Kaizen #116 - Client Types in Zoho API Console

Kaizen #116 - Client Types in Zoho API Console

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series!

This week, we will discuss different client types available in Zoho API Console, and when to use each.

When you register an app in Zoho API Console, you typically choose a client type based on how your application interacts with Zoho services.
Let us discuss the available client types and how authorization is handled for each.

Available client types

  1. Server-based
  2. Client-based
  3. Self client
  4. Non-browser-based
  5. Mobile-based

1. Server-based

If you have a web-based application that runs on a dedicated HTTP server and interacts with Zoho services by calling Zoho APIs via that server, you must register your app with this client type.
This client type is for applications that redirect the users to another URL on a web browser to authorize themselves, where they give consent to your application to use their data.
In other words, you must use this client type when you have a front-end web UI and require user intervention before your app can access user data via the dedicated server.

Consider that you are developing a web-based custom application. Users authorize that app via browser to allow their Zoho CRM data to be accessed and used by that application.
During the registration process in Zoho API Console, you would choose the "Web-based" client type.
OAuth 2.0 would be used for user authentication, allowing your app to securely access and interact with Zoho CRM data on behalf of the users.

Here is a gist of what happens:
  1. Users visit your website where you have the Login with Zoho button.
  2. When a user clicks it, that user will be redirected to accounts.zoho.com with the details of your app such as client ID, scope, redirect uri, access type as the URL parameters.
  3. Your app must make an API call to Zoho Accounts with the client ID, scope, redirect uri, and access type. Users are shown the data that your application wants to use.
  4. When users give their consent, Zoho redirects them back to your app.This will be the "Redirect URL" you give while registering your app.
  5. The redirect URL will have the authorization code(grant token) as one of the parameters, along with the location(user's domain).
  6. Your app must then make API calls from your web server to Zoho Accounts to generate access and refresh tokens with the generated grant token.
  7. You must store these tokens in your DB to access that user's data in Zoho CRM. While making API calls, you must send this access token in the header.
  8. Your app must also have the logic to regenerate access tokens from refresh tokens when the access token expires.
Note that your app must take care of storing user's details like email, organization ID, and tokens.

The following image shows the protocol flow.


You can use any of our server-side SDKs to simplify this process.
When you use our SDK, all you have to do is, generate the grant token and initialize the SDK with the client details and this token. The SDK takes care of access token generation, refreshing it, and token storage.


For more details, you can refer to the Accounts guide and CRM help doc.

2. Client-based applications

This client type is for applications that do not have a server and run exclusively on a web browser.
This is also called the Implicit flow as your app makes API calls to Zoho only when users are using your app.
This type of application loads data dynamically on the webpage, and accesses Zoho CRM data by making API calls via Javascript.

Consider the same example where there is a Login with Zoho button on your webpage.
Here is a gist of what happens when a user clicks it.
  1. Your app redirects the user to Zoho Accounts.
  2. Your app makes the authorization request with the client ID, redirect uri, scope, and response type as token.
  3. The user is shown the data that your webpage would use.
  4. When the user gives consent, Zoho Accounts sends the access token to the redirect uri as a parameter, along with the expiry time and the location of user's data in Zoho's accounts server.
  5. You can include the "email" in your scope parameter in the access token request to get user's information. The response will have a parameter called id_token that will be in the header.payload.signature format. You need to decrypt the payload section of the parameter using the base-64 decryption algorithm to get user information.
  6. Your app must then make API calls to Zoho with this access token to fetch data.
  7. When the access token expires, your app must take care of regeneration and storage.


As the API calls are made from your domain to a different domain(zohoapis.com), for security reasons, the browser will throw the CORS error. So, your domain will be registered while registering your app, and Zoho will know to allow the API calls made from that domain.

As the tokens are available on the browser itself, we recommend handling them with care.
When you use our client-side JS SDK, it automatically generates a new access token upon expiry.

3. Self Client Applications

When your application does not have a redirect URL or a UI, but performs only a backend job, and does not need user intervention, then you must choose this client type.

A self client is often used when the application and Zoho services are operated by the same entity, and you want to enable secure communication between them. For example, you have an internal reporting tool and integrate it with Zoho Analytics. In this case, both the tool and Zoho Analytics are operated by the same entity.
Similarly, consider that you have a legacy product management system and want to perform data sync between Zoho CRM and the system, then you must use the self client.

