Building extensions #5: Integrating applications with Zoho Projects through Connections

Building extensions #5: Integrating applications with Zoho Projects through Connections

In our last post, we discussed the essential features that a Zoho Projects extension can provide. Starting with this post andin every subsequent post going forward, we'll go through each of those features in depth, one by one, with an example use case.
In this post, we'll explore the Connections feature in detail.

Connections: When and why?

Creating a tightly coupled integration requires the establishment of a secure connection between applications. To achieve this secured connection, the Sigma platform provides the Connection feature that can be used to establish a secure link and perform data operations across applications seamlessly and efficiently through an extension.

Use case

Working on development-related tasks might require dealing with a variety of files, such as code snippets, help documents, or service level agreements. While several file management applications are available to securely store and organize data, manually handling file storage between applications remains challenging.

For our example, let's use Zoho Projects to manage all tasks, and Dropbox to manage and store data.

What is the difficulty faced?

Dropbox offers a file request feature that allows you to collect files and organize them into folders. However, as we talked about in our previous post, manually categorizing and uploading task-related files to their respective file request folders in Dropbox would be a time-consuming and laborious activity. Instead, it would be more efficient to integrate Dropbox with Zoho Projects so that uploading task files to Dropbox file request folders can be done instantly from within Zoho Projects.


How can it be sorted?

You can create a connection between Zoho Projects and Dropbox. With the secure connection setup, the file request folders available in Dropbox can be listed on the task details page of Zoho Projects through an extension. You may then easily upload files from Zoho Projects to their corresponding folders in Dropbox, saving time and making you more organized.

What are the components required to achieve this use case?

  1. A connection between Zoho Projects and Dropbox.
  2. An extension configuration that includes:
  • Creating an extension
  • Configuring the plugin manifest
  • Setting up the widget code to display the Dropbox file request folders inside the Zoho Projects task details page.
Now, let's see how we can achieve each of these components.

1. Creating a secure connection using the Connection feature

  • Log in or sign up into developer.zoho.com.
  • Go to Sigma and access your workspace.
  • Once you enter your workspace, select the Connections section in Sigma.
Note: Connections created in Zoho Projects are also accessible within the Connections section in Sigma. These connections can be used in extensions to connect with other applications.

  • Choose the service as Zoho Projects and select your Zoho Projects organization. Click on Create Connection.

  • Sigma offers a list of default services from which you can choose and easily connect with Zoho Projects. If the application you want to integrate isn’t in the default list, you can add and build a connection with it using the custom services option.
Note: If you’re looking to connect Zoho Projects with another Zoho Product that also follows the OneAuth authentication mechanism, select the service Zoho OneAuth from the Default Services list to create the connection.

  • In our example, the application to connect with Zoho Projects is Dropbox, and because it’s in the Default Services list, go ahead and choose Dropbox.

  • After choosing the service, enter the connection name. A connection link name will be populated automatically.
  • Toggle Use credentials of login user to Yes if you want every user installing the extension to access the connection using their own login credentials, or No if admin credentials are enough to access the connection.
  • In our example, we'll proceed with the former. So toggle to Yes, and then click Create and connect.
Note: For services in which the option to choose the scopes is displayed, choose the necessary scopes, and then click Create and connect.

  • You’ll be directed through a series of authorization steps before being prompted to connect with Dropbox by entering your login information.
  • The connection will be established successfully once you sign in with Dropbox, and you will be redirected to the Connection Summary details page in Sigma.
  • To access this connection as part of an extension, you’ll need to configure the sample code provided under the JSON section in the plugin-manifest.json file. We’ll explore this in the next section.

2. Extension configuration

Now that we've successfully established our connection, let's look at how we can achieve our use case feature of displaying the Dropbox file request folder within the Zoho Projects task detail page. As mentioned earlier, to accomplish this, we’ll need to implement the following measures.
A. Create an extension

B. Configure the plugin-manifest.json file

C. Set up the widget code
Let's explore these steps in order.

A. Create an extension
B. Configure the plugin-manifest.json file
  • As previously stated, to access the connection established between Zoho Projects and Dropbox, the connection must first be configured in the plugin-manifest.json file.
  • Copy the JSON sample code from the Connection Summary Details page and paste it into the plugin-manifest.jsonfile as the value for the connections key.

