Understand Zoho CRM’s Deal Prediction Mechanism and how to use the Link/Unlink Deal Email APIs compa

Understand Zoho CRM’s Deal Prediction Mechanism and how to use the Link/Unlink Deal Email APIs compa



Hi All,

Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!
Emails are a core channel for customer communication in any CRM system. In Zoho CRM, emails can be associated with records across multiple modules.
In this post, we will focus on email associations with the records of the Deals Module. 

Deal Prediction Mechanism

In Zoho CRM, Deal Prediction Mechanism automatically associates emails with the contact's deal.
When an email is received for a Contact:
  1. If the contact has only one open deal, the email is linked to that deal.
  2. If the contact has multiple open deals, the email is linked to the most recently modified deal, provided the deal is not closed-lost.
  3. If there are no valid open deals, the email is not linked to any deal.
While deal prediction simplifies email association, certain scenarios require manual control over how emails are linked to deals.
In such cases you might want to:
  1. Correct an incorrect association.
  2. Attach an email to a deal that the prediction could not infer.
Zoho CRM provides two focused APIs for this:
  1. Link Deal to Emails API.
  2. Unlink Deal from Emails API.
These APIs do not create emails — they simply manage associations.

Link Deal to Emails API

The Link Deal to Emails API lets you programmatically attach one or more emails to a specific deal.

Endpoints

POST /Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails/actions/link_record
POST /Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails/{message_ID}/actions/link_record

Sample request for linking a single email

Request URL

POST
https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Contacts/5843104000005878180/Emails/b9c24f3b403f8c3b197f2b8ab967c104d597ab1b968e3b8a59437278f4f26f77/actions/link_record

Input JSON

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            },
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            }
        }
    ]
}

 You can also link a single email by mentioning message id in the request body in the endpoint POST /Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails/actions/link_record

Request URL

POST
https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Contacts/5843104000005878180/Emails/actions/link_record

Input JSON

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "message_id":   "b9c24f3b403f8c3b197f2b8ab967c104d597ab1b968e3b8a59437278f4f26f77",
           "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            },
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Response

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "b9c24f3b403f8c3b197f2b8ab967c104d597ab1b968e3b8a59437278f4f26f77"
            },
            "message": "email has been linked with the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Sample request for linking multiple emails

Input JSON

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            },
            "message_id": "8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1",
            "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            }
        },
        {
            "owner": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5843104000000424672"
            },
            "message_id": "6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5",
            "linked_record": {
                "module": {
                    "api_name": "Deals",
                    "id": "5843104000000003735"
                },
                "name": "Travel Insurance",
                "id": "5843104000004382122"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Response

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1"
            },
            "message": "email has been linked with the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        },
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5"
            },
            "message": "email has been linked with the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Keys

  1. owner (JSON object, mandatory): Specify the details of the user whose email you want to link. It consists of the following keys
    1. name:  Specify the name of the user whose email you want to link.
    2. id: Specify the ID of the user whose email you want to link.
  2. message_id (string, mandatory when message_id is not mentioned in the endpoint):  Specify the unique message ID of the email to which the deal will be linked. You can obtain message ID of a record through Get Emails of a Record API. [/crm/[version}/Contacts/{contacts_record_ID}/Emails]  
  3. linked_record(JSON object, mandatory): Specify the details of the Deals record to be linked to the email. It consists of the following mandatory keys
    1. module(JSON object, mandatory): Specify the details of the Deals module. It consists of the following keys
      1. api_name: Specify the API name of the Deals module.
      2. id: Specify the ID of the Deals module.
    2. name: Specify the name of the Deals record that the email must be linked to. Refer to the field: Deal_Name in the Get Records API for the Deals record. [/crm/[version}/Deals/{deals_record_ID}]  in the Get Records API.
    3. id: Specify the ID of the Deals record that the email must be linked to.

Notes 

  1. An email can be linked to only one deal at a time.
  2. You can link multiple emails in a single request by providing multiple Emails objects in the request body.
  3. This API works only with existing email records.

Unlink Deal from Emails API

If an email is linked to the wrong deal through deal prediction or the Link Deal to Emails API, you can use the Unlink Deal from Emails API.

