Kaizen #94 - PHP SDK V4 - Configuration and Initialization

Kaizen #94 - PHP SDK V4 - Configuration and Initialization

Hello and welcome to another Kaizen week!

In previous Kaizen posts, we have covered in detail how to configure and initialize PHP SDKs for Zoho CRM v2.1 APIs. We have since released SDKs for v4 and v5 APIs. However, starting from v4, there are some changes in the configuration and initialization process.  In this post, we will discuss you how to configure and initialize PHP SDK v4 and v5.

The PHP Software Development Kit (SDK) simplifies the integration of client PHP applications with Zoho CRM. Acting as a wrapper for the REST APIs, it streamlines the usage of Zoho CRM services. 

Before proceeding with the configuration, make that your client application meets the prerequisites. This includes having PHP 7 or above installed, along with the cURL extension, which is necessary for connecting and communicating with Zoho CRM APIs.

I. Register your application with Zoho CRM

Registering your application with Zoho CRM is a mandatory step in order to authenticate and authorize API calls using the OAuth2.0 standards.
  1. Go to https://api-console.zoho.com
  2. Click on Get Started or +ADD CLIENT.
  3. Choose the Client Type as Self-Client or Server based Applications depending on your application.
  4. Fill in the necessary details and click CREATE. Once you successfully register your self-client, you will receive a Client ID and Client Secret.

II. Installing the PHP SDK 

  1. If not already installed, follow the instructions provided at the corresponding link to install Composer.

     Mac/Linux
     curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php (terminal command)
     Windows https://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md#installation-windows

  2. Install PHP-SDK using Composer
    1. Navigate to the workspace of your client app.
    2. Run the following command in the workspace. Upon successful installation, the system will create a package named vendor in the workspace of your client app. 
       
      composer require zohocrm/php-sdk-4.0 (for v4 APIs)
       composer require zohocrm/php-sdk-5.0 (for v5 APIs)
  3. To use the SDK in your project, add the following line in your project PHP files. This loads and includes our PHP-SDK library in your project. If you skip this step, you will get a fatal error in response due to the missing libraries.
     require 'vendor/autoload.php';

III. Token Persistence

Token persistence refers to storing and utilizing authentication tokens provided by Zoho, enabling the SDK to refresh the access tokens without user intervention. The SDK offers three types of persistence - File, DB, and Custom - with file persistence being the default method. 
The persistence is achieved by writing an implementation of the inbuilt TokenStore interface, which has the following callback methods. 

 Methods Description
 findToken(Token $token) Invoked before firing a request to fetch the saved tokens. This method returns an implementation of Token interface object for the library to process it.
 saveToken(Token $token) Invoked after fetching access and refresh tokens from Zoho. This method saves the token details.
 deleteToken($id) This method is used to delete the given token details.
 getTokens() The method is used to retrieve all the stored tokens.
 deleteTokens()  The method to delete all the stored tokens.
 findTokenById($id)  This method is used to retrieve the user token details based on the unique ID.

Here, $token is an instance of the Token interface.

Token Persistence using a Database

In Database persistence, tokens are stored and retrieved from a database (e.g., MySQL).
Create a table in your database with the following required columns. For example, if you want to persist your tokens in a table named token in database named zoho, use this:
 
 CREATE DATABASE zoho; // use this to create database named zoho
// use this to create a table named token, with the following necessary columns
CREATE TABLE token ( 
  id varchar(10) NOT NULL,
  user_name varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  client_id varchar(255),
  client_secret varchar(255),
  refresh_token varchar(255),
  access_token varchar(255),
  grant_token varchar(255),
  expiry_time varchar(20),
  redirect_url varchar(255),
  primary key (id)
);

Note that the columns are different for API v2.1. Please refer to this post for more details. . 

File Persistence

File Persistence allows storing and retrieving the authentication tokens from the given file path. The file contains id, user_name, client_id, client_secret, refresh_token, access_token, grant_token, expiry_time and redirect_url. 

Custom Persistence

Custom Persistence refers to a technique where users can create their own method of storing and retrieving authentication tokens. To use this method, users need to implement the TokenStore interface and override its methods according to their own logic.

