Kaizen #80 - COQL API - Part I
Hi everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!
This week, we will discuss the COQL Queries in detail.
COQL (CRM Object Query Language) is a powerful query language based on SQL syntax that allows users to write their own queries and fetch records using module API names and field API names. In this post, we will discuss the operators supported by COQL in detail and also provide examples to help you understand better. Please note that the information in the article holds true for version 4 of Zoho CRM APIs.
When should you use the Query API?
Use Query API when you want to query for a module's data and/or it's look up related data using various comparators, or for records that fall into a custom view without actually creating one. For example, if you want to query for all products in a specific price range, with a 5 star rating and sort the results by price, use the Query API. Similarly you can use Query API to query for records from cross-modules (linked via lookup field), such as filtering products based on the vendor's details.
What types of queries are supported by COQL?
COQL supports only the SELECT query, which is used to select data from the CRM, based on the conditions specified by the clauses.
Here is a sample query:
SELECT {field_api_names} FROM {module_api_name} WHERE {field_api_name} {comparator} {logical_operator} {value} ORDER BY {field_api_name} ASC/DESC LIMIT {limit} OFFSET {offset}
What are the clauses & aggregate functions supported by COQL?
WHERE - used to select records based on specific conditions.
FROM - specifies the module from which to fetch the records.
ORDER BY - used to sort the results in ascending or descending order.
LIMIT - used to limit the number of records returned by the query.
OFFSET - used to skip a specified number of records while retrieving the records.
{ "select_query" : "select Last_Name, First_Name, Mobile, Final_Score from Leads where (Lead_Status = 'Not Contacted') ORDER BY Final_Score DESC LIMIT 5 OFFSET 10" } |
For example, the above query retrieves the Last_Name, First_Name, Mobile and Final_score of all Leads whose status equals 'Not Contacted'. The results will be sorted in descending order based on the Final_Score field, and only the 5 records after skipping the first 10 will be returned.
NOTE : You can also use the syntax "LIMIT offset, limit" to achieve the same result. For example :
{ "select_query" : "select Last_Name, First_Name, Mobile, Final_Score from Leads where (Lead_Status = 'Not Contacted') ORDER BY Final_Score DESC LIMIT 5, 10" } |
Aggregate functions can perform calculations on a set of values and return a single value.
SUM() - to get the sum of the values of an aggregate field in a module.
MAX() - to get the maximum value of an aggregate field.
MIN() - to get the minimum value of an aggregate field.
AVG() - to get the average value of the values of a field.
COUNT() - to get the number of records that satisfy the criteria.
Wildcard Character Support in COQL
In COQL queries, the only supported wildcard character is %. This % wildcard can be used with the like operator to achieve functionality similar to the contains, starts_with and ends_with operators. For instance, '%tech" queries for field values ending with tech, 'C%' queries for the values starting with C, and '%tech%' translates to contains 'tech'.
Supported field types and Comparators
The following table gives a gist of the field types whose data you can query for, and the comparators for each field type.
| Field Type | Comparators |
| Text and Picklist | =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null |
| Lookup | =, !=, in, not in, is null, is not null |
| Date, DateTime, Number, Currency | =, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null |
| Boolean | = |
Supported field types and Comparators
1) Text and Picklist Fields
Supported comparators : =, !=, like, not like, in, not in, is null, is not null. Please note that the like operator is used for starts_with, ends_with, contains, and not like operator is used for not contains.
Sample Query 1: (=, like, in)
{ "select_query": "SELECT First_Name, Last_Name FROM Leads WHERE (((Lead_Status = 'Pre-Qualified') and (Company like '%zylker%')) and Industry in ('Technology', 'ERP'))" } |
This SELECT query retrieves the First_Name and Last_Name of all Leads whose Lead_Status is Pre-Qualified, Company contains zylker, and Industry is either Technology or ERP.
Sample Query 2:(not in, like, not null)
{ "select_query": "SELECT First_Name, Last_Name FROM Leads WHERE (((Lead_Status not in ('Closed-Won', 'Closed-Lost')) and (Lead_Source like '%Web%')) and (Skype_ID is not null)) LIMIT 2" } |
This query will return the first name and last name of all leads whose lead status is not Closed-Won or Closed-Lost, whose Lead Source fields contains web, and whose Skype ID field is not empty.
