Kaizen #154 - Dynamically Update Picklist Values in Zoho CRM Workflows

Kaizen #154 - Dynamically Update Picklist Values in Zoho CRM Workflows



Hello all!
Welcome back to another interesting Kaizen post.
Today, we will discuss how to add automatically or remove values from a picklist field using Deluge within a workflow. This post serves as a solution for the forum post.

Use case

The sales team migrates users from Pipedrive to Zoho CRM. In Pipedrive, the team managed deals using a Kanban view displayed based on the Closing Months (a picklist field). They automated the updating of picklist values to include current and upcoming months based on the deals' closing timelines. 

In Zoho CRM, to replicate this process, users should manually update the picklist values. The requirement is to automate updating the picklist options during record creation or editing within a workflow.

Solution

By triggering the PATCH Fields API (introduced in V6) through a Deluge function within a workflow, this process can be easily automated. Automating picklist updates saves time, reduces the chances of human error, and ensures that picklist values are always up-to-date.
  • First, create a custom picklist field called "Closing Month" in the Deals module.
  • Then, use the custom picklist along with the Closing Date (a mandatory field date field in the Deals module) within a Deluge function in the Workflow. 
  • The PATCH Fields API can be used within the Deluge function to automate updating picklist values and to list the current and upcoming closing dates in deals.
Let us see the steps in detail on how to achieve this case.

Example

Consider the Closing Month as a custom picklist in the Deals module with three months: January, February, and March. Whenever a new deal is created and its closing month matches one of the picklist values, the record will be updated with the corresponding month in the Closing Month field and placed under the existing picklist value in the Kanban view. If the new closing month is not already in the picklist values, then the Deluge function will automatically create a new picklist value, and the record will fall under the new picklist value section in the Kanban view. 

Follow the steps below to achieve our case in Zoho CRM:
  1. Create a Custom Picklist Field in the Deals module.
  2. Set Up a Workflow.
  3. Add a Deluge Function within a workflow.
  4. Configure the Workflow.

1. Create a Custom Picklist Field in the Deals Module

  • Go to Setup > Customization > Modules and Fields.
  • Select the Deals module and the desired layout where you want to add the picklist.
  • Click on New Fields and then Add New Field.
  • Select Picklist as the field type, name it "Closing Month", and add a list of months (In this post, only three months have been added for example purposes).

                                  
  • Click Done to save the new picklist field.

2. Set Up a Workflow

  • Navigate to Setup > Automation > Workflow Rules.
  • Click on Create Rule, select the Deals module, and name the workflow in the Rule Name.
  • Set the rule to trigger on record creation or update.
                               
The workflow triggers based on the value of the Closing Date in the Deals module, executing the function when the Closing Date is not empty.


3. Add a Deluge Function within a workflow

You can either create a custom function or you can associate an existing one. Below is the Deluge code used within the workflow. 
  1. //To map months with Numbers
  2. month = {1:"Jan",2:"Feb",3:"Mar",4:"Apr",5:"May",6:"June",7:"Jul",8:"Aug",9:"Sep",10:"Oct",11:"Nov",12:"Dec"};
  3. //To retrieve the Deal record
  4. dealRecord = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Deals",dealRecordID);
  5. info dealRecord;
  6. //To retrieve the Closing Date
  7. closingDate = dealRecord.get("Closing_Date");
  8. info closingDate; 
  9. //To get the predefined value from the closing month
  10. closingMonth = month.get(closingDate.month());
  11. closingYear = closingDate.year();
  12. //To Format the Month and Year from the Closing Date
  13. picklistValue = closingMonth + " " + closingYear;
  14. info picklistValue;
  15. //Retrieving Current Picklist Values
  16. Dealsfield = invokeurl
  17. [
  18. url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v7/settings/fields/5725767000003664513?module=deals"
  19. type :GET
  20. connection:"zohocrm"
  21. ];
  22. info Dealsfield;
  23. picklistValues = Dealsfield.get("fields").get(0).get("pick_list_values");
  24. info picklistValues;
  25. //Checking if the Picklist Value Already Exists
  26. flag = false;
  27. for each  option in picklistValues
  28. {
  29. if(option.get("display_value").equals(picklistValue))
  30. {
  31.   flag = true;
  32.   info flag;
  33. }
  34. }
  35. //Adding a New Picklist Value if It Doesn't Exist
  36. if(flag == false)
  37. {
  38. requestBody = Map();
  39. requestList = List();
  40. requestData = Map();
  41. picklist = list();
  42. picklistobj = Map();
  43. picklistobj.put("display_value",picklistValue);
  44. picklist.add(picklistobj);
  45. requestData.put("pick_list_values",picklist);
  46. requestList.add(requestData);
  47. requestBody.put("fields",requestList);
  48. info requestBody + "";
  49. updateField = invokeurl
  50. [
  51.   url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v7/settings/fields/5725767000003664513?module=deals"
  52.   type :PATCH
  53.   parameters:requestBody + ""
  54.   connection:"zohocrm"
  55. ];
  56. info updateField;
  57. }
  58. //To update the Deal Record
  59. requestBody = Map();
  60. requestList = List();
  61. requestData = Map();
  62. requestData.put("Closing_Month",picklistValue);
  63. requestList.add(requestData);
  64. requestBody.put("data",requestList);
  65. info requestBody + "";
  66. dealreecordUpdate = invokeurl
  67. [
  68. url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v7/Deals/" + dealRecordID
  69. type :PUT
  70. parameters:requestBody + ""
  71. connection:"zohocrm"
  72. ];
  73. info dealreecordUpdate;


