
Sample Response
{ "users": [ { "personality_id": "1306462000000659009", "confirm": true, "status_reason__s": null, "invited_time": "2023-02-08T18:03:10+05:30", "module": "Contacts", "name": "Jennifer Spears", "active": true, "email": "jennifer.spears@abc.com" } ], "info": { "per_page": 200, "total_count": 1, "count": 1, "page": 1, "more_records": false } } |
Response Keys
| Key | Description |
| personality_id | The id of the module for which the portal was created. |
| confirm | Represents whether the user is a confirmed user or not. |
| status_reason__s | The reason the user is disabled. |
| module | The API name of the module for which the user type was created. |
| name | The full name of the contact. |
| active | Represents whether the user type is active or not. |
| The email ID of the contact of that user type. |
We will discuss more on user types and users in next week's post. We hope you found this post useful.
Write to us at support@zohocrm.com if you have any questions.
Previous Kaizen Post : Client Script ZDKs for Detail (Canvas)
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
Anu Abraham
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
Spam is Being Forwarded
I am filtering a certain sender directly to the Trash folder. Those messages are still being forwarded. Is this supposed to happen?IMAP Block
My two accounts have been blocked and I am not able to unblocked them myself. Please respond to email, I am traveling and this is urgent."DKIM not configured"
Hello. I have been attempting get the DKIM verified but Toolkit keeps sending the message that it is not configured, but both Namecheap and Zoho show it as configured properly. What am I missing?Zoho mail with custom domain not receiving email
i registered zoho mail with my own domain. I can login and access the mail app. I tried to send email from an outlook email account and an icloud email account. Both emails were not received. My plan is free. I also tried to send email from this zohoSet connection link name from variable in invokeurl
Hi, guys. How to set in parameter "connection" a variable, instead of a string. connectionLinkName = manager.get('connectionLinkName').toString(); response = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.googleapis.com/calendar/v3/freeBusy" type :POST parameters:requestParams.toString()Waterfall Chart
Hello, I would like to create a waterfall chart on Zoho analytics which shows the movement in changes of budget throughout a few months, on a weekly basis. Should look something like the picture below. Does anyone know how to?Help Center and SEO: Any Benefit to My Domain-Mapped Website Ranking?
First of, I love the Help Center which I've just decided to integrate into my website to replace its old-fashioned FAQs. So much more to achieve there now! Lots of new benefits to the site visitors and to me in terms of organizing and delivering all theIssue with Importing Notes against Leads
Hi, I am attempting to import some Notes into Zoho CRM which need to be assigned to various Leads. I have created a csv file which I am testing that contains just one record. This csv file contains the following columns: Note Id Parent Id (I haveTrigger a Workflow Function if an Attachment (Related List) has been added
Hello, I have a Case Module with a related list which is Attachment. I want to trigger a workflow if I added an attachment. I've seen some topics about this in zoho community that was posted few months ago and based on the answers, there is no triggerOption to Hide Project Overview for Client Profiles
In Zoho Projects, the Project Overview section is currently visible to client profiles by default. While user profiles already have the option to restrict or hide access to the project overview, the same flexibility isn’t available for client profiles.Creator Add Records through API - Workflows not triggered ?
Hi Everyone, I am trying to add records to my Creator application through a third party app that I am developing. Currently, I am testing this through Postman. The records I need to add have a lot of workflows to run to populate dropdowns, fields, useZoho Books Idea - Include another field in Bank Details for Address
Hi Books team, Currently use the Description field in the Bank Details to store the bank's address. This works fine but it would be great if you could add another field for Bank Address, so that other notes about the bank account could be stored in theZoho Books Idea - Bank Details Button on Banking
Hi Books team, Sometimes I'm asked to share bank details with a customer or a colleague. So I go to the Banking Module, find the correct bank account, click Setting > Edit, then copy and paste the bank details. Wouldn't it be great if there was a buttonZoho Error: This Operation has been restricted. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details
Hello There, l tried to verify my domain (florindagoreti.com.br) and its shows this error: This Operation has been restricted. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details. Screenshot Given Below - please check what went wrong. ThanksImportant Update: Changes to Google Translate Support in Zoho SalesIQ
We’re updating our default chat translation options across all Zoho SalesIQ data centres to offer a more secure, in-house solution for your translation needs. What’s changing? We will be offering Zoho Translate (our in-house tool) as the default translationFSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data
I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the ImportZoho CRM Community Digest - July P1 | 2025
Hey everyone, The start of July 2025 marked a special milestone: 200 posts in our Kaizen series! For those new here, Kaizen is a go-to series for Zoho CRM developers, where we regularly share best practices, tips, and expert insights to help you buildcan't login Kiosk URGENT
already try, can't login pls help to support. thanks.Join our BI & Analytics Workshop at Zoholics UK 🇬🇧
