Kaizen 172 Leveraging the 'crmAPIResponse' object in Queries

Kaizen 172 Leveraging the 'crmAPIResponse' object in Queries



Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!

We released the Queries feature sometime back and hope you have tried it out.

A little gist about this feature before we move on to our post.

Zoho CRM's Queries feature enables dynamic data retrieval from both CRM modules and external services, facilitating seamless integration and informed decision-making.

Key Components

  • Sources: Pre-configured sources like Modules and COQL are available, with the option to add custom sources via REST APIs.
  • Queries: Fetch data by selecting modules, writing COQL statements, or specifying REST API endpoints, headers, and parameters.
  • Variables: Incorporate variables in criteria, COQL statements, and endpoints to pass dynamic values during execution.
  • Schema: Auto-generated schemas define the structure of query responses, with editable paths, field types, and labels for customization.
  • Serializer: Utilize JavaScript to manipulate and customize query responses, ensuring data is in the desired format for further processing.

Types of Queries

  • Modules: Retrieve records by selecting specific modules and fields, applying conditions to filter data as needed.
  • COQL (CRM Object Query Language): Write SQL-like queries to fetch data, supporting complex operations like joins and aggregations.
  • REST API: Fetch data from external services by specifying endpoints, headers, parameters, and connections.

With the Queries feature, you can efficiently access and display relevant data within Zoho CRM, enhancing workflow efficiency and decision-making capabilities.

A little insight into Functions before we dive into today's Kaizen!

Functions, Queries, you get the connection, right? Read on!

Many of us use Functions in Zoho CRM extensively to perform our business logic and customize the way things work in Zoho CRM. You can use Functions in blueprints, workflows, Circuits etc.

Let's say you have a function that gets the employee records from the Employees module. Technically, the function executes an API call or an integration task, and gives a response.

The response can be a string or map(JSON), depending on how the function is written and where it is used. Since functions can be used in many places, the same response format may not be the right one to be used in a circuit or a workflow.

This is where the genie 'crmAPIResponse' object comes into picture!

The power of the 'crmAPIResponse' object

The crmAPIResponse object to be returned in the CRM function should encapsulate the response in a way that it can be used in Queries, Circuit, workflow etc. The details needed are encapsulated as a map. It should include details like crmStatusCode, status, message, body in order to construct the desired format for handling data and customizing the error handling logic.

Let's consider the following example function where we use the getRecordByID integration task.

The response of the integration task contains all the fields in that module, but we want only certain parts of the response JSON and also add custom error messages, to be used in other components like Queries, Circuits, etc,.

Here is the code.
{
leadId = "3652397000018025772"; // Replace with a valid Lead ID

// Initialize customAPIResponse map
customAPIResponse = map();

// Fetch lead details
crmResponse = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Leads", leadId);

// Log the raw response for debugging
info "CRM API Raw Response: " + crmResponse;

// Validate and process the response to include only the required fields
if (crmResponse != null && crmResponse.containsKey("id"))
{
// Extract required fields
filteredData = map();
filteredData.put("id", crmResponse.get("id"));
filteredData.put("Last_Name", crmResponse.get("Last_Name"));
filteredData.put("Email", crmResponse.get("Email"));

customAPIResponse.put("crmStatusCode", 200);
customAPIResponse.put("status", "success");
customAPIResponse.put("message", "Lead data retrieved successfully.");
customAPIResponse.put("body", filteredData); // Include only filtered data
}
else
{
customAPIResponse.put("crmStatusCode", null);
customAPIResponse.put("status", "error");
customAPIResponse.put("message", "Invalid or null response from Zoho CRM API.");
customAPIResponse.put("body", null);
}

// Return the customAPIResponse
return {"crmAPIResponse": customAPIResponse};

}


Here, you can see that we have parsed the response of the integration task to get the Last_Name, Email, and record ID using the crmResponse.get("field_API_name") statement and constructed the customAPIresponse object using the customAPIResponse.put("key", "value") statement.
The statement return {"crmAPIResponse": customAPIResponse}; returns the response body as depicted in the previous statements.

Response to the info "CRM API Raw Response: " + crmResponse; statement
"CRM API Raw Response: {"Owner":{"name":"Patricia Boyle","id":"3652397000000186017","email":"p.boyle@zylker.com"},"$field_states":null,..}}}


Response of the return {"crmAPIResponse": customAPIResponse}; statement

{
    "crmAPIResponse": {
        "crmStatusCode": 200,
        "status": "success",
        "message": "Lead data retrieved successfully.",
        "body": {
            "id": "3652397000018025772",
            "Last_Name": "Math",
            "Email": "math@gmail.com"
        }
    }
}

Error response

{
    "crmAPIResponse": {
        "crmStatusCode": null,
        "status": "error",
        "message": "Invalid or null response from Zoho CRM API.",
        "body": null
    }
}

You can see that we have used the crmAPIResponse object to get only the required keys from the response and constructed a much simpler response.
Refer to our help page on Response Object for more details.