  • You will also need to white list the Dropbox domain for Dropbox calls to be processed without being blocked.
  • Include the domain in the plugin-mainfest.json file as the value for the whiteLitsedDomains key.

  • As we saw in our earlier post, the plugin-manifest.json file includes a widget called Projects Extension by default. For our example, because we’re connecting with Dropbox and constructing a widget that will include Dropbox request folders to upload files, enter the widget name and location.

  • The final configured plugin-manifest.json file for our example would be as follows:
  1. {
  2. "connectors": [{
  3. "connectionLinkName": "dropbox",
  4. "userAccess": true,
  5. "sharedBy": "xxxxxxx",
  6. "connectionName": "dropbox",
  7. "serviceName": "dropbox",
  8. "isUserDefinedService": false
  9. }],
  10. "whiteListedDomains": ["https://api.dropboxapi.com"],
  11. "service": "PROJECTS",
  12. "cspDomains": {
  13. "connect-src": []
  14. },
  15. "storage": true,
  16. "locale": ["en"],
  17. "config": [],
  18. "modules": {
  19. "widgets": [{
  20. "name": "Dropbox - File Upload",
  21. "location": "taskdetails_rightpanel",
  22. "url": "/app/dropbox.html"
  23. }],
  24. "triggers": []
  25. }
  26. }

C. Setting up the widget code

Now, that we’ve created an extension and configured the plugin manifest file, let's finally set up the widget code in order to display all Dropbox file request folders inside our task details right panel.

Dropbox.html widget code: Please find the widget code snippet as an attachment in this post.
  • In this widget code, we’ve invoked the Dropbox API to list file request folders by constructing and passing the required data along with the connection we had established for Dropbox.
  • The API will be invoked and return all of the file request folders in the task details right panel, from which users can click on the link and directly upload files to Dropbox from within a task in Zoho Projects itself.
Sample output
  • Once the code is setup, publish and install the extension to check the functionality in the Zoho Projects portal.
  • Enter a task and click the extensions icon in the right panel.

  • From the lists of your Dropbox file requests, select the requests to which you wish to upload files.

  • The file will be successfully uploaded in the respective Dropbox file request.


We’ve demonstrated how to upload files directly to Dropbox file request folders from within Zoho Projects in this example. As part of your extension, you can use the Connections feature to do a variety of tasks, some of which are highlighted below.
  • View and update files associated with a certain request.
  • Create Dropbox folders and share them with collaborators.

Connections, therefore serves as a powerful tool that assists you in establishing a connection with other apps and performing smooth data transactions across your applications, thereby improving business functions and optimizing your work.

We hope this information was useful to you. Continue to follow us for further updates!

Sign up for a Zoho Developer account and start developing extensions for Zoho products using Sigma.

SEE ALSO


Next>>

    • Recent Topics

    • Show my cost or profit while creating estimate

      Hi, While creating estimate it becomes very important to know exact profit or purchased price of the products at one side just for our reference so we can decide whether we can offer better disc or not .

    • Admin Logging in as another User

      How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Latest Update (27th April 2026): With the early

    • Zoho CRM Layout Rules: Nine New Actions, Profile-Based Execution, and Interactive Preview

      Hello everyone, Availability: This feature is now available for all users. We’re excited to announce powerful new enhancements to Layout Rules in Zoho CRM - a feature built to guide our teams through form-filling by showing the right information to the

    • Previewing attachments in email composer (Zoho CRM)

      When I am sending an email from a contact's record, when I am in the compose email screen, if I add an attachment to the email, I cannot then click on the attachment to view it to see if it is in fact the correct attachment before sending. In Outlook I can do this. Can you please look into incorporating this into future updates?   Thank you, Bianca.

