Building extensions #2: Creating extensions for Zoho Projects using a CLI

Building extensions #2: Creating extensions for Zoho Projects using a CLI

In our previous post, we noted the two ways to create extensions for Zoho Projects— using the cloud editor and using the command line interface (CLI). We also shared how to create an extension using the Sigma cloud editor. In this post, we'll take a closer look at creating an extension using the CLI.

You'll learn how to create an extension project template with the CLI, test it, upload the zipped project while creating an extension, and then edit or change it. Let's go over each of these steps in detail.

Building an extension project using the CLI
  • To create an extension project, we must first set up the development environment, which involves:
➤ Downloading Node.js: Node.js acts as the base platform as well as the JavaScript environment in which the JavaScript code is executed.
➤ Installing ZET CLI: Zoho offers a command line interface called Zoho Extension Toolkit (ZET) which enables you to build, test, and pack your extension project.
Please follow the steps in this link to download Node.js and install ZET CLI.
  • Once the development environment is ready, use the basic ZET commands to create, validate, pack, and test your extension project.
zet init: Create a new project and add the necessary folder structure and resources
zet validate: Validate the entire project
zet pack: Pack the project to get a zipped file that will later be associated as the connected app
zet run: Run the internal Zoho server to test the project locally
Now, let's use these commands to create and manage an extension project.
  • First, use the zet init command. Select Zoho Projects as the Zoho service from the dropdown list.

  • Enter a name for the extension. An extension with the directory structure required for a sample Zoho Projects extension is created automatically.

  • This directory structure contains an app folder and a plugin-manifest.json file, both of which are similar to those created by the Sigma cloud editor detailed in the last post.

  • The app folder can be used to manage all the important resources required for your extension. By default, itincludes an index.html file, which serves as the UI for a sample widget.
  • The plugin-manifest.json file helps with extension configuration. It includes a widgets key configured with a default sample widget named, "Projects Extension" in the default location as the task details tab, along with the URL as the location of the index.html file.
Now that the extension project has been created, lets go ahead and test it in the Zoho Projects portal.
Testing an extension project using the CLI
  • To test a sample Zoho Projects extension created with the ZET CLI, use the Change Directory command to navigate to the project folder. Then, run the zet run command.

  • This command starts a local server and enables you to test your extension locally.
  • Now, navigate to your Zoho Projects portal. Click the Setup icon.
  • Select Developer Space from the left panel. Click Enable Developer Mode.

  • Developer Mode will be enabled and the page will automatically refresh.
  • You may now test your extension functionalities in the Zoho Projects portal.
  • Since the sample extension had a default widget called, "Projects Extension" configured on the Task Details page, choose and enter a project task in your portal.

  • Click on the Projects Extension tab on the Task Details page, and you will see that the widget has loaded.

  • Once you have finished testing your extension's functionality, use the zet pack command. This command adds a dist folder to the directory structure, zips the extension project, and places the zipped file inside the newly created dist folder.
Uploading the zipped file to your Sigma extension

Now that we have created the extension project and tested its functionalities locally, lets go ahead and create an extension in Sigma.
  • Once you enter your Sigma workspace, click the New Extension button to build a new extension.
  • Enter a name and description for the extension. Choose Zoho Projects for the service.
  • Toggle Upload Existing File to Yes.

  • Click Browse to locate and upload the extension project's zipped file, accept the terms and conditions, and click Create.

  • You will be redirected to the cloud editor. The directory structure of your CLI extension project will be automatically populated with the project's contents.
Editing an extension created with the CLI
  • You can make edits or changes to your extension code directly from the cloud editor.
  • If you wish to make changes to a file or its contents in the directory structure of your CLI extension project, please be sure to pack the extension project again using the zet pack CLI command.
  • Go to Sigma. Click the Extension Details icon of the extension you wish to edit.

  • Click the Edit icon under the extension name.

  • Browse for and upload the new zipped file, accept the terms and conditions, and click Update.

  • The extension will be updated to reflect the changes you have made.
In this post, we have covered the process of creating an extension for Zoho Projects through ZET CLI. We hope you found this information useful. Keep following this space for more information!

Sign up for a Zoho Developer account and start developing extensions for Zoho products using Sigma.

SEE ALSO







      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • I want to subscribe 1 professional user but the email only 250 per day?

                                    When I subscribe 1 professional user, I am only able to send 250 email per day? So less? Or is it typo, 2500 rather than 250? Any sale agent or friends can clear my doubt? Thank You
                                  • How to add a % Growth column for year-over-year comparison (2024 vs 2025)

                                    Hello, I am trying to build a monthly revenue comparison between 2024 and 2025 in Zoho CRM Analytics. My current setup is: Module: Deals (Affaires) Filter: Stage = Closed Won Date field: Closing Date Grouping: By Month Metrics: Sum of Amount for 2024,
                                  • How do you map a user picklist field to another user picklist field.

