Kaizen #161: Global Sets using Zoho CRM APIs

 Hello all!

In this week, we will see how to work on the Global Sets using our Zoho CRM APIs. Global Picklist APIs were introduced in Zoho CRM API version 6.

In this post, we will cover the following

• Global Sets in Zoho CRM
• Advantages of the Global Sets
• Use case
• Create a Global Set using the POST Global Picklist API
• Use the Global Set with a Picklist Field in the Required Modules
• Update the Global Set Values Using the PATCH Global Picklist Field API
• Conclusion
  

Global Sets in Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM offers an efficient way to maintain a set of data that will be used commonly across the modules to maintain accuracy via the Global Sets or Global Picklists.

Global Sets or Global Picklists are collections of picklist values that can be associated with multiple picklists across modules. When you create Global Sets, you define a set of values that can be associated with fields in different CRM modules, ensuring uniformity in data input across your organization. Refer to this link to know more about Global Sets.

Advantages of Global Sets

• Consistency: The same list of values is available across multiple modules, reducing errors and inconsistencies in data entry.
• Time-saving: You do not have to update picklist values in each module manually. Once updated centrally, changes reflect across all associated fields in all modules.
• Scalability: Easily expand your picklist when your business grows, adding new values (e.g., Adding new showroom location for franchises) without repetitive work.
• Easy Management: Centralized management of picklist values means less administrative work.
  

Use case

Global Picklist for Showroom Locations at Zylker Electronic Franchise 

Zylker, an electronics business franchise, operates several showrooms across multiple cities, all managed in Zoho CRM. As the franchise expands, they need to add new showrooms to various modules such as Leads, Deals, and Services frequently.  Whenever a new showroom opens, they can update the Global Picklist, ensuring that all modules are updated instantly and preventing inconsistencies.

In these situations, different teams manually entering showroom locations in the picklist field can lead to mistakes like typos or different spellings of the same location.

By implementing a Global Picklist for "Showroom Location," Zylker ensures that all teams select from the same list of showroom locations.

Create a Global Set using the POST Global Picklist API

Create a Global Set with the desired values. 

Request URL:  {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists

Request Method: POST

Request Body: 

{     "global_picklists": [         {             "display_label": "Showroom Location",             "description": "Use this picklist option to manage showroom locations across all modules in your CRM.",             "pick_list_values": [                 {                     "display_value": "New York Showroom",                     "sequence_number": 1,                     "actual_value": "New York Showroom"                 },                 {                     "display_value": "Los Angeles Showroom",                     "sequence_number": 2,                     "actual_value": "Los Angeles Showroom"                 },                 {                     "display_value": "Chicago Showroom",                     "sequence_number": 3,                     "actual_value": "Chicago Showroom"                 },                 {                     "display_value": "Houston Showroom",                     "sequence_number": 4,                     "actual_value": "Houston Showroom"                 }             ]         }     ] }

If the API call is successful, a global picklist will be created with the specified options. The following GIF demonstrates the newly created global picklist in the UI.

Use the Global Set with a Picklist Field in the Required Modules

Create picklist fields in the required modules, such as Leads and Contacts, and link the created Global Set with a picklist field in modules using the Create Custom Field API.

Follow the below steps to link the created Global Set with a picklist field in a module.

Step 1: Retrieve the unique ID of the Global Set 

Retrieve the unique ID of the created Global Set using the GET - Global Picklists API to link it with a picklist field. The below URL retrieves all Global Sets in your org.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists

Request Method: GET

Response:

The API retrieves all available Global Sets in the organization.

In this case, the "Showroom Location" field needs to be associated with the modules, and its unique ID is 5725767000004230002. Use the following request URL to view the specific global picklist field along with its options.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists/5725767000004230002

Request Method: GET

Response:

Step 2: Use the Global Set in the desired module

Create a new picklist field in the required modules and associate the "Showroom Location" Global Set with the picklist field.

• Leads - To track customer inquiries by showroom location.
• Deals - To monitor sales by showroom location.
• Sales Orders - To process orders based on showroom location.
• Service Requests - To handle customer service tickets by showroom location.
  

This post uses the "Leads" module as an example. Use the Create Custom Field API to associate the Global Set with the Leads module.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Leads

Note: The module parameter is mandatory to create a field in a module.