4. Configure the Workflow

Create a custom function by clicking the New Function or associate an existing one to the workflow. In our case, the deluge program has already been written and configured (associated) to the workflow. 

                            
  • Under the workflow actions, select Function and choose the function you created.
  • Ensure that the function is set to run when the workflow is triggered.

Creating a Deal with a Closing Date of January 2nd (Using an Existing Picklist Value)
                                               


Creating a Deal with a Closing Date of April 1st (Adding a New Picklist Value)



The new picklist value, which was not a value previously, has now been added to the picklist.

You can add values to a picklist field using the PATCH Field API. To remove an option from a picklist, use the Update Custom Layout API. Refer to the Sample input to mark picklist options as unused section in the Layouts API documentation.

Cheers!!!

Related Links
Additional Links


      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • Sticky Posts

          • 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
          • Kaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms

            Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved
          • Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

            Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.
          • Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI

            Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the

          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

                                  • Add Analytics function for Title case (capitalising each word in a string)

                                    At present, you can only capitalise each word in a string in Analytics during data import. It would be really useful to be able to do this with a formula column, but there is no Title Case function.
                                  • How to conditionally embed an own internal widget with parameters in an html snippet?

                                    Hello everyone, I'm trying to create a dynamic view in a page using an HTML snippet. The goal is to display different content based on a URL parameter (input.step). I have successfully managed to conditionally display different forms using the following
                                  • Sync more than one Workdrive

                                    Hello Please I'm facing some difficulties since some days. In my company we have many zoho accounts in different organisations. And I have to find a way to sync all these Workdrives. I spend many hours to search it on zoho Workdrive but no solution. Could someone help me ? Any idea how I can achieve it ? Thanks in advance. Regards
                                  • Zoho writer unable to merge documents to PDF with basic fonts in Hebrew or fonts from my computer

                                    I created several forms that will be merged into PDF files through Zoho Writer and I am unable to receive the PDF in the basic fonts of the Hebrew language or in the fonts I have on my computer. The writer exports to PDF an exchange font that looks very
                                  • Base Currency Adjustment Reversal

                                    Two questions surrounding the base currency adjustments (BCA). I recently ported over from QB so I need to enter the base currency adjustments. In QB, it will calculate the BCA for you at the end of the year and then reverse it at the top of the following year. Makes sense. Does Zohobooks not do this as well? I created a BCA for Dec 31, 2016 but no reversing entry was made Jan 1, 2017. Am I supposed to manually do a reversal? I'm not even allowed to post journals directly to the 'exchange gain loss'
                                  • Please implement UAE Central Bank FX rates

                                    Hello, as I understand from your knowledge base, any UAE business account created from September 15, 2018 does not have foreign exchange rates fetched automatically. This is a serious inconvenience and I am not sure why ZOHO has not looked into the ways
                                  • Search Records returning different values than actually present

                                    Hey! I have this following line in my deluge script: accountSearch = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Accounts","(RS_Enroll_ID:equals:" + rsid + ")",1,200,{"cvid":864868001088693817}); info "Account search size: " + accountSearch.size(); listOfAccounts = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Accounts","(RS_Enroll_ID:equals:"
                                  • Super Admin Access to All Courses and Spaces in Zoho Learn

                                    Dear Zoho Learn Team, We hope this message finds you well. We are using Zoho Learn extensively for internal and agent training. While managing our courses and spaces, we encountered a significant limitation regarding admin access and course management.
                                  • Print checks for owner's draw

                                    Hi.  Can I use Zoho check printing for draws to Owner's Equity?  This may be a specific case of the missing Pay expenses via Check feature.  If it's not available, are there plans to add this feature?
                                  • [New Release 2024] Create and embed custom capabilities across CRM with Kiosk Studio, our latest no-code tool

                                    [Update | New series] We've started publishing a series of posts on Kiosk Studio. It's called Kiosk Studio Sessions and you can check out the first one here! [Update | 15 Oct} Session #2 is live! This one will look at how to create a kiosk for your call
                                  • Revenue Management: #10 Common Mistakes while Recognizing Revenue

