Episode I : Exploring the World of Custom Functions in Zoho Desk

Hello Again!
Welcome to an Automation Adventure in the World of Zoho Desk
Join us on a journey to explore how custom functions can enhance and extend the capabilities of Zoho Desk.

Automation is everywhere. From robotic arms assembling products on factory floors to automating tasks in the software world, automation has revolutionized how we work out stuff. But what does this have to do with Zoho Desk? 

Anline, a curious resident in the Zoho Desk world, is exploring how automation can transform her workflow.

Anline’s Quest in the Zoho Desk World  

Anline is building her own world within Zoho Desk, but she’s hit a few roadblocks. She wants to perform specific operations; like updating ticket statuses, fetching data from external services, and automate repetitive tasks. She knows Zoho Desk has the tools she needs, but where does she start?

DeskAutomate Services is here as a guide to the Automation City. The citizens of Zoho Desk World operate based on their licenses. Each license unlocks different levels of automation capabilities.

Anline has the Enterprise edition, which grants her the access to the most powerful tools: Custom Functions. How can this empower Anline?

The Power of Custom Functions  

Custom Functions are like magic spells in the Zoho Desk world. They give users flexibility to tailor automation to their exact needs. While basic automation features are available to all license holders, Custom Functions are exclusive to Enterprise users. These functions let Anline go beyond the basics and create automations that meet her unique requirements. What makes them even more accessible is Deluge, Zoho’s in-house scripting language.

But there’s a catch: Anline isn’t a coding expert in Deluge. How can she harness the power of Custom Functions without getting lost in complex scripts? DeskAutomate guides Anline to the prebuilt functions and a user-friendly framework, simplifying the coding process.

Whether you’re new to coding or an experienced developer, Deluge simplifies the process of creating Custom Functions with its intuitive interface and drag-and-drop functionality.

The Deluge Script Editor: Your Coding Playground  

To access the Custom Function window, go to Setup (S) >> Developer Space >> Functions >> New Function.

When you open the Custom Function window in Zoho Desk, you’ll find a user-friendly interface designed to help you build scripts using drag-and-drop options. Here’s what you’ll discover: Each section has predefined variables which you can drag and use based on your requirements.

1. Basic Commands
The Basic section includes essential commands like setting variables, adding comments, and inserting informational text into your script. These foundational elements help you structure your Custom Function logically.

          Example: businessDaysCount = 5; //<variable> = <expression>;

2. Conditional Logic
The Condition section allows you to add conditional operators such as if, else if, and else. These operators let you program decision-making logic into your Custom Function.
Example:

1. if (TicketStatus == "Open")
2. {
3.     info "This ticket is still open.";
4. }

3. Notifications
The notifications section lets you enter values to send emails or post messages via Cliq.
Example:

1. sendmail
2. [
3. from : zoho.userid
4. to   : support@zylker.com
5. subject : "Ticket is created"
6. message : "Thank you for your enquiry. A ticket has been created and our experts will respond to you."
7. ]; 

4. Integrations
Zoho Desk makes coding easy for integrations. With drag-and-drop options, you can create webhook integrations and API calls without writing complex code from scratch. The Custom Function window provides all the necessary code snippets, so you can customize them to fit your requirements.

Example: contactRecord = zoho.crm.getRecordbyId("Contacts",9876787);

5. Collections
The Collections feature lets you gather and manage strings of data or specific information within your Custom Function. This is particularly useful when you need to process or analyze multiple data points.
Example:

1. myList = Collect();
2. myList.insert("ID1");
3. myList.insert("ID2");
4. myList.insert("ID3");
5. for each ID in myList
6. {
7.    info ID;
8. }

You can also enable the Syntax Builder within your Coding playground. Enabling this option will help you choose variables from the drop-down windows having prebuilt variables/Fields.

