Kaizen #172 - Leveraging the 'crmAPIResponse' Object in Queries

Kaizen #172 - Leveraging the 'crmAPIResponse' Object in Queries



Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!

We released the Queries feature sometime back and hope you have tried it out.

A little gist about this feature before we move on to our post.

Zoho CRM's Queries feature enables dynamic data retrieval from both CRM modules and external services, facilitating seamless integration and informed decision-making.

Key Components

  • Sources: Pre-configured sources like Modules and COQL are available, with the option to add custom sources via REST APIs.
  • Queries: Fetch data by selecting modules, writing COQL statements, or specifying REST API endpoints, headers, and parameters.
  • Variables: Incorporate variables in criteria, COQL statements, and endpoints to pass dynamic values during execution.
  • Schema: Auto-generated schemas define the structure of query responses, with editable paths, field types, and labels for customization.
  • Serializer: Utilize JavaScript to manipulate and customize query responses, ensuring data is in the desired format for further processing.

Types of Queries

  • Modules: Retrieve records by selecting specific modules and fields, applying conditions to filter data as needed.
  • COQL (CRM Object Query Language): Write SQL-like queries to fetch data, supporting complex operations like joins and aggregations.
  • REST API: Fetch data from external services by specifying endpoints, headers, parameters, and connections.

With the Queries feature, you can efficiently access and display relevant data within Zoho CRM, enhancing workflow efficiency and decision-making capabilities.

A little insight into Functions before we dive into today's Kaizen!

Functions, Queries, you get the connection, right? Read on!

Many of us use Functions in Zoho CRM extensively to perform our business logic and customize the way things work in Zoho CRM. You can use Functions in blueprints, workflows, Circuits etc.

Let's say you have a function that gets the employee records from the Employees module. Technically, the function executes an API call or an integration task, and gives a response.

The response can be a string or map(JSON), depending on how the function is written and where it is used. Since functions can be used in many places, the same response format may not be the right one to be used in a circuit or a workflow.

This is where the genie 'crmAPIResponse' object comes into picture!

The power of the 'crmAPIResponse' object

The crmAPIResponse object to be returned in the CRM function should encapsulate the response in a way that it can be used in Queries, Circuit, workflow etc. The details needed are encapsulated as a map. It should include details like crmStatusCode, status, message, body in order to construct the desired format for handling data and customizing the error handling logic.

Let's consider the following example function where we use the getRecordByID integration task.

The response of the integration task contains all the fields in that module, but we want only certain parts of the response JSON and also add custom error messages, to be used in other components like Queries, Circuits, etc,.

Here is the code.
{
leadId = "3652397000018025772"; // Replace with a valid Lead ID

// Initialize customAPIResponse map
customAPIResponse = map();

// Fetch lead details
crmResponse = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Leads", leadId);

// Log the raw response for debugging
info "CRM API Raw Response: " + crmResponse;

// Validate and process the response to include only the required fields
if (crmResponse != null && crmResponse.containsKey("id"))
{
// Extract required fields
filteredData = map();
filteredData.put("id", crmResponse.get("id"));
filteredData.put("Last_Name", crmResponse.get("Last_Name"));
filteredData.put("Email", crmResponse.get("Email"));

customAPIResponse.put("crmStatusCode", 200);
customAPIResponse.put("status", "success");
customAPIResponse.put("message", "Lead data retrieved successfully.");
customAPIResponse.put("body", filteredData); // Include only filtered data
}
else
{
customAPIResponse.put("crmStatusCode", null);
customAPIResponse.put("status", "error");
customAPIResponse.put("message", "Invalid or null response from Zoho CRM API.");
customAPIResponse.put("body", null);
}

// Return the customAPIResponse
return {"crmAPIResponse": customAPIResponse};

}


Here, you can see that we have parsed the response of the integration task to get the Last_Name, Email, and record ID using the crmResponse.get("field_API_name") statement and constructed the customAPIresponse object using the customAPIResponse.put("key", "value") statement.
The statement return {"crmAPIResponse": customAPIResponse}; returns the response body as depicted in the previous statements.

