Extension Pointers #1: A step-by-step guide to integrate Google Contacts using Sigma

Extension Pointers #1: A step-by-step guide to integrate Google Contacts using Sigma

Integrating and syncing data is a significant factor for effective customer relationship management.

Let's consider a scenario where an entrepreneur is planning on starting a new venture. An important factor in propelling any business towards success is a solid customer base. Maintaining important information about potential customers is also a critical element in managing a business effectively. In this post, we want to show you how to establish an integration that will manage data synchronization between different services efficiently.

Why integrate?

Integrating two services allows data to sync seamlessly between them. The Zoho Developer platform, Sigma, lets you build plug-in software extensions. Connector is a feature in Sigma that allows you to integrate with a third-party application through these extensions.

So let's say that an entrepreneur needs to sync Zoho CRM (client application) with Google Contacts (third-party application) and develops an extension using Sigma. Using the Connectors component, we can accomplish this integration between the applications. This integration will effectively sync contacts between the apps, providing consolidated customer information. This saves the entrepreneur's time and manual work. Below, we'll see the exact steps on how to establish a connection between these two services and export a contact from Zoho CRM to Google Contacts.

Topics covered:
➤ Creating a connection between Zoho CRM and a third-party application
➤ Registering with Google to obtain client credentials
➤ Adding a custom button and associating it with a custom function to perform an action

How to establish connections between services

To enable secure synchronization with a third-party application, certain authorization protocols must be followed. Zoho Developer provides two approaches for integrating services based on the type of user authentication supported by the third-party application:

1. If the third-party application that you want to integrate with Zoho CRM supports OAuth 2.0 protocol for user authentication, you can use connectors.
2. If the application you want to integrate with Zoho CRM only supports API key forms for user authentication, you can use custom variables.
In our scenario, lets see how to use connectors to create a secure connection with Google Contacts.

How to use connectors to establish a connection via OAuth 2.0

 You will need URLs for a request token, access token and refresh token along with a client ID and secret to complete the connection process.


1. Choose Connectors from the left panel of the Zoho CRM console under Utilities, and then click Create Connection.



2. Provide the required information in the respective fields.
  • Connector Name: A name for the connection to be established.
  • Name of the Service: The name of the third-party application.
  • Signup URL: The signup URL of the third-party application.
  • Request Token: The URL for sending an authorization request to the third-party application server from the client application.
  • Access Token: Once the request is authorized by the server, the access token is sent to the client. This token is exchanged every time the client needs to access the third-party application data.
  • Refresh Token: There are few access tokens that expire after a limited time. In that case, this URL should be used to request a different access token.
Note: The URLs for a request token, access token, and refresh token can be obtained from the API documentation of Google.

For your reference, the values used in our example are as follows: 

3. Click Save after providing the necessary details.



4. In order to obtain the Client ID and Client Secret, you must register with a web service (in our example, Google). If you need further instruction on how to obtain the Client ID and Client Secret, please take a look at the following section.
Note: The Redirect URL appearing in the Client Credentials dialog box is necessary to create the Client ID and Client Secret in the upcoming section.

5. Click Save after entering the Client ID and Client Secret to set the Client Credentials successfully.

6. Click Authorize Connector to Authorize the connection between the services. A connection is now successfully established between Zoho CRM and Google Contacts.

How to register with Google and obtain the Client ID and Client Secret?

1. Log into the Google API Console with your Gmail account credentials. Create a New Project.



2. Click ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES to manage the necessary APIs.



3. Search for the Contacts API, and click the ENABLE button to activate it.



4. Select the Credentials section present in the left panel, and click the CONFIGURE CONSENT SCREEN to fill in the application information.



5. Click Create after choosing either Internal or External depending on your target users.



6. Enter the Application name and the Authorized domain, and click Save.



7. Go back to the Credentials section, click CREATE CREDENTIALS, and choose OAuth client ID.



8. Provide the Application Name along with the Redirect URL that was listed on the CRM developer page during connector creation, and click Create.



