Kaizen 200 - OAuth and Token Management using Zoho CRM Python SDK

Kaizen 200 - OAuth and Token Management using Zoho CRM Python SDK



We’re incredibly excited to bring you the 200th post in our Kaizen series!

Idea
This journey has been as much about listening as it has been about sharing. And today, we’re making both count. Over the past few weeks, we’ve collected your feedback through the Kaizen feedback form added in our earlier posts. Thank you for the time and thought you’ve put into it.

Starting today, we’ll be actively addressing your most requested topics. 

Overview – OAuth 2.0 and Zoho CRM SDKs

In this Kaizen, we’ll walk you through how OAuth 2.0 authentication is handled using the Zoho CRM Python SDK, and how the SDK simplifies token refresh, storage, and management for multiple users and organizations across multiple data centers.

Introduction:


OAuth2.0 Recap:



Token Management using Zoho CRM SDKs:


Sample Project Overview

We’ve used a fully working sample project to demonstrate the OAuth flow in action.

Frontend

A static interface built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Files include:
  • index.html – login and data input page
  • script.js – client-side login and record handling
  • redirect.html – used to capture the grant token from Zoho

Backend

A Python server using Zoho CRM SDK to:
  • Authenticate users using OAuth 2.0
  • Store and manage tokens
  • Fetch and manipulate CRM records

Note:

Before running the project, you’ll need to register your client in the Zoho API Console. Once registered, use the generated Client ID and Client Secret in your server code.
If you're planning to support users across multiple Zoho Data Centers (DCs):
  • Be sure to enable Multi-DC for your client.
  • Use the same client credentials (Client ID and Secret) for all the DCs during authentication.

Implementation Demo:

How the SDK Maps Tokens to Users

One of the key challenges in multi-user apps is ensuring that each user's tokens are stored and retrieved correctly. The Zoho CRM Python SDK handles this automatically.
As part of the OAuth flow, the SDK retrieves the user's email and organization info in the background using the scopes ZohoCRM.users.READ and ZohoCRM.org.READ. It then uses this unique user–org combination to:
  • Store access and refresh tokens separately for each user
  • Automatically update tokens when a user logs in again
  • Ensure that all API calls are authorized with the correct tokens
If you're implementing Login with Zoho using the standard OAuth redirect flow, all of this is handled internally by the SDK using the user and org information retrieved during login. There’s no need to manually pass a UserSignature in the token object.
 
If you're not implementing Login with Zoho, or if you’d prefer to explicitly associate a token with a known user, you can pass a UserSignature object during initialization:
  1. from zohocrmsdk.src.com.zoho.api.authenticator import UserSignature

    user = UserSignature(email)
    token = OAuthToken(..., user_signature=user)
    Initializer.initialize(..., user=user)
This ensures the SDK can correctly identify the token's owner and separate tokens for different users or orgs in a multi-user application.

Multi-User & Multi-DC Token Management


Authentication can often be one of the trickiest parts of any integration, especially when you're dealing with multiple users, environments, and token refresh cycles. With the Zoho CRM SDKs, much of that complexity is handled for you, from generating and persisting tokens, to refreshing them silently when they expire, and managing user-org mappings behind the scenes.

We hope this Kaizen gave you a clearer picture of how to use our SDKs confidently in your apps. Try out the project, play around, and see how it all works in real time. 

If you have any queries, let us know the comments below, or send an email to support@zohocrm.com. We'd love to hear from you.




      • 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

        • Commerce Order as Invoice instead of Sales Order?

          I need a purchase made on my Commerce Site to result in an Invoice for services instead of a Sales Order that will be pushed to Books. My customers don't pay until I after I add some details to their transaction. Can I change the settings to make this

        • 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

        • 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:

        • 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.

        • Is the ChatGPT Assistant integration capable of recognizing WhatsApp voice messages?

          I was wondering: if a visitor sends me a voice message on WhatsApp, would the assistant be able to transcribe it and reply to them?

        • Zoho Creator to Zoho CRM Images

          Right now, I am trying to setup a Notes form within Zoho Creator. This Notes will note the Note section under Accounts > Selected Account. Right now, I use Zoho Flow to push the notes and it works just fine, with text only. Images do not get sent (there

        • 【Zoho CRM】レポート機能のアップデート

          ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、レポート機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 目次 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について 2. 通貨項目の表示について 3. レポートの削除の監査ログへの反映について 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について これまで、レポートをエクスポートするとファイルにレコードIDが必ず含まれていました。レコードIDが識別子として役立つ場合もありますが、実際には多くの企業で参照されることはありません。

        • Translation in zoho bookings

          We cant translate zoho booking emails. The general text we can change. But what about text like: ""Here a link to join the meeting online:"" and "Add to Zoho Calendar" and "Add to Google Calendar"? No professional business have mixed languages. Its looking

        • Is there any way to bill one client in different currencies on different invoices?