Hello users, We are thrilled to announce a hands-on workshop at Zoholics UK, 2025, led by Ashwinth and Alan, our Product Experts. This session is designed for anyone who wants to move beyond raw data and truly understand their business performance usingWhat’s New in Zoho Expense (April – July 2025)
Hello users, We're happy to bring you the latest updates and enhancements we've made to Zoho Expense over the past three months, which include introducing the Trip Expense Summary report in Analytics, extending Chatbot support to more editions, rollingNimble enhancements to WhatsApp for Business integration in Zoho CRM: Enjoy context and clarity in business messaging
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! WhatsApp for business is a renowned business messaging platform that takes your business closer to your customers; it gives your business the power of personalized outreach. Using the WhatsApp for Business integrationWeekly Tips: Insert frequently used phrases in a jiffy using Hotkeys
You often find yourself using similar phrases in an email —like confirming appointments or providing standard information. Constantly switching between the mouse and keyboard interrupts your flow and slows you down.Instead of typing the same phrases overUndo Command in Notebook
It would be handy to have an Undo in the row of icons at the bottom of the notes.Improved UI for a Seamless User Experience - Calls, Tasks, and Meetings
Hello all, We are making UI unification across CRM so that the UI experience is seamless across the product. As part of that effort, we have made changes to the details page of activity-based module records—Meetings, Calls, and Tasks. Let's look at theseNew Customization options in the module builder: Quick Create and Detail view
Hello everyone, We have introduced two new components to the module builder: Quick create and Detail view. The Quick Create Component It is a mini form used to create a record and associate it to the parent record from a lookup field. For example, if you have a Deals lookup in the Contacts module, then you can associate existing deals or create a deal and associate it with the contact. You can customize this Quick Create form by adding standard as well as custom fields. There is no limit to the numberUnable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked
Hi, I sent few emails and got this: Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked And now I have few days since I cant send any email. Is there something wrong I did? Also can someone fix this pleaseCross References Do Not Update Correctly
I am using cross references to reference Figures and current am just using the label and number, i.e. Figure #. As seen here: When I need to update the field, I use the update field button. But it will change the cross reference to no longer only includingAdd multiple users to a task
When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesmanNarrative 9: GC—Meaningful conversations that benefit your customers
Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system - BTS Series Narrative 9: GC—Meaningful conversations that benefit your customers Customers often seek immediate solutions, which is why self-service options are essential. Guided Conversations providesFSM App Oddity
We recently rolled out FSM to our technicians, and only one technician is having an issue. He's using an iPhone with iOS 18.6 installed. When he goes to service appointments using the calendar icon at the bottom of the app, he gets a list view only. Typically,Cliq Not Working !
Zoho Cliq has been experiencing connectivity issues since this morning. The app is unable to establish a connection with the server.Injecting CSS into ZML pages
Is there a way to inject CSS into ZML pages? Use case: 1. Dashboard displays 'Recent Activities' card displaying a list of newly added records 2. Each item in list links to the record onClick 3. When a user points the cursor over an item in the list,Power of Automation :: Automated Weekly Notifications for Unapproved Timesheets
Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automateExtracting Data from Sitelink APIs
Hi All, I'm working to pull data on Sitelink using API calls but i can't seem to extract it. If you click expand, you will see it has a lot of data in it. I tried extracting from the map but it's not giving me anything. Is there a workaround on this orExport a list of fields for all modules in a spreadsheet with specific field data
Many of my clients are using spreadsheets to create lists of fields for all modules when starting a new implementation or when updating an existing setup. This is a useful process but also a very time consuming one. It would be good a list of fields could[Important announcement] Zoho Writer will mandate DKIM configuration for automation users
Hi all, Effective Dec. 31, 2024, configuring DKIM for From addresses will be mandatory to send emails via Zoho Writer. DKIM configuration allows recipient email servers to identify your emails as valid and not spam. Emails sent from domains without DKIM【Zoho Backstage】2025年7月のアップデート紹介
本投稿は、本社のZoho Desk コミュニティに投稿された以下の記事を翻訳し、一部抜粋したものです。 What's New - July 2025 | Zoho Backstage ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 本投稿では、Zoho Backstage の直近のアップデートを3点抜粋して、ご紹介します。 目次 1.参加可否の確認：RSVP 2.証明書作成ツール：Certificate Builder 3.登録の承認 ：Registration Approval 1.参加可否の確認：RSVPOption to select location?
As a business coach, I meet with clients at various public locations. I have two or three pre-determined locations that I meet at. I would like the client to choose the location when booking an appointment. Is there a way to do that with a single service, or is the best way to accomplish this by creating one service for each location offered?Can we have Backorder Management ?
Can we have Backorder Management ?Display a field of an Account on the Ticket view
Hi there, We would like to display of the Account of the user submitting a ticket on the ticket view. See for example: How can this be achieved? It doesn't really matter where it will be placed as long as it is shown there. Thanks, SnirNext Page