Kaizen 179: Choosing between ZDK CLI and Web UI : When to Use Each

Kaizen 179: Choosing between ZDK CLI and Web UI : When to Use Each


Hello everyone, 
Welcome back! ZDK CLI uses commands to manipulate with Zoho CRM metadata from a terminal.  While Zoho CRM Web UI remains the primary tool for manipulating Zoho CRM metadata like creating modules, configuring fields/layouts etc., using ZDK CLI has its own advantages.  In this post, we will explore scenarios where each option excels, empowering developers and administrators to make informed decisions as per their requirements. Let's dive in!

Smith, a consultant at TechSolutions Inc. (a Zoho CRM Partner), is enhancing the Deals module for Springfield University, to align it with their admissions workflow. Springfield University is using customized Zoho CRM  for  learning management system (LMS). The Deals module now tracks student enrollment stages ( "Application Received," "Scholarship Review," and "Admission Offer Sent") instead of the sales pipeline. To support this, Smith needs to add a custom field like “Financial Aid Status” to the Deals module. 

Should he use Zoho CRM UI or ZDK CLI?

 For simple changes like adding this field, Smith would use the Zoho CRM UI—it’s faster. But this raises the question-

When does a customization demand use of ZDK CLI?

The answer becomes clear with Smith’s next project: customizing Zoho CRM for Brookside University. He has to create customizations for Student Management, Course Management, Admissions, Finances, etc., which takes days or even weeks. If Smith were to use the Zoho CRM UI , he has to navigate through multiple tabs in the setup and creates them one by one. When his customization is done in the sandbox, he completes testing it and deploys it to the sandbox environment.  Smith designs a Student Dashboard Widget that displays a student’s academic progress, attendance, extracurricular activities, and advisor notes in one place. For creating the widget, he uses the ZET CLI tool in terminal and after development he packages it separately and upload it to Zoho CRM. 

If Smith opts for ZDK CLI to build the customizations, he can create modules, fields, layouts, roles, and profiles directly from the terminal. He can use ZET commands in ZDK CLI project directory for developing the widget and can add the widget to the Zoho CRM through ZDK CLI.

By leveraging ZDK CLI alongside Version Control Systems like Git or Mercurial, Smith along with his team mates ensures every customization is traceable. Git logs resolve disputes like “Who modified the Admissions pipeline?”. Using ZDK CLI with VCS facilitates team collaboration. One team member can build up on another team member's work.

Riding on the success wave of Brookside University’s LMS integration, Smith’s firm, TechSolutions Inc., now needs to replicate the same Zoho CRM customization for their next project. Without ZDK CLI, Smith would have to do it all over again: manually rebuilding every module, field, and widget through the UI.

With ZDK CLI, the effort required is minimal.
  • Using zdk org:export command, Smith can export the metadata of Brookside University. 
  • He can use the exported files and "tweak" them to suit the needs of his new project.
  • Using zdk org:push  command, he can deploy the refined configuration to the new environment.
ZDK CLI transforms CRM customization from a manual process into a repeatable strategy—ensuring TechSolutions Inc.’s  growth.

When to Use ZDK CLI 

  • Bulk Metadata Management: You can use ZDK CLI to pull the metadata from one organization which has metadata customizations for LMS, make minor changes, and deploy it for a different CRM organization which needs customizations for the same.
  • Version Control of metadata changes: With ZDK CLI you can use Version Control Systems like  Git/Mercurial to track and manage metadata changes made by different team members, clearly showing who made updates and when, enabling transparency. This also makes it easy to revert changes if issues arise.
  • Collaboration - Reuse Components: Using ZDK CLI you can easily export your local metadata changes with zdk org:export, which creates a zip file of the the crm directory in your local ZDK CLI project. You can share this zip file with your fellow developers to collaborate seamlessly by building on each other’s work. You can also achieve the same using VCS. Checkout our previous Kaizen post on using ZDK CLI with git: Leveraging ZDK CLI with VCS to reuse components across different Zoho CRM org. 
  • Widget Development: You can create and update widgets via CLI commands.You can use ZET commands in ZDK CLI project directory and widgets can be added to your organization from the terminal itself without the need of packaging the widget.
  • Automate commands: You can automate ZDK CLI commands using scripts, reducing manual intervention. Take a look at this Kaizen post where we discuss a shell script designed to automate the process of pushing locally modified metadata along with conflict management.
  • Conflict Resolution:  Conflict resolution in ZDK CLI guarantees that changes done does not get accidentally overwritten.  Resolve merge conflicts with zdk org:pull:resolve, which opens a browser-based diff editor to reconcile code differences.

Best Practices

  • Use ZDK CLI for development in sandbox environments and the Web UI for minor fixes and to deploy it to Production environment.
  • Pull configurations via CLI (zdk org:pull) before major edits to maintain a backup.
  • For developing widgets zet commands along with ZDK CLI commands in the terminal.
  • Refrain from making simultaneous changes via Web UI and ZDK CLI to prevent conflicts.
  • If you are unfamiliar with a command, use zdk help command for to check the description of the command.
  • Though ZDK CLI lacks the visual simplicity of the Web UI, pairing it with IDEs like VSCode improves its usability.

