Kaizen 213 - Workflow APIs - Part 1
If you have ever managed complex business processes, you know that Workflows are the quiet backbone of any well-run business process. They keep things moving; assigning owners, sending alerts, keeping deals on track, and much more. But until now, you could not manage them via APIs. That changes with the release of Workflow APIs.
In this series, we will work through a real-world scenario together, showing you how to transition from manually managing workflows to governing them using APIs. We’ll look at Zylker Cloud Services, an IT solutions provider trying to bring order to its growing CRM automations.
The use case: Scaling the sales process at Zylker Cloud Services
Zylker’s sales process touches multiple teams and modules like Leads, Deals, Calls, Appointments, etc. Over time, different team members created their own workflows. The result is familiar to anyone who has scaled fast:
Multiple versions of what should be the same process
Old, unused workflows still running.
Now, Zylker wants to bring structure and visibility to this automation sprawl. Their system administrators are building a custom admin dashboard to monitor and manage CRM workflows, without needing deep CRM expertise.
They want to:
Display a real-time list of all workflows with their status
Gain insights into workflow distribution across modules
Identify inactive or outdated workflows that may need cleanup.
However, the CRM UI only allows viewing one workflow at a time. There is no consolidated view to see all workflows, their triggers, and their status across modules. That makes auditing and governance tedious and error-prone, especially at scale.
This is exactly what the Workflow APIs solve. With this, they can:
Audit all existing workflows.
Review how and when they trigger.
Identify which modules and actions are supported before creating new rules or updating existing ones.
Update existing rules and create new rules.
Delete the rules that are no longer needed.
You can not build a dynamic admin dashboard or an automated audit system for Workflows through just clicks. But you can do this now, with Workflow APIs.
STEP 1: Discover and audit existing workflows
Before changing anything, we need to understand what we are working with. How many workflows do we have? What do they do? How many more can we create?
To get a complete inventory of Workflow rules, we can use the GET Workflow Rules API. This API returns a list of all the Workflow Rules configured for the CRM account.
Sample Request:
GET {api-domain}/crm/v8/settings/automation/workflow_rules
This initial audit acts like a master list, giving us an overall picture. It helps understand the scope of the automation landscape and identify obvious redundancies, like multiple workflows with similar names or purposes.
Sample Response:
{ "workflow_rules": [ { "created_time": "2024-01-15T14:20:30+05:30", "execute_when": { "details": { "trigger_module": { "api_name": "Deals", "id": "4876876000000002181" }, "repeat": false }, "type": "create_or_edit" }, "editable": true, "module": { "api_name": "Deals", "id": "4876876000000002181" }, "deprecated": false, "deletable": true, "description": "Alert VP of Sales for high-value opportunities", "source": "crm", "created_by": { "name": "Matthew Mayers", "id": "4876876000001360001" }, "last_executed_time": null, "modified_time": "2024-01-23T12:23:12+05:30", "name": "VP Alert - High Value Deal", "modified_by": { "name": "Matthew Mayers", "id": "4876876000001360001" }, "lock": { "locked_by": null, "message": null, "status": false }, "id": "4876876000016390024", "category": "default", "conditions": [ { "sequence_number": 1, "instant_actions": { "actions": [ { "related_details": null, "name": "VP notified", "details": { "module": { "api_name": "Deals", "id": "4876876000000002181" } }, "id": "4876876000016390063", "type": "field_updates" }, { "related_details": { "best_time": true }, "name": "High value deal alert", "id": "4876876000016390015", "type": "email_notifications" } ] }, "scheduled_actions": [ { "execute_after": { "period": "business_days", "unit": 1 }, "id": "4876876000016390074", "actions": [ { "related_details": null, "name": "Confirm VP follow-up", "id": "4876876000016390067", "type": "tasks" } ] } ], "criteria_details": { "relational_criteria": { "module_selection": null, "criteria": null, "module": null }, "criteria": { "group_operator": "AND", "group": [ { "comparator": "equal", "field": { "api_name": "Amount", "id": "4876876000000002557" }, "type": "value", "value": "50000" }, { "comparator": "equal", "field": { "api_name": "Stage", "id": "4876876000000002565" }, "type": "value", "value": "Negotiation/Review" } ] } }, "id": "4876876000016390025" } ], "status": { "active": true } }, { "id": "4876876000012015001", "name": "Lead Assignment - North Region", "module": {"api_name": "Leads"}, "status": {"active": true}, "execute_when": {"type": "create"}, "last_executed_time": "2025-10-14T11:56:20+05:30" // ... other keys omitted for brevity }, { "id": "4876876000012020001", "name": "Lead Assignment - South Region", "module": {"api_name": "Leads"}, "status": {"active": true}, "execute_when": {"type": "create"}, "last_executed_time": "2025-10-14T10:30:15+05:30" // ... other keys omitted for brevity } // ... additional workflows ], "info": { "per_page": 200, "count": 71, "page": 1, "more_records": false } } |
The response gives us a comprehensive overview of all configured workflows. For each rule, we get the metadata including its unique ID, name, description, the module it operates on, its activation status, and details about when it triggers. We also get audit information like creation timestamps and which user made changes.