Endpoints

DELETE /Contacts/{contacts_records_ID}/Emails/actions/link_record?owner_id={owner_ID}&message_ids={message_ID1},{message_ID2},..
DELETE /Contacts/{contacts_records_ID}/Emails/{message_id}/actions/link_record?owner_id={owner_ID}

Sample request for unlinking multiple emails

Request URL

DELETE
https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/Contacts/5843104000000425349/Emails/actions/link_record?owner_id=5843104000000424672&message_ids=8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1,6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5

Response

{
    "Emails": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "8937fb892cc6f15b95bc22ecb91b6f85e9f60916ef9314d484543df546f09ad1"
            },
            "message": "email has been unlinked from the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        },
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "message_id": "6622e532084a2c329b44f4d7c58a93bb2f616d21e1e73cc1e9cc71d24ef6b5f5"
            },
            "message": "email has been unlinked from the deal successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}


Mandatory Parameters
  1. owner_ID Specify the unique ID of a user whose email you want to unlink. 
  2. message_ids Specify the unique message IDs of the emails which you want to unlink. You can obtain message IDs of a record through Get Emails of a Record API.
Example use case
  1. Prediction linked an email to deal A.
  2. Your business logic determines that the email belongs to deal B.
  3. Call the Unlink API.
  4. Call the Link API with the correct deal.
Key behavior
  1. Unlinking does not delete the email.
  2. Email remains visible under the Contact.
  3. Only the Deal association is removed.

Link Deal to Emails API v/s Associate Email with a Record API

At first glance, these two APIs may look similar because both are about emails and their record associations. However, they serve different purposes.
The Associate Email with a Record API is used to create and store an email in Zoho CRM and associate it with a record. You must provide the complete email details such as From, To, CC, Subject, Content, attachments, and the original message id. In short, this API is used when the email does not yet exist in Zoho CRM and needs to be logged as a new email record and associated with a records in modules like Leads, Contacts, Deals etc.
On the other hand, the Link Deal to Emails API does not create an email. Instead, it works only with emails that already exist in CRM. It allows you to associate or re-associate a Contact's emails with a Deal. It is primarily used to control which deal an existing email should be linked to.
  1. Use Associate Email API when you want to log a new email into CRM and associate it to a record.
  2. Use Link/Unlink Deal APIs when you want to manage the Deal association of an existing email.

Key differences

Aspect
Associate Email API
Link Deal APIs
Creates Email Record
Yes
No
Requires email content
Yes
No
Works on existing emails
No
Yes
Purpose
Log emails into CRM and associated to a record
Manage associations between deal and contact's emails.

Zoho CRM’s Deal Prediction Mechanism is designed to reduce manual effort, but APIs give developers the flexibility to handle complex business workflows.
  1. Deal Prediction handles the common association scenarios.
  2. Link and Unlink APIs provide manual control over Email-Deal associations.
  3. Associate Email with a Record API brings external emails into Zoho CRM.
Used together, these features ensure emails are always associated under the right Deal.

We hope that you find this post on Email-Deal Associations useful.
If you have any feedback, please let us know in the comments, or reach out to us via support@zohocrm.com. 

    • Sticky Posts

    • 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.

    • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

    • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how

    • 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

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • is there any way to change the "chat with us now" to custom message?

        is there any way to change the "chat with us now" to custom message? I want to change this text

      • Notes badge as a quick action in the list view

        Hello all, We are introducing the Notes badge in the list view of all modules as a quick action you can perform for each record, in addition to the existing Activity badge. With this enhancement, users will have quick visibility into the notes associated

      • Is Zoho Live Chat compatible with WordPress CMS?

        Hello, I have a website called www.jjrlab.com and I'm interested in using Zoho Chat on it. Does it support WordPress CMS? Thanks.