IV. Configuration

The configuration step involves setting up various details in the SDK, such as user authentication, token persistence, logging, API call timeout settings, and more. The following keys are defined during this process:
  1. environment (mandatory): The API environment which decides the domain and the URL to make API calls, in Domain::Environment pattern.
    Domains : USDataCenter, EUDataCenter, INDataCenter, CNDataCenter, AUDataCenter
    Environments : PRODUCTION(), DEVELOPER(), SANDBOX()
  2. Token (mandatory): This key contains the user token details. Create an instance of OAuthToken with the information that you get after registering your Zoho client.  Depending on the available tokens, you can select one of the following flows:
    Note : You need to generate the tokens (grant/access/refresh) beforehand to use them in the respective flows.
    a) grantToken flow - You should use the grant Token for configuration.
     $token = (new OAuthBuilder())
      ->clientId("clientId")
      ->clientSecret("clientSecret")
      ->userSignature($user) //optional
      ->grantToken("grantToken")
      ->redirectURL("redirectURL") //optional
      ->build();

    b) refreshToken flow - Utilize the refresh token in this flow.
    $token = (new OAuthBuilder())
      ->clientId("clientId")
      ->clientSecret("clientSecret")
    ->userSignature($user) //optional
      ->refreshToken("refreshToken")
      ->build();

    c) accessToken flow - You can use the access token to configure in this flow. Please note that the token will not be persisted in this case, and the access token will be directly used to make the API calls.
    $token = (new OAuthBuilder())
       ->userSignature($user) //optional
       ->accessToken("accessToken")
       ->build(); 

    d) id flow - You can use the id from the persisted token file/DB to make API calls. The id is a unique system generated value for each token details entry in the file/DB.
    $token = (new OAuthBuilder())
       ->id("id")
       ->build();

  3. logger (optional) : Create an instance of Logger Class to log exception and API information. You can set the level you want to log (FATAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE, ALL, OFF), and also configure the file path and file name for the log file. The default level is OFF.

    $logger = (new LogBuilder())
      ->level(Levels::INFO)
      ->filePath("/Documents/php_sdk_log.log")
      ->build();

  4. store (optional) : Configure your token persistence using this method. If this is skipped, the SDK creates the sdk_tokens.txt in the current working directory to persist the tokens by default. For more details, refer here.
  5. SDKConfig (optional) : The additional SDK configurations are taken care of with this method. 
     Configuration Key
    Description
     autoRefreshFields
     Default Value : False
    A boolean configuration key to enable or disable automatic refreshing of module fields in the background. If set to true, fields are refreshed every hour, and if set to false, fields must be manually refreshed or deleted.
     pickListValidation
     Default Value : True
    This field enables or disables pick list validation. If enabled, user input for pick list fields is validated, and if the value does not exist in the pick list, the SDK throws an error. If disabled, the input is not validated and the API call is made.
     enableSSLVerification
     Default Value : True
    A boolean field to enable or disable curl certificate verification. If set to true, the SDK verifies the authenticity of certificate. If set to false, the SDK skips the verification.
     connectionTimeout
     Default Value : 0
    The maximum time (in seconds) to wait while trying to connect. Use 0 to wait indefinitely.
     timeout
     Default Value : 0
    The maximum time (in seconds) to allow cURL functions to execute. Use 0 to wait indefinitely.

  6. requestProxy (optional) : Contains the proxy properties of the user. Configure this only if you're using a proxy server to make the API calls.
    $requestProxy = (new ProxyBuilder())
     ->host("proxyHost")
     ->port("proxyPort")
     ->user("proxyUser")
     ->password("password")
     ->build();

  7. resourcePath (optional) : Configure the absolute directory path to store user specific files containing module fields information. If skipped, the files will be stored in the project directory itself.

V. Initilization

After completing the configuration, you can proceed with initializing the SDK, and begin making API requests.

Here is a sample code to initialize the SDK, using refresh token flow and DB Persistence. 
 <?php
  use com\zoho\api\authenticator\OAuthBuilder;
  use com\zoho\api\authenticator\store\DBBuilder;
  use com\zoho\crm\api\InitializeBuilder;
  use com\zoho\crm\api\UserSignature;
  use com\zoho\crm\api\dc\USDataCenter;
  use com\zoho\api\logger\LogBuilder;
  use com\zoho\api\logger\Levels;
  use com\zoho\crm\api\SDKConfigBuilder;
  use com\zoho\crm\api\ProxyBuilder;

  require_once "vendor/autoload.php";