Request Method: POST

Request Body:

{     "fields": [         //Associating the Showroom Location Global Set with the Leads module         {             "field_label": "Showroom",  //The Showroom field in the Leads module, where the "Showroom Location" Global Set is associated             "data_type": "picklist", //To associate a global picklist, use the data type "picklist"             "global_picklist": {                 "id": "5725767000004230002" //ID of the global picklist             }         }     ] }

Response in the UI:

Use the above process to create the Global Set across modules using the Create Custom Field API. 

Below are the request URLs to associate the field with other modules as per our use case:

{api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Deals {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Sales_Orders {api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/fields?module=Service_Requests

Update the Global Set Values Using the PATCH Global Picklist Field API

Any changes made to the Global Set will automatically reflect across all modules associated with it. Use the PATCH - Global Picklist Field API to update the values in a Global Set.

Request URL: 

{api-domain}/crm/{version}/settings/global_picklists/5725767000004230002

Request Method: PATCH

Request Body:

{     "global_picklists": [         {                          "pick_list_values": [                 {                     //"display_value": "New York Showroom",                      "id": "5725767000004230003",                      "type": "unused" // to move the option to the unused state                 },                 {                     "display_value": "Chicago Showroom",                     "sequence_number": 3,                     "actual_value": "Chicago Showroom",                     "id": "5725767000004230007",                     "type": "unused",                     "_delete": null // deleting the option from the global Field                 },                 // Creating a new option or adding a new showroom location to the Global Set                  {                     "display_value": "San Francisco Showroom",                     "actual_value": "San Francisco Showroom"                 },                 {                     "display_value": "Boston Showroom",                     "actual_value": "Boston Showroom"                 }             ]         }     ] }

Using the PATCH Global Picklist API, you can easily manage and perform various operations. In the above request, Zylker performed the following operations:

• Moving an Option to Unused State: The "New York Showroom" option is marked with "type": "unused", meaning the showroom is moved to the "unused" state, indicating the option is no longer active but has not been deleted from the system.
  
• Deleting an Option: The "Chicago Showroom" option is deleted from the picklist field using the  "_delete": null, meaning the option is removed or deleted from the system and is no longer valid.
  
• Adding New Options: In addition to the above operations, two new showrooms namely "San Francisco Showroom" and "Boston Showroom", are added to the field using the "display_value"(mandatory) and "actual_value" (optional), as Zylker expands its franchise to new cities and manages them across the modules.

Note: The updated value will replace its old value in areas such as Records, Criteria, Workflow Actions, and Field Dependency. 

Conclusion

Hence, the Global Sets help Zylker keep the showroom location list up-to-date and consistent across modules, making it easier to manage showroom locations in their CRM system.

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!!!

Previous Kaizen Post: Kaizen #160 -  Automating ZDK CLI commands using shell scripting | Kaizen Directory | Kaizen Collection

• Topic Participants

• Subramanian K

  

• Vitor

  

• Jeganprabhu S

  

• Anamika Prasanth

  

• 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 Flow Switch On Not Working

  I have created a flow which is when the mailbox address received the email that meet the condition will auto fetch the contact, account and finally create the ticket by using Zoho Desk. When I do a test and debug on my flow it work well as what I expect

• MS Teams Flow Integration Question

  Where can I find the chat ID for the "Post message to chat" target?

• Zoho Flow - Access denied to recover recording from call module - OpenAI

  Hi, I am trying to build a Flow to recover recoding when a new call is saved in my CRM. I have integrated my CRM with ringcentral and the recordings are saved in the event. Trigger: When new module entry Step 2: Fetch module entry (Zoho CRM says "permission

• Unable to send price in big commerce from zoho flow.

  I am creating a flow from zoho flow to create a product in zoho inventory and sending this to big commerce. But the problem is like when ever i send the price its getting error. it require decimal format value if i am sending ${trigger.sales_rate} the

• Not sending mail to new lead in zoho flow

  I have created a flow in zoho flow and triggered an action to send email notification when the new lead is created but even after user entering the mail id the email is not going to them

• Access query string from incoming webhook URL in Zoho Flow

  I have a fairly straightforward use case, but cannot find anything conclusive on this subject. How can I simply access the query string of the incoming webhook request in Zoho Flow? I am attaching the Deal ID to the end of the request like: https://flow.zoho.com/762439902/flow/webhook/incoming?zapikey=1001.0dec2d7dd15080c464a13925275f0129.448c23ee219c545c89f5a178456cfc8b&isdebug=false&dealID=${Deals.Deal

