Enhancements to Custom Connectors in Zoho Creator

Enhancements to Custom Connectors in Zoho Creator

Hello everyone,

At Zoho Creator, we believe in providing you with the necessary tools to achieve a well connected ecosystem of apps. Our Custom Connectors feature is a testament to this, enabling you to integrate with a wide range of external services beyond those available through built-in connectors.

While our built-in connectors already cover over 500 popular services (with new ones being added regularly), custom connectors take this a step further by allowing you to connect with virtually any third-party service.

To make this powerful feature even more robust and enterprise-ready, we've rolled out a series of enhancements designed to support advanced authentication methods, enable secure cloud integrations, and ensure seamless connectivity with external services. In this post, we'll walk you through the most recent updates:
  • OAuth 2.0 - Client authentication modes
  • AWS Signature authentication 
  • Bearer token authentication
Let's explore each in detail:

OAuth 2.0 - Client authentication modes

Different APIs have varying expectations for how client credentials should be presented during OAuth token exchange. Until now, our OAuth authentication type assumed a single client authentication method, and users faced issues when credentials had to be sent in the authorization header. To address this, we've introduced a new Client Authentication option for custom connectors using OAuth 2.0. This allows you to specify how your client credentials (Client ID and Client secret) are transmitted to the authorization server during the token request process. You can choose from two options:
  • Include in the form data (Default): This method adds your credentials to the form data submitted within the body of the request.
  • Include in the authorization header: This method places your credentials in the request's security header using HTTP basic authentication.
Why this matters
  • Improved compatibility with APIs that enforce strict authentication rules
  • Smoother integrations with enterprise-grade APIs
  • Reduced authentication errors

Example
Assume you want to integrate Zoho Creator with Reddit, a popular social media platform. The Reddit API uses OAuth 2.0 and its documentation explicitly states that client credentials must be sent in the Authorization header using basic authentication.

Now, when configuring your OAuth 2.0 custom connector in Zoho Creator, you can simply select Include in authorization header under the Client Authentication field. This ensures your authentication flow will work as expected, without any custom code or middleware.

AWS Signature authentication

The industry-standard authentication required to securely interact with AWS services is now supported in Zoho Creator. The new AWS Signature 4 authentication type within Custom Connectors enables you to integrate with AWS services without relying on any middleware or authentication workarounds. This unlocks the ability to connect to a wide range of popular AWS services (such as S3, Lambda, DynamoDB, and more) and perform the required actions.

Why this matters
  • Enterprise-grade security for applications that deal with critical workloads or sensitive data
  • Seamless automation of workflows with your existing AWS infrastructure from within Zoho Creator
  • Complies with AWS's Signature Version 4 method, which ensures robust security and maximum compatibility while authenticating requests to AWS services
Example
Consider a setup where your organization generates critical business documents using a Zoho Creator application. You may need to store these documents in their AWS S3 bucket for recordkeeping and auditing purposes.

With the introduction of the new AWS Signature authentication in Custom Connectors, you can easily connect to S3 by providing your AWS credentials and region. Then you can use the invokeURL task to transfer documents from Zoho Creator to your S3 bucket.

This enables seamless and secure integration with AWS, bringing the full power of AWS's cloud capabilities into your Creator apps.

Bearer token authentication

Zoho Creator now supports Bearer token authentication. Many third-party services, like GitHub and Slack, use this authentication type, which is a lightweight method that enables secure API calls without the need for full OAuth. Now you can seamlessly integrate these services into your applications using custom connectors.

Why this matters
  • Eliminates the need for complex setups associated with other authentication types, like OAuth, making it ideal for APIs that use token-based access
  • Enables faster, hassle-free integrations with internal tools, developer platforms, and microservices
Example
Assume your sales team relies on Slack for internal communication. With Bearer token authentication now supported in Zoho Creator, you can establish a custom connector with Slack. Then you call Slack's API using invokeURL to automatically post updates to a channel whenever a new lead is generated.

In essence, this is a simpler, more secure path to connect Creator with modern APIs from GitHub and Notion to your own internal systems.