Sample Query 3:( !=, not like, null)
{ "select_query": "SELECT First_Name, Last_Name, Mobile FROM Leads WHERE (((Lead_Source != 'Webinar') and (City not like '%New York%')) and (Skype_ID is null))" } |
This query retrieves the first name, last name and mobile of leads where the lead source is not a webinar, the city is not New York, and the Skype ID field is empty or null.
2. Lookup Fields
=, !=, in, not in, is null, is not null are the supported comparators for lookup fields. If you want to get the name of the lookup field in the response, you must include the field API name in the query. Otherwise, the system will return only the ID of the field.
Sample Query 1: (=, not in, !=)
{ "select_query": "select Last_Name, First_Name, Full_Name, Account_Name, Owner from Contacts where (((Account_Name.Account_Name != 'Zylker') and (Owner = 4876876000000327001)) and Vendor_Name.Vendor_Name not in ('Skytech','SR')) LIMIT 2" } |
This query retrieves the last name, first name, full name, account name, and owner of two contacts whose account name is not Zylker, whose owner ID is 4876876000000327001, and whose vendor name does not contain Skytech or SR.
Sample Response:
{ "data": [ { "First_Name": "John", "Full_Name": "John Wilson ", "Owner": { "id": "4876876000000327001" }, "Last_Name": "Wilson ", "Account_Name": { "id": "4876876000000333089" }, "id": "4876876000000333182" }, { "First_Name": "Josephine", "Full_Name": "Josephine Darakjy", "Owner": { "id": "4876876000000327001" }, "Last_Name": "Darakjy", "Account_Name": { "id": "4876876000000333090" }, "id": "4876876000000333183" } ], "info": { "count": 2, "more_records": true } } |
In this query, the id of the account is returned but not the name since we have not specified the field API name in the query. To fetch the field name, specify the field API name in the query. Refer to the following sample query to know how.
Sample Query 2: (in, is null, is not null)
{ "select_query": "SELECT Deal_Name, Account_Name.Account_Name, Created_Time FROM Deals WHERE (((Account_Name.Account_Name in ('Grayson','Zylker')) and (Owner is not null)) and (Contact_Name is null)) ORDER BY Created_Time DESC LIMIT 2" } |
This query retrieves the Deal Name, Account Name, and Created Time of the 2 most recently created Deals whose Account Name contains Zylker or Grayson, and do not have a Contact Name associated with them but have a Deal Owner associated with them. The results will be ordered in descending order by the Created Time.
Sample Response:
{ "data": [ { "Deal_Name": "Westborne Deal", "Created_Time": "2023-04-06T10:04:02+05:30", "Account_Name.Account_Name": "Grayson", "id": "4876876000003548001" }, { "Deal_Name": "Eastwing Deal", "Created_Time": "2023-04-05T19:10:55+05:30", "Account_Name.Account_Name": "Grayson", "id": "4876876000003526011" } ], "info": { "count": 2, "more_records": true } } |
In the same query, if you want to use the Account ID instead of the name, replace ((Account_Name.Account_Name in ('Grayson','Zylker')) with ((Account_Name in (4876876000001236083, 4876876000002799001)) to include the IDs instead of the field API names and the account names.
{ "select_query": "SELECT Deal_Name, Account_Name.Account_Name, Created_Time FROM Deals WHERE (((Account_Name in (4876876000001236083, 4876876000002799001)) and (Owner is not null)) and (Contact_Name is null)) ORDER BY Created_Time DESC LIMIT 2" } |
3. Date, DateTime, Number, Currency Fields
=, !=, >=, >, <=, <, between, not between, in, not in, is null, is not null are the supported comparators for these fields.
Sample Query 1: (between, <, >)
{ "select_query": "SELECT Deal_Name, Amount, Stage, Probability FROM Deals WHERE (((Closing_Date between '2023-01-01' and '2023-03-31') and (Probability < 99)) and (Amount > 10000))"} |
This query retrieves the deal name, amount, stage, and probability of all deals whose closing date is between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023, and whose probability is less than 99 and amount is greater than 10000.