9. The OAuth client credentials are now created and appear in a dialog box



10. Enter the unique Client ID and Client Secret obtained here in the Zoho CRM Client Credentials dialog box.

Add API calls and associate them with the connector

Upon authorizing the connection, the next step is to create a connector API that specifies how the components should interact. The steps to create connector APIs in the client application are:

1. Click Create Connector API. Enter the necessary details in the Create Connector API dialog box. In our example for adding a contact from Zoho CRM to Google:

Name of Connector API
PushContacts
Method Type
POST
URL

Request Body: 

  1. <atom:entry xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"

    xmlns:gContact="http://schemas.google.com/contact/2008"

    xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005">

    <atom:category scheme="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#kind"

    term="http://schemas.google.com/contact/2008#contact"></atom:category>

    <gd:name>

    <gd:givenName>${FirstName}</gd:givenName>

    <gd:familyName>${LastName}</gd:familyName>

    </gd:name>

    <atom:content type="text">Notes</atom:content>

    <gd:email rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#work"

    primary="true"

    address="${Email}" displayName="${FirstName}"></gd:email>

    <gd:phoneNumber rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#work"

    primary="true">

    ${Mobile} 

    </gd:phoneNumber>

    <gd:organization rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#work" primary="true">

    <gd:orgTitle>${Title}</gd:orgTitle>

    </gd:organization>

    </atom:entry>
2. Click Create to create the Connector API successfully.



3. Click Execute to set the token variables. 



4. Click Set & Execute, and observe the response code to check if the API works. 



5. Click Publish after successfully executing the API. 



Once published, the API needs to be associated with the extension. It appears under the Associated Connectors tab. Click Add to associate the connector GoogleSync with our extension CRMsyncGoogle.


Click View All APIs to check the Unique API Identifier.


Here, crmsyncgoogle.googlesync.pushcontacts is the Unique API Identifier. 


Exporting contacts to Google from Zoho CRM

After the successful execution of the API connector, the next step is to implement the desired function. There are multiple options to do this. In our example, let's create a button and associate it with a custom function to push a contact from Zoho CRM to Google Contacts upon clicking. 

Creating a "Push Contact to Google" custom button to perform the POST operation
Choose the Components section in the left panel of the extension console page. Select the Links & Buttons tab and click Create New Button.



Choose the Contacts tab, name the button, and choose the place where the button needs to be located. Select Writing Function as the action that will be performed by the button.



Write your custom function "pushcontact" to implement the "Push Contact to Google" button operation. This will allow you to push a contact from the Zoho CRM Contacts module to your Google Contacts.

pushcontact function Code Snippet:


cont_resp  zoho.crm.getRecordById("Contacts",contact.get("Contacts.ID").toLong());

Firstname = cont_resp.get("First_Name");

Lastname = cont_resp.get("Last_Name");

mail = cont_resp.get("Email");

mobile = cont_resp.get("Mobile");

title = cont_resp.get("Title");

map = {"FirstName":Firstname ,"LastName":Lastname ,"Email":mail ,"Mobile":mobile ,"Title":title }; 

response = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("crmsyncgoogle.googlesync.pushcontacts",map);

return "Contact Pushed";

How to check and test the functionality?

Click the Test your Extension button to check how your extension functions in the sandbox testing environment.


Under the Contacts module, in the testing environment, let's try and export "Customer2" to our Google Contacts. Click the Push Contact to Google button, and go to the Google Contacts to view your contact being added.


There are many different scenarios where connectors can be of use. In our example, we have seen how to add a contact from Zoho CRM to Google.
We recommend that you try using the connectors feature available in our developer platform to integrate with other third-party applications and reap the best benefits it has to offer.

Next>>
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

    • Sticky Posts

    • 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

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

      Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved

    • Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.

    • Recent Topics

    • ¿Cómo puedo configurar las contraseñas creadas bajo una directiva para que nunca caduquen y no aparezcan como caducadas en los informes?

      ¿Cómo puedo configurar las contraseñas creadas bajo una directiva para que nunca caduquen y no aparezcan como caducadas en los informes? La razón por la cual contraseña estas no deben caducar es porque su actualización depende de mi cliente y no de mí.