Working with large results
When you have hundreds of workflows, pagination helps. The response includes an info object with pagination details:
count: The number of workflows on the current page
per_page: The maximum number of records per page (default and max is 200)
page: The current page number
more_records: Indicates if there are additional records to fetch.
If the more_records key is true, we can retrieve the next page by using the page parameter in the request.
While getting all workflows gives you the big picture, we may often want to focus on specific areas. This API offers several parameters to narrow down our search:
Parameter type | Description |
module | Filters workflows by the primary module they operate on. |
trigger_module | Filters by related modules that can trigger workflows. Use this when you want workflows that are triggered by changes in related records. |
execute_on | Filters by the specific action that triggers the workflow. |
status_active | Filters by activation status to see only active or inactive workflows. Useful for audits and cleanup operations. |
filter | Searches workflows by name using a JSON filter. |
page | Specifies which page of results to return. Use this for pagination when you have a large number of workflows. |
per_page | Limits the number of workflows returned per page. The default and maximum value is 200. |
sort_by | Sorts the workflows based on a specific field. The only supported value is modified_time. |
sort_order | Sorts the workflows in ascending (asc) or descending (desc) order. |
include_inner_details | Includes the inner details like conditions and actions of the workflows in the response. |
For example, to find all active lead workflows containing "Assignment" in their name, use:
Here is the API-call-ready version of the same, after URL encoding the filter value:
Now, if you inspect the response closely, you can see that we have two similar workflows: "Lead Assignment - North Region" and "Lead Assignment - South Region." And there is also an older workflow named "VP Alert - High Value Deal."
This workflow was created almost a year ago by a former team member, and it has not been modified for a long time. Is it still relevant? What exactly does it do? What criteria define a "high-value deal," and who exactly gets notified?
To answer these questions and understand the workflow's complete logic, we must examine it closely using the Get a Workflow API. This API returns the full configuration including all conditions, criteria thresholds, and specific actions for an individual workflow.
STEP 2: Inspect a single workflow using Get a Workflow API
Sample Request:
GET {api-domain}/crm/v8/settings/automation/workflow_rules/4876876000016390024
Here, 4876876000016390024 is the unique ID of the Workflow rule whose details we want to fetch, obtained from the response of Get all Workflows API.
Sample Response:
{ "workflow_rules": [ { "created_time": "2024-01-15T14:20:30+05:30", "execute_when": { "details": { "trigger_module": { "api_name": "Deals", "id": "4876876000000002181" }, "repeat": false }, "type": "create_or_edit" }, "editable": true, "module": { "api_name": "Deals", "id": "4876876000000002181" }, "deprecated": false, "deletable": true, "description": "Alert VP of Sales for high-value opportunities", "source": "crm", "created_by": { "name": "Matthew Mayers", "id": "4876876000001360001" }, "last_executed_time": null, "modified_time": "2024-01-23T12:23:12+05:30", "name": "VP Alert - High Value Deal", "modified_by": { "name": "Matthew Mayers", "id": "4876876000001360001" }, "lock": { "locked_by": null, "message": null, "status": false }, "id": "4876876000016390024", "category": "default", "conditions": [ { "sequence_number": 1, "instant_actions": { "actions": [ { "related_details": null, "name": "VP notified", "details": { "module": { "api_name": "Deals", "id": "4876876000000002181" } }, "id": "4876876000016390063", "type": "field_updates" }, { "related_details": { "best_time": true }, "name": "High value deal alert", "id": "4876876000016390015", "type": "email_notifications" } ] }, "scheduled_actions": [ { "execute_after": { "period": "business_days", "unit": 1 }, "id": "4876876000016390074", "actions": [ { "related_details": null, "name": "Confirm VP follow-up", "id": "4876876000016390067", "type": "tasks" } ] } ], "criteria_details": { "relational_criteria": { "module_selection": null, "criteria": null, "module": null }, "criteria": { "group_operator": "AND", "group": [ { "comparator": "equal", "field": { "api_name": "Amount", "id": "4876876000000002557" }, "type": "value", "value": "50000" }, { "comparator": "equal", "field": { "api_name": "Stage", "id": "4876876000000002565" }, "type": "value", "value": "Negotiation/Review" } ] } }, "id": "4876876000016390025" } ], "status": { "active": true } }, { "id": "4876876000012015001", "name": "Lead Assignment - North Region", "module": {"api_name": "Leads"}, "status": {"active": true}, "execute_when": {"type": "create"}, "last_executed_time": "2025-10-14T11:56:20+05:30" // ... other keys omitted for brevity }, { "id": "4876876000012020001", "name": "Lead Assignment - South Region", "module": {"api_name": "Leads"}, "status": {"active": true}, "execute_when": {"type": "create"}, "last_executed_time": "2025-10-14T10:30:15+05:30" // ... other keys omitted for brevity } // ... additional workflows ... ], "info": { "per_page": 200, "count": 71, "page": 1, "more_records": false } } |
The detailed response gives us a complete blueprint of the workflow. We can now see the exact business logic: the workflow triggers when deals are edited and meet two specific conditions; when the amount equals exactly $50,000 AND the stage is Negotiation/Review.