Sample Response:
{ "data": [ { "Deal_Name": "Chapman Deal", "Amount": 2500000, "Probability": 97, "Stage": "Closed Won", "id": "4876876000003550011" } ], "info": { "count": 1, "more_records": false } } |
Sample Query 2: (<=, !=, >=)
{ "select_query": "SELECT Product_Name, Qty_in_Stock, Vendor_Name, Cost_Price FROM Products WHERE (((Sales_End_Date <= '2023-04-30') and (Qty_in_Stock != 0)) and (Cost_Price >= 500))" } |
This query retrieves the product name, quantity in stock, vendor name, and cost price for all products whose sales end date is on or before April 30, 2023, whose quantity in stock is not zero, and whose cost price is greater than or equal to 500. Since Vendor_Name is a lookup field, only the ID will be returned in the response.
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "Cost_Price": 2000, "Vendor_Name": { "id": "4876876000001039017" }, "Product_Name": "Sigma", "Qty_in_Stock": 30, "id": "4876876000001036109" } ], "info": { "count": 1, "more_records": false } } |
Sample Query 3: (not between, is not, >)
{ "select_query": "SELECT Last_Name, First_Name, Referred_By.Full_Name FROM Leads WHERE (((Final_Score not between 10 and 20) and (Annual_Revenue is not null)) and (No_of_Employees > 200)) LIMIT 1" } |
This COQL query selects the last name, first name, and the full name of the lead's referred by field, for one lead whose final score is not between 10 and 20, annual revenue is not null and whose number of employees is greater than 200.
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "First_Name": "Chau", "Last_Name": "Kitzman", "id": "4876876000000333403", "Referred_By.Full_Name": "Simmons Truhlar" } ], "info": { "count": 1, "more_records": true } } |
Sample Query 4: (>, not in, =, is null)
{ "select_query":"SELECT PO_Number, PO_Date, Status, Discount FROM Purchase_Orders WHERE (((PO_Date = '2023-04-06') and (Due_Date not in ('2023-04-10','2023-04-11', '2023-04-12'))) or ((Discount > 10) and (Requisition_No is null)))" } |
This query selects the PO_Number, PO_Date, Status, and Discount from the Purchase_Orders module where the PO_Date is equal to '2023-04-06' and Due_Date is not any of '2023-04-10', '2023-04-11', or '2023-04-12'; OR Discount is greater than 10 and Requisition_No is null. In this query, we have used both AND and OR operators to combine the clauses.
Sample Response
{ "data": [ { "Status": "Created", "PO_Date": "2022-05-10", "Discount": 9990, "PO_Number": "PO-JL-3876", "id": "4876876000001125176" }, { "Status": "Created", "PO_Date": "2023-04-06", "Discount": 370.37, "PO_Number": "PO-DA-1932", "id": "4876876000003561019" } ], "info": { "count": 2, "more_records": false } } |
We hope you found this post useful and that it has given you a better understanding of COQL queries. In our next post, we will discuss the rest of the field types, aggregate functions with more examples, and provide more queries to help you get started.
If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in the comments below, or write to us at support@zohocrm.com. We would love to hear from you!
Additionally, if you have any questions about the COQL API or how to construct a query, kindly let us know in the comments.
Additional Reading:
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
DataWarehouse
dkvagency
Jeganprabhu S
Anamika Prasanth
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes areKaizen #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 the
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
Items Below Reorder Point Report?