Finally, to today's Kaizen!

We've established that you can use the crmAPIResponse object to construct responses in a way that's suitable to be consumed at another place like a circuit or a workflow.
We also know that Queries allows you to have sources of the REST API type to fetch data from various sources. This means that you can have a standalone function that is enabled as a REST API as a source in Queries.

Let's see an example.
There is a simple function that uses the getRecords integration task to get the records from the Employees module.
I have used the crmAPIresponse object to construct a response as shown in the following code.

string standalone.getRecords()
{
result = zoho.crm.getRecords("Employees");
response = Map();
response.put("status_code",200);
response.put("body",{"code":"success","details":result,"message":"function executed successfully"});
return {"crmAPIResponse":response};
}

The response of this function is a string in the crmAPIResponse object as shown in this image.


  1. Save this function and enable REST API.

  2. You can see that the domain is https://www.zohoapis.com. To be able to use this in a Query, register this domain in Trusted Domain.

  3. To create a REST API type source, you must add the source. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Queries > Sources tab.
  4. Click Add Source and give the details like the name, base URL, headers, and parameters under the Information section.

  5. Click Save.
  6. Go to the Queries tab and click Add Query.
  7. For Source, choose the source you just added.
  8. Under Information, enter the name, API name of the query.
  9. For the endpoint, enter the API Key URL of the function.

  10. Enter the parameter name and values in the Parameter field.
  11. Click Add Serializer if you want to serialize the response. In this example, I have serialized the response to include only the Name, Email, and Position fields in the output. The result contains the 'body' object that we returned in the crmAPIResponse object of the function.

  12. Click Save to save the serialization.
  13. Click Next to view the schema of the query. Make changes as required.
  14. Save the query.
You can now use this query in Canvas or associate it with Kiosk to solve your business needs.

Let us see how the crmAPIResponse object in the function affects the response of the query.

Query with the function without crmAPIResponse:

Let's consider that the function getRecords() does not use the crmAPIResponse object. In that case, the function returns a response that is a string. This response string cannot be serialized or used elsewhere.


Schema of the query without crmAPIResponse:


Query with the function with crmAPIResponse and serialization:

The same getRecords() function that uses the crmAPIResponse object allows you to construct the response as JSON. You can serialize this response easily and use it in a circuit, query, workflow etc.


You can see here that the response is now a JSON.

Schema of the query with crmAPIResponse:



In conclusion, you can use the crmAPIResponse object in Functions to construct the desired response and use the REST API-enabled function as a source in Queries.
Leveraging the advantage of the crmAPIResponse object in functions and using it in Queries increases the prospect of solving many more business cases easily and customize more efficiently.

We hope you liked this post and found it useful. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
If you'd like us to cover any other topic in this series, feel free to comment or reach us at support@zohocrm.com.



Cheers!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Info
More enhancements in the COQL API are now live in Zoho CRM API Version 7. Check out the V7 Changelog for detailed information on these updates.







      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 #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs

            🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

          • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

            Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

          • Celebrating 200 posts of Kaizen! Share your ideas for the milestone post

            Hello Developers, We launched the Kaizen series in 2019 to share helpful content to support your Zoho CRM development journey. Staying true to its spirit—Kaizen Series: Continuous Improvement for Developer Experience—we've shared everything from FAQs

          • Kaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API

            🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

          • Client Script | Update - Introducing Commands in Client Script!

            Have you ever wished you could trigger Client Script from contexts other than just the supported pages and events? Have you ever wanted to leverage the advantage of Client Script at your finger tip? Discover the power of Client Script - Commands! Commands

          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

                                  • JS SDK 8.0 – TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'getCacheStore') with sample code

                                    Hello Zoho Support Team, I’m integrating the Zoho CRM JavaScript SDK v8.0 and I’m getting the error below when running your official sample. I tested directly from: https://github.com/zoho/zohocrm-javascript-sdk-8.0/blob/main/samples/create_records_sample/create_records.js

                                  • Function #55: Convert multiple quotes to single SO using Custom Button

                                    Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! In Zoho Books, after a quote is accepted by your customer, it can be converted into a sales order or an invoice. Often, a customer might have multiple quotes, and for easier billing or upon the customer's