More importantly, we can see all the actions that execute: an immediate field update to mark deals as "VP notified," an email notification sent at the optimal time, and a follow-up task scheduled for one business day later. Here's what is really interesting about this detail; this workflow has never actually executed, despite being active for nearly a year, because the last_executed_time is null in the response.
Now we are left with some important questions. Is that $50,000 threshold too narrow? What if a $49,000 deal is just as important? And is the VP still the right person to alert? Are there additional stakeholders who should be notified beyond just the VP? These are the type of questions you can start answering once you inspect your workflows closely.
STEP 3: Check limits and distribution
Before making any changes, we must understand our automation capacity and how workflows are distributed across the organization. The Workflow APIs provide two key endpoints for this:
1. Get Workflow limits API
This API provides a comprehensive view of your organization's workflow capacity across multiple dimensions.
Sample Request:
GET {api-domain}/crm/v8/settings/automation/workflow_rules/actions/rules_count
Sample Response:
{ "rules_count": { "scheduled_actions_per_rule_limit": 5, "total_rules_limit": 2500, "active_rules_configured": 71, "rules_per_process_limit": 10, "total_actions_per_rule_limit": 50, "total_rules_limit_per_module": 125, "active_rules_limit": 2000, "total_rules_configured": 82, "active_rules_limit_per_module": 75 } } |
This response gives the following information:
Total Capacity: Zylker has a generous limit of 2,500 total workflows, with only 82 currently configured. This means that they are using just 3 percent of their total capacity.
Active Workflows: There are 71 active workflows, well below their 2,000 active workflow limit
Module-level Limits: Each module can support up to 125 total workflows, with 75 of those allowed to be active simultaneously.
Action Limits: Each condition in the Workflow can contain up to 50 total actions, with a maximum of five scheduled actions.
For Zylker, this is excellent news. Only 71 active workflows out of a 2,000 limit. This means we have substantial room for growth and can confidently create new workflows without worrying about capacity constraints.
2. Get module-wise counts API
This API tells you exactly how many workflow rules you have in each module. It shows both the total number of rules and how many are currently active. This helps you see where your automations are concentrated and where you might be missing opportunities.
Sample request:
GET {api-domain}/crm/v8/settings/automation/workflow_rules/actions/module_specific_count
Sample Response:
{ "module_specific_count": [ { "active_rules_configured": 2, "module": { "api_name": "Products", "id": "4876876000000002213" }, "total_rules_configured": 2 }, { "active_rules_configured": 2, "module": { "api_name": "Deals", "id": "4876876000000002181" }, "total_rules_configured": 2 }, { "active_rules_configured": 4, "module": { "api_name": "Contacts", "id": "4876876000000002179" }, "total_rules_configured": 5 }, { "active_rules_configured": 2, "module": { "api_name": "Appointments__s", "id": "4876876000002362026" }, "total_rules_configured": 3 }, { "active_rules_configured": 4, "module": { "api_name": "Calls", "id": "4876876000000033015" }, "total_rules_configured": 5 }, { "active_rules_configured": 43, "module": { "api_name": "Leads", "id": "4876876000000002175" }, "total_rules_configured": 51 }, { "active_rules_configured": 14, "module": { "api_name": "Emails", "id": "4876876000000014163" }, "total_rules_configured": 15 } ] } |
Looking at this response, we can see 43 active workflows in Leads but only two in Deals. This tells us that Zylker is heavily focused on lead management but might be missing opportunities to automate their sales process later in the pipeline.
Together, these two APIs give a complete picture of the automation capacity and distribution.
What's next: From understanding to action
Now that we have our foundation, we are ready to start building and refining.
In the next part of this Kaizen series, we will move from discovery to design. We’ll use the Workflow Configuration, Create, and Update APIs to standardize Zylker’s automation management, create new workflow rules, and update existing ones for consistency and efficiency.
We hope that you find this post on Workflow APIs useful. If you have any feedback, or if there are any pain-points that you would like us to address in our Kaizen series, please let us know in the comments, or reach out to us via support@zohocrm.com. We will be happy to help!
Until we meet again next Friday, Happy coding!
Topic Participants
Anu Abraham
Sticky Posts
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 achievedKaizen #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 theKaizen #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.
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
Recent Topics
Create static subforms in Zoho CRM: streamline data entry with pre-defined values
Last modified on (9 July, 2025): This feature was available in early access and is currently being rolled out to customers in phases. Currently available for users in the the AU, CA, and SA DCs. It will be enabled for the remaining DCs in the next coupleGlobal Sets for Multi-Select pick lists
When is this feature coming to Zoho CRM? It would be very useful now we have got used to having it for the normal pick lists.Introducing Profile Summary: Faster Candidate Insights with Zia
We’re excited to launch Profile Summary, a powerful new feature in Zoho Recruit that transforms how you review candidate profiles. What used to take minutes of resume scanning can now be assessed in seconds—thanks to Zia. A Quick Example Say you’re hiringIntegración Books para cumplir la ley Crea y Crece y Ley Antifraude (VeriFactu)
Hola: En principio, en julio de 2025, entra en vigor la ley Crea y Crece y Ley Antifraude (VeriFactu). ¿Sabéis si Zoho va a cumplir con la ley para cumplir con la facturación electrónica conectada a Hacienda? GraciasAsk the Experts #1
Hello everyone! It’s time to transform how you manage projects. Define the processes. Automate the tasks. Streamline the workflows. Let us dive into automation in Zoho Projects — from configuring workflows and custom functions to building triggers, usingHow to overcome Zoho Deluge's time limit?
I have built a function according to the following scheme: pages = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}; for each page in pages { entriesPerPage = zoho.crm.getRecords("Accounts",page,200); for each entry in entriesPerPage { … } } Unfortunately, we have too many entriesChecking if Creator has Change History
Like zForms - whenever an entry was updated there's an option to attached change history to email notif. Trigger -> Successful form submissionYour bot just got smarter: AI-Powered routing that reads between the lines
What if your bot could tell the difference? Between a visitor who just needs a quick answer, someone actively comparing options, and a frustrated customer one click away from leaving? Most bots can't. They deliver the same response to everyone, missinghow to use validation rules in subform
Is it possible to use validation rules for subforms? I tried the following code: entityMap = crmAPIRequest.toMap().get("record"); sum = 0; direct_billing = entityMap.get("direct_billing_details"); response = Map(); for each i in direct_billing { if(i.get("type")Adding contact role to a specific deal js sdk malfunctioning
i was trying to add the contact role to a specific deal contact but repeatedly i am getting this error: { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "statusMessage": { "code": "INVALID_DATA", "details": { "expected_data_type": "jsonobject" }, "message": "body",Q3 Updates from Bigin!
Hey Biginners, Hope you’re doing great! As we approach the end of 2025, we truly hope Bigin has been a part of helping you build your dream business this year! We've been busy working behind the scenes to bring you features that make running your businessNew Series Announcement - Ecommerce Marketing Tips
Running an online business is more than just having a website. It’s about getting the right customers to discover you, trust you, and keep coming back. To support your growth journey, we’re launching a weekly Marketing Tips series right here on Zoho CommerceClient Script | Update - Introducing Subform Events and Actions
Are you making the most of your subforms in Zoho CRM? Do you wish you could automate subform interactions and enhance user experience effortlessly? What if you had Client APIs and events specifically designed for subforms? We are thrilled to introduce{"errors":[{"id":"500","title":"Servlet execution threw an exception"}]}
Here's the call to move a file to trash. The resource_id is accurate and the file is present. header = Map(); header.put("Accept","application/vnd.api+json"); data = Map(); data_param1 = Map(); att_param1 = Map(); att_param1.put("status",51); data_param1.put("attributes",att_param1);Converting Sales Order to Invoice via API; Problem with decimal places tax
We are having problems converting a Sales Order to an Invoice via API Call. The cause of the issue is, that the Tax value in a Sales Order is sometimes calculated with up to 16 decimal places (e.g. 0.8730000000000001). The max decimal places allowed inZoho Canvas - Custom templates for related lists
Hi, I see that the example pages load always one of our related lists in a custom template, but I dont know how to work with that: 1) How can i make my own custom templates for related lists? 2) Where and how can i check out existing custom templates?Kaizen #147 - Frequently Asked Questions on Zoho CRM Widgets
Heya! It's Kaizen time again, folks! This week, we aim to address common queries about Zoho CRM Widgets through frequently asked questions from our developer forum. Take a quick glance at these FAQs and learn from your peers' inquiries. 1. Where can INotebook font size issue
If I copy something from somewhere and paste it in my notebook, the font size becomes smaller.open word file in zoho writer desktop version
"How can I open a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) file in Zoho Writer if I only have the file saved on my computer and Zoho Writer doesn't appear as an option when I try 'Open with'? Is there a way to directly open the .doc file in Zoho Writer?"Zoho PDF editor has a lot of issues.
Zoho PDF editor needs a lot of work. It hangs and glitches a lot. Deletes annotations and clearings randomly.Zohom mail
Plz resolve the problem . I hope u understand .stock
bom/bse : stock details or price =STOCK(C14;"price") not showing issue is #N/A! kindly resolve this problemZoho sheet desktop version
Hi Zoho team Where can I access desktop version of zoho sheets? It is important as web version is slow and requires one to be online all the time to do even basic work. If it is available, please guide me to the same.ZOHO SHEETS
Where can I access desktop version of zoho sheets? It is important to do basic work If it is available, please guide me to the sameZoho Books - France
L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilitéUsing Zoho Flow to create sales orders from won deal in Zoho CRM
Hi there, We are using Zoho Flow to create sales orders automatically when a deal is won in Zoho CRM. However, the sales order requires "Product Details" to be passed in "jsonobject", and is resulting in this error: Zoho CRM says "Invalid input for invalidIs Zoho Sheet available for Linux ?
Is Zoho Sheet available for Linux ?Bharat
ahow 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 willZoho Bookings No Sync with Outlook
Zoho Bookings appointments are showing on my Outlook Calendar but Outlook events are not showing on Zoho Bookings. How do I fix this?End Date in Zoho Bookings
When I give my appointments a 30 minutes time I would expect the software not to even show the End Time. But it actually makes the user pick an End Time. Did I just miss a setting?Custom confirmation message
How can I change the message that users see after they submit the booking form? I have to confirm some details before their appointment is officially "confirmed", so I want to change it where it doesn't say their appointment is "confirmed" but ratherIssue showing too many consultations in my workspace link.
Hi Team, I’ve set up two Workspaces to track meetings from different sources. So far, this has been working well, and the two Workspaces are differentiated without any issues. However, when I navigate to Consultations and share the link to my personalDeluge sendmail in Zoho Desk schedule can't send email from a verified email address
I am trying to add a scheduled action with ZDesk using a Deluge function that sends a weekly email to specific ticket client contacts I've already verified the email address for use in ZDesk, but sendmail won't allow it in its "from:" clause. I've attachedZoho Learn & Zoho Connect
Hi, Is there a way to sync the knowledge base we have in Zoho Learn with the manuals section is Zoho Connect? Thanks,Addin Support in Zoho Sheet
Is there any addin support available in zoho sheet as like google marketplace to enhance productivity by connecting with other apps, providing AI data analysis, streamlining business processes, and more?Changing Corporate Structure - How Best to Adapt Current and Future Zoho Instances
My current company is Company A LLC with a dba ("doing business as" - essentially an alias) Product Name B. Basically, Company A is the legal entity and Product Name B is what customers see, but it's all one business right now. We currently have a Zohohow to add subform over sigma in the CRM
my new module don't have any subform available any way to add this from sigma or from the crmHow to Install Zoho Workdrive Desktop Sync for Ubuntu?
Hi. I am newbie to Linux / Ubuntu. I downloaded a tar.gz file from Workdrive for installing the Workdrive Desktop Sync tool. Can someone give me step by step guide on how to install this on Ubuntu? I am using Ubuntu 19.04. Regards SenthilHow to upload own video?
How can you upload your own video on your zoho website? I do not want to use another host, but i want to insert my own files. how can i do this?Next Page