Notes
For the current beta release, ZDK CLI will exclusively be available for Sandbox environment and will not be operational in Production environments. 

We hope you found this post useful. We will meet you next week with another interesting topic!
If you have any questions, let us know in the comment section.

Happy Customizing!





      • Recent Topics

      • Project Management Bulletin: October, 2025

        Every need leads to innovation. Project Management tools were developed out of sheer necessity to drive large projects. With wide usage, the specifications grew precise, and so did the refinement. Over years we’ve crafted one of the best project management

      • Zoho Sheets saying locked when not locked

        Zoho Sheets won't let me add more rows to sheet because it's saying the sheet is locked, but the sheet is not locked. I tried using a different browser but I still have the same issue.

      • Identifying and Merging Accounts with Similar (Non-Exact) Names

        Hello everyone, I’m aware of the built-in deduplication feature in Zoho CRM that allows merging records with exactly matching values for selected fields. However, I’m running into a situation where our migrated data contains multiple variations of the

      • Option for super admin to recover the deleted chats in Zoho Cliq

        Currently, in Zoho Cliq, if a user accidentally deletes their chats, there is no option for the Super Admin to recover or view those deleted messages. I believe it would be helpful if Super Admins had a recovery option, perhaps within a certain time frame,

      • Zoho CRM iOS app updates: the Homepage, Zoho Survey integration, and support for multiple file uploads in subform

        Hello everyone! The Zoho CRM mobile app continues to evolve to bring you a smoother and more powerful CRM-on-the-go experience. We're excited to share some important updates now available in the iOS app. Here's what's new: Homepage support Zoho Survey

      • I am trying to integrate my module in sandbox environment to add data via API

        I went through the documents and tried to setup the API for adding the module via the api but the problem is the token setup is done on "https://accounts.zoho.in/oauth/v2/token" domain and the bulk write is done on "https://content.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/upload"

      • Setting up primary mobile number.

        Hi Sir Earlier I joined IIFL team and got an organizational email of zoho services. Later i quit and now my account is deactivated with IIFL but i am unable to link my mobile number to my own email id with zoho.

      • Mail is sent twice!

        Been using Zoho for a while now. Installed Zoho for someone else and some weird things are happening. Mails are being sent twice. He is using Thunderbird as an email client. I already read about email being duplicated in the sent folder. But in my case

      • Tables for Europe Datacenter customers?

        It's been over a year now for the launch of Zoho Tables - and still not available für EU DC customers. When will it be available?

      • Emails stuck in Queue

        Hi there, Since yesterday I have a few out going emails stuck in a queue. It say it will auto retry sending however nothing is happening. It seems to be affecting roughly 50% of my outgoing emails. Please help Thanks

      • Guided Conversations - Ticket Creation

        Hi there, Using Guided Conversations to Take Customer Data and apply it into a Support Ticket for internal use, Is there a way to take multiple Textual Variables Inputs (A series of questions), and have the answers all appear in the Description of the

      • How to send certain invoices for Approval based on condition?

        To streamline operations, I need the invoices to go for approval when certain conditions are met. For example, if my staff gives a discount of x amount, it must go for approval. If there is no discount, then the invoice will be approved automatically.

      • Unable to continue payment

        Hi, I want to make a payment for my email subscription, but I cannot proceed with the payment because my NITKU is invalid. In Indonesia, the NITKU consists of 22 digits, but Zoho only provides 20 digits, causing my NITKU to be invalid. Please help me

      • Is there a way to show contact emails in the Account?

        I know I can see the emails I have sent and received on a Contact detail view, but I want to be able to see all the emails that have been sent and received between all an Accounts Contacts on the Account Detail view. That way when I see the Account detail

      • Massive spam pretending to come from our address – is this a Zoho security issue?

        Hi, We’ve been receiving more and more suspicious emails lately — many of them clearly look like scams. But yesterday, we got an email that appeared to be sent from our own address, which was very concerning. We're starting to wonder if this might be

      • Cant recieve mails

        I’m having an issue with my external IMAP account not fetching any emails into Zoho Mail, even though the connection test says “Success”. I can send, if someone sends an email to me. my original directory (home.pl host) recieves it in their portal but

      • Zoho Sheet Autofit Data

        While using Autofit Data function in Zoho Sheets with Devnagri Maratji or Hindi Fonts, a word or a number, it keeps couple of characters outside the right side border.

      • Enhancements to finance suite integrations

        Update on the migration (October 28, 2025): Starting this week (October 29 tentatively), we’ll begin migrating Zoho CRM users to Zoho Books as integration users. This means actions will now run under each user’s own Zoho Books access, instead of the admin’s.