                                    We are at the end of the series on Revenue Management, covering how different businesses recognise revenue. Even with clear standards like ASC 606 and IFRS 15 in practice, businesses often struggle with the nuances of revenue recognition. Especially growing
                                  • Windows Desktop App - request to add minimization/startup options

                                    Support Team, Can you submit the following request to your development team? Here is what would be optimal in my opinion from UX perspective: 1) In the "Application Menu", add a menu item to Exit the app, as well as an alt-key shortcut for these menus
                                  • integarting attachments from crm to creator

                                    when i tried to integrate pdf attachments from crm to creator via deluge i am getting this error {"code":2945,"description":"UPLOAD_RULE_NOT_CONFIGURED"} the code i used is attachments = zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords("Attachments","Sales_Orders",203489100020279XXX8);
                                  • Search Option

                                    🚫 Current Limitation: As of now (September 2025), Zoho FSM lacks a global search functionality, which makes it difficult to quickly: Find specific Work Orders by number or keyword Search for customer records or contact info Locate assets, jobs, or service
                                  • Mobile Chat Window - Full Screen

                                    Hello, The mobile chat window takes up the full screen, which is highly confusing for most customers! Using a desktop machine, I see the same happens when reducing the browser width to 800px or below. This suggests that it responsive web design, causing the switch to full screen. Can we fix this very annoying behaviour ourselves using a custom css file? If so, can you please let me know how? Thanks
                                  • Is it possible to customize ZC Themes?

                                    I understand you can choose a layout and customize Brand Color, App Header, Menu, and Sub-Menu components, but can you override some of the default theme settings with CSS or a config file? For example, - Table highlight color - Listview auto filter highlight
                                  • Is it possible to create Custom function-based Lookup field in Zoho CRM

                                    Is it possible to create a custom function-based lookup field in Zoho CRM? If so, how? Use case: Need to fetch users from Zoho Projects into a dropdown field in Zoho CRM.
                                  • @mention in comments no notification

                                    Hi, hope someone can help. When we @mention someone in the comments in Zoho Creator, how is that user notifed as we don't get anything on email or in the app notifications. 
                                  • Add "Running Balance" column to Account Transaction Reports

                                    Hello, Currently Zoho Account Transaction Reports give you the opening balance, then lists the transactions, then provides the closing balance.  It would be great if you could add a column on the far right that shows the "Running Balance" on the account after each transaction.  There are many times when analyzing or tie-ing out transactions that this would be very helpful.  I currently have to frequently run a tape on my adding machine to get balance totals after a specific transaction on the list.
                                  • error : Object code : 6500

                                    b3 = map(); b3.put("name", "Test Project Name"); updateprojects2 = invokeurl [ url :"https://projectsapi.zoho.eu/restapi/portal/era0130/projects/169495000000928007/" type :PUT parameters: b3 connection:"in2" ]; info b3 ; info updateprojects2; ------------
                                  • I got unknown charge from Zoho

                                    Good day, I need help disputing a charge I don't know from, zoho. I have ZohoMail and ZeptoMail. I purchase credits for ZeptoMail, and for ZohoMail I am not subcribed.
                                  • Function 56: Automatically enable the option for customers to pay via bank account

                                    Hello everyone and welcome back to our series! One of the key features of Zoho Books is its integration with multiple payment gateways, allowing you to receive online payments for your invoices. This ensures faster payments, automates payment tracking
                                  • Attach Files to Your Notecards and share them on the go!

                                    Hey everyone! We’re excited to share a feature many of you have been asking for — you can now attach files directly to your text notecards and share with ease! 🙌 This update was built with your feedback in mind, especially for those who wanted a simple
                                  • How to searchByCriteria records that are under approval?

                                    I need to search for both approved and pending approval records Is that possible with this method? Or I need to a different method? var priceReqID = $Page.record_id; log(priceReqID); var records = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Price_List_Item.searchByCriteria("Price_Request:equals:"
                                  • How to add Simple Analytics to Zoho Pages?

                                    I have a website with Zoho Pages, how do I add Simple Analytics on it? They seem to have code they need to be embedded https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/script
                                  • Cant seem to delete an email account

                                    Hello, I have researching for 4 days how to delete an email account and I am absolutely without a clue. The email account I am trying to delete is support<AT>fyshoes<dot>com. It's the first email account I made and it (is???) was associated with the super user (me). I have since changed it to adming<AT>fychoes<dot>com and I see the support email in my list but I just cant seem to get rid of it. Ultimately I want to associate that email account with another user that I want to add. This is really
                                  • 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
                                  • 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
                                  • 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
                                  • Next Page