  class Initialize
  {
    public static function initializeSDK()
    {
      $user = new UserSignature("patricia@zoho.com");
      $environment = USDataCenter::PRODUCTION();
      $token = (new OAuthBuilder())
        ->clientId("1000.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx")
        ->clientSecret("554a9xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx")
->userSignature($user) //optional
        ->refreshToken("1000.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx") 
        ->redirectURL("www.zoho.com") //optional
        ->build();
     $logger = (new LogBuilder())
       ->level(Levels::INFO)
       ->filePath("/Documents/php_sdk_log.log")
       ->build();
     $tokenstore = (new DBBuilder())
       ->host("insert_your_hostname_here")
       ->databaseName("insert_your_database_name_here")
       ->userName("insert_your_db_username_here")
       ->password("insert_your_db_password_here")
       ->portNumber("insert_your_portnumber_here")
       ->tableName("insert_your_table_name_here")
       ->build();
     $autoRefreshFields = false;
     $pickListValidation = false;
     $connectionTimeout = 2;
     $timeout = 2;
     $enableSSLVerification = false;
     $configInstance = (new SDKConfigBuilder())
       ->autoRefreshFields($autoRefreshFields)
       ->pickListValidation($pickListValidation)
       ->sslVerification($enableSSLVerification)
       ->connectionTimeout($connectionTimeout)
       ->timeout($timeout)
       ->build();
     $resourcePath = "/Documents/phpsdk-application";
     $requestProxy = (new ProxyBuilder())
       ->host("proxyHost")
       ->port("proxyPort")
       ->user("proxyUser")
       ->password("password")
       ->build();
    (new InitializeBuilder())
      ->environment($environment)
      ->token($token)
      ->store($tokenstore) //optional
      ->SDKConfig($configInstance) //optional
      ->resourcePath($resourcePath) //optional
      ->logger($logger) //optional
      ->requestProxy($requestProxy) //optional
      ->initialize();
   }
 }

Initialize::initializeSDK();
?>

You are now set to use the PHP SDK and make API calls. 

If you have any queries, let us know the comments below, or send an email to support@zohocrm.com. We would love to hear from you!

Cheers!




    Access your files securely from anywhere

        All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.






                              Zoho Developer Community




                                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                    • Digest


                                                    • Functions


                                                    • Meetups


                                                    • Kbase


                                                    • Resources


                                                    • Glossary


                                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                                    • MVP Corner


                                                    • Word of the Day


                                                    • Ask the Experts



                                                              • Sticky Posts

                                                              • 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.
                                                              • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this
                                                              • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how
                                                              • 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 are


                                                              Manage your brands on social media



                                                                    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

                                                                                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                          CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                        • Kaizen

                                                                                          Kaizen

                                                                                        • Functions

                                                                                          Functions

                                                                                        • Meetups

                                                                                          Meetups

                                                                                        • Kbase

                                                                                          Kbase

                                                                                        • Resources

                                                                                          Resources

                                                                                        • Digest

                                                                                          Digest

                                                                                        • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                          CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        • MVP Corner

                                                                                          MVP Corner







                                                                                            Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                            Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                            Get Started Now


                                                                                              Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                                Zoho Writer

                                                                                                Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                                Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                  Zoho CRM コンテンツ




                                                                                                    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                        ご検討中の方




                                                                                                                • Recent Topics

                                                                                                                • Powering Customer Support with our women

                                                                                                                  In Zoho Desk support, women make up 50% of our team. We see this as one of our strengths, reflecting the spirit of this year’s theme, "Give to Gain". Our women find their balance Women carry many responsibilities — they represent frontline support, lead
                                                                                                                • Function #25: Automatically generate purchase orders from a sales order

                                                                                                                  We kicked off the "Function Fridays" series with the goal of helping you automate your everyday accounting tasks. As we delve into today's post, I'm delighted to announce that we're here to present the 25th custom function in this series. While it is
                                                                                                                • Looking for Guidance on Building a Zoho Website

                                                                                                                  I'm exploring the possibility of building a custom website with specific features using Zoho as an alternative platform. My goal is to create something similar to https://gtasandresapk.com , with the same kind of functionality and user experience. I'd
                                                                                                                • Auto-publish job openings on my Zoho Recruit Careers Website

                                                                                                                  I have developed a script using the Zoho Recruit API that successfully inserts new jobOpening records to my Zoho Recruit website, but my goal is to auto-publish to the Careers Website. The jobOpening field data shows two possible candidates to make this
                                                                                                                • ZOHO Reports are taking longer time to get refresh

                                                                                                                  Hi Team, Since last few days, I'm facing issues in getting updated reports. For eg: right after making an expense entry or even posting a journal, it is taking longer then expected for the updated reports. Refer below: "You are viewing the report that
                                                                                                                • Sales IQ chat is not working in signed android apk

                                                                                                                  I have integrated ZOHO sales IQ support chat and i have followed each step and its working fine in my development build but when i create signed APK for it. Chat does not work in it and showing awaiting for detail. I previously asked the same query but
                                                                                                                • How to add line breaks in zoho.cliq.postToUser(...) message?