Response to the info "CRM API Raw Response: " + crmResponse; statement
"CRM API Raw Response: {"Owner":{"name":"Patricia Boyle","id":"3652397000000186017","email":"p.boyle@zylker.com"},"$field_states":null,..}}}


Response of the return {"crmAPIResponse": customAPIResponse}; statement

{
    "crmAPIResponse": {
        "crmStatusCode": 200,
        "status": "success",
        "message": "Lead data retrieved successfully.",
        "body": {
            "id": "3652397000018025772",
            "Last_Name": "Math",
            "Email": "math@gmail.com"
        }
    }
}

Error response

{
    "crmAPIResponse": {
        "crmStatusCode": null,
        "status": "error",
        "message": "Invalid or null response from Zoho CRM API.",
        "body": null
    }
}

You can see that we have used the crmAPIResponse object to get only the required keys from the response and constructed a much simpler response.
Refer to our help page on Response Object for more details.

Finally, to today's Kaizen!

We've established that you can use the crmAPIResponse object to construct responses in a way that's suitable to be consumed at another place like a circuit or a workflow.
We also know that Queries allows you to have sources of the REST API type to fetch data from various sources. This means that you can have a standalone function that is enabled as a REST API as a source in Queries.

Let's see an example.
There is a simple function that uses the getRecords integration task to get the records from the Employees module.
I have used the crmAPIresponse object to construct a response as shown in the following code.

string standalone.getRecords()
{
result = zoho.crm.getRecords("Employees");
response = Map();
response.put("status_code",200);
response.put("body",{"code":"success","details":result,"message":"function executed successfully"});
return {"crmAPIResponse":response};
}

The response of this function is a string in the crmAPIResponse object as shown in this image.


  1. Save this function and enable REST API.

  2. You can see that the domain is https://www.zohoapis.com. To be able to use this in a Query, register this domain in Trusted Domain.

  3. To create a REST API type source, you must add the source. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Queries > Sources tab.
  4. Click Add Source and give the details like the name, base URL, headers, and parameters under the Information section.

  5. Click Save.
  6. Go to the Queries tab and click Add Query.
  7. For Source, choose the source you just added.
  8. Under Information, enter the name, API name of the query.
  9. For the endpoint, enter the API Key URL of the function.

  10. Enter the parameter name and values in the Parameter field.
  11. Click Add Serializer if you want to serialize the response. In this example, I have serialized the response to include only the Name, Email, and Position fields in the output. The result contains the 'body' object that we returned in the crmAPIResponse object of the function.

  12. Click Save to save the serialization.
  13. Click Next to view the schema of the query. Make changes as required.
  14. Save the query.
You can now use this query in Canvas or associate it with Kiosk to solve your business needs.

Let us see how the crmAPIResponse object in the function affects the response of the query.

Query with the function without crmAPIResponse:

Let's consider that the function getRecords() does not use the crmAPIResponse object. In that case, the function returns a response that is a string. This response string cannot be serialized or used elsewhere.


Schema of the query without crmAPIResponse:


Query with the function with crmAPIResponse and serialization:

The same getRecords() function that uses the crmAPIResponse object allows you to construct the response as JSON. You can serialize this response easily and use it in a circuit, query, workflow etc.


You can see here that the response is now a JSON.

Schema of the query with crmAPIResponse:



In conclusion, you can use the crmAPIResponse object in Functions to construct the desired response and use the REST API-enabled function as a source in Queries.
Leveraging the advantage of the crmAPIResponse object in functions and using it in Queries increases the prospect of solving many more business cases easily and customize more efficiently.

We hope you liked this post and found it useful. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
If you'd like us to cover any other topic in this series, feel free to comment or reach us at support@zohocrm.com.



Cheers!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Info
More enhancements in the COQL API are now live in Zoho CRM API Version 7. Check out the V7 Changelog for detailed information on these updates.






    • 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

      • Recent Topics

      • Zoho Survey: Bulk Exporting Raw Data (CSV/Excel) from 100+ Individual Survey Projects

        Hi Zoho Community, I am currently managing a 360-degree evaluation process that involves 100+ individual survey projects (one separate survey for each employee being evaluated). I need to download the raw response data (CSV or Excel) for all 100 surveys.

