Kaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs

Kaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In last week's post in the Kaizen series, we discussed how subforms work in Zoho CRM and how to manipulate subform data using Zoho CRM APIs.
In this post, we will discuss how to manipulate a multi-select lookup fields using Zoho CRM APIs.

Multi-select lookup field

The Multi-Select Lookup Field enables you to establish a many-to-many relationship between two different modules in CRM. It allows you to associate multiple records with each other, from two different modules. 
These associations are stored in an individual module called "Linking Module". Consider there are two modules, Employees and Skills. The Employees module contains details regarding Zylker's workforce, and the Skills module contains details regarding various skills like Social Media Marketing and Content Marketing.
We want to associate multiple skills to an employee. So, a multi-select lookup can be created in the Employees module. When doing so, similar multi-select lookup field will be automatically created in the Skills module, along with the EmpXSkills linking module by Zoho CRM. The underlying data model is described in the below image.
The above chart shows the data model representation when you create a multi-select lookup field in a module. Here, there are two lookup fields—one pointing to the Employees module and the other pointing to the Skills module.
In the linking module, two lookup fields (lookup fields with api names - Employees and Skills) will be created. The lookup fields, one pointing to Employees and the other pointing to Skills from the linking module, establish a connection between the linking module and its associated module.

How to associate an employee's skills while creating an Employee record through the Insert Records API

API names you need before invoking the API
  • The API name of the multi-select lookup field in the modules you want to insert data.
  • API names of the lookup fields in the linking module. Eg: here the API Name of the linking module is "EmpXSkills" and the corresponding lookup field api names are "Employees" & "Skills". You can use the Fields Metadata API for Employees and Skills to get these details.
Step 1
Know the API name of the multi-select lookup field in the module (In our case, Skills is the multi-select lookup field in the Employees module)

To know the API names of the multi-select lookup fields, make a GET - Fields Metadata API call. Among all the Employee's fields, multi-select lookup field can be identified by the json key data_type with the value multiselectlookup. The corresponding connected module can be found from the json connected_module. Below is the API call & response for such a multi-select lookup field.

Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v6/settings/fields?module=Employees
Request Method: GET

Sample Response: 

The above highlighted keys are the details of the Multi select lookup field. The corresponding keys are explained below:

"multiselectlookup": {
                "display_label": "Skills",   //Display label of the MxN field in the Employees module
                "linking_module": {
                    "api_name": "EmpXSkills", //API name of the linking module
                    "id": "5725767000002166520"
                ...
                "lookup_apiname": "Employees", //API name of the Employee lookup field in the linking module
                "connected_module": {
                    "api_name": "Skills", //API name of the connected module
                    "id": "5725767000002165263"
                },
                "api_name": "Skills_In_Related_List", //API of the related list of the connected module Skills in the Employees module.
                "connectedfield_apiname": "Employees", //API Name of the multi-select lookup field in the connected module (Skills)
               "connectedlookup_apiname": "Skills", //API name of the Skills module lookup field in the linking module.
                "id": "5725767000002166655" //Related List ID
            },
                ...

Step 2
Using the api_name of the linking module, make a GET Fields metadata API call to get the list of fields (along with their api_name) present in it. It lists all fields of the linking module in the response. 
Sample Request and Response

Search for the "data_type": "lookup" in the response. The lookup fields represent the connected modules in association with the linking module.
For example, in our case, the response will have two lookup fields. One of the lookup fields (with api name Employees) points to the Employees module, and the other one (with api name Skills) points to the Skills module. 

Step 3
Associate records via the Multi-select lookup field using the Insert Records API

To associate records via the MxN field, you need to know the IDs of the records in the Skills module. Here is the input body to insert the skills in the Employee module with the multi-select lookup field Skills. 
Here is the input body to insert a new Employee record and associate a Skills record to it using the MxN field.

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/Employees
Request Method: POST
Sample Input:
{
    "data": [
        {
            "Name": "Patricia",
            "Email": "patricia@mail.com",
            "Position": "Marketing Specialist",
            "Year_of_Experience": 5,
            "Skills": [ //API name of the multi-select lookup field in Employee module
                {
                    "Skills": { //API Name of the lookup field pointing to the Skills module in the linking module
                        "name": "Marketing",
                        "id": "5725767000002149427" //Record ID in the Skills module 
                    }
                },
                {
                    "Skills": {
                        "name": "Social Media Marketing",
                        "id": "5725767000002149476" 
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}



How to disassociate an employee & skills relation while updating an Employee record through the Update Records API 

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/Employees
Request Method: PUT

Sample Input:
{
    "data": [
        {
             "id": "7890710000097291",
            "Name": "Patricia",
            "Email": "patricia@mail.com",
            "Position": "Marketing Specialist",
            "Year_of_Experience": 5,
            "Skills": [ 
                {
                    "Skills": { 
                        "name": "Marketing",
                        "_delete": null, //This association will be deleted
                        "id": "5725767000002149427" //Skills record id
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Sending _delete:null will cause delinking of the association.