Help documentation

We've updated our help resources to reflect the recent enhancements to Custom Connectors. For detailed information, please refer to the Understand Connectors page.

Bonus: mTLS in Zoho Creator

While we're on the topic of custom connectors, let's wrap things up with a platform-level security upgrade. For the first time in the Zoho ecosystem, Zoho Creator now supports Mutual Transport Layer Security (mTLS) across all integrations. mTLS is available for both built-in and custom connectors. 

mTLS provides an added layer of security by enabling certificate-based, two-way authentication and ensures that both the client and server verify each other's identity. 

Why this matters
  • Particularly valuable for enterprises operating in zero-trust environments
  • Helps meet compliance requirements, such as HIPAA, ISO 27001, GDPR, and other industry standards
Availability
mTLS is currently available only on demand. Please reach out to our support team if your integrations require mTLS-based authentication.

These powerful enhancements reaffirm Zoho Creator's commitment to helping you build deeply integrated, enterprise-grade business applications—and we'll continue enhancing the platform to support your evolving needs. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!

Till then,
The Zoho Creator Team

    • Sticky Posts

    • Introducing Zoho Creator's 2025 Release Projection 2

      Hello Creators! I'm Prakash, from the Creator product management team, and today I'm delighted to unveil our next set of features as part of Release Projection 2 for 2025. With thoughtful analysis and planning, we've curated powerful new capabilities

    • Zoho Creator - 2023 Release Projection 1

      Hello everyone! A very Happy New Year to you and your family. Hope you're all good and having a great time using Zoho Creator to make your lives easier and your businesses prosper. 2022 was an action-packed year for us at Creator, and we hope to continue

    • Zoho Creator User Group meetups in a city near you! - Oct - Nov, 2023

      Greetings from the Zoho Creator team! We're hosting a series of Zoho Creator meetups in various cities across the globe, and we'd love to meet you there! Our meetups are a great opportunity to network with industry peers, exchange ideas and best practices,

    • Zoho Creator - 2023 Release Projection 2

      Hello everyone! Time truly flies when you're having an incredible journey, and today we mark the completion of an eventful and action-packed six months. It feels like just yesterday when we embarked on this adventure together with the launch of our new

    • Upcoming Updates - August 2022

      Hi all, Greetings from the Zoho Creator team! Today we've got news for you on some exciting updates. And rest assured— there’s more to come! In this post, we'll be going over the upcoming features and improvements for this month as mentioned below. A

      • Recent Topics

      • Email was sent out without our permission

        Hi there, One customer just reached out to us about this email that we were not aware was being sent to our customers. Can you please check on your end?

      • Flexible Partial-Use Coupons (Stored Value Credits)

        Subject: Feature Request: Ability for users to apply partial coupon balances per transaction Problem Statement Currently, our coupons are "one-and-done." If a user has a $50 coupon but only spends $30, they either lose the remaining $20 or are forced

      • Prevent accidental duplicate entry of Customer Ordersome

        Zoho Support has confirmed that Zoho currently does not have any method (using Deluge, flow or any other method) to alert a user when a sales order has been entered twice using the same customer reference number (i.e. a duplicate). Most ERP platforms

      • Customizing Helpcenter texts

        I’m customizing the Zoho Desk Help Center and I’d like to change the wording of the standard widgets – for example, the text in the “Submit Ticket” banner that appears in the footer, or other built-in widget labels and messages. So far, I haven’t found

      • Migrating Brevo Automation Logic to Zoho Campaigns

        Hello Zoho Campaigns Support Team, I am in the process of migrating my email marketing from Brevo to Zoho Campaigns. I have around 10,000 contacts, which I have already successfully exported from Brevo and imported into Zoho Campaigns. I now need guidance

      • Is there a way to delete workspaces?

        I want to remove one of the workspaces in my Campaigns account. I don't see any obvious way to do this. Am I missing something?

      • Boost your Zoho Desk's performance by archiving tickets!