    • Lookups and Custom Modules

      I created a Custom Module that I'm calling "Item Purchasing Group". This module will store information for groups of Items that must be purchased together (including minimum overall quantities and/or values, etc.). This will have a one-to-many relationship

    • How to add custom lookup-type field to meeting module form in Zoho CRM

      We need to have a lookup field to a custom module's record in Zoho CRM. But it appears that look-up fields are not enabled in Meetings/Events module in Zoho CRM. How do I design/implement a custom look-up type field that will lookup records from custom

    • can't access zoho account

      I can't log in to my zoho account, can you help me

    • 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

    • Has anyone integrated Zoho with Go High Level (GHL)? Looking for guidance

      Hi everyone, I’m exploring the possibility of integrating Zoho applications with Go High Level (GHL) and wanted to check if anyone in the community has experience with this. Specifically, I’m interested in understanding: Whether a direct integration is

    • Updating Unit Code for New Item Creation, Quote and Invoicing is so inconvenient

      The Zoho Team has implemented many updates, but these updates should be optional. Before rolling out any new feature, they should already have a solution in place that allows users to remove or disable it if they choose not to use it. Just yesterday,

    • Item/service subtotal

      Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature

    • The reason I switched away from Zoho Notebook

      My main reason for switching to Zoho was driven by three core principles: moving away from US-based products, keeping my data within India as much as possible, and supporting Indian companies. With that intent, I’ve been actively de-Googling my digital

    • I want to prefill CRM Account information using the GSTIN of the Customer

      Currently i need to add account details manually in zoho crm and when it syncs in zoho books manual working needs to be done. Whereas in zoho books i can prefill the customer details using the GSTIN which is great feature. Can the same be enabled for

    • #5 Is This Actually The Right Tool For Me?

      Day 5: Before Meera brought six months of business history into Zoho Invoice, she stopped and asked herself a very sensible question: Is this actually the right tool for me? It is much easier to ask that now than after moving all your data. The Usual

    • Timesheet entry and comment on the actual timesheet

      Dear madam/sir, It would be really helpful if we could add an option to comment on a specific timesheet entry, after the employee logs a time-log. Would that be possible in the future? Or can you suggest another way to do this?

    • OpenAI Is Moving to the Responses API: Here's What It Means for SalesIQ

      OpenAI has deprecated its Assistants API and is moving to the Responses API. If you're using OpenAI Assistants with SalesIQ, you may be wondering if you need to make any changes to your existing setup. You don't. SalesIQ has already taken care of the

    • Need Native Support for docx files in Zoho Writer

      Absolutely love Zoho Writer, but often need to share files by email with people who are in the Office ecosystem. Downloading a file as docx, then sending it by email, getting the comments back, converting it to Zoho format, editing it, then converting

    • CRM integration issues

      hi Just start testing Campaigns. Read up on up on these issues but can not find an answer. I am super admin. 1) its only showing 1002 contacts, I have a 2500 plan which is confirmed in dashboard. I says it sync'd 1400. I've looked at missing contacts,

    • What's New in Zoho Expense: Integrated Business Travel and AI-Powered Expense Management

      This release brings a wide range of updates across Zoho Expense, including new AI-powered capabilities, enhancements to corporate cards, expense management, audits, and more. Keep reading to know how the new updates can transform your travel and expense

    • ChatGPT Plugin / MCP Server auth error

      Hi all I'm trying to connect the ChatGPT plugin for Zoho CRM but after username stage of the auth process, I get this error from the URL https://mcp.zoho.eu/mcp-client/ {"error_description":"Invalid request url, Request is not as per defined in oauth

    • Project Management Platforms for AI Agents: What Matters Most?

      Zoho Projects is already going beyond basic AI assistance with MCP, AI Bridge, and integrations that let AI models access project data and perform actions. That raises an interesting question: what should a project management platform for AI agents actually

    • 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

    • Sync workdrive feature inside ZohoCRM

      Hi, I'm exploring the new workdrive/ZohoCRM connector released by Zoho to replace the free extension workdriveforCRM which is decomissioned https://marketplace.zoho.com/app/crm/zoho-workdrive-for-zoho-crm I'm rather upset with this long awaited feature,

    • Adding Custom Status Options in Work Order Action Menu

      Hello FSM Team, We would like to inquire if it is possible to add more custom options in the Work Order action/status dropdown (e.g., Cancel, Terminate, Non-Billable, Void, etc.). Currently, the available options are limited, and we are unable to customize

    • Timesheet Task Icons

      In the image below which shows the task field drop down when creating a timesheet against a project and task. What do the icons mean the the right side column against each task? I can't find any documentation or guide that explains what the no entry sign,

