Setting up and using connections in Bigin toppings

Setting up and using connections in Bigin toppings

When building a topping to extend Bigin's functionality and connect it with third-party applications, creating and handling connections is an important step. Connections provide a secure way for your topping to authenticate and communicate with other applications' APIs without exposing sensitive credentials to end users. This abstraction is both secure and makes the integration easier because it eliminates the need for developers to implement complex authorization flows manually or handle authorization tokens directly.

Bigin's Developer Console offers a feature called a connection, which acts as a bridge between your topping and the third-party application you wish to integrate with. Once a connection is configured, you can reference it in your topping's functionalities using its unique link name. This enables the topping to execute REST operations such as fetching, updating, or syncing data with the connected application securely.

Now that we've achieved a basic understanding of what a connection is and how it helps toppings interact with other applications, the next step is to understand the types of connections available in Bigin's Developer Console.

Establishing connections with services

The connections feature in Bigin's Developer Console offers two types of services to help developers configure integrations according to their requirements: default services and custom services. Default services are preconfigured services available in Bigin's Developer Console that simplify integrations with some Zoho and third-party applications. If the application you want to integrate with isn't listed in the default services, you can create a custom service and configure it according to the API specifications of the third-party application.

Default services

The connections feature offers certain default services as preconfigured options that can be easily integrated with Bigin. These services come with predefined settings such as authentication type, token endpoints, scopes, and headers, which reduces the need for manual configuration. Currently, there are around 50 default services available in the Developer Console, covering a wide range of applications and platforms. This enables developers to connect to services with minimal effort.


If the application you want to integrate with your topping isn't listed in the default services, you can create a new custom service.

Custom services

Custom services enable developers to configure all aspects of a connection manually, including the authentication type, endpoints, headers, and scopes, which enables integration with third-party applications.

When setting up a custom service, developers can specify the exact authentication flow required by the external application, whether it's basic authentication, OAuth, an API key, or another method.
Notes
Note:

Refer to the official API documentation of third-party applications when configuring these settings, as this will provide the necessary details for authentication and data access.
To create a custom service, navigate to the Connections section and choose Custom Services in the Developer Console. Based on the authentication type supported, configure the custom service for the required product.


For more details on creating and configuring custom services, please refer to this guide.
Notes
Note:

Always handle sensitive information such as client IDs, client secrets, and API keys securely, and never share them publicly. After configuring and authorizing a custom service, reference it in Deluge scripts and workflow functions by using its unique connection link name, just as you do with default services.
Next, let's look at how to implement the default service connection with an example.

Create a default service connection

Let's say you're developing a Bigin topping to synchronize contact information between Bigin and Zoho Books. This integration enables contacts created or updated in Bigin to be automatically reflected in Zoho Books. The topping uses Zoho Books APIs to create, update, and retrieve customer data using a default service connection.

To create a default service connection for the topping, choose Connections from the left panel of the Developer Console and click Get Started.


Next, navigate to My Connections or Default Services. To fetch data from the Contacts module in Bigin, create a connection first. From Default Services, select Bigin and then click Create Connection to set it up.


The system will prompt you to enter the connection details. Provide a name for the connection (for example: Bigin Connection). A connection link name is generated automatically.

Next, select the scopes required for the topping's functionality. In this use case, select ZohoBigin.modules.ALL to access data from Bigin's Contacts module.

After selecting the scope, click Create and Connect to initiate the authorization process. The system redirects you to the authorization page. Click Connect, and you'll be taken to the service's login page. Choose the Bigin organization for which the topping was created, click submit, and the connection will be created.


After establishing the connection with Bigin, you must also create a connection for Zoho Books to enable record creation. To do this, create a default service connection for Zoho Books, similar to the one created for Bigin. Select the scope ZohoBooks.fullaccess.ALL to grant complete access to modules and operations in Zoho Books.

Once you've created the connections for both Bigin and Zoho Books, the system will generate connection link names for each. These link names must be used in the business logic.