        The longer your help desk operations are, the more likely it is to accumulate tickets that are no longer relevant. For example, ticket records from a year ago are typically less relevant than currently open tickets. Such old tickets may eventually lead

      • Collapsing and expanding of lists and paragraphs

        hello Would you ever implement Collapsing and expanding of lists and paragraphs in zoho writer ? Best regards

      • New Custom View -Sorting the Custom fields

        While creating a New Custom View in invoice , Customers, Bills ,expense etc , the sorting of custom fields are not available , a query function "order by / sort by  " may also be included in  Define new criteria module  which will be more beneficial to

      • Make CAMPAIGNS email look as simple as possible

        Hi there I'm trying to make my Campaigns email look as much like a normal email as possible. I'm a bit stuck with the "justification" of the email email block. Can I LEFT JUSTIFY the "whole email" to make it look "normal"? (Please see screenshot attached)

      • [Webinar] Top 10 Most Used Zoho Analytics Features in 2025

        Zoho Analytics has evolved significantly over the past year. Discover the most widely adopted features in Zoho Analytics in 2025, based on real customer usage patterns, best practices, and high-impact use cases. Learn how leading teams are turning data

      • Sorry! we encountered some problems while sending your campaign. It will be sent automatically once we are ready. We apologize for the delay caused.

        Hello. Lately we are having problems with some campaigns, which show us this error message. Sorry! we encountered some problems while sending your campaign. It will be sent automatically once we are ready. We apologize for the delay caused. We can't find

      • Can I remove or divert certain contacts from an active Campaigns workflow?

        I have created a workflow in Zoho Campaigns, which sends different emails, once contacts have been added to a mailing list. To choose which email to send to the contacts, there are conditions, which divert contacts based on their company type and their company size. There was a subsection of this workflow, where company size wasn't selected correctly, and some contacts have been sent down the wrong path and received the wrong email. The workflow contains a reminder loop and a further series of emails.

      • File Upload field automatically replaces spaces with underscores – support experience

        Hi everyone, I want to share my recent experience regarding the File Upload field behavior in Zoho Creator and my interaction with the Zoho support team. When a user uploads a file, the system automatically renames the document by replacing spaces in

      • How to map fields from Zoho Recruit to Zoho People

        I've got these fields from my Job Offer that I'm trying to map to the Work information fields in Zoho People, but they arent showing up. For example, how do I get the department name field (in the job post) to map to the work information field in Zoho

      • UTM in zoho campaigns

        Helloo everybody!!! Someone know how IF ZOHO CAMPAIGNS has UTM for tracking the url of any campaigns. thank u

      • Full Context of Zoho CRM Records for Zia in Zoho Desk for efficient AI Usage

        Hello everyone, I have a question regarding the use of Zia in Zoho Desk in combination with CRM data. Is it possible to automatically feed the complete context of a CRM record into Zia, so that it can generate automated and highly accurate responses for

      • Knowledge base printing

        I saw a posting about printing the knowledge base as I was looking for the answer, but we would like the ability to print out the entire knowledge base with a click, keeping the same organization format.   Bonus would include an index of keywords and

      • Search not working!

        I have items in my notebook tagged but when I search for a tag nothing comes up! Any fix for this?

      • Zoho Books | Product updates | January 2026

        Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From e-filing Form 1099 directly with the IRS to corporation tax support, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. E-File Form 1099 Directly With the

      • Updates for Zoho Campaigns: Merge tag, footer, and autoresponder migration

        Hello everyone, We'd like to inform you of some upcoming changes with regard to Zoho Campaigns. We understand that change can be difficult, but we're dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition while keeping you all informed and engaged throughout the process.

      • File Upload field not showing in workflow

        Hi, I have added a field on Zoho CRM. I want to use it in a workflow where that particular field is updated based on another field, however it is not showing up in the field list to select it in the workflow. Why is this please?

      • Drag 'n' Drop Fields to a Sub-Form and "Move Field To" Option

        Hi, I would like to be able to move fields from the Main Page to a Sub-Form or from a Sub-Form to either the Main Page or another Sub-Form. Today if you change the design you have to delete and recreate every field, not just move them. Would be nice to

      • How do i integrate google analytics to Zoho Campaigns?