                                  • Zoho One - Syncing Merchants and Vendors Between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books

                                    Hi, I'm exploring the features of Zoho One under the trial subscription and have encountered an issue with syncing Merchant information between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books. While utilizing Zoho Expense to capture receipts, I noticed that when I submit

                                  • Rich Text For Notes in Zoho CRM

                                    Hello everyone, As you know, notes are essential for recording information and ensuring smooth communication across your records. With our latest update, you can now use Rich Text formatting to organize and structure your notes more efficiently. By using

                                  • Time based workflow without edit/action

                                    Hello I need help solving this problem if possible. We have Deals come into the CRM via Live Transfer which have the field properties: Stage = New Channel = Inbound Some of them don't get answered so we want these to automatically go into our Outbound

                                  • What's New - August 2025 | Zoho Backstage

                                    Every month, Zoho Backstage grows with you. These updates aren't just features and fixes, they're about making your workday smoother, your events more impactful, and your attendees happier. We’ve listened, learned, and shaped this release to keep things

                                  • prevent selling expired items

                                    Hello. I need to make a constraint on expired batch items not to be sold. Is it possible in Zoho Inventory? if so, then how? Thanks for further help.

                                  • Product details removed during update from other system

                                    We maintain our product details in an other system. These details are synchronized with Zoho at the end of each day, through an API. This has worked perfectly sofar. But last Monday, all product codes and some other product data have been wiped during

                                  • Client Customer

                                    I purchased a customer user license, but we cannot see the project I added in the customer account. I would like to ask for support on what we should do.

                                  • Add Ability to Use Zoho Finance Tags

                                    For Zoho Finance (Books and Inventory), the current actions do not allow us to affect the tags associated with the entities in question (customers, vendors, items, etc.). Please consider adding this functionality into the actions.

                                  • Embeded Signing doesn't work on Safari Browser

                                    We have implemented Zoho Sign in our website by using embeded signing, It works perfectly on Chrome. But it fails on Safari, We get stuck on Zoho Sign Page during redirection from Zoho Sign to our website after signing the document, Please let us know

                                  • Dataprep Webhook Limits and Cannot update column with Dataprep

                                    I have two problems : 1 - I am using Airflow to trigger my pipeline, and when I tested it, it worked fine a couple of times. However, after that, I received an error: {"code":429,"message":"Request rate limited"}. I didn’t send too many requests — maybe

                                  • Power of Automation :: Automatic removal of project users once the project status is changed.

                                    A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate complex tasks and

                                  • New in Zoho Forms: Google reCAPTCHA v3 for smarter spam protection

                                    Hello form builders, Spam submissions are one of the biggest challenges when you share your forms online. They not only clutter your data but can also waste valuable time. To help you combat this without making life harder for genuine respondents, we’re

                                  • Project Management Bulletin: August, 2025

                                    We’ve touched a grand 19 years since we started pioneering project management solutions with Zoho Projects. What started as a simple one-page interface is now a suite of products with Zoho BugTracker, Zoho Sprints, and our new debut Zoho Projects Plus,

                                  • Zoho Sign and Zoho Workdrive Integration

                                    Hello, there. I want to know if it's possible to save a signed document from Zoho Sign in an specific folder for each signer in Zoho Workdrive.  For example: If John Doe signs the document in Zoho Sign I want to save it automatically in a folder named

                                  • Office 365 and CRM mail integration: permission required

                                    Has anyone run into this weird problem? My email server is Office 365. When I try to configure Zoho CRM to use this server, a Microsoft popup window opens requesting user and password. After entering that, I get a message in the Microsoft window saying

                                  • Empowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM

                                    Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individuals

                                  • How do you list multiple contacts for a lead?

                                    My sales team wants to be able to add additional contacts for leads, how do we do that? Is there a different way we should be using the lead / contact functionality? Moderation update (9th September 2025): Our developers have built an extension to achieve

                                  • Modifying Three Dot Menu Options

                                    Is there a way to modify the three dot menu options that display in a Report header? They currently display: Show As (List, Calendar, Timeline), Print, Import, Export. I'd like to remove the Show As and Print options, since they aren't applicable for

                                  • Field Not Updating in FSM Script - Service and Parts module.