    • Function #42: Show the actual rate of items on invoices

      Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! In Zoho Books, you have the ability to create Price Lists, wherein you can mark up and mark down the item rates by a specific percentage or set custom rates. Generally, when you apply a price list to an

    • Ability to Set Text Direction for Individual Cells in Zoho Sheet

      Dear Zoho Sheet Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement in Zoho Sheet that allows users to set the text direction (right-to-left or left-to-right) for individual cells, similar to what is available in Google Sheets. Use

    • New in CRM: Dynamic filters for lookup fields

      Last modified on Oct 28, 2024: This feature was initially available only through Early Access upon request. It is now available to all users across all data centers, except for the IN DC. Users in the IN DC can temporarily request access using this form

    • Warehouse fast processing

      Hey guys, would anyone be interested in something like the attached image ? If there's any interest I'd be willing to develop it further for others to use, it's much faster than using Zohos native solutions, it can part pack, pack in full, part ship,

    • Can't change form's original name in URL

      Hi all, I have been duplicating + editing forms for jobs regarding the same department to maintain formatting + styling. The issue I've not run into is because I've duplicated it from an existing form, the URL doesn't seem to want to update with the new

    • Start/Stop Timmer in Chrome Extension

      The chrome extension is great and allows you to do allot however one of the most common things employees working on projects need to do is track their time. Having an easy start/stop timer to track time would be great.

    • Invalid collection string

      I haven't changed anything in one of my functions. I'm trying to run it manually and suddenly "Invalid collection string" appears. My code has 6 lines and the error says that the error is on 7th line. Why? What does this error mean? Nothing has been changed

    • Zoho Directory 2025: New Features | Security Enhancements | Enriched UI

      Hello everyone, Greetings from the Zoho Directory team! 2025 has been a highly successful year for Zoho Directory. We are delighted to introduce a fresh set of features, an enriched UI, and major product enhancements. These updates aim to deliver a smoother

    • Bulk Schedule for Posting TikTok

      Hallo, We have a client whose business is a social media agency specifically TikTok. Currently they are handling 30 TikTok accounts from. I think zoho Social can handle it with Agency License + with Add on 10 Brands. Their concern is related to posting

    • zoho people 5 report

      How do I customize my report in Zoho People Report? I understand that I can get the results of multi-table queries through SQL join statements, but I don't know the relationship between each table. I tried to create a report using Attendance User Report

    • Leave Report Emailed Weekly

      I am wondering if someone knows how to have a report generated either weekly or monthly or both for department heads and ownership of upcoming employee leave. For instance, it would be nice to get an emailed report on Friday for the upcoming week of who

    • Ability to Edit YouTube Video Title, Description & Thumbnail After Publishing

      Hi Zoho Social Team, How are you? We would like to request an enhancement to Zoho Social that enables users to edit YouTube video details after the video has already been published. Your team confirmed that while Zoho Social currently allows editing the

    • Zoho Flow Decision Continuing Despite Not Meeting Conditions

      I have a picklist field called Lead Status in the leads module, with the following lead Statuses: New Lead Attempted Contact - 1 Attempted Contact - 2 Attempted Contact - 3 Attempted Contact - 4 Attempted Contact - 5 Attempted Contact - 6 Attempted Contact

    • Add RTL and Hebrew Support for Candidate Portal (and Other Zoho Recruit Portals)

      Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request the ability to set the Candidate Portal to be Right-to-Left (RTL) and in Hebrew, similar to the existing functionality for the Career Site. Currently, when we set the Career Site

    • zoho labels api not working

      We're using n8n to automte email reply using zoho api. I'm facing issue with label api. I added the required scopes but its not working. i followed zoho api documentation but didn't work. also, where do i find/how do i create zoho oauth token mentioneeed

    • 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

    • Tip #55- Accessibility Controls in Zoho Assist: Exploring Vision Settings- 'Insider Insights'

      As we approach the end of the year, it’s a good moment to reflect on how we can make our tools more inclusive and easier to use for everyone. Remote support often involves long hours in front of screens, varied lighting conditions, and users with different

    • Zoho Recruit Slow and Freezing on all screens

      We have had an issue with Zoho Recruit for weeks being extremely slow and at times freezing.  We have 100 mega internet, and I went into each computer and updated the virtual memory so there is more available.  Also restarted all computers daily.  Still having the issues.  Almost unable to work.