How to associate an employee's skills via "Linking Module"

You can associate the relationship between Employees and Skills module by creating records in the Linking module (EmpXSkills). Use the API names for the corresponding lookup fields, Employee (API Name: Employees) and Skills (API Name: Skills) in the input body.

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/EmpXSkills
Request Method: POST

Sample Input
{
   "data": [
        {
            "Name": "Patricia",
            "Employees": { 
                "id": "5725767000002161001" //unique record ID in the Employees module. GET your ID here
            },
             "Skills": { 
                "id": "5725767000002149476" //unique record ID in the Skills module. GET your ID here
            }
        }
    ]
}


Sample Response


The id in the above response is the Primary Key ID of an Employee-Skill association record in the linking module. This ID can later be used to do specific operations like association update or deletion via API.

How to disassociate an employee & skills relationship via "Linking Module"
Use the Delete Records API to delete the record which corresponds to the specific relation between Employee and Skills module in the EmpXSkills module. You can get the record ID for the specific association using the Get Records API for the linking module. 
Use the Delete Record API to delete the specific record, thereby deleting the specific association between the Employee and Skills record. Please note that only the association is removed, and not the individual records. 
Sample Request and Response



When to use create/update operation in Employees/EmpXSkills module?

Use "Employees" module: When you want to create/update records in the Employees module, and associate the record with a Skills record in a single API call.
Use "EmpXSkills" module: When you want to associate/disassociate the relationship between existing Employees and Skills records. 

Retrieve data via COQL API and Bulk Read API

There may be situations where you need to fetch records based upon certain conditions.
For example, Zylker's HR team wants to retrieve the list of employees having more than 4 years of experience and are experts in Social media marketing. In this case, they can use Zoho CRM's COQL API or Bulk Read API. Let's see how to achieve this.

Retrieving MxN data via COQL API

We know that both the Employees and Skills modules' association data is maintained in the linking module. In order to retrieve data from the linking module, query using the API name of the lookup fields in the linking module.

Request URL: {{api-domain}}/crm/v6/coql
Request Method: POST

Sample Input:

{
    "select_query" : "select Employees.Name as employee_name, Employees.Year_of_Experience as employee_experience, Skills.Name as skill_name from EmpXSkills where Employees.Year_of_Experience > 4 and Skills.Name like '%Social%'"
}


From the SQL perspective, above COQL can be interpreted as
select emp.Name as employee_name, emp.Year_of_Experience as employee_experience, skill.Name as skill_name from EmpXSkills left join Employees as emp on EmpXSkills.Employees = emp.id left join Skills as ski on EmpXSkills.Skills = ski.id where emp.Year_of_Experience > 4 and ski.Name like '%Social%'

Sample Response


Retrieving MxN data via Bulk Read API

Bulk Read API allows you to fetch a large set of data i.e., you can fetch a maximum of 200,000 records in a single API call. 
To export linking module records, use its API name.

Request Method: POST
Sample input to export linking module's records:
{
    "callback": {
        "method": "post"
    },
    "query": {
        "module": {
            "api_name": "EmpXSkills" //API name of the linking module
        },
        "file_type": "csv"
    }
}

Export linking module records that meet the specified criteria
To export linking module's records based on the given criteria above (similar to the COQL API).
{
    "callback": {
        "method": "post"
    },
    "query": {
        "module": {
            "api_name": "EmpXSkills"
        },
        "fields": [
            "Employees.Name",
            "Employees.Year_of_Experience",
            "Skills.Name"
        ],
        "criteria": {
            "group": [
                {
                    "field": {
                        "api_name": "Employees.Year_of_Experience" 
                    },
                    "comparator": "greater_than",
                    "value": "4"
                },
                {
                    "field": {
                        "api_name": "Skills.Name"
                    },
                    "comparator": "contains",
                    "value": "Social"
                }
            ],
            "group_operator": "AND"
        }
    }
}


As the API is an asynchronous API, the response will not be available instantly; the bulk read job is scheduled, and the status can be checked. Once the job is completed, you will be notified in the callback URL. The records are available in a downloadable CSV file or ICS file (for events). See the Bulk Read API document to know how to view the status of the scheduled job and download the file, along with more sample requests and responses.

We trust that this post meets your needs and is helpful. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com
Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming Kaizen posts!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheers!