      • Zoho Survey – Page Skip Logic Not Working

        Hi everyone, I'm experiencing an issue with the page skip logic in Zoho Survey. Last week, it was working fine, and I haven’t changed anything in the settings. However, today the skip logic is not working at all. I also tried testing it with different

      • Update P_Leave: code: 7052 "Employee_ID": "Enter Employee ID"

        Hi, Zoho People - Update Leaves Can someone assist? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ col = Collection(); col.insert("recordid":id); col.insert("Date_Check_Approval":zoho.currentdate); info zoho.people.update("P_Leave",col.toMap());

      • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

        Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files

      • Anyone worked out how to export or screengrab a full heatmap?

        I'd love to be able to include a copy of a heatmap in a report but can't work out how to grab the whole thing as there doesn't appear to be an export function? Thanks in advance.

      • Introducing Built-in Telephony in Zoho Recruit

        We’re excited to introduce Built-in Telephony in Zoho Recruit, designed to make recruiter–candidate communication faster, simpler, and fully traceable. These capabilities help you reduce app switching, handle inbound calls efficiently, and keep every

      • Sender Email Configuration Error.

        Hello Team, Hope you are all doing well. We are in the process of creating the Zoho FSM environment in the UAE. When we try to add the sender email address “techsupportuae@stryker.com”, we receive the error message: “Error occurred while sending mail

      • Default/Private Departments in Zoho Desk

        1) How does one configure a department to be private? 2) Also, how does one change the default department? 1) On the list of my company's Zoho Departments, I see that we have a default department, but I am unable to choose which department should be default. 2) From the Zoho documentation I see that in order to create a private department, one should uncheck "Display in customer portal" on the Add Department screen. However, is there a way to change this setting after the department has been created?

      • Es posible cambiar el lenguaje de los modulos del ASAP?

        Es posible cambiar el lenguaje de estos textos? Tengo Zoho configurado en español pero aun así me muestra estos textos en ingles:

      • 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

      • [Free webinar] Custom domains for portals in Zoho Creator - Creator Tech Connect

        Hello everyone, We’re excited to invite you to another edition of the Creator Tech Connect webinar. About Creator Tech Connect The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar featuring in-depth technical sessions designed for developers, administrators,

      • Remove my video

        Hi, How can I remove my video so that I don't have to see myself. It's weird so I always remove my own video from what I see but cannot find this feature here. Thanks!

      • Marking a meeting 'done'.

        I would like to somehow mark a meeting 'done' and placed under the contact's page rather than deleting it and having no record of it. Am I missing a button that does this?

      • Add Lookup Field in Tasks Module

        Hello, I have a need to add a Lookup field in addition to the ones that are already there in the Tasks module. I've seen this thread and so understand that the reason lookup fields may not be part of it is that there are already links to the tables (

      • Super Admin Logging in as another User

        How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are working

      • Cannot find zpuid for Zoho Projects user

        I'm using the Zoho Projects v3 API to create a task. The task is created successfully, but in order to assign the task owner, the "Create a Task" API also requires the zpuid of the task owner. Unfortunately I cannot find any user-related API calls that

      • Allocating inventory to specific SO's

        Is there a way that allocate inventory to a specific sales order? For example, let's say we have 90 items in stock. Customer 1 orders 100 items. This allocates all 90 items to their order, and they have a back order for the remaining 10 items which could

      • Can Zoho Marketing Automation send OTP codes via WhatsApp during user registration?

        The flow I would like to implement is: A user signs up in the mobile app and enters their phone number. The system generates a one-time verification code (OTP). The OTP is sent to the user via WhatsApp message. The user enters the code in the app to confirm

      • Incorrect Functioning of Time Logs API (Version 3)

        We need to fetch the list of time logs for each task for our company internal usage. We are trying to achieve it by using the next endpoint: https://projects.zoho.com/api-docs#bulk-time-logs#get-all-project-time-logs Firstly, in the documentation the

      • Partial payments for retainer invoices

        When a customer does not pay the entire retainer invoice there is no way to apply a partial payment. PLEASE add this function.