      • Introducing spam detection for webforms: An additional layer of protection to keep your Zoho CRM clean and secure

        Greetings all, One of the most highly anticipated feature launches—Spam Detection in webforms—has finally arrived! Webforms are a vital tool for record generation, but they're also vulnerable to submissions from unauthenticated or malicious sources, which

      • Bring your CRM and Desk app inside SalesIQ with widgets

        Have you ever been confused and frustrated with multiple open tabs and switching back and forth from SalesIQ to other apps to perform your business-specific operations? How effective would it be to have all the required tools and data of the apps you

      • Speak Your Customers' Language: SalesIQ's chatbots now support 30 languages 🤖

        We're unveiling some major upgrades to our chatbot that are set to revolutionize your experience! Now SalesIQ support 30 languages for both Zobot and Answer bot. By speaking your customers' language, you can enhance engagement, improve customer satisfaction,

      • Repeat Column merge in ZOHO writer columns doesn't allow to set max columns per row

        I'm using ZOHO writer to merge data from a ZOHO CRM subform and I want it to make a table. We're using Insert Table for Column Repeat, because this is what we need. (Name of column (Teamname) and underneath that a list of names of teammembers). It works

      • Persisting email signals to contact timeline?

        Hello there. Regarding the email signals that are logged when a contact opens an email, am I correct that these signals are not logged to a contact's timeline? Ideally, I would like to have this context available for future follow-ups, if the contact

      • Trouble with using Apostrophe in Name of Customers and Vendors

        We have had an ongoing issue with how the system recognizes an apostrophe in the name of customers and vendors. The search will not return any results for a name that includes the mark; ie one of our vendors names is "L'Heritage" and when entering the

      • Really want the field "Company" in the activities module!

        Hi team! Something we are really missing is able to see the field Company when working in the activities module. We have a lot of tasks and need to see what company it's related to. It's really annoying to not be able to see it.🙈 Thx!

      • Upcoming update to Google Drive integration in Zoho Creator

        Hello everyone, We're writing to inform you about an upcoming update to how Zoho Creator integrates with Google Drive. In Zoho Creator, during actions like importing files to create an app or attaching files to fields, you can choose files directly from

      • Changing Account Type in Chart of Accounts

        Does anyone know how to change/edit the account type for an Account name in Chart of Accounts. Zoho will not let me do this for some reason

      • Managing Scheduled Replies

        Communication is most effective when the intended message reaches the right person at the right time. However, this can be challenging when communication occurs across different time zones. By scheduling replies, businesses can ensure that responses reach

      • Show price book list price

        When using price books, once you add products to the price book in the Products related list you can display the Unit price which is the default list price; however, there is no option to show the price book list price. To see the price book list price

      • Allow Attaching Quartz Recordings to Existing Zoho Support Tickets

        Hi Zoho Team, We would like to request an enhancement to how Zoho Quartz recordings integrate with Zoho Support tickets. Current Behavior: At the moment, each Quartz recording automatically creates a new support ticket. However, in many real-world scenarios:

      • Issue with open-rate reporting in Zoho Campaigns

        Hello, Since yesterday I’ve been experiencing an issue with the open-rate reports in Zoho Campaigns. The campaigns I send appear in the reports as if none of the emails have been opened, even though I know they have. To verify this, I replicated the campaign

      • Can I hide empty Contact fields from view?

        Some contacts have a lot of empty fields, others are mostly filled. Is there a way I can hide/show empty fields without changing the actual Layout? I would like to de-clutter my view, and also be able to add information later as I am able. I would be

      • Manage user roles and profiles from the Bigin app (iOS and macOS)

        Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that you can manage user roles and profiles from the Bigin mobile app. The Users & Controls section has three subsections: Users, Profiles, and Roles. Users Employees who belong to your Bigin organization are called

      • Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

        Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels

      • Zoho Books Sandbox environment

        Hello. Is there a free sandbox environment for the developers using Zoho Books API? I am working on the Zoho Books add-on and currently not ready to buy a premium service - maybe later when my add-on will start to bring money. Right now I just need a

      • Form to PDF template

        I am looking to create a Form and when information is inputted, it will merge it into a PDF template we already have. There could be multiple lines in the form and each line inputs information into a new page of a PDF template.