Notes
Notes
Note:

During development, authorize the connection in the Sandbox environment to test integration workflows safely.
To understand the authorization process and how to implement them, please refer to this guide on authorizing connections.


After you authorize the connection, set up a workflow rule in the Bigin Developer Console that gets triggered whenever you create or update a contact in your Bigin account. Here, we need to specify the conditions that apply to the workflow and check that the email field isn't empty.

Notes
Note:

In our use case, we'll use the email address to check whether the newly created contact in Bigin already exists as a customer in Zoho Books.



When the workflow meets the specified conditions, an instant action - in this case, a function - which will execute a custom functionality that performs the following operations:
  1. Retrieves the contact details from Bigin by referencing the established connection link name biginandbooksconnection0__booksconnection.
  2. Searches Zoho Books for an existing contact that matches the email.
  3. If a matching contact exists, update the contact's phone and contact person details in Zoho Books.
  4. If the script doesn't find a matching contact, it creates a new contact in Zoho Books with the relevant information.
Below is the code that automates contact synchronization between Bigin and Zoho Books:
  1. //Retrieve contact details from Bigin using the established connection
  2. biginContact = zoho.bigin.getRecordById("Contacts",contact.get("Contacts.ID"),Map(),"biginandbooksconnectionnew__biginconnection");
  3. //Extract relevant contact data
  4. biginData = biginContact.get("data");
  5. contactDetails = biginData.get(0);
  6. email = contactDetails.get("Email");
  7. phone = contactDetails.get("Phone");
  8. mobile = contactDetails.get("Mobile");
  9. fullName = contactDetails.get("Full_Name");
  10. //Search Zoho Books for existing contacts by email
  11. searchParams = Map();
  12. searchParams.put("search_text", email);
  13. booksContactsResponse = invokeurl
  14. [
  15. url :"https://books.zoho.com/api/v3/contacts"
  16. type :GET
  17. parameters:searchParams
  18. connection:"biginandbooksconnectionnew__booksconnection"
  19. ];
  20. info "Searched by name in Books: " + booksContactsResponse;
  21. booksData = booksContactsResponse.get("contacts");
  22. if(booksData != null && booksData.size() > 0)
  23. {
  24. // Extract the existingContactId
  25. existingContactId = booksData.get(0).get("contact_id");
  26. // Update existing contact
  27. updateParams = Map();
  28. updateParams.put("contact_name",fullName);
  29. updateParams.put("phone",phone);
  30. updateParams.put("mobile",mobile);
  31. updateParams.put("email",email);
  32. // Define contact person details
  33. contactPerson = Map();
  34. contactPerson.put("last_name",fullName);
  35. contactPerson.put("mobile",mobile);
  36. contactPerson.put("phone",phone);
  37. contactPerson.put("email",email);
  38. contactPerson.put("is_primary_contact",true);
  39. contactPersonsList = List();
  40. contactPersonsList.add(contactPerson);
  41. updateParams.put("contact_persons",contactPersonsList);
  42. //Prepare and execute update request
  43. parameters_data = Map();
  44. parameters_data.put("JSONString",updateParams.toString());
  45. info "parameters_data value:" + parameters_data;
  46. updateResponse = invokeurl
  47. [
  48. url :"https://books.zoho.com/api/v3/contacts/" + existingContactId + "?organization_id=XXXXXXX"
  49. type :PUT
  50. parameters:parameters_data
  51. connection:"biginandbooksconnectionnew__booksconnection"
  52. ];
  53. info "Updated Contact: " + updateResponse;
  54. }
  55. else
  56. {
  57. // Create new contact
  58. contactDetails = Map();
  59. contactDetails.put("contact_name",fullName);
  60. contactDetails.put("email",email);
  61. contactDetails.put("phone",phone);
  62. contactDetails.put("mobile",mobile);
  63. // Define contact person details
  64. contactPerson = Map();
  65. contactPerson.put("last_name",fullName);
  66. contactPerson.put("mobile",mobile);
  67. contactPerson.put("phone",phone);
  68. contactPerson.put("email",email);
  69. contactPerson.put("is_primary_contact",true);
  70. // Add to contact persons list
  71. contactPersonsList = List();
  72. contactPersonsList.add(contactPerson);
  73. contactDetails.put("contact_persons",contactPersonsList);
  74. // Prepare and execute the create request
  75. parameters_data = Map();
  76. parameters_data.put("JSONString",contactDetails.toString());
  77. createResponse = invokeurl
  78. [
  79. url :"https://books.zoho.com/api/v3/contacts?organization_id=XXXXXXX"
  80. type :POST
  81. parameters:parameters_data
  82. connection:"biginandbooksconnectionnew__booksconnection"
  83. ];
  84. info "Created Contact: " + createResponse;
  85. }
For details about the API endpoints and request formats used in this code, refer to the Bigin Deluge reference library and Zoho Books contacts API documentation.
After you configure the workflow and associate the function with the instant action, test the topping in the sandbox environment.
  1. To do this, click Test Your Topping in the upper-right corner of the Developer Console. This action will redirect you to the Bigin sandbox account, where you can create a new contact to test whether the functionalities work properly.
  2. After creating a new contact in Bigin, navigate to the Customers module in the Sales section of Zoho Books. When you set up the integration correctly, you'll see the newly created contact here, which confirms that Bigin and Zoho Books are synchronizing as expected. This process provides a safe and effective way to validate the workflow before deploying the topping to a production environment.