Mapping Parameters and Testing Your Script  

Once you’ve built your Custom Function, the next step is to map it to your Zoho Desk environment:

1. Edit Arguments
The Edit Arguments option lets you map params within your Custom Function to fields in your tickets. For example, you can link the Ticket ID, Ticket Owner, or Case ID to the corresponding fields in your Zoho Desk setup. This ensures that your Custom Function interacts seamlessly with your data.

2. Authentication and Connections
Zoho Desk uses OAuth tokens to establish secure connections for Custom Functions. Commonly, this involves using Zoho OAuth to make API calls within Zoho's scope. You can choose the appropriate scopes during authorization to ensure your Custom Function has access to the necessary data and functionalities.
Note: If you choose third-party applications, please create a connection using the required default or custom services.

3. Save and Test

After saving your script, use Save & Execute Script to test it with sample inputs. This lets you test the function, ensuring functionality, debug, and refine your code before deployment.
In the upcoming episodes, we'll dive into how Custom Functions work and contribute to expanding the capabilities within Zoho Desk.
See you in the next episode,
Regards,
Lydia | Zoho Desk. 

• Topic Participants

• Lydia | Zoho Desk

  

• Sticky Posts

• Register for Zoho Desk Beta Community

  With the start of the year, we have decided to take a small step in making the life of our customers a little easier. We now have easy access to all our upcoming features and a faster way to request for beta access. We open betas for some of our features

• Share your Zoho Desk story with us!

  Tell us how you use Zoho Desk for your business and inspire others with your story. Be it a simple workflow rule that helps you navigate complex processes or a macro that saves your team a lot of time; share it here and help the community learn and grow with shared knowledge. 

• Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels

  Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing. Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal.  When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues. 

• Welcome to Zoho Desk Community - Say hello here!

  Hello everyone! Though we have been here for a while, it’s time to formally establish the Zoho Desk Community; we’re really happy to have you all here! This can be the place where you take a moment to introduce yourself to the rest of the community. We’d love to hear all about you, what you do, what company or industry you work for, how you use Zoho Desk and anything else that you will like to share! Here’s a little about me. I am Chinmayee. I have been associated with Zoho since 2014. I joined here

• Webinar 1: Blueprint for Customer Service

  With the launch of a host of new features in Zoho Desk, we thought it’ll be great to have a few webinars to help our customers make the most of them. We’re starting off with our most talked about feature, Blueprint in Zoho Desk. You can register for the Blueprint webinar here: The webinar will be delivered by our in-house product experts. This is a good opportunity to ask questions to our experts and understand how Blueprint can help you automate your service processes. We look forward to seeing

• Recent Topics

• Check printing alignments always changes

  Hello, We have a frustrating problem with printing checks. We use Quickbooks voucher checks, which works okay for us. The problem is the printing alignment for the check's "Date, Pay to the Order of, Amount, and Amount in Words" changes every time we

• Problem with the blueprint flow.

  Scenario: 3 departments in a single environment: A-B-C agents from department 1 D-E-F agents from department 2 G-H agents from department 3 Since we've been using Zohodesk (2023), agents can assign tickets to the correct department using the blueprint

• Zoho ERP | Product updates | June 2026

  Hello users, We launched Zoho ERP on January 23, and since then, our goal has been to help businesses streamline and manage their operations with greater efficiency, flexibility, and control. Since the launch, we've continued to enhance the platform every

• Kaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In last week's post in the Kaizen series, we discussed how subforms work in Zoho CRM and how to manipulate subform data using Zoho CRM APIs. In this post, we will discuss how to manipulate a multi-select

• Zoho CRM upload files error

  Since today, we have been experiencing issues with uploading photos to opportunities. The message indicates that the storage is full, but as far as I can see, there is still plenty of space available. Could there be an issue or a bug?

• "Make online" not clearing previously downloaded files from disk

  I downloaded a large folder via "Make offline" so I could copy it to another location. This worked. When I was done I hoped that "Make online" would restore it to the previous state where those files are not stored locally in TrueSync. This did not work—Finder

• Please Make Zoho CRM Cadences Flexible: Allow Inserting and Reordering Follow-Up Steps

  Sales processes are not static. We test, learