Zoho CRM APIs: The Ultimate Guide

Zoho CRM APIs: The Ultimate Guide

Zoho CRM offers API (Application Programming Interface) that allows you to integrate CRM with third-party applications such as accounting, e-commerce, self-service portals, etc. At the time when you work with the Zoho CRM API, you must ensure that you are using the latest version of the API.

With API versioning, you can create new API endpoints while adding functionality to them which also makes sure that the API is easily accessible to all the third-party applications and integrations for continuous usage.

Zoho CRM’s API allows you to fetch important CRM data from the Zoho CRM account. You can get your records, add them or remove them, search and even update your records. The Zoho CRM comes with many modules including contacts, potentials, campaigns, tasks, events, cases, solutions, price books, vendors, purchase orders, sales orders, invoices, etc.

Zoho CRM Rest APIs:

Zoho CRM comes with standard modules including Accounts, Leads, Deals, Forecasts, Activities, Contacts, and so on. With the use of Zoho CRM Rest API, you can easily retrieve the list of all the available modules from the Get List of Modules API.
  1. You can easily refer to the API in the JSON data at the time you access the resource. Each field, module, and related list is going to have an API name which you can use easily in the third-party integrations. For instance, if you wish to access the module titled Leads then you can use “Leads” which can be the api_name each time you access the resource. The Zoho CRM can easily generate API names while also creating custom modules, custom fields, and related list labels. You cannot change the API Names for any default modules including fields and related lists. Instead, you can easily change API names for custom modules, related lists, and fields.
  2. The formed API name only contains numbers, alphabets, and even underscores. The API name must start with an alphabet and must not have two consecutive underscores or end with an underscore.
  3. You must refer to Response Structure for details about JSON keys, descriptions, and values of the available modules. You can use the sample response of every module as the input when you insert, update, and upsert a record in the corresponding module.

Bulk Read API:

The Bulk Read API enables you to fetch a large set of data. The API is extremely useful when you need to export a large amount of data or even take a backup of data without creating a big impact on the API limits.

This is usually an asynchronous API which means that the response to the request is not usually available instantly. You are going to be notified of the callback URL whenever the data is ready to be downloaded and you can also choose the job status periodically.

  1. The first step is to create a POST API call by providing the module, a list of fields to be exported along with criteria that can be used for filtering records. This will help in creating an asynchronous job and it will also return a unique identifier which can be the reference of a request.
  2. In case you need the system to notify you automatically on the job completion then you can also offer the callback URL when you create a bulk read job. Otherwise, you can also choose to check the status of this job at periodic intervals by using a GET API call using the Job ID.
  3. After the job is completed, the download_url can be available in the result attribute of the response of API. You can also download the result of the job by calling download_url. This is how a zip file will get downloaded which will also contain the CSV or ICS file in it.

Notification API:

The notification APIs enable you to get instant notifications anytime an action is performed on the module records. The system easily notifies you about the event on the URL that is provided. It is also easy to allow notifications on the basis of operations such as create, update, and delete.

For instance, let us think that a user wishes to get notified about the create operation that can be performed on a specific module. Anytime a contact gets created in the Zoho CRM, the system will be notifying the user to notify the URL.

You can also create a unique ID for each module for ensuring that the notification is coming from a particular channel. This can be done by setting the expiry time for instant notifications for all channels. Moreover, there is also an option to disable the notifications anytime.

The notification APIs enable you to enable notifications, get notification details, update notification details, update specific information of a notification, disable notifications, and also disable specific notifications.

Query API:

Another API used for custom applications is called the CRM Object Query Language which is based on the SQL syntax. It allows the users to write queries for getting records from Zoho CRM and use field API names instead of column names and module API names rather than table names.

This API can be used for filtering and fetching records on the basis of some factors instead of creating custom views and passing the Custom View ID as a parameter in the request. With the use of this API, you can easily retrieve over 200 records.

  1. COQL supports just the SELECT query with some clauses such as WHERE, ORDER, FROM, BY, LIMIT, AND OFFSET.
  2. COQL keywords must not be case-sensitive. SELECT can be the same as select.
  3. The system sorts the record in ascending order on the basis of record ID in case the order is not included in the query.
  4. The default value for LIMIT can be 200 and the OFFSET value can be 0.

Conclusion:

Zoho CRM API allows developers to build custom applications for managing enterprise operations. They offer easy integration of Zoho CRM in almost all platforms that a business uses and you never have to worry about the development or IT challenges stressing your operations.
The developer platform offers low code development along with microservices for professional code for automation, enterprise-wide data integration and the formation of custom web and mobile solutions.
 

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                          Zoho Developer Community






                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts





                                                          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 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

                                                                                                          • Where can I find rejected inbound mails and their reason for rejection

                                                                                                            Hi, I was recently made aware by a mailing list which I am subscribed to (ffmpeg-devel@ffmpeg.org) that my Zoho mail Mail account is rejecting some emails. If I look under Admin Panel > Security & Compliance > Quarantine > Incoming, the list there is
                                                                                                          • Sync more than one Workdrive

                                                                                                            Hello Please I'm facing some difficulties since some days. In my company we have many zoho accounts in different organisations. And I have to find a way to sync all these Workdrives. I spend many hours to search it on zoho Workdrive but no solution. Could someone help me ? Any idea how I can achieve it ? Thanks in advance. Regards
                                                                                                          • Zoho writer unable to merge documents to PDF with basic fonts in Hebrew or fonts from my computer

                                                                                                            I created several forms that will be merged into PDF files through Zoho Writer and I am unable to receive the PDF in the basic fonts of the Hebrew language or in the fonts I have on my computer. The writer exports to PDF an exchange font that looks very
                                                                                                          • Base Currency Adjustment Reversal

                                                                                                            Two questions surrounding the base currency adjustments (BCA). I recently ported over from QB so I need to enter the base currency adjustments. In QB, it will calculate the BCA for you at the end of the year and then reverse it at the top of the following year. Makes sense. Does Zohobooks not do this as well? I created a BCA for Dec 31, 2016 but no reversing entry was made Jan 1, 2017. Am I supposed to manually do a reversal? I'm not even allowed to post journals directly to the 'exchange gain loss'
                                                                                                          • Please implement UAE Central Bank FX rates

                                                                                                            Hello, as I understand from your knowledge base, any UAE business account created from September 15, 2018 does not have foreign exchange rates fetched automatically. This is a serious inconvenience and I am not sure why ZOHO has not looked into the ways
                                                                                                          • Search Records returning different values than actually present

                                                                                                            Hey! I have this following line in my deluge script: accountSearch = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Accounts","(RS_Enroll_ID:equals:" + rsid + ")",1,200,{"cvid":864868001088693817}); info "Account search size: " + accountSearch.size(); listOfAccounts = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Accounts","(RS_Enroll_ID:equals:"
                                                                                                          • Super Admin Access to All Courses and Spaces in Zoho Learn

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Learn Team, We hope this message finds you well. We are using Zoho Learn extensively for internal and agent training. While managing our courses and spaces, we encountered a significant limitation regarding admin access and course management.
                                                                                                          • Print checks for owner's draw

                                                                                                            Hi.  Can I use Zoho check printing for draws to Owner's Equity?  This may be a specific case of the missing Pay expenses via Check feature.  If it's not available, are there plans to add this feature?
                                                                                                          • [New Release 2024] Create and embed custom capabilities across CRM with Kiosk Studio, our latest no-code tool

                                                                                                            [Update | New series] We've started publishing a series of posts on Kiosk Studio. It's called Kiosk Studio Sessions and you can check out the first one here! [Update | 15 Oct} Session #2 is live! This one will look at how to create a kiosk for your call
                                                                                                          • Revenue Management: #10 Common Mistakes while Recognizing Revenue

                                                                                                            We are at the end of the series on Revenue Management, covering how different businesses recognise revenue. Even with clear standards like ASC 606 and IFRS 15 in practice, businesses often struggle with the nuances of revenue recognition. Especially growing
                                                                                                          • Windows Desktop App - request to add minimization/startup options

                                                                                                            Support Team, Can you submit the following request to your development team? Here is what would be optimal in my opinion from UX perspective: 1) In the "Application Menu", add a menu item to Exit the app, as well as an alt-key shortcut for these menus
                                                                                                          • integarting attachments from crm to creator

                                                                                                            when i tried to integrate pdf attachments from crm to creator via deluge i am getting this error {"code":2945,"description":"UPLOAD_RULE_NOT_CONFIGURED"} the code i used is attachments = zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords("Attachments","Sales_Orders",203489100020279XXX8);
                                                                                                          • Search Option

                                                                                                            🚫 Current Limitation: As of now (September 2025), Zoho FSM lacks a global search functionality, which makes it difficult to quickly: Find specific Work Orders by number or keyword Search for customer records or contact info Locate assets, jobs, or service
                                                                                                          • Mobile Chat Window - Full Screen

                                                                                                            Hello, The mobile chat window takes up the full screen, which is highly confusing for most customers! Using a desktop machine, I see the same happens when reducing the browser width to 800px or below. This suggests that it responsive web design, causing the switch to full screen. Can we fix this very annoying behaviour ourselves using a custom css file? If so, can you please let me know how? Thanks
                                                                                                          • Is it possible to customize ZC Themes?

                                                                                                            I understand you can choose a layout and customize Brand Color, App Header, Menu, and Sub-Menu components, but can you override some of the default theme settings with CSS or a config file? For example, - Table highlight color - Listview auto filter highlight
                                                                                                          • Is it possible to create Custom function-based Lookup field in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                            Is it possible to create a custom function-based lookup field in Zoho CRM? If so, how? Use case: Need to fetch users from Zoho Projects into a dropdown field in Zoho CRM.
                                                                                                          • @mention in comments no notification

                                                                                                            Hi, hope someone can help. When we @mention someone in the comments in Zoho Creator, how is that user notifed as we don't get anything on email or in the app notifications. 
                                                                                                          • Zoho unified inbox

                                                                                                            The new changes have definitely improved things for switching between accounts.  But zoho still desperately needs a unified inbox.  It sucks to have to enter filters and folders for each and every inbox.  This seems like such a simple thing, i wonder why Zoho hasn't done it?
                                                                                                          • Add "Running Balance" column to Account Transaction Reports

                                                                                                            Hello, Currently Zoho Account Transaction Reports give you the opening balance, then lists the transactions, then provides the closing balance.  It would be great if you could add a column on the far right that shows the "Running Balance" on the account after each transaction.  There are many times when analyzing or tie-ing out transactions that this would be very helpful.  I currently have to frequently run a tape on my adding machine to get balance totals after a specific transaction on the list.
                                                                                                          • Unified customer portal login

                                                                                                            As I'm a Zoho One subscriber I can provide my customers with portal access to many of the Zoho apps. However, the customer must have a separate login for each app, which may be difficult for them to manage and frustrating as all they understand is that
                                                                                                          • WhatsApp Channels in Zoho Campaigns

                                                                                                            Now that Meta has opened WhatsApp Channels globally, will you add it to Zoho Campaigns? It's another top channel for marketing communications as email and SMS. Thanks.
                                                                                                          • error : Object code : 6500

                                                                                                            b3 = map(); b3.put("name", "Test Project Name"); updateprojects2 = invokeurl [ url :"https://projectsapi.zoho.eu/restapi/portal/era0130/projects/169495000000928007/" type :PUT parameters: b3 connection:"in2" ]; info b3 ; info updateprojects2; ------------
                                                                                                          • How to book GST paid in zoho books

                                                                                                            hi, i am a new user to Zoho books and not able to book GST paid in books, kindly suggest how i can book it in books. thanks, siddharth
                                                                                                          • I got unknown charge from Zoho

                                                                                                            Good day, I need help disputing a charge I don't know from, zoho. I have ZohoMail and ZeptoMail. I purchase credits for ZeptoMail, and for ZohoMail I am not subcribed.
                                                                                                          • Function 56: Automatically enable the option for customers to pay via bank account

                                                                                                            Hello everyone and welcome back to our series! One of the key features of Zoho Books is its integration with multiple payment gateways, allowing you to receive online payments for your invoices. This ensures faster payments, automates payment tracking
                                                                                                          • Attach Files to Your Notecards and share them on the go!