In this post, we've explained that default service connections in Bigin simplify authentication and connection with third-party applications by using predefined settings such as authentication type, token endpoints, and scopes. These connections are convenient because the Developer Console pre-configures the authentication flow and endpoints of the application you're integrating with.

To sum up: Bigin's connections feature provides a flexible foundation for integrating with a wide range of external services, and using these connections, developers can extend Bigin's integration capabilities.

Stay tuned for more about developing toppings and exploring other related features available in the Bigin Developer Console.

<< Previous                                                                                                                                                      Next>>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Making preview pane "stick"

        Hello, Is it possible to fix/dock the preview pane so that it's always there? The modern monitors are all very wide so there's plenty of space horizontally. Having the preview pane disappearing and appearing again when you click on an email message in

      • Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked

        I have been struggling to set up my email address for some time now; it's difficult to locate what I need. Additionally, I cannot send or receive any emails. I keep receiving the "Reason: 554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked" error. There doesn't seem to

      • Trouble Connecting Zoho Mail via IMAP in n8n – Need Help

        Hi everyone 👋, I'm trying to connect my Zoho Mail account to n8n using the IMAP Email Trigger node, but I'm facing issues getting it to work fully. ✅ Here's what I’ve done so far: ✅ IMAP access is enabled in my Zoho Mail settings ✅ I’m using the correct

      • Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked

        Hi, I sent few emails and got this: Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked And now I have few days since I cant send any email. Is there something wrong I did? Also can someone fix this please

      • Page Rules in Forms

        🚀 Dynamic Page Navigation Implementation I successfully implemented dynamic page navigation based on a user's radio button selection. The goal was to direct users to a specific, corresponding page while ensuring they only interact with the flow determined

      • Cancellation of written-off invoice

        Hi, Can I know when we cancel the write off (write back), in which FY, the reversal is recorded. It doesn't ask as to when the write off should be cancelled to reflect!. It shouldn't reflect in the year in which the invoice was written off since the Year

      • Create Invoice automated with Package

        Does anyone knows how to create an invoice from a SO when we have created the package? We do these manually. and validate that the product packed is the product invoiced (if the order is partially packed) Regards, JS

      • I want to create a mailing list, NOT a group.