    • Credit Management: #2 Configuring Right Payment Terms for Credit Control

      Think about the last time you ordered something online and saw that little note at the checkout, "Pay on Delivery" or "Pay later". It's simple, but it actually sets the tone. As a business owner, you know exactly when payment is expected. Now, imagine

    • Dependent (Conditional) Fields in Zoho Bookings Forms

      Hello Zoho Bookings Team, Greetings, We would like to request the ability to create dependent (conditional) fields in Zoho Bookings registration forms. Current Limitation: There is currently no way to make one field’s available options depend on the value

    • Bug Report: Search fails to find existing notes after Evernote import

      Hello, I recently migrated from Evernote (~2600 notes across 23 notebooks), but the search functionality is currently broken. The Issue: I can manually browse to a specific note and see it exists. However, when I type the exact or partial title of that

    • Marketing Tip #13: Win repeat customers with post-purchase emails

      The relationship with your customer doesn’t end after the sale; that’s when it begins. A thoughtful post-purchase message shows customers you appreciate them, keeps your brand top of mind, and can even lead to another sale. You can thank them, ask for

    • Zoho Form

      I have problem with Zoho Form. One of form i don't received the PDF version. Others okay except this one. W904533

    • Create & Update Zoho Vault Passwords via Zoho Flow

      Hi Zoho Flow / Zoho Vault Team, We’d like to request an enhancement to the Zoho Vault integration in Zoho Flow. Current Limitation: At the moment, Zoho Flow supports only the following selected Zoho Vault actions, such as: Fetch passwords, Share passwords

    • Is Zoho Communityspaces now part of Zoho One?

      Is Zoho Communityspaces now part of Zoho One?

    • Streams/Shared email doesn't show up in windows trident app. It works fine on MAC. Is there any difference between 2 install ?

      I can see streams/share email boxs on my MAC version of trident app but i can't see them in windows version of trident app. Is there any difference between 2 install? I try to find setting but not able to see any setting to add stream/share email boxes.

    • Credit Note for Shipped and Fatoora pushed invoices

      We have shipped a Sales Order and created an Invoice. The Invoice is also pushed to Fatoora Now we need to create a credit note for the invoice When we try it, it says we need to create a Sales Return in the Zoho Books, we have already created a Sales

    • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

      Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards

    • MCP no longer works with Claude

      Anyone else notice Zoho MCP no longer works with Claude? I'm unable to turn this on in the claude chat. When I try to toggle it on, it just does nothing at all. I've tried in incognito, new browsers, etc. - nothing seems to work.

    • Custom Related List Inside Zoho Books

      Hello, We can create the Related list inside the zoho books by the deluge code, I am sharing the reference code Please have a look may be it will help you. //..........Get Org Details organizationID = organization.get("organization_id"); Recordid = cm_g_a_data.get("module_record_id");

    • Features, Feedback and Votes

      We’re launching the Feedback Forum for our customers. This is 'THE' place where you can add everything you’d like to see in Zoho Books. If you don't find the specific feature you need, simply add it so others can also vote for it. While we cannot promise

    • add zoho account

      How to add a zoho mail to previous zoho account? I have two

    • There Might Be A Glitch in Determining If A String Represents A URL

      I suspect there might be a glitch in determining if a string represents a URL or not. For example, I cannot embed the following URL. Perhaps the exclamation mark or parentheses are the culprit? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Grinch_Stole_Chri

    • Customer Management: #4 Enhance Customer Journey

      When Neha started DefineOps, a growing IT support and consulting firm, most of her work was straightforward. A client would sign up for a free version, decide whether the service works for them, and then either continue or discontinue. Billing was simple,

    • Pipeline.Company Name field shows up as numbers! [Bigin Developer Console > Component > URL]

      Hi there, I am setting up to invoke URL to send infromation zoho bigin > zoho forms with company name pre-fill in the form. however when I use : ${Pipelines.Company Name} field it shows up as a string of number instead of words. Help.

    • Marketing Tip #1: Optimize item titles for SEO

      Your item title is the first thing both Google and shoppers notice. Instead of a generic “Leather Bag,” go for something detailed like “Handcrafted Leather Laptop Bag – Durable & Stylish.” This helps your items rank better in search results and instantly

    • Territory Assignment Issues (Lead to Account + Contact)

      1. Lead → Account & Contact Territory Assignment on Conversion A Lead is automatically assigned one or more territories using a workflow and Lead Assignment Rules. This works as expected, and we are able to assign multiple territories to a Lead automatically.

    • Marketer's Space: Proven tips to improve open rates – Part II

      Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! We're continuing from where we left off a fortnight ago. We ended the previous post discussing the subject line, and we'll continue from there. Let's dive right in. Pre-header Pre-header

    • SQL Table slowed to a crawl

      Hi all - I seem to have noticed an update. Now whenever I am typing in the script field for the SQL tables there is a huge delay and it is all very slow. This has never been the case for me in over 5 years of using Analytics - I really hope it's fixed

    • Next Page