                                    Dear Team, I am reaching out regarding a script I have implemented in Zoho FSM to automate the calculation of the End of Service date based on the End of Sale date in the Service and Parts module. Overview of the script: Fetches the End_of_Sale__C and

                                  • Zadarma + Zoho CRM Integration – Missed Calls Saved as Contacts Instead of Leads

                                    Hello everyone, I’m looking for input from anyone with experience using the Zadarma + Zoho CRM integration. Currently, I’m seeing that missed calls are automatically being created as Contacts instead of Leads. From a CRM perspective, this doesn’t make

                                  • Zoho Books | Product updates | September 2025

                                    Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From PayNow payment method to applying journal credits to invoices and bills in other locations, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. Integrate

                                  • How to update Multiple Users field in Quote Module from Deal Module

                                    Scenario : Deal Module having Multiple User Field (Presales Engineer) which having more than 1 User and through Deluge Script I need to get that Users Details and need to put into Multiple User Field (Presales Engineer) of Quote Module. Note: Both Module

                                  • Auto-sync field of lookup value

                                    This feature has been requested many times in the discussion Field of Lookup Announcement and this post aims to track it separately. At the moment the value of a 'field of lookup' is a snapshot but once the parent lookup field is updated the values diverge.

                                  • Clone a Module??

                                    I am giong to repurpose the Vendors module but would like to have a separate but very similar module for another group of contacts called Buyers. I have already repurposed Contacts to Sellers. Is it possible to clone (make a duplicate) module of Vendors

                                  • Advance PDF creation from CRM data

                                    I'm trying to create a PDF export of data in the CRM. My problem is I want a pretty complicated format for the data. I'm trying to export multiple modules worth of data, with nested one-to-many relationships between the modules. Along with that, I want

                                  • how to disable staff selection Zoho Booking integrated to SalesIQ?

                                    currently there is only one Consultant in my Zoho Bookings like this I integrate Zoho Bookings into Zoho SalesIQ to create a chatbot. Unfortunately, even though I only have one consultant for a consultation, the user have to pick the consultant. It will

                                  • How to change the text in WhatsApp Zobot integrated to Zoho Booking?

                                    I have integrated Zoho Bookings into Zoho SalesIQ, I want to change the text in WhatsApp when creating a booking in Zobot how to change those text?

                                  • Updating Subform Record from other Form

                                    Just wanted to ask how to properly approach this. I have 2 forms and would like to trigger an auto update on the subform once record submitted. block below only updates 1 row for each recordRow in input.AV_System { AssetRecord = Site_Asset_Services[SOR_No

                                  • when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent

                                    when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent?

                                  • Zoho Books - Hide Convert to Sales Order if it can't be used.

                                    Hi Books team, I noticed that it is not possible to convert a Quote to a Sales Order when a Quote is not yet marked as accepted. My idea is to not show the Convert to Sales Order button when it is not possible to use it, or show it in a grey inactive

                                  • How do I bulk archive my projects in ZOHO projects

                                    Hi, I want to archive 50 Projects in one go. Can you please help me out , How can I do this? Thanks kapil

                                  • Cross-Data Center Collaboration and / Or allowing users to choose DC

                                    Dear Zoho Cliq Support Team, We are writing to request a significant enhancement to Zoho Cliq that would greatly benefit our geographically dispersed development team. Current Challenge: Currently, Zoho Cliq automatically routes users to specific data

                                  • Zoho Flow - Update record in Trackvia

                                    Hello, I have a Flow that executes correctly but I only want it to execute once when a particular field on a record is updated in TrackVia. I have the trigger filters setup correctly and I want to add an "update record" action at the end of the flow to

                                  • New Mandatory One-Click Unsubscribe Link Overshadowing Custom Unsubscribe Link

                                    I was recently informed by Zoho CRM Support that they are now mandated by the large email service providers like Google and Yahoo to provide a one-click unsubscribe option in the header (not the body) of all mass emails. I have a custom unsubscribe link

                                  • Send / Send & Close keyboard shortcuts

                                    Hello! My team is so close to using Zoho Desk with just the keyboard. Keyboard shortcuts really help us to be more efficient -- saving a second or two over thousands of tickets adds up quickly. It seems like the keyboard shortcuts in Desk are only for

                                  • Is it possible to register webhooks in Zoho CRM using API?

                                    Hello, I am trying to register a webhook in Zoho CRM programmatically (using the API). Specifically, I want to register a webhook that is fired when new Contacts are created in the CRM. I was able to setup a webhook using the UI, by creating a rule that

                                  • Calls where the local audio is shared, have echo

                                    When another user is sharing their screen with audio, I get echo from my own voice. We tested this with multiple users, with different audio setups, and there's no obvious way to fix it. Is this a bug you could look into, or are we missing something?

                                  • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

                                    Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due

                                  • Next Page