      • Edit 'my' Notes only

        The permissions around Notes should be more granular, and allow to user to be able to edit the notes he created only. The edit Notes permission is useful as it allows the user to correct any mistakes or add information as needed. However, with this same

      • Job Alerts for Candidates

        hi All, I have 2 questions relating to sharing job details with candidates. 1. is there a way to notify candidates that meet certain criteria of current jobs available? eg. I run a candidate search, and identify 50 candidates that might be suitable. Can

      • Add multiple users to a task

        When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesman

      • Enhancing Task Accuracy: Automatically notify the owners upon Task duplication.

        Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. The requirement

      • Nodemailer not working with Zoho

        Hi All, I'm having issues with Zoho working with Nodemailer. It works as expected when using gmail as the service. Below is the code I get when using zoho. Error sending email: Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:587 at TCPConnectWrap.afterConnect [as

      • Show/ hide specific field based on user

        Can someone please help me with a client script to achieve the following? I've already tried a couple of different scripts I've found on here (updating to match my details etc...) but none of them seem to work. No errors flagged in the codes, it just

      • Where are Kanban swimlanes

        So i've been playing with Zoho Projects Kanban view a bit more. It appears that task lists are being used as the Kanban columns, which makes sense from the implementation point of view but not the logical one.  Kanban columns are statuses that a task can flow through, while a task list has been a logical way to organize related tasks and relate them to a mislestone. In other words a task in a particular task can go through several stages while remaining in the same task list. After doing some research

      • Tip 19: How to display images in Pages using ZML snippets

        Hi folks, We're back with another tip on how to use Zoho Markup Language (ZML) to create interactive pages in Zoho Creator. You can use ZML snippets to add various kinds of components to your pages and structure them in meaningful ways. That's not all, though—using ZML you can ensure your application is automatically compatible with all kinds of devices without any inconsistencies. We often get questions from users about how to invoke Deluge scripts within ZML code. Here's a simple use case for adding

      • desbloquear cuenta

        Buenos dias  Cordial saludo Tengo una cuenta libre en zoho mail asociado a un dominio, pero uno de los usuarios se bloquea el correo porque dice que ha excedido el límite de correo, por favor podrian desbloquearla y como hago para que esta persona debe enviar sus correos sin ningun probleama. Gracias de antemano

      • Can zoho swign format block text spacing automatically when prefilled from zoho crm?

        I'm sending zoho sign template from zoho crm, so that zoho crm pre-populates most fields. I have existing pdf documents that i am having signed. I have no ability to change the pdf documents, they are standardized government forms. The problem I am facing

      • Zoho Inventory / Finance Suite - Add feature to prevent duplicate values in Item Unit field

        I've noticed that a client has 2 values the same in the Unit field on edit/create Items. This surprised me as why would you have 2 units with the same name. Please consider adding a feature which prevents this as it seems to serve no purpose.

      • Reference lookup field values in Client script

        hello all, I'm using a "ZDK.Apps.CRM.Products.searchByCriteria" function call, which is returning the matching records correctly; however, one of the fields is a lookup field which I need the associated data. I believe there is a way to get this data

      • In App Auto Refresh/Update Features

        Hi,    I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users.   The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps.    I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With the

      • Every time an event is updated, all participants receive an update email. How can I deactivate this?

        Every time an event is updated in Zoho CRM (e.g. change description, link to Lead) every participant of this meeting gets an update email. Another customer noticed this problem years ago in the Japanese community: https://help.zoho.com/portal/ja/community/topic/any-time-an-event-is-updated-on-zohocrm-calendar-it-sends-multiple-invites-to-the-participants-how-do-i-stop-that-from-happening

      • How can I filter a field integration?

        Hi,  I have a field integration from CRM "Products" in a form, and I have three product Categories in CRM. I only need to see Products of a category. Thanks for you answers.

      • How to implement new online payment gateway?

        Hello, Can you tell me how to proceed to implement my local payment gateway? DIBS has an open avaiable API that should be easy to implement into ZOHO BOOKS. http://tech.dibspayment.com/dibs_payment_window

      • Zoho CRM - Portal Users Edit Their Own Account Information

        Hi Community, I'm working on a client portal and it seems like the only I can make the Account record editable to the Contact, is if I add another lookup on the Account to the Contact record. Am I missing something as the account already has a list of

      • Connecting Zoho Mail with Apollo.io

        Hi, I am trying to connect my Zoho Mail account with my Apollo.io account to start sending cold email for prospecting purposes. I have activated the IMAP setting but I am still unable to connect to the Apollo account. I am using my email credentials but

      • Where does this report come from in the Zoho One ecosystems?

        Is this directly from MA, Analytics or ??? ???

      • Contact's title in "Contact Role Mapping"

        When I'm creating a deal, I'd like to see the contacts title in the listing. Right now, I only see this: How can I get the contact's title in there?

      • Zoho CRM - Client Portal - Hide Notes Related List

        Hi Community, I'm building a customer portal and I can't find a way to hide the notes related list. I don't want the client to see the notes I have about them. Is there a way to do this as it is no bin/trash icon when I hover over.

      • "Pivot Table" Conditional Formatting

        Team, I there a way to use conditional formatting a "Pivot Table"  report? Thanks, Arron Blue Pumpkin Hosting | Solutions Made Simple

      • Next Page