• Unable to access my Zoho forms account

  For some days now, I haven't had access to my Zoho Forms account. I keep getting an error that says, "You are an inactive user in your organization" via the mobile app and "You don't have permission to access this organization" via the web. I was removed

• Identify Unused Deluge Functions in Zoho CRM

  Hello Zoho Support Team, I would like to request a feature that helps administrators identify unused or rarely used Deluge functions in Zoho CRM. Currently, Deluge functions are distributed across different areas, and there is no centralized overview

• Update on V2 API End-of-Life Timeline

  Dear Users, Earlier this year, we shared the launch of the V3 APIs and requested users to migrate from the older V2 APIs by December 2025. We have received valuable feedback from our users and partners regarding their migration timelines. We are happy

• Run a workflow after record merge

  Hello, We are wondering if there is a way to trigger a workflow after two records are merged? We have a sms service that use to text back and forth with Prospects and Contacts. To make it easy for our users, we automatically create them in this other

• Live webinar | The Evolution of Zoho Show: 2025 Feature Recap

  2025 has been a year of exciting updates and features for Zoho Show. From advanced design and formatting tools to smarter presentation delivery, enhanced collaboration, and AI-powered features—along with the launch of our desktop apps, Show has continued

• Batch Tracking custom function

  Hi fellow zoho users, We have our ecommerce site setup to shopify. I have some products I want to add batch tracking too, my only issue is that it breaks our shopify workflow (create sales order, invoice, payment, package) because it requires us to manually

• Include Suggested Articles in New Ticket Email

  When someone creates a new ticket, is there any way to include recommended knowledge base articles (like the ones Zia Suggests) in the email notification to the user? When they're waiting for a reply, it would be nice to have sent them some recommended

• Zoho Flow + QuickBooks Estimates – Line items not created from CRM subform

  Hi everyone, I’m trying to create QuickBooks Estimates from Zoho CRM Quotes using Zoho Flow. I’m aware that Zoho Flow’s native “Create Estimate” action does not support multiple line items, so I followed the community guidance for Invoices using a custom

• SAP S/4 HANA Integration via ZOHO Flow

  Hi How do I change the SAP Client ID while creating a new connection ? MY client ID is 421. I believe the client id should be an input field for length 3 numbers rather then a drop down to select from a fixed set of values. Thanks

• VLOOKUP FUNCTION PROBLEM

     Hello, i have a problem with the VLOOKUP  function in my sheet http://public.sheet.zoho.com/public/tonimoreno/indicemasacorporal2 in cell D2. This function doesn't work correctly and always returns the last content of the range. Can you help me?

• Zoho Flow Completely Broken?

  Since December 13th, 100% of our flows have stopped working completely. Nothing is working or triggering??? I called support & sat on the line with them for 2 HOURS until they finally concluded it was a back-end problem on their end?? Now i'm calling

• Print / Export full Dashboard page

  Hello Zoho team, It is currently only possible to print/export one component of a dashboard at a time. Requesting the option to print/export a full dashboard page with all components to a pdf or picture. Doing through the browser doesn't give good results.

• emails duplicated in my outlook client

  Hello I am just new here and I have a litle problem that I do not find how to solve. I sumarise here after. Your help would be very appreciated. I have just recently contracted this zoho mail servicesservices as an initial evaluation yesterday night. I then:   - opened a free account  - created 1 initial email address ..........@domain.com  - created a second email address ..........@domain.com - proceeded with the config instructions (checking the ownership of my domain, changing MX etc... ) as

• How to check task starting time in zoho mobile app?

  I am using the Zoho mobile app on my iPhone, and I am not able to see the task's starting and finishing times. When opening the Task information / Details, I can only see the Task start date and due date, but not the time. Is there any way to check a

• Creating an extension in Sigma: Zoho CRM isn't selectable as a service

  I have 2 Zoho accounts which are part of 2 different workplaces. One workplace is able to select 'Zoho CRM' as a service option when creating a new extension, the other one is not. I'm not sure what the exact differences are between them. What do I need

• List of packaged components and if they are upgradable

  Hello, In reference to the article Components and Packaging in Zoho Vertical Studio, can you provide an overview of what these are. Can you also please provide a list of of components that are considered Packaged and also whether they are Upgradable?

• Export Tickets from the Help Center

  Hello everyone! We are now allowing end users to export tickets directly from the help center. The ticket export allows users to: Filter tickets by Department, Priority, and Account before exporting. Download files from Export History (Setup > Data administration

• Is it possible to remove filtering options?