      • Please verify my account

        Hi, We have just launched our website and received media coverage in our country. Hundreds of users are signing up for our platform every day. We would like to send them a welcome email, but we are unable to do so because our ZeptoMail account has not

      • Subject character limit increase

        We have an occasional user case where subject lines exceed 500 characters which is the ZeptoMail imposed limit. While I understand long subject lines are not "best practice", these are particular notification emails with specific information for client

      • Account blocked

        Yesterday I got my Zeptomail account blocked due to too many hard bounces. My account is used exclusively for sending transactional emails (eg. your order has been shipped, a form has been filled, etc) and the sudden blocking impacted hundreds of websites

      • Nested notebooks

        Dear Sir/Madam, I would like to know if it is possible to nest notebooks. It would be very helpful when there are too many, as it would improve organization. Thank you for your response. Best regards.

      • Cannot see correct DNS config for mail after moving domain to another provider

        I have moved my domain from one provider to another and after that zoho mail stopped working (expected). Problem is, zoho mail admin panel still shows (10 hours after move) that all records are correct while I haven't changed anything in my domain DNS

      • Proactive Alert for Existing Open Tickets per Contact / Account

        Hello Zoho Desk Team, Greetings, and hope you’re doing well. We would like to submit a feature request aimed at improving agent awareness and efficiency when handling tickets in Zoho Desk. Use case When an agent opens a ticket (new or existing), it is

      • Ticket resolution field - can you add links, video, and images?

        Seems like the ticket resolution fields is just a text field. Any plans to add the ability to add links, images...the same functionality in the problem description box? I would like to send the customer a link to a KB article, a link to our Wiki, embed

      • Ticket Resolution - Add rich formatting, screenshots and attachments

        The resolution field only allows plain text at the moment. Many of our resolutions involve posting screenshots as evidence, it would be great for us to be able to have rich text formatting, be able to paste screenshots and add attachments in the solution

      • CRUD actions for Resources via API

        Hello, is it possible to perform CRUD actions through the API for Resources? We want to create a sync from Zoho CRM Car record to Bookings resources to create availabilities for Car bookings. For Test drives, not only the sales person needs to be available,

      • Kaizen #140 - Integrating Blog feed scraping service into Zoho CRM Dashboard

        Howdy Tech Wizards! Welcome to a fresh week of kaizen. This week, we will look at how to create a dashboard widget that displays the most recent blog post of your preferred products/services, updated daily at a specific time. We will leverage the potential

      • Convert Lead Automation Trigger

        Currently, there is only a convert lead action available in workflow rules and blueprints. Also, there is a Convert Lead button available but it doesn't trigger any automations. Once the lead is converted to a Contact/Account the dataset that can be fetched

      • I'm getting this error when I try to link an email to a deal inside the Zohomail Zoho CRM extension.

        When I click "Yes, associate," the system displays an "Oops!! Something went wrong" error message. I have attached a screenshot of the issue for reference.

      • Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

        Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.

      • ZOHO add-in issue

        I cannot connect ZOHO from my Outlook. I am getting this error.

      • Marketing Automation

        L.S. Marketing Automation is and has always been part of the Zoho One bundle - according to the information provided on the Zoho Website. Why when I open Marketing Automation do I get the following message?: "Your trial has expired. We hope you enjoyed

      • What's New in Zoho Analytics - January 2026

        Hello Users! We are starting the year with a strong lineup of updates, marking the beginning of many improvements planned to enhance your analytics experience. Explore the latest improvements built to boost performance, simplify analysis, and help you

      • Translation from Chinese (Simplified) to Chinese (Traditional) is not working. It randomly translated. Google Translate accurately but zoho translate is not working at all

        Hi friends, The newly added language for translation. https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/ai-tasks/translate.html "zh" - Chinese "zh-CN" - Chinese (Simplified) "zh-TW" - Chinese (Traditional) my original text: 郑这钻 (and it is zh-CN) translated traditional

      • The Social Playbook - January edition: Getting started with content creation

        Social media isn’t just about posting some random content. It’s about why certain content works, how brands stand out, and what makes people pause mid-scroll. The Social Playbook is a monthly community series where we break all of that down. Through real

      • Support for Custom Fonts in Zoho Recruit Career Site and Candidate Portal

        Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request the ability to use custom fonts in the Zoho Recruit Career Site and Candidate Portal. Currently only the default fonts (Roboto, Lato, and Montserrat) are available. While these

      • Next Page