Here is a gist of what happens.
  1. You register your app as self client in Zoho API Console.
  2. You will get the client details such as ID and secret.
  3. You provide the scopes required for your app to access CRM data.
  4. You will receive the grant token.
  5. Your app must then make API calls to Zoho Accounts to generate access and refresh tokens.
  6. Your app can then use this access token to make API calls to Zoho CRM and use data.
You can refer to our older Kaizen post on this topic for more details.
Note that self client apps can also use any of our server-side SDKs. As already said, the SDK takes care of access and refresh token generation, refreshing the access token, and token storage.

4. Non-browser applications

This client type is for devices that do not have a user agent such a web browser. A TV, for instance.
Let us consider an example involving a smart TV application that integrates with Zoho ShowTime. In this scenario, the smart TV application acts as a non-browser client.
Here is how authentication is handled:
  1. You must register your smart TV app in Zoho API Console with the type "Non-browser application".
  2. Users install a dedicated Zoho ShowTime application on their smart TVs.
  3. When users launch the Zoho ShowTime application on their smart TV, they are prompted to authenticate with their Zoho ShowTime account.
  4. When they successfully authenticate, Zoho Accounts sends the grant token to your app, along with the user-code, device-code and verification URL,The user must go to this verification URL on a browser and enter the user-code to grant permission to the app.
  5. Meanwhile, your app must poll the accounts server using the grant token to check if the token has been received.
  6. When the user enters the user code, Zoho Accounts sends the access token to your app.
  7. Your app can then use the access token to make API calls to Zoho. Your app must take care of token storage and renewals.

Here is the protocol flow. For more details, refer to this doc.


5. Mobile-based applications

You must use this client type when you have developed an app exclusively for mobile devices. The protocol flow is similar to server-based application where a browser session is required for the users to authenticate.



Similar to server-side apps, mobile apps also need to handle redirection, token generation and storage.
If you use any of our Mobile SDKs, the SDK itself handles token generation and storage.

We hope you found this post useful. Let us know your thoughts in the Comment section or write to us at support@zohocrm.com.


Cheers!


      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

                                  • [Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - Creator for the Finance Industry

                                    Hello Everyone! The Learning Table Series is a free monthly webinar that runs for around 45 minutes. It's offered to our Community users and aims to provide a dynamic learning experience by demonstrating how Creator can be used as a solution for various

                                  • Webhook - Configuration failed: 200 response not received for POST request

                                    Hello, I am trying to set up a webhook to connect with an automation software but I receive the following error from Zoho: Configuration failed: 200 response not received for POST request I have tried testing it on webhook.site as well and receive the

                                  • Automated Shopify adjustment problem. "An inventory adjustment has been created by the system to set the initial stock from Shopify"

                                    Has anyone noticed issues since the Shopify Sync has been updated recently? If you sync with Shopify, check to see if there are automated adjustments for old products that keep recurring. We have this problem for 6 SKU's that Zoho is doubling the stock

                                  • Best website platform to sync to Zoho Inventory

                                    Anyone like to suggest the best website platform for syncing to Zoho Inventory? We DO NOT want to sync stock, only orders. Shopify - not an option as we have more than one website and Shopify requires 2 accounts and Zoho will not sync with 2 different accounts. Magento and WooCommerce both sync via Kloudconnectors - does anyone have any experience with this? I have trialled it and there are flaws - eg purchase order numbers are not populated. Discussion welcome!

                                  • Include product images in data sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Inventory

                                    Currently the item image does not sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Inventory when using the internal Zoho sync functionality. This requires users to manually update the item image in Zoho Inventory for products created in CRM and vice versa. Including the

                                  • Show ordered quantity on packing slips and invoices

                                    Hello Is there any way possible to show the original ordered quantity of an item (as recorded in the sales order) on subsequent package slips and sales invoices, so that these documents can show the customer the ordered qty vs the qty being currently

                                  • Search Zoho Inventory Items module via API

                                    How can I search Zoho Inventory Items by custom fields, categories, etc using the API? This is not documented. Is there an advanced search function like CRM's COQL search available via the Zoho API? If there is an undocumented way to search Items via

                                  • How can I get my images to display correctly on mobile site?