        Can I create a mailing list in Zoho mail? I just want to be able to make a list of email addresses and give the list a name. Then when I type the list name, the list of email addresses will be automatically listed. When I create a group it sends an email

      • ERROR CODE :554 - Your access to this mail system has been rejected due to poor reputation of a domain used in message transfer

        This message was created automatically by mail delivery software. A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. *****, ERROR CODE :554 - Your access to this mail system has been rejected due

      • no me llegan los correos a Zoho mail

        No puedo recibir correos pero sí enviarlos, ya hice la modificación de MX y la verificación de teléfonos, qué es lo que ocurre? gracias

      • Group Calendar as Default for adding new events, etc?

        Hi, I want to make the group calendar (that I created, if that makes a difference) the default for anything new I add to the calendar. How can I do that? thanks.

      • Bookmark Loading is Buffering

        Hi, i clicked on the bookmark tab, around yesterday and since then it's been constantly buffering and doesn't allow me to access the mail's i have tried login in and out but of no help also trying to share a screenshot of the issue around 232 kb size,

      • Zoho Webinar custom registration fields into Zoho CRM

        I am pushing webinar registrations into zoho crm as leads and this is working fine. I have added a few custom fields to my webinar registration and I wish for these fields values to get mapped into the resulting CRM lead record. I am not seeing anywhere

      • GitLab Extension for Zoho Desk: Connecting support and development for faster resolutions

        Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce the GitLab Extension for Zoho Desk, an integration that bridges the gap between support and development teams. This allows tickets to be converted into actionable GitLab issues for faster resolutions, better

      • Download Google Drive Shared Image/File Using Deluge – Complete Guide

        Download Google Drive Shared Image/File Using Deluge – Complete Guide When working with Google Drive share links inside Deluge, many developers face a common challenge: 👉 How can we download a Google Drive file directly using Deluge? This article explains

      • How to update Acuity appointment fields from Zoho Flow?

        Hi, I need help with Zoho Flow → Acuity Scheduling integration. What I’m doing Appointment created in Acuity Zoho Flow creates a Zoho Calendar event I want to send the Zoho Calendar Event UID back into Acuity (into a custom form field) This is so that

      • No horizontal scroll bar in reports

        Hi support team, I created a pivot table report which contains many columns (in my application about 15). The problem is that there is no bottom scroll bar to display colums that does not fit within the browser page. I saw that it was possible to resize colums, but colums sizes are not saved within the session. So could you add scroll bar, and eventually make colums sizes stored in the user session ? Best regards,

      • Zoho Map integration tasks have changed - you need to "Locate all instances of Zoho Map integration tasks in your Deluge scripts by searching for the v1 marker... before 16 January 2026"

        Details of an issue specific to Zoho CRM + Deluge Functions (originally posted in this forum) can be found here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/zoho-map-integration-tasks-have-changed-you-need-to-locate-all-instances-of-zoho-map-integration-tasks-in-your-deluge-scripts-by-searching-for-the-v1-marker

      • filter broke my data

        I uploaded a file recently from Sheets and it has top 2 rows frozen, with table headers in second row and each one is filterable. somehow my first 2 columns became unfiltered and no matter what I do I cannot reapply the filter?? also didn't realize they

      • Request to remove domain "greentechcoatings.vn" from previous Zoho account

        Hello Zoho Support, I would like to register the domain "greentechcoatings.vn" in my new Zoho Mail account, but I receive the message "This domain is already associated with another account". Please remove the domain from any previous/unknown account

      • Trigger actions in third-party apps using Zoho Flow

        Greetings, I hope you're all doing well. We're excited to share an enhancement to Bigin's workflow capabilities. Zoho Flow Actions are now available in Bigin, enabling you to automate tasks across third-party applications directly from your workflow and

      • Enroll, Script, Win: Hackathon 2025!