Is there a way to run a report of Items that are below the Reorder Point? I don't see this as a specific report, nor can I figure out how to customize any of the other stock reports to give me this information. Please tell me I'm missing something sQwen as the default open source Generative AI model for Zia
Hello everyone, Zia Generative AI is transitioning from Llama (8B parameters) to Qwen (30B parameters) as the default model. This means that users who were using Llama as a GenAI service will now use Qwen. This upgrade was made with a vision to enhanceCalendar week view: Today + 6
Is there anyway to have the calendar change dynamically based on the date? Due to the amount of events, we only display a week at a time, but towards the end of the week, we can no longer see ahead to next week (without changing it manually every time).E-Invoicing in Belgium with Zoho Billing
Starting January 1, 2026, Belgium is introducing mandatory electronic invoices (e-invoicing) for all B2B transactions between VAT-registered businesses. Invoices and credits notes must be exchanged in a prescribed digital format. How E-Invoicing worksHow to restrict user/portal user change canvas view
Hi , I would like to restrict user / portal user change their canvas view because I hide some sensitive field for them. I dont want my user switch the canvas view that do not belong to them But seems Zoho do not provide this setting?E-Invoicing in Belgium with Zoho Books
Starting January 1, 2026, Belgium is introducing mandatory electronic invoices (e-invoicing) for all B2B transactions between VAT-registered businesses. This means that invoices and credits notes must be exchanged in a prescribed digital format. How E-InvoicingE-Invoicing in Belgium with Zoho Inventory
Starting January 1, 2026, Belgium is introducing mandatory electronic invoices (e-invoicing) for all B2B transactions between VAT-registered businesses. Invoices and credits notes must be exchanged in a prescribed digital format. How E-Invoicing WorksEnhancement Request for Multi-Asset Work Order Feature
Hello Latha, Thank you for your continued support. The multi-asset Work Order feature is extremely helpful. I did some testing based on our requirements, and during the process, I noticed a few areas where we need your team’s support to improve the featureCRM 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 filesWhy is Zoho Meeting quality so poor?
I've just moved from Office 365 to Zoho Workplace and have been generally really positive about the new platform -- nicely integrated, nice GUI, good and easy-to-understand control and customisation, and at a reasonable price. However, what is going onWeekly Tips : Make collaboration effortless with Whiteboard in Zoho Mail
Working with your team often means switching between emails, notes, and other applications just to explain an idea. Maybe you are trying to sketch a layout, plan a workflow, or quickly brainstorm ideas—with text alone, things can get confusing. So howAdd Option to Mass Dispatch by User
Hello! We are using the dispatch console to dispatch service appointments to our service ressources. Right now, the process is our dispatcher verifies each ressource's route for the day and dispatches it after validation. Sadly, there doesn't seem toIntroducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]
Hello Zoho Desk users! We have introduced the parent-child ticketing system to help customer service teams ensure efficient resolution of issues involving multiple, related tickets. You can now combine repetitive and interconnected tickets into parent-childError 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.How to add to Subforms via Zapier with Zoho Writer?
I have the following layout for a Zoho Writer Document. As you can see there is a repeating subform taking in "Items". I am trying to make a Zapier integration with it, and I can see there is 1 field saying: "Items", but it does not specify how I'm supposedContrôles administratifs granulaires : un atout pour la sécurité des e-mails
La moindre erreur dans votre système de messagerie peut coûter très cher à votre entreprise, tant en argent qu’en conformité et en image de marque. Pour beaucoup d’organisations, ce risque est bien réel. Les e-mails véhiculent quotidiennement des informationsInclude the "Added Email ID" to the Filters of a Report
Hi, With a Report and lots of entries, a normal thing is to filter entries by the submitter, but that is not included in the Auto Filter of Reports and you can't add a custom filter to a Report without specifying the actual value. I would like to be ableMarketer's Space: Why mobile optimization deserves a place in your email strategy
Hello Marketers, Welcome back to Marketer's Space! Today, we'll talk about the importance of creating mobile-friendly email designs. While mobile phones were once used only to make phone calls, today they're used for almost everything, including texting,Collections Management: #6 Realign Customers who gets back In-Term
Arun stared at the subscription list on his dashboard. Another account had just been moved to Cancelled status after completing the whole dunning process. Nothing unusual, just that payment failures happen, retries fail, and cancellation is the expectedZoho Mail IP Blacklist
I need problems with send mails: Error: junk mail rejected - sender4-op-o10.zoho.com 136.143.188.10, is in RBL. Spamcop. Please remove FQDN for blacklist. Regards.I can receive but not send emails
Hello, I've been not able to send emails for almost a year now. I been using alternate email to do this. I want to know how to fix this so I can use my zoho account normally again.Setting checkbox value on template in Sign from Creator
Good day, Please help me understand how do I set a tick from a checkbox in Creator into a checkbox on a Sign template. Below is the only values on the Sign template and the code from Creator, "field_boolean_data": {}, "field_date_data": {}, "field_radio_data":The challenge of 24/7 connectivity: Being present and meeting customer expectations
Before television entered our homes, radio was our window to the world. We had to tune carefully to catch voices from distant places. When television arrived, the world began to grow smaller. We can watch rocket launches, see the goal that wins our favoriteHow to download all attachments from inbox, send, other folders in one go
Hi All, Appreciate if anyone could help me with steps for below requirement. How to download all attachments from inbox, send, other folders in one go. Even mapping to new folder will help me. Thanks in advance.Recruit paid support?