    • Open Records in a New Browser Tab

      Hi FSM Team, Just a suggestion: It would be helpful to have a right-click → Open in New Tab option in FSM, similar to CRM. This should ideally work for any clickable record or module, allowing users to open multiple records in separate tabs without losing

    • Facturation électronique 2026 - obligation dès le 1er septembre 2026

      Bonjour, Je me permets de réagir à divers posts publiés ici et là concernant le projet de E-Invoicing, dans le cadre de la facturation électronique prévue très prochainement. Dans le cadre du passage à la facturation électronique pour les entreprises,

    • Marketing Tip #18: Make your online store mobile-friendly to improve traffic

      Most online shoppers browse on their phones first. If your store is hard to read, slow to load, or tricky to navigate on mobile, they’ll bounce fast. A mobile-friendly store doesn’t just look nice; it improves engagement, reduces drop-offs, and helps

    • Cannot add note to record on mobile

      In the latest version of the mobile app - if a record already has notes associated with it - you can add a note via the mobile app - if a record does not have previous notes there is no way to add a new one - it allows me only to send email

    • Dashboards for Customers

      Is it possible to build dashboards for each customers in the community for their tickets?

    • Custom color coding for your entities

      Our brains are fine tuned to recognize colors before any text or shapes, making color coding a powerful tool to organize data and find items quickly. Color coding of our day-to-day work help with quickly processing the information, reducing cognitive

    • The Social Wall: August 2026

      Hello everyone. Welcome to the August 2026 edition of The Social Wall. This month, we're bringing you updates that make it easier to reach your audience, manage more channels, and streamline your publishing workflow. Here’s what’s new. WhatsApp bulk messaging

    • Check out in Meetings

      Why there is no check out in Meetings of Zoho CRM, very difficult to track

    • How do I get to "Admin Panel"

      I just started a Cliq account. I am the sole administrator. As I read the documentation, I keep seeing reference to an "Admin Panel". I see no way to access this from my Cliq account. How do I access this panel?

    • 【初開催！ オンライン】Zoho Campaigns メール配信の基礎・活用勉強会を開催します！ 10/15 参加無料

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。 Zoho コミュニティグループの中野です。 Zoho ユーザーコミュニティ初となる、メールマーケティングをテーマにしたオンライン勉強会を開催します！ ▶︎イベント詳細・参加登録はこちら 今回取り上げるサービスは「Zoho Campaigns」です。 「Zoho CRMとZoho Campaignsのどちらからメールを配信すればよいか分からない」 「一斉配信はできるようになったけれど、現在のリスト管理や設定が正しいか不安」 「メールを送るだけで終わり、配信後の改善につなげられていない」

    • Marketing Tip #46: Run flash sales the right way

      A flash sale can do a lot for your store. It can clear slow-moving inventory, spike revenue on a slow day, or reward your most loyal customers. But if done carelessly, flash sales can backfire. Customers start expecting discounts, stop buying at full

    • Introducing Smart Fields in Zoho Forms

      Hello form builders! We are excited to introduce Smart Fields in Zoho Forms - a faster way to add calculations to your forms without writing formulas. Instead of creating multiple fields and configuring complex calculations yourself, you can now drag

    • Checkbox not displaying correctly in subform

      Greetings: I have shared my app (wv) with support.  I am having problems with a checkbox field not displaying correctly in a subform.  The main form is called volunteers and the subform is called volunteers_subform.  The field in question is called roles. When you access the subform by itself the checkbox lookup displays as checkboxes.  But when you view it in the main volunteers form, it displays as a multi-select dropdown instead.   I have attached jpegs showing the difference.   Any thoughts?

    • Unbundle feature for composite items

      We receive composite items from our vendors and sell them either individually or create other composite items out of them. So, there is a lot of bundling and unbundling involved with our composite items. Previously, this feature was supported in form

    • Valid characters for use in email addresses using Zoho's apps/APIs

      We have found an issue with the + sign character in zoho subs - we are allowed to create a customer with an email address that has a plus sign but the API doesn't allow the + so the billing portal is not created. We are going to prevent users from using

    • Next Page