                                                                                                                  In a CRM function using Deluge I'm sending this message and attempting to add some line breaks but they are ignored. Is there another way to add these breaks? My message: message: New urgent task\nDescription \nThis is a fake description.\n A new line?
                                                                                                                • Enable Free External Collaboration on Notecards in Zoho Notebook

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho Notebook Team, I would like to suggest a feature enhancement regarding external collaboration in Zoho Notebook. Currently, we can share notes with external users, and they are able to view the content without any issue. However, when these external
                                                                                                                • Problem with CRM Connection not Refreshing Token

                                                                                                                  I've setup a connection with Zoom in the CRM. I'm using this connection to automate some registrations, so my team doesn't have to manually create them in both the CRM and Zoom. Connection works great in my function until the token expires. It does not refresh and I have to manually revoke the connection and connect it again. I've chatted with Zoho about this and after emailing me that it couldn't be done I asked for specifics on why and they responded. "The connection is CRM is not a feature to
                                                                                                                • Update Existing Records greyed out in Free Version

                                                                                                                  Trying to update records from an Excel sheet, and not getting the option to update. Only option is to add as new accounts. All documentation I can see says update should be an option! Accounts, Leads, Contacts, all the same.
                                                                                                                • In Lesson Video

                                                                                                                  Can anyone help me with this? I'm not sure what happened. It suddenly became like that. I tried to reupload. I tried create a new lesson. Still the same. Please help!
                                                                                                                • emailing estimates

                                                                                                                  Shows up in the customer mail logs as sent but nobody is receiving them, even when I send them to myself I don't get them ??? Something wrong with the mail server or my end ?
                                                                                                                • Help with deluge script

                                                                                                                  Hi Community, this is my first Deluge script. I've pieced it together from reading various articles I want to use it in a workflow to 1 Convert a lead to a contact 2. Create a record in a custom module Below is what I have got so far but it does not fire
                                                                                                                • How to use OR when filtering using two fields

                                                                                                                  I want to create return a list of Account Names by filtering on Field1 = "yes" OR Field 2 = "no" I can't see how to use the OR in the filter.
                                                                                                                • Mobile phone version not working well

                                                                                                                  I am working on the Zoho Site Builder. In the preview the desktop version looks okay, but in the mobile phone preview many words are cut off in the weirdest (wrong) way. How can I fix that?
                                                                                                                • Zoho - Please explain difference between Thread view and Conversation view on Ticket

                                                                                                                  I have reviewed the help document here but am still not clear on the difference between the two views. As an example, I just had a back and forth on a ticket: - Customer emails support email. - I email back from Desk. - Customer responds back. - I email back from Desk. On the upper left drop down box on the ticket Zoho Desk now says this is "4 Threads" and "4 Conversations" . How is that 4 threads?? By my count it is 1 thread and 4 conversations (assuming by "conversation" Zoho means number of total
                                                                                                                • I need help to take Reports for tickets moved between departments.

                                                                                                                  Hi, I need help to take Reports for tickets moved between different departments. Pls guide Shyam
                                                                                                                • Export 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 stores
                                                                                                                • Increase Round Robin Scheduler Frequency in Zoho Desk

                                                                                                                  Dear Zoho Desk Team, We hope this message finds you well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Round Robin Scheduler in Zoho Desk to better address ticket assignment efficiency. Current Behavior At present, the Round Robin Scheduler operates
                                                                                                                • Automation #6 - Prevent Re-opening of Closed Tickets

                                                                                                                  This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Typically when a customer submits
                                                                                                                • Zoho Desk EU slow/unresponsive

                                                                                                                  Has anyone else got issues with ZohoDesk today in the EU? It takes an age to come back and if you do start typing something and try and send or save it looks like it times out. We are also getting this pic. ot I can't see anything on https://status.zoho.eu/
                                                                                                                • EU DC Partial Outage Resolved: A Detailed RCA

                                                                                                                  Incident Summary Due to an overload on one of the nodes in the EU DC for Zoho Desk, the system was unable to handle the heavy load, causing a slowdown in requests and resulting in a partial outage for customers with data residing in that node. On May
                                                                                                                • Perfomance Management - Zoho People