Hi all, Could anyone who has paid support package advise if it provides value for money with regards to support response times? Exploring the idea as unfortunately when we have faced issues with Recruit it has been a 7+ day timescale from reporting toCannot connect mail accounts to Thunderbird
Hi Support - I'm attempting to add my mail accounts to Thunderbird but I'm getting an unable to login to server error. I tried to use the password associated with my account I received the unable to login error. So I went into Zoho Accounts and generateAlias Email Id already exists
Hi, I just verified my domain sesque (dot) com and now I am trying to create the admin account using admin (at) sesque (dot) com, but I am getting an error saying "Alias Email Id already exists". I used to have another Zoho account with this email address,Unable to connect to smtp server, connection timed out
Hi Team, I am facing below issue, while sending out emails from thunderbird client. It used to work, facing this issue from morning. Error: Sending of the message failed. The message could not be sent because the connection to Outgoing server (SMTP) smtp.zoho.comjavax.mail.authenticationfailedexception 535 authentication failed
Hi, I am facing 535 authentication failed error when trying to send email from zoho desktop as well as in webmail. Can you suggest to fix this issue,. Regards, RekhaIssue with Creator's IF logic
Hi, I found the following code produces unexpected results: if(-1.0 < 0.0000000) { info "True"; } else { info "False"; } if(-1.0 < 0.000000) { info "True"; } else { info "False"; } The output returned is: False True However, theKaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.Client Portal ZOHO ONE
Dear Zoho one is fantastic option for companies but it seems to me that it is still an aggregation of aps let me explain I have zoho books with client portal so client access their invoice then I have zoho project with client portal so they can access their project but not their invoice without another URL another LOGIN Are you planning in creating a beautiful UI portal for client so we can control access to client in one location to multiple aps at least unify project and invoice aps that wouldZoho Creator customer portal users
Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal. At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3DKIM Verification Failed (Namecheap)
Hi! I have already set up the TXT records in Namecheap but I keep getting the "Verification Failed" pop up. Was wondering if I'm the only one who has this problem and can anyone help me with this? Thanks!Emails stuck in Queue
Hi there, Since yesterday I have a few out going emails stuck in a queue. It say it will auto retry sending however nothing is happening. It seems to be affecting roughly 50% of my outgoing emails. Please help ThanksSoft Bounce from transational emails from BREVO (Sendinblue)
I manage the website of a client who uses your EMAIL service for the domain floranativadobrasil.com. And I use the BREVO email service, previously called SendinBlue, to send transactional emails about events specific to the website. All emails sent toAbility to Edit YouTube Video Title, Description & Thumbnail After Publishing
Hi Zoho Social Team, How are you? We would like to request an enhancement to Zoho Social that enables users to edit YouTube video details after the video has already been published. Your team confirmed that while Zoho Social currently allows editing theIntroducing Multi-Asset Support in Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments
We’re excited to announce a highly requested enhancement in Zoho FSM — you can now associate multiple assets with Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments. This update brings more clarity, flexibility, and control to your field service operations,Getting an error Address not found Your message wasn't delivered
Hey, I'm trying to configure zoho mail for my website https://businessentity.org/ The email is meredith.karter@businessentity.org I'm able to successfully send the mails but when someone sends an email to above mail, this error shoots up: Address notSupport Uploading YouTube Videos Longer Than 60 Minutes
Hi Zoho Social Team, How are you? We would like to request support for uploading YouTube videos longer than 60 minutes directly through Zoho Social. Your support team informed us that Zoho Social currently cannot upload videos over 60 minutes due to “APINext Page