                                    In Zoho Projects, I'm trying to map a custom field (user picklist) in Task Details to a field (user picklist) in the Project Details. How do you get the two to map to each other? This is what I currently have that works for my other fields but doesn't
                                  • Explore Competitive 3D Scanner Prices at Protomont Technologies

                                    The genesis of Protomont Technologies emerged from the collaborative efforts of the founders in 2019, both the founders shoulder an enormous experience in the world of 3D Printing. Protomont Technology aims to craft your vision with creativity, empowering
                                  • New and improved API resources for Zoho Sign Developers

                                    Hello, Developers community! We know that for you, an API's real value depends on how quickly, easily, and reliably you can integrate the it with your application. That's why we're excited to talk about the recent improvements to our developer resources,
                                  • stock

                                    bom/bse : stock details or price =STOCK(C14;"price") not showing issue is #N/A! kindly resolve this problem
                                  • Project Approval Process Workflow

                                    Issue: When a new Project is created, there is lack of process/workflow that provides their manager a process to approve or review. Suggestion/Idea: Similar to “Workflow”, we need “Workflow” ability at Project level, where based on the criteria of the
                                  • Marketing Tip #5: Improve store speed with optimized images

                                    Slow-loading websites can turn visitors away. One of the biggest culprits? Large, uncompressed images. By optimizing your images, your store loads faster and creates a smoother shopping experience leading to higher sales. It also indirectly improves SEO.
                                  • Why can I not choose Unearned Revenue as an account on items?

                                    Hello, I do not understand why we don't have the ability to code an item to unearned revenue. It is not an uncommon situation to have in business. I understand that there is the Retainer invoice as an option, however that doesn't really work for us. Our
                                  • Form Submission Emails

                                    Is there a current delay with submission emails being sent? We've had 10-20 forms completed today but only a handful of emails.
                                  • Rules not working properly

                                    I created a rule to display certain fields on certain states. But it seems to be not working. It hides the fields even when I selected California, (which is a state that should show the fields when selected)
                                  • Notebook font size issue

                                    If I copy something from somewhere and paste it in my notebook, the font size becomes smaller.
                                  • Sign in process is beyond stupid. I'd rather plug my phone into USB and copy files than sign in to this POS.

                                    792 clicks and fields to fill in just to get into a 3rd rate app is too stupid for me.
                                  • Ampersand in URL parameter // EncodeURL does not work

                                    Hi Zoho, I have a url link with a parameter. The parameter is including ampersand in some cases (Can be "H&M" or "P&I") When trying to use %26 instead of "&"  (the result I get using EncodeURL()) I get H%26M instead of H&M in the parameter field. How can I solve this? Thanks! Ravid
                                  • how can we create in zoho crm a new contact when the looup does not find a similar existing one

                                    In forms/integrations/zoho crm / ne w record tab, contact name is to be mapped with my form contact name. When I go in biew edit/lookup configuration, I don t get the options (help dedicated page simply repeat the same info you get in the app) and does
                                  • Directory Websites

                                    Directories are a good website category to gain search engine traffic. Directories for a professional service category as an example can help their members in search results over their individual website. It would be nice to have a directory template
                                  • Manage Task on Mobile

                                    How do we manage our task on mobile devices? It seems that there should be a standalone mobile app to handle the new task features. The new features released in regards to Task management are great by the way! Now we need to bring that all together in
                                  • Set Default Payment Method & Default account

                                    Hi, I would like to know how to set the default payment method and default bank account when recording payments in zoho books. At present we have to change these fields everytime we record a payment, which leads to potential error and as we have a very
                                  • Customer Portal on Zoho Desk

                                    Hi, I'd like to know more about the items below I found when setting up the Customer Portal on Zoho Desk. Could someone help me explaining these in details? Especially the 2nd and 3rd point. Thanking you in advance! Permissions Customers can sign up for Customer Portal Customers can view tickets of their organization (contacts) Customers must register to access Customer Portal Display Community in Customer Self Service portal
                                  • Slow Performance on desk.zoho.com. 11/3/2025

                                    I’m not seeing any active service alerts for desk.zoho.com, but everyone on our account is currently experiencing very slow load times when opening or navigating tickets. We’ve already tried the standard troubleshooting steps — clearing cache and cookies,
                                  • Computer Showing Offline in Unattended Access

                                    I have a computer that was connected to the internet but showing offline in Assist. I tried uninstalling the program and deleting it from Zoho Assist the reinstalling and it still does not show up. I have been a user for several months and am not pleased with the lack of connectivity with Assist. If this continues I will have to find another product. The computer I reinstalled it on is not even showing up in Assist now. The name is NYRVLI-PC. Thanks
                                  • Closing Accounting Periods - Invoice/Posting dates

                                    Hi, I have seen in another thread but I'm unsure on how the 'transaction locking' works with regards to new and old transactions. When producing monthly accounts if I close December 24 accounts on 8th Jan 25 will transaction locking prevent me from posting
                                  • Zoho CRM Portal Error

                                    Hi, We’re experiencing an issue with the Zoho CRM Portal. When we try to access it, we receive an HTTPS connection error: net::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID. If we proceed past that, we then get a 400 Bad Request error. Could you please help us resolve
                                  • Can we do Image swatches for color variants?