    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

      Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Celebrating 200 posts of Kaizen! Share your ideas for the milestone post

      Hello Developers, We launched the Kaizen series in 2019 to share helpful content to support your Zoho CRM development journey. Staying true to its spirit—Kaizen Series: Continuous Improvement for Developer Experience—we've shared everything from FAQs

    • Kaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Client Script | Update - Introducing Commands in Client Script!

      Have you ever wished you could trigger Client Script from contexts other than just the supported pages and events? Have you ever wanted to leverage the advantage of Client Script at your finger tip? Discover the power of Client Script - Commands! Commands

      • Recent Topics

      • Zoho Projects - Q2 Updates | 2025

        Hello Users, With this year's second quarter behind us, Zoho Projects is marching towards expanding its usability with a user-centered, more collaborative, customizable, and automated attribute. But before we chart out plans for what’s next, it’s worth

      • FSM setup

        So we have been tinkering with FSM to see if it is going to be for us. Now is the time to bite the bullet and link it to our zoho books and zoho crm. The help guides are good but it would really help if they were a bit more in depth on the intergrations.

      • Upcoming Updates to the Employees Module in Zoho Payroll (US)

        We've made a couple of updates to the Employees module in Zoho Payroll (latest version of the US edition). These changes will go live today. While creating an employee Currently, the Compensation Details section is part of the Basic Details step, where

      • Possible to Turn Off Automatic Notifications for Approvals?

        Hello, This is another question regarding the approval process. First a bit of background: Each of our accounts is assigned a rank based on potential sales. In Zoho, the account rank field is a drop-down with the 5 rank levels and is located on the account

      • ZOHO Creator subform link

        Dear Community Support, I am looking for some guidance on how to add a clickable link within a Zoho Creator subform. The goal is for this link to redirect users to another Creator form where they can edit the data related to the specific row they clicked

      • Allow Resource to Accept or Reject an Appointment

        I have heard that this can be done, is there any documentation on how?

      • Create new Account with contact

        Hi I can create a new Account and, as part of that process, add a primary contact (First name, last name) and Email. But THIS contact does NOT appear in Contacts. How can I make sure the Contact added when creating an Account is also listed as a Contact?

      • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

        Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if

      • Python - code studio

        Hi, I see the code studio is "coming soon". We have some files that will require some more complex transformation, is this feature far off? It appears to have been released in Zoho Analytics already

      • Sync desktop folders instantly with WorkDrive TrueSync (Beta)

        Keeping your important files backed up and accessible has never been easier! With WorkDrive desktop app (TrueSync), you can now automatically sync specific desktop folders to WorkDrive Web, ensuring seamless, real-time updates across devices. Important:

      • How To Insert Data into Zoho CRM Organization

        Hi Team I have this organization - https://crm.zoho.com/crm/org83259xxxx/tab/Leads I want to insert data into this Leads module, what is the correct endpoint for doing so ? Also I have using ZohoCRM.modules.ALL scope and generated necessary tokens.

      • Where can I get Equation Editor por Zoho Writer?

        I need to use Math Formulas in my document. Thank you.

      • How can I get base64 string from filecontent in widget

        Hi, I have a react js widget which has the signature pad. Now, I am saving the signature in signature field in zoho creator form. If I open the edit report record in widget then I want to display the Signature back in signature field. I am using readFile

      • Creator roadmap for the rest of 2022

        Hi everyone, Hope you're all good! Thanks for continuing to make this community engaging and informative. Today we'd like to share with you our plans for the near future of Creator. We always strive to strike a good balance of features and enhancements

      • Filtering repport for portal users

        Salut, I have a weird problem that I just cannot figure out : When I enter information as administrator on behalf of a "supplier" portal user (in his "inventory" in a shared inventory system), I can see it, "customer" portal users can see it, but the

      • Zoho Inventory. Preventing Negative Stock in Sales Orders – Best Practices?

        Dear Zoho Inventory Community, We’re a small business using Zoho Inventory with a team of sales managers. Unfortunately, some employees occasionally overlook stock levels during order processing, leading to negative inventory issues. Is there a way to

      • Integración Books para cumplir la ley Crea y Crece y Ley Antifraude (VeriFactu)

        Hola: En principio, en julio de 2025, entra en vigor la ley Crea y Crece y Ley Antifraude (VeriFactu). ¿Sabéis si Zoho va a cumplir con la ley para cumplir con la facturación electrónica conectada a Hacienda? Gracias

      • Zoho One - Syncing Merchants and Vendors Between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books

        Hi, I'm exploring the features of Zoho One under the trial subscription and have encountered an issue with syncing Merchant information between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books. While utilizing Zoho Expense to capture receipts, I noticed that when I submit

      • Is Zoho Sheet available for Linux ?

        Is Zoho Sheet available for Linux ?

      • Offline support for mobile app

        Accessing your files and folders from your mobile devices is now quicker and simpler, thanks to the power of offline support. Whether on an Android or iOS device, you can use the Offline function to save files and folders, so you can review them even

      • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

        Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?

      • Create static subforms in Zoho CRM: streamline data entry with pre-defined values

        Last modified on (9 July, 2025): This feature was available in early access and is currently being rolled out to customers in phases. Currently available for users in the the AU, CA, and SA DCs. It will be enabled for the remaining DCs in the next couple

      • BUTTONS SHOWN AS AN ICON ON A REPORT

        Hi Is there any way to create an action button but show it as an icon on a report please? As per the attached example? So if the user clicks the icon, it triggers an action?

      • Dropshipping Address - Does Not Show on Invoice Correctly

        When a dropshipping address is used for a customer, the correct ship-to address does not seem to show on the Invoice. It shows correctly on the Sales Order, Shipment Order, and Package, just not the Invoice. This is a problem, because the company being

      • RFQ MODEL

        A Request for quotation model is used for Purchase Inquiries to multiple vendors. The Item is Created and then selected to send it to various vendors , once the Prices are received , a comparative chart is made for the user. this will help Zoho books

      • Will zoho thrive be integrated with Zoho Books?

        title

      • Product Updates in Zoho Workplace applications | August 2025

        Hello Workplace Community, Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that went live across all Workplace applications this August. Zoho Mail Delegate Email Alias Now you can let other users send emails on your behalf—not just from your primary

      • Notebook audio recordings disappearing

        I have recently been experiencing issues where some of my attached audio recordings are disappearing. I am referring specifically to ones made within a Note card in Notebook on mobile, made by pressing the "+" button and choosing "Record audio" (or similar),

      • Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked

        Hi, I sent few emails and got this: Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked And now I have few days since I cant send any email. Is there something wrong I did? Also can someone fix this please

      • Want to use Zoho Books in Switzerland. CHF support planned?

        Hi, We're a Swiss company using other Zoho suite software and I discovered Zoho Books and other accounting SaaS when looking for an accounting tool. Do you intend to cover Switzerland and CHF based accounting anytime soon? Roy

      • Zoho sheet desktop version

        Hi Zoho team Where can I access desktop version of zoho sheets? It is important as web version is slow and requires one to be online all the time to do even basic work. If it is available, please guide me to the same.

      • Weekly Tips : Teamwork made easy with Multiple Assignees

        Let's say you are working on a big project where different parts of a single task need attention from several people at the same time—like reviewing a proposal that requires input from sales, legal, and finance teams. Instead of sending separate reminders

      • Best way to share/download presentation files in Zoho without losing formatting?

        Hello Zoho Community, I often work with PPT/PDF files in Zoho Docs and share them with colleagues. While PDFs usually give a direct download option, I’ve noticed that PPT/PPTX files sometimes only open in the viewer without a clear download link. Is there

      • Celebrating Connections with Zoho Desk

        September 27 is a special day marking two great occasions: World Tourism Day and Google’s birthday. What do these two events have in common (besides the date)? It's something that Zoho Desk celebrates, too: making connections. The connect through tourism

      • What is Resolution Time in Business Hours

        HI, What is the formula used to find the total time spent by an agent on a particular ticket? How is Resolution Time in Business Hours calculated in Zohodesk? As we need to find out the time spent on the ticket's solution by an agent we seek your assistance

      • Upload API

        I'm trying to use the Upload API to upload some images and attach them to comments (https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Uploads#Uploads_Uploadfile) - however I can only ever get a 401 or bad request back. I'm using an OAuth token with the Desk.tickets.ALL

      • How use

        Good morning sir I tried Zoho Mail

      • Adding Overlays to Live Stream

        Hello folks, The company I work for will host an online event through Zoho Webinar. I want to add an overlay (an image) at the bottom of the screen with all the sponsors' logos. Is it possible to add an image as an overlay during the live stream? If so,

      • Email Sending Failed - SMTP Error: data not accepted. - WHMCS Not sending emails due to this error

        I have been trying to figure out a fix for about a week now and I haven't found one on my own so I am going to ask for help on here.  After checking all the settings and even resetting my password for the email used for WHMCS it still says: Email Sending Failed - SMTP Error: data not accepted.  I have no clue how to fix it at this point. Any insight would be lovely. 

      • Does Zoho Learn integrate with Zoho Connect,People,Workdrive,Project,Desk?

        Can we propose Zoho LEarn as a centralised Knowledge Portal tool that can get synched with the other Zoho products and serve as a central Knowledge repository?

      • Next Page