                                    I have just created a site and uploaded images, which look perfect on the desktop version. However when I view the site on my mobile device some of the images are not displaying correctly. They are all blurry. Anyone else experience this?

                                  • Does Creator support HTMX?

                                    I love the Zoho ecosystem and Zoho Creator does a lot of things really well. However, I'm needing more real-time interactivity in my forms. Is the only option to create a JS widget? How about HTMX?

                                  • My fix for "This report is not accessible" in published pages

                                    Hi Community, after having the same issue as many others here and going through the community's posts, i found a solution on my own. Again, the quality of support from Zoho is pretty awful: if you cannot help yourself, you're lost. I really like Zoho,

                                  • Tip of the Week #59– Enhance team collaboration with multichannel shared inboxes!

                                    Struggling with scattered customer conversations and missed follow-ups across your team? When messages are everywhere, it's easy for them to fall through the cracks—leading to delays, duplicate replies, and miscommunication among team members. Zoho TeamInbox

                                  • Subforms in stateless forms

                                    I think the title says it all. We need to be able to add subforms to stateless forms. Currently the only workaround is to create a Form and delete each record upon submission of the form. I need to build an interface to update our inventory. Basically

                                  • Delete standard e-mailtemplate

                                    Hello, Is it possible to delete or hide a standard e-mailtemplate? I would only like to show my own created e-mailtemplates to my staff. I only find a 'delete' option at my custom made e-mailtemplates, but the standard e-mailtemplates do not show this

                                  • Add values to Countdown Mode

                                    Is it possible to add values to the countdown mode drop down? The longest is 2 days. I would like values for 5 days, 10 days, 15 days...

                                  • RSS feed from a Zoho site blog?

                                    Does the Zoho Site blog have an RSS feed associated with it? I would like to have this picked up on a business Facebook page. thanks

                                  • Refresh token not appearing

                                    Hello, I was wondering if there is another way of obtaining a refresh token, as following the usual 60-second-code procedure generates a new access token, but not the refresh token, and so i have to repeat everything to get a new token every hour or so,

                                  • How would I collect a signature in person on Zoho sign?

                                    Suppose I have a customer show up at my office and we close a deal. I have an iPad ready to go, and I need to have the customer sign the document right there. How would I do it?

                                  • What's New in Zoho Analytics - June 2025

                                    Hello Users, We're delighted to bring you new features and enhancements designed to make your analytics experience smarter and more powerful than ever. AutoML Enhancements We’re thrilled to introduce powerful new AutoML enhancements, making machine learning

                                  • CRM Client scripts via extension?

                                    I've made a lot of industry specific customization to zoho CRM, using custom modules, workflows/automations, deluge scripts, api calls, and client scripting. I have had organic interest explaining what i've done to other small business owners in my industry.

                                  • How to import data via Excel for a multi-select lookup field?

                                    In the Accounts module, I have a multi-select lookup field to the Contacts module. When I import Accounts data via Excel, I want to enter the contact email address (which is used as the identifier) under the column name for the multi-select lookup field.

                                  • Need better way to tie Undeposited Funds to Invoice Payments to make it easy to reconcile Undeposited Funds account

                                    Hello, Request to have Zoho create tighter integration between Undeposited Funds and Invoice Payments.  Currently reconciling the undeposited funds account is a fairly tedious process for us.  Since the deposits and payments are just thrown into a "bucket"

                                  • Customized folder permissions in web Zoho WorkDrive won't apply to Sync

                                    Hi, within the 'Deals' macro-folder I created a folder for each Sales person (att. 1). Within each Sales person's folder a subfolder is automatically generated via function every time a new deal record is created in Zoho CRM, i.e. 1 deal record = 1 deal

                                  • What happens after trial period

                                    Dear Support, We are planning to use ZOHO CRM for our organization. We are now registered for a 15 days trial version. I would like to know what happens with our account and our data after these 15 days. Will it automatically change into a 'free' account

                                  • Forte's Extra Costs

                                    Hello everyone in the Zoho community, I wanted to share some information about Forte in case anyone wanted to look into them as a processor.  I currently use Stripe, but wanted to use Forte's ACH to pay vendors and take ACH payments for our products.  This is one of the only ACH processors that Zoho accepts. They state their cost is $25/month plus their transaction fees for ACH.  However, after signing up and going through their approval process, I found this out they work with a PCI compliance service