        Hello CRM Developers! Are you ready to create some magic with Client Script, Widgets and Functions in Zoho CRM? Let’s make Hackathon 2025 an unforgettable adventure! The Zoho Developer Community Hackathon 2025 is here, and it’s your time to shine! REGISTER

      • Zoho Help Desk - Not receiving emails

        Hello… I am on your trial version of help desk… and I am having trouble getting emails from Zoho Help Desk to my MS Outlook Exchange Server… So when a customer sends ticket request I am not getting an email with a notification? I have read your articles

      • Almost all Flows are being queued

        A few days ago I saw one of my Flows status was Queued. This was the first time this had ever happened. Now, almost every Flow that triggers is Queued for at least a few minutes. If I re-trigger the Flow (which causes separate problems) they sometimes

      • Employment Contract / HRMS Documents - Zoho People

        How do I create customized HR documents for disbursal from Zoho People ? Example, say offer letters ? appointment letters ? Memos ? We want to be able to preset these in one or ther other form and issue them to employees who are in Zoho People.

      • Live webinar: Craft and deliver impactful slides with Show’s desktop apps

        If you love the comfort of working on your desktop and want a setup that keeps you focused and uninterrupted, this session is made for you. We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming live webinar: "Craft and deliver impactful slides with Show's desktop

      • Enhancements to Bigin's forms

        Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin's forms. We'll go over each one in detail. Merge field support in auto-filled forms The auto-fill option in Bigin's forms lets you predefine

      • Table dimensions

        I try changing the dimensions of the table on my computer but it doesn't change. Do I have to be a premium member or does it only work on the app?

      • Direct link to Record Summary

        Hi everyone, In one of my reports, I have built a Record Summary template to display the details of one record. I would like to be able to link directly to this Record Summary once I submit a new record, without having to go to the list of records first and click on View. Is there a possibility to do so ?  Should I use the URL by passing some parameters ? Thank you very much for your help ! Guillaume

      • Amendment effective date

        Hi everyone, I noticed that the amendment effective date mentionned in my amendment is not right. Indeed, when a contract is amended several times, it states the previous amendment and their effective date. However, the effective date stated is always

      • Show both Vendor and Customers in contact statement

        Dear Sir, some companies like us working with companies as Vendor and Customers too !!! it mean we send invoice and also receive bill from them , so we need our all amount in one place , but in contact statement , is separate it as Vendor and Customer, 

      • STOCK history in zohosheets

        is it possible to get historical stock value using stock function in zoho sheets? i could not see from and to period in the helper document.

      • Auto sync Photo storage

        Hello I am new to Zoho Workdrive and was wondering if the is a way of automatically syncing photos on my Android phone to my workdrive as want to move away from Google? Thanks

      • Agent password reset

        Hi Zoho support, I would like to ask if there is a way the admin can reset a password of an agent? Regards

      • Can receive but not send messages in Zoho Mail

        Hello! I was able to configure my email client successfully in that I can receive messages just fine. However, when I send messages out, they seem to go out fine (I don't receive any errors or anything), but the recipient does NOT receive those messages.

      • Mail is sent twice!

        Been using Zoho for a while now. Installed Zoho for someone else and some weird things are happening. Mails are being sent twice. He is using Thunderbird as an email client. I already read about email being duplicated in the sent folder. But in my case

      • Can't login IMAP suddenly

        Since this evening I'm getting the error: You are yet to enable IMAP for your account. Please contact your administrator... IMAP always been enabled in my account and was workign fine for the past 7 years. Already tried turning IMAP off and on again.

      • Sending of username did not succeed: Mail server pop.zoho.com responded: User already specified

        I am having issues receiving emails from Zoho in Thunderbird. I am getting the above error. The first error tells me Authentication failed, and prompts me to enter in my password. Then I get the above error. I can receive emails when I log in online to

      • Bug tracking

        Hi, does anyone know how to track errors during picking or packing? This way I can keep track and see how to improve and prevent errors in this area.

      • Migration of corporate mail environment from Yandex 360 to Zoho mail

        I have to migrate a corporate mail environment with an existing domain from Yandex 360 to Zoho mail. It is vital to migrate all users with all the data. I have read the article on this topic using MacMister Email Backup Software just now and have some

      • Next Page