        Looking to track Zoho Traffic from email Current topic is outdated

      • How do teams manage meeting follow-ups across Zoho tools?

        We’re using Zoho tools for collaboration and tracking, but managing meeting notes, action items, and follow-ups across teams is still challenging. Curious how others are handling this within Zoho workflows. Are there best practices or integrations that

      • Adding a Deal to and Existing Contact

        I want to easily add a Deal to an existing Contact. If I click on New Deal on the Contact page this currently this is what happens: All of the mandatory field (and other field) information exists within the Contact. Is there a simple way for it to automatically

      • Zoho Sprint Backlog View, filter by item status

        Hello, In Zoho Sprints, it would be great to be able filter out specific items in the Backlog based on their status. We would like to track items that were Removed from our backlog without seeing them constantly in the Backlog view, as this view should

      • Customize Colors used on graphs and charts according to users desire.

        It would be great if we could customize the graph's colors as we see fit. I hate that yellow is always the default color!

      • Let us view and export the full price books data from CRM

        I quote out of CRM, some of my clients have specialised pricing for specific products - therefore we use Price Books to manage these special prices. I can only see the breakdown of the products listed in the price book and the specialised pricing for

      • Mejoras urgentes para ZOHO MEETING

        Tengo unos meses usando Zoho Meeting. En general, es buena, pero hay cosas vitales que no logra cumplir con mínima calidad. 1) Calidad de audio y video: urge mejoras. Audio con retraso, imagen borrosa, mal recorte de silueta con fondos virtuales. Además,

      • Multiple header in the quote table???

        Hello, Is it possible in Zoho CRM to add multiple headers or sections within the Quote product table, so that when the quote is printed it shows separate sections (for example “Products” and “Services”)? To clarify, I’m asking because: This does not appear

      • Saving sent email campaign as PDF

        I'm looking to add all campaigns sent to an archive folder in sharepoint. Is there anyway to accomplish this in Zoho Flow ? I'm falling at the first hurdle ... can I automatically save a sent campaign as a PDF to a folder location ?

      • Exporting All Custom Functions in ZohoCRM

        Hello, All I've been looking for a way to keep about 30 functions that I have written in Zoho CRM updated in my own repository to use elsewhere in other instances. A github integration would be great, but a way to export all custom functions or any way

      • How can Data Enrichment be automatically triggered when a new Lead is created in Zoho CRM?

        Hi, I have a pipeline where a Lead is created automatically through the Zoho API and I've been trying to look for a way to automatically apply Data Enrichment on this created lead. 1) I did not find any way to do this through the Zoho API; it seems like

      • Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field

        How we can use Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field field? Please help.

      • Appreciation to Qntrl Support Team

        We are writing this topic to appreciate the outstanding level of support from Qntrl Team. We have been using Qntrl since 2022 after shifting from another similar platform. Since we joined Qntrl, the team has shown a high level of professionalism, support,

      • How can I hide "My Requests" and "Marketplace" icon from the side menu

        Hello everybody, We recently started using the new Zoho CRM for Everyone. How can I hide "My Requests" and "Marketplace" from the side menu? We don't use these features at the moment, and I couldn't find a way to disable or remove them. Best regards,

      • Whatsapp Integration on Zoho Campaign

        Team: Can the messages from Zoho Campaign delivered through Whatsapp... now customers no longer are active on email, but the entire campaign module is email based.... when will it be available on whatsapp.... are there any thirdparty providers who can

      • Quotes Approval

        Hey all, Could you please help in the following: When creating quotes, how to configure it in a way, that its approval would work according to the quoted items description, not according to quote information. In my case, the quote should be sent to approval

      • Mandatory Field - but only at conversion

        Hello! We use Zoho CRM and there are times where the "Lead Created Date & Time" field isn't populated into a "Contractor" (Account is the default phrase i believe). Most of my lead tracking is based on reading the Lead Created field above, so it's important

      • Next Page