                                                                                                            Hey everyone! We’re excited to share a feature many of you have been asking for — you can now attach files directly to your text notecards and share with ease! 🙌 This update was built with your feedback in mind, especially for those who wanted a simple
                                                                                                          • Workdrive on Android - Gallery Photo Backups

                                                                                                            Hello, Is there any way of backing up the photos on my android phone directly to a specific folder on Workdrive? Assuming i have the workdrive app installed on the phone in question. Emma
                                                                                                          • How to add a % Growth column for year-over-year comparison (2024 vs 2025)

                                                                                                            Hello, I am trying to build a monthly revenue comparison between 2024 and 2025 in Zoho CRM Analytics. My current setup is: Module: Deals (Affaires) Filter: Stage = Closed Won Date field: Closing Date Grouping: By Month Metrics: Sum of Amount for 2024,
                                                                                                          • How to searchByCriteria records that are under approval?

                                                                                                            I need to search for both approved and pending approval records Is that possible with this method? Or I need to a different method? var priceReqID = $Page.record_id; log(priceReqID); var records = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Price_List_Item.searchByCriteria("Price_Request:equals:"
                                                                                                          • How to add Simple Analytics to Zoho Pages?

                                                                                                            I have a website with Zoho Pages, how do I add Simple Analytics on it? They seem to have code they need to be embedded https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/script
                                                                                                          • Cant seem to delete an email account

                                                                                                            Hello, I have researching for 4 days how to delete an email account and I am absolutely without a clue. The email account I am trying to delete is support<AT>fyshoes<dot>com. It's the first email account I made and it (is???) was associated with the super user (me). I have since changed it to adming<AT>fychoes<dot>com and I see the support email in my list but I just cant seem to get rid of it. Ultimately I want to associate that email account with another user that I want to add. This is really
                                                                                                          • Import data into Multi-Select lookup field from CSV/Excel

                                                                                                            How to import data into a multi-select lookup field from the CSV/Excel Sheet? Let's say I have an Accounts multi-select lookup field in the Deals module and I want to import the Deals with Accounts field. Steps:- 1. Create/edit a multi-select lookup field
                                                                                                          • Script that deletes a record?

                                                                                                            We're using WP Plugin "Integration for WooCommerce and Zoho Pro", and have created a couple of Feeds to send data to Zoho. We are trying to create Contact records, but only based upon condition. Tried to make it with small Deluge function and Workflow,
                                                                                                          • A formula that capitalises the first letter of each word

                                                                                                            Hi all, is there a zoho formula that can capitalise the first letter of each word in a string? INITCAP only capitalises the first letter of the first word.
                                                                                                          • Quotes in Commerce?

                                                                                                            In Zoho Ecommerce, I need to be able to generate quotes, negotiate with customers, and then generate invoices. Currently, I plan to integrate Zoho CRM to generate quotes. After negotiation and confirmation, I will push the details to Zoho Ecommerce to
                                                                                                          • Zoho Commerce - Mobile Application

                                                                                                            Does Zoho Commerce have a mobile application for customers to place an order?
                                                                                                          • Register user through Phone Number by Generating OTP

                                                                                                            In zoho commerce , I am developing website on online food store Inilialy the user get verification code to their email for registering there account for login. But I need to login using phone number by generating OTP automatically rather than verification
                                                                                                          • Unable to change sales_order status form "not_invoiced" to "invoiced"

                                                                                                            I am automating process of creating of invoice from sales_orders by consolidated sales_orders of each customer and creating a single invoice per customer every month. I am doing this in workflow schedule custom function where i create invoice by getting
                                                                                                          • Custom Buttons for Mass Actions

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, We’ve just made Custom Buttons in Zoho Recruit even more powerful! You can now create Bulk Action Buttons that let you perform actions on multiple records at once, directly from the List View. What’s new? Until now, custom buttons were
                                                                                                          • Zoho Vault Passwords

                                                                                                            Is there a way to consume Zoho Vault Manager passwords using the API? Thanks in advance.
                                                                                                          • Next Page