                                                                                                                  Hi team, I am looking for performance management data such as KRA, goals, feedback, appraisals, etc., in Zoho Analytics. However, I am unable to find these metrics while editing the setup. Could you please confirm whether these fields are available in
                                                                                                                • Deprecation of the Zoho OAuth connector

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone, At Zoho, we continuously evaluate our integrations to ensure they meet the highest standards of security, reliability, and compliance. As part of these ongoing efforts, we've made the decision to deprecate the Zoho OAuth default connector
                                                                                                                • Zoho Mail iOS app update: Display recipient's nickname on contact suggestion

                                                                                                                  Hello everyone! In the most recent version(v3.3.1) of the Zoho Mail iOS app update we have brought in support to display recipient's nickname in contacts suggestion. Please update the app to the latest version directly from the App Store or using the
                                                                                                                • Digest Février - Un résumé de ce qui s'est passé le mois dernier sur Community

                                                                                                                  Bonjour chers utilisateurs, Le 26 février, nous avons organisé notre première session Ask the Expert de 2026. Nous sommes heureux de partager que ce fut une session très interactive, avec de nombreuses questions intéressantes posées par nos clients. Si
                                                                                                                • Zoho CRM Case Notes - Share to Customer

                                                                                                                  Hi team does anyone know the Api to set a note, against a case, to shared with customer? i cant seem to find it  cheers 
                                                                                                                • Synching changes to Stripe when changes are made in Zoho Billing

                                                                                                                  We have a situation where we have merged customers in Zoho BIlling and then found out later that the payment in Stripe was not updated and still associated with the old customer record. The card gets updated and billed, but that payment is still associated
                                                                                                                • Send out follow-up email in the same thread (threaded conversations in individual emails) from Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                  Hi, I'm new to Zoho. I'm trying to send individual emails to my leads one by one. And I'll send out follow up email if I don't hear back from them later. However, instead of sending a new email, I want to reply in the same email thread so that the recipients
                                                                                                                • Depositing funds to account

                                                                                                                  Hello, I have been using Quickbooks for many years but am considering moving to Zoho Books so I am currently running through various workflows and am working on the Invoicing aspect. In QB, the process is to create an invoice, receive payment and then
                                                                                                                • web to lead

                                                                                                                  Can anyone help me how to create web to lead from zoho marketing automation
                                                                                                                • Introducing Workqueue: your all-in-one view to manage daily work

                                                                                                                  Hello all, We’re excited to introduce a major productivity boost to your CRM experience: Workqueue, a dynamic, all-in-one workspace that brings every important sales activity, approval, and follow-up right to your fingertips. What is Workqueue? Sales
                                                                                                                • UI issue with Organize Tabs

                                                                                                                  When looking at the organize Tabs window (bellow) you can see that some tabs are grayed out. there is also a "Add Module/Web Tab" button. When looking at this screen it's clear that the grayed out tabs can not be removed from the portal user's screen
                                                                                                                • I created a signup form in Zoho Marketing Automation with the correct field mapping, but the data is not being reflected under Leads in Zoho CRM.

                                                                                                                  web to lead from zoho marketing automation
                                                                                                                • Pasted Images not being embedded in custom mail

                                                                                                                  Hi, I'm making a custom report by email based on commentaries. I have the email ready, all working great except for images that are being pasted in the commentaries. Zoho deals with them as temp images and so it requires authentication to view them, something
                                                                                                                • Kaizen #232 - Building a Ticket Escalation Mechanism from Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                  Howdy, Tech Wizards! Picking up the thread from last week, we will continue our Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk integration. In Kaizen #231 - Embedding Zoho Desk Tickets in Zoho CRM, we built a Related List widget that displays open Zoho Desk tickets within the
                                                                                                                • Inactive License for free account.

                                                                                                                  I recently upgraded my Cliq subscription not my team (on the free version), are unable to login to their accounts. The error message received is Inactive License Looks like you have not been covered under the current free plan of users. Please contact
                                                                                                                • Deluge scripts

                                                                                                                  Why is there not a search function to make it easier to find the script of interest when modifications are required.
                                                                                                                • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

                                                                                                                  Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?
                                                                                                                • Zoho Books (and other Finance Suite Apps) - Clickable Item Name on Invoices and Reports

                                                                                                                  Hi Zoho Books team, It would be really helpful if the Item Name on Reports were clicable to take me to the item. The same on Invoices, often I am looking at an invoice and I want to look at the deails of a product. A link here would be helpful to jump
                                                                                                                • Next Page