          I have some customers who have their currency set as USD and most of their billing is done in USD.   However, from time to time I have a need to bill them in my base currency GBP for some specific invoices, but there seems to be no way of doing this that I can see. The only workaround that I can see is to create two client records for the same client, one for USD billing and one for GBP billing, but this is not an ideal situation. Is it likely that the (hopefully!) soon to arrive multi-currency support

        • API name for all fields in Zoho Project (Standard or custom)

          Hi! I struggle to find easily all API name of all field in Zoho Project to build my API rest with other services. We can find them very fast in CRM but not in PRoject.   Could you share a function to get the list of all API Name of any field of an App

        • Disappearing Mouse cursor in Zoho Mail / Windows 11 (Chrome + Edge)

          I'm seeing an issue when writing mails with the light theme with the mouse cursor being white and the document area also being white - making it nearly impossible to see the mouse cursor. I see the problem on Windows 11 under Chrome and Edge. (Yet to

        • Zoho Assist not rendering NinjaTrader chart properly

          Hi everyone. Just installed and testing Zoho Assist. I want to display my laptop' screen (Windows 11) on a monitor connected to my Mac mini. The laptop is running a stock trading program called NinjaTrader. Basically, when running, this program displays

        • 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

        • Best way to schedule bill payments to vendors

          I've integrated Forte so that I can convert POs to bills and make payments to my vendors all through Books. Is there a way to schedule the bill payments as some of my vendors are net 30, net 60 and even net 90 days. If I can't get this to work, I'll have

        • Link(s) between Notes

          Hello Everyone, It would be great if links could be created between notes. Let's say we have 5 Notes A, B, C , D, E. I would like to be able to link Note A to Note B but not in other way, so no link appears in Note B linking to Note A. An so on, linking

        • Option to Hide Project Overview for Client Profiles

          In Zoho Projects, the Project Overview section is currently visible to client profiles by default. While user profiles already have the option to restrict or hide access to the project overview, the same flexibility isn’t available for client profiles.

        • Zoho Books | Product updates | August 2025

          Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From the right sidebar where you can manage all your widgets, to integrating Zoho Payments feeds in Zoho Books, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience.

        • Regex in Zoho Mail custom filters is not supported - but it works!

          I recently asked Zoho for help using regex in Zoho Mail custom filters and was told it was NOT supported. This was surprising (and frustrating) as regex in Zoho Mail certainly works, although it does have some quirks* To encourage others, here are 3 regex

        • Feature Request: Assign Documents to Already Entered Bills, Expenses, Invoices, etc.

          Hi Zoho Team, We are regular users of the Documents module in Zoho Books and appreciate its ability to keep financial records well-organized. However, we’ve noticed a limitation: There is no way to attach a document from the "Documents > Files" section

        • I don't see any WITHDRAWL transaction at all

          Hi I manually imported my bank statement to Zoho books today and I am a complete newbie. I have been reading the knowledgebase but unable to fix this. I only see "Uncategorized 91 DEPOSIT transactions". I don't see any WITHDRAWL transaction at all. Also,

        • Shared inbox unable to see replies

          Hi we are a small company me and someone else, we have a shared inbox for our sale@ and contact@ however we have this issue where by if i reply to an email or the other person reply to the email, it does not show it to them and therefore we end up replying

        • Kaizen #136 - Zoho CRM Widgets using ReactJS

          Hey there! Welcome back to yet another insightful post in our Kaizen series! In this post, let's explore how to use ReactJS for Zoho CRM widgets. We will utilize the sample widget from one of our previous posts - Geocoding Leads' Addresses in ZOHO CRM

        • 404 error at checkout

          Our customers are getting a 404 error at checkout. Anyone else with the same problem?

        • FONT Sizing in Notebook

          Hi Kishore - What is the status of adding font sizing to the application? I have several things that I have pasted directly into Notebook and the fonts are HUGE! I would like the ability to highlight them and reduce the font to a legible size. Nothing

        • Can managers Upload documents to their direct rapports?

          Admin employees have the ability to upload documents to employees' files; however, managers do not have add/manage button - is it possible for managers to upload their direct reports' documents, such as absence documents or 121 documents. Is there something

        • Leave balance display for next year

          Is there a way to not have a rollover or not limit the leave balance depending on the date. For example an employee has 10 days leave balance and wants to apply for January leave in December. They cant because the rollover doesnt show the leave balance

        • Please add an “Auto-Apply Unused Credits” toggle

          Hello — please add a simple org-level option to automatically apply unused credits (credit notes, excess payments, retainers) to new invoices and/or bills. An ON/OFF toggle with choices “invoices”, “bills”, or “both” would save lots of manual work for

        • Zoho Books not working/loading

          Hi! I haven't been able to access/load Zoho Books for the past hours. I get a time out (and it is not due to my internet connection). Could you please check this asap? Thank you!

        • Custom Fields with Data Types for Expense and Payments Received in Zoho Books

          Hi all, We are glad to present to you, the option to create Custom Fields for the Expense and Payments received modules in Zoho Books. This also comes with an icing on top of it - Yes, the custom fields can now be created with different data types. Types like Text, Number, Decimal, Amount, Auto Number and Check Box are supported as of now. Rush to the gear icon at the top right corner, select 'More Settings', choose 'Preferences' in the left pane. Click the Expense/Payment preferences where you can

        • [Webinar] Automate sales and presales workflows with Writer

          Sales involves sharing a wide range of documents with customers across the presales, sales, and post-sales stages: NDAs, quotes, invoices, sales orders, and delivery paperwork. Generating and managing these documents manually slows down the overall sales

        • Zoho Cliq - Incident alert (Server outage - IN DC) | August 28

          We've received server down alerts and are currently investigating the issue (IN DC) to find the root cause. Our team is actively working to restore normal operations at the earliest. Status: Under investigation Start time: 09:44:21 AM IST Affected location:

        • Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM Integration – AI-Powered Sales Automation

          Hello Zoho Community 👋 I’m excited to share a recent integration we’ve worked on at OfficehubTech: ✅ Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM This integration connects Zoho CRM with Claude AI through our custom MCP Server, enabling intelligent AI-driven responses

        • How can I see content of system generated mails from zBooks?

          System generated mails for offers or invices appear in the mail tab of the designated customer. How can I view the content? It also doesn't appear in zMail sent folder.

        • Next Page