  My CRM has a lot of custom fields that should not be used in filters or views. Fields that are automated and exist only to store temporary values that get used in functions. These create a lot of noise in the list of fields to filter. Isn't there any

• Function #18: Associate invoice templates automatically based on customer language

  For businesses dealing with a diverse linguistic clientele, it becomes crucial to send out invoices in the customer's preferred language to ensure effective communication. This requirement can be handled in Zoho Books by creating invoice templates in

• Changing field types

  Question im a Zoho CRM user and curious, if I change a flied type from single or multi line text to a URL field type will i lose the data in the field or will it be converted to website link automatically. Thanks

• Quote PDF – Header image stopped rendering suddenly

  Hello Zoho Support Team, We are facing an issue with Quote PDF templates in Zoho Books. Previously, images added inside the Quote header HTML were rendering correctly. However, recently the header image is no longer appearing, while header text still

• Changing Default PDF Name

  Is it possible to change the default name of a PDF? As of right now, all of my quotes are named 'QT_$QuoteNumber' (i,e: 'QT_19803471298374) - would it be possible to change this to: '$CompanyName - $AccountName - $QuoteNumber' for instance?

• Tip 2: Recursive functions in Deluge: How to dynamically run a function for a specified number of times.

  Hi folks, As part of the Zoho Creator - Tips and Tricks series every fortnight, we are back today with a new tip on Recursive functions.  Let us first quickly understand what Recursive functions are: A function that calls itself one or more times is known as a Recursive function. That is, you can execute a function to perform a particular action a specific number of times. And, at the end of each iteration, a new output is generated. Recursive functions are commonly used by programmers as it enables

• Function #48: Manage fixed installment payments using Zoho Books

  Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Businesses offer installment payment options to their customers, particularly for expensive purchases, to ease the financial burden on them. By breaking down the total cost into smaller, more manageable

• Spotlight series #6: The Show app for Android TV has a new look!

  Hello everyone! We are delighted to introduce our revamped and redesigned Show app for Android TV.  Smart TVs are exploding in popularity. Android TV alone has over 110 million active monthly devices. Zoho Show, as part of a constant effort to improve

• Can’t create alias “Email alias already exists”

  Hi, I’m trying to create the following alias for my domain email. contact@ personal@ private@ But I get a email alias already exists. I had a soho account previously which I deleted which I suspect is causing the issue. Can someone assist? Kind Rega

• Appraisals - Order of Previous Reviews Should Be Newest to Oldest

  The new Zoho People layout generally does a decent job at providing the necessary information for performing appraisals of employee performance. One example of this is the Previous Reviews section: This information is helpful when conducting a review.

• Paging through API results. a major gap in your documentation.

  There is no way for me. to get all of my data through a single API call. Typically REST APis have mechanisms for paging through API results. But the documentation for the API I am using: https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Introduction Has no mention

• Recurring invoices were generated with old template...

  I have recurring invoices setup. Ones generated on 10.20.2025 used the modified template I had used. But for some reason, on the ones created on 11/20/2025, it seems the invoices created reverted to the previous version of the invoice template. Notably,

• Tip #54- Exploring the Files Icon in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'

  As we’re already in mid-December, it’s a good time to take a closer look at one of the most useful options in the Zoho Assist remote support dashboard—the Files icon. To get started, log in to Zoho Assist using your credentials. Once you’re in, navigate

• Tip#47: Estimation planner

  Sprint planning becomes easier, smoother, more collaborative and more accurate with the Estimation Planner extension. Most work items involve multiple users, and each user's role and effort vary. To provide an unbiased and fair estimation point to the

• Time Tracking on Iphone doesn't stop

  When I start a time tracking session the timer starts as expected. However when I hit stop, the timer remains on that project. The only buttons available are discard and start. Start runs the timer more and discard says it will throw away the data from

• Zoho Sign - Zoho CRM extension upgrade

  Hi everyone, We've updated Zoho Sign extension for Zoho CRM with significant internal changes. Impact on existing Zoho Sign extension users Users using the extension without customization If you are using the integration without implementing Zoho Sign's

• Group by Owner/ Owner Kanban /Group by Custom Field

  Hi, We are missing the option of viewing Tasks grouped by their owner, as it is an essential function for us to manage our employees' working tasks. We find it hard to inspect what are the tasks that our employees are working on.  We are seeking an option

• Next Page