                                    We want to do something like the attached screenshot on our new zoho store. We need image swatches instead of normal text selection. We want to user to select an image as color option. Is this doable? I don't see any option on zoho backend. Please h
                                  • Integrating Zoho CRM EmbeddedApp SDK with Next.js — Initialization and Data Fetching Issues

                                    You can get an idea from my code I have given in end: First, I worked on a React project and tried the same thing — it worked. My goal was to import the Zoho script and then load contacts using the Zoho Widget SDK, which was successful in React. Now,
                                  • Feature enhancement: Highlight rows based on a cell value

                                    Hello Sheet users, We're excited to announce a new feature enhacement, shaped directly by your valuable feedback! As you might know, conditional formatting is a great tool for anyone dealing with large data sets. Previously, if you’ve ever wanted to draw
                                  • Script Editor not an option

                                    I am trying to apply a script to a sheet and Script Editor is not an option. I don't want to go outside Sheets to do this (like Creator) if it can be done inside Sheets.
                                  • monetizing the courses

                                    Can I add a price for course enrollment ?
                                  • Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?

                                    Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?
                                  • Copy paste from word document deletes random spaces

                                    Hello Dear Zoho Team, When copying from a word document into Notebook, often I face a problem of the program deleting random spaces between words, the document become terribly faulty, eventhough it is perfect in its original source document (and without
                                  • Create custom rollup summary fields in Zoho CRM

                                    Hello everyone, In Zoho CRM, rollup summary fields have been essential tools for summarizing data across related records and enabling users to gain quick insights without having to jump across modules. Previously, only predefined summary functions were
                                  • Download a file from within a zoho creator widget

                                    I have a widget running in Zoho Creator , it displays uploaded documents in a table file, and I have added a download link in the view. ( The widget is created with html, css and javascript). I do not succeed in getting the download working. Do I have
                                  • Taxes for EU B2B Transactions

                                    Currently, ZC doesn't seem to have a procedure for validating VAT numbers of businesses purchasing in another EU state, and removing local VAT is valid. This is essential for all inter EU B2B trade.
                                  • Unable to Receive Emails on Zoho Mail After Office 365 Coexistence Setup – Error: 553 Relaying Disallowed

                                    Hello, My domain name is bigniter.com, and I’ve been using Zoho Mail as my email service provider without any issues. Recently, I followed the steps outlined in the Zoho documentation to enable Coexistence with Office 365: 🔗 https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/adminconsole/coexistence-with-office365.html#multi-server
                                  • Enhance Sign CRM integration

                                    Hello all, I'm working on a custom Deluge script to enhance the integration between Zoho CRM and Sign by using a writer merge template for additional flexibility. I want to replicate the post-sign document integration that exists between CRM and Sign
                                  • CRM Related list table in Zoho analytics

                                    In Zoho Analytics, where can I view the tables created from zoho crm related lists? For example, in my Zoho CRM setup, I have added the Product module as a related list in the Lead module, and also the Lead module as a related list in the Product module.
                                  • Candidate Registration/Invitation

                                    It would be great to include the 'invite' candidate functionality into some of the automation functions - ether through a custom function trigger or webhook or accessible through an email template.  Currently there is no way to add this functionality into any workflows or blueprint steps which, I find limits the ability to invite candidates to engage with us directly through our candidate portal. 
                                  • [Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - Creator for Infrastructure Management | A Partner-driven collaborative session

                                    Hello Everyone! We’re excited to invite you to another edition of Learning Table Series, where we showcase how Zoho Creator empowers industries with innovative and automated solutions. About the Learning Table Series The Learning Table Series is a free,
                                  • Where we can change the icon in social preview

                                    Hi, we changed our logo, and the image that appear in preview (ex : when we post a appointment link somewhere) is still our old logo. I did change our logo in the org setting. https://bookings.zoho.com/app/#/home/dashboard/settings/basic-info?clview=false
                                  • Cadences

                                    I have just started using Cadences for follow-up up email pipeline. Is it just me or do you find the functionality very basic? For example, it will tell me (if I go looking for it) if someone has replied to a follow-up and been unenrolled; but it won't
                                  • Next Page