                                  • SEPA stripe vs gocardless

                                    Hi, we want to use Zoho Books - but as we are a company that is based in Germany we are using SEPA mandates. I know that its possible to use GoCardless - but the fees are extremly high (15 EUR fee for a 5000 EUR transaction). Is there any other way to

                                  • Zoho Commerce - Zoho Shop (Multilanguage)

                                    hi there we have a shop in zoho commerce, can I change the language in the shop, i mean, can I create a German and a French version, as an instance or something? If yes, how it works? thanks for your answers greetings prisca

                                  • French Tutorials

                                    Is there any Zoho projects tutorials, ebook, video or else in french? If so, where can I fin it please? Thx

                                  • My zoho mail has been disabled and cannot send email

                                    I’m the super admin for my company’s email accounts, but my own email address has been unexpectedly locked. I’m seeing the following error message: Could you please assist in unlocking my account so I can resume sending emails?

                                  • SMTP error

                                    I am using SMTP from Zoho the account is accounts@khlaklaeeb.com it was working fine then started to have Error and unable to delivery messages SMTP host SMTP.zoho,com SMTP user: accounts@khlaklaeeb.com SMTP port 465 PAssword: App Password it was working

                                  • Zoho Books Roadshows are back in the UAE!

                                    Hello there, Business owners and accounting professionals of the UAE, we’re coming to your cities! FTA accredited Zoho Books is now officially one of the Digital Tax Integrators in the UAE. With the newly launched direct VAT filing capabilities, we're

                                  • Automatically creating a ticket in Zoho Desk when an invoice is created in Zoho Books

                                    I need to find a way to create a ticket automatically (i.e. using workflow) in Zoho Desk whenever an invoice is created in Zoho Books. Please advise if there is a way of doing that?

                                  • Been getting this error, every now and then "Get count limit exceeded, please try again after 3 mins"

                                    it is really annoying.

                                  • Co-existing with Google Workspace

                                    We currently use GWS and due to legacy practices, we cannot migrate away from it. Not easily anyway. The issue we have is that while we have Zoho Mail, we get duplicate copies of emails. Our setup is that GWS is our primary. We have Zoho MX records in

                                  • Stop Zoho Projects From Automatically Adding Client Users

                                    I have a custom function that creates a Zoho Project for every Quote attached to a Deal when it moves to Closed Won. Everything works fine, except for the fact that connecting a Zoho Project to the CRM automatically takes the Contact associated with the

                                  • dd Linked Note to Comments & History via Custom Function + Zoho Document View Feature

                                    Hi all, I have a couple of custom functions running in Zoho (specifically in Inventory/Books), and I'm trying to streamline it. Here’s the scenario: When a Purchase Receive is processed, my custom function automatically creates a Package. I'd like to

                                  • How to break line in zohoCRM

                                    Hello everyone, I'm currently working with Deluge scripting language and encountering an issue with newline characters (\n). My goal is to format a string with multiple lines, but the newline characters are not being interpreted correctly. Instead of

                                  • Marketer’s Space: Supercharged Workflow with Zoho CRM Integration

                                    Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space. Today, we’ll explore how integrating Zoho CRM with Zoho Campaigns can help you create smarter, more personalized Workflow. In this post, we’ll look at a specific use case to demonstrate

                                  • Zoho Live chat doesnt chat on CRM Contact page????

                                    We have used Salesforce Live Agent for the last 8 years and the chat comes in on the Contact record which is logical and intuitive as the chat agent can see the customers sales history and open opportunities...etc... We just migrated to Zoho CRM and I

                                  • Image Quality Issue on Zoho Assist

                                    Hello, For the past two days, I've been experiencing a significant image quality issue on Zoho Assist when connecting to one of my computers. I’ve tried reinstalling the application, but the issue persists across multiple devices. The internet connection

                                  • New views to manage activities within a record

                                    Dear customers, We hope you're well! Today, we're here with a useful update to the Activities related list. As you might be aware, parent records display related information from other modules as related lists. This helps you get a 360-degree view of

                                  • Next Page