      • Can I export to PDF in Zoho Learn

        I have seen help pages where export to pdf options are available but I do not see that option available from the application. I see that exprt is available in my free trial version but that is only to html pages. I need to be able to export my manuals

      • Service line items

        Hello Latha, Could you please let me know the maximum number of service line items that can be added to a single work order? Thanks, Chethiya.

      • Sending emails via Books

        Anyone else getting similar problems recently ??..... Hi, Your message to the following recipient was not delivered. Please find the details below.  Bounce Details: Bounced Address : someone@google.com Bounce Reason : other ; Status : 5.0.0 (undefined status) ; Daignostic-Code : smtp;542 someone@google.com Rejected ; Bounced Time : Sep 05, 2017 06:37 PM BST Regards, Zoho Team The email addresses were fine only a few days ago but are now being rejected ?

      • PDF Generator Upgrade

        Hi Team, What will happen if I don't make any changes for existing template. Zoho just ask us upgrade but haven't tell the benefit. Zoho Corporation

      • No Need To Fix Something That Is Working

        Zoho Books is a great financial tool which helps businesses to become more efficient and productive with day-to-day operations. As such, every change, upgrade, improvement needs to be carefully thought before implemented in the software and I'm sure Zoho

      • Total Cost in reports showing zero

        The image below shows my issue. The column Total Cost should show the cost to our company based on hours logged and the employee's rate. For instance, if the person working on Subtask 1 is paid 20/hr, then Total Cost should display $160 ($20x8 logged

      • Zoho Books (and other finance suite apps) - Retrospective Linking of Invoice and Sales Orders to Quotes.

        In some cases, Quotes and Invoies may be created sperately instead of using the convert feature. In this feature request I am asking for the Finance Suite team to consider adding a lookup field to reference the quote on Invoices and Sales Orders, or some

      • Bring real app analytics into Zoho Creator apps with Zoho Apptics

        We’re kicking off the year with a release we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. After being in the works for a while, Zoho Creator and Zoho Apptics are now officially integrated, bringing in-depth product analytics directly into the Zoho Creator

      • ZohoMail's outbound webhook sends incorrect folderId and messageId

        I used a webhook (outbound) from within ZohoMail to send message details when a new message arrives that meets specific criteria. I received this data correctly. Now I want to get the attachment from this email message. When I made an api call using folder

      • Use URL field to populate Image in a Email Template

        We have two records Record 1: Appointments (with a Lookup to Doctors module) Related Record 2: Doctors (with a URL field that is an image of the doctor) We would like to populate a CRM email template with the image of the URL field for the related doctor

      • 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

      • Ability to add VAT to Retainer Invoices

        Hello, I've had a telephone conversation a month ago with Dinesh on this topic and my request to allow for the addition of VAT on Retainer Invoices.  It's currently not possible to add VAT to Retainer Invoices and it was mutually agreed that there is absolutely no reason why there shouldn't be, especially as TAX LAW makes VAT mandatory on each invoice in Europe!   So basically, what i'm saying is that if you don't allow us to add VAT to Retainer Invoices, than the whole Retainer Invoices becomes

      • Zoho Bookings Forge: A hands-on workshop series

        Hello all! We’re hosting a five-part, hands-on workshop series to help you optimize Zoho Bookings for your business. In these sessions, we’ll cover key features, practical use cases, and clear steps to get started or improve your current setup. Here are

      • Introducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]

        Hello Zoho Desk users! We have introduced the parent-child ticketing system to help customer service teams ensure efficient resolution of issues involving multiple, related tickets. You can now combine repetitive and interconnected tickets into parent-child

      • 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.

      • 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

      • 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

      • Delete button

        Hi, The delete button were hide into the three dot button. Can I display outside? why Zoho make this update?

      • Zoho Vault CLI for Developers and Automations

        Hi everyone, If you're managing credentials in scripts, CI/CD pipelines, or automation workflows, Zoho Vault's Command Line Interface (CLI) can help you securely access and manage secrets directly from your terminal. Zoho Vault was launched in 2013 as

      • On Edit Validation Blueprint

        Hello, I have a notes field and a signature field. When the Approve button is clicked, the Signature field will appear and must be filled in. When the Reject button is clicked, the Notes field will appear and must be filled in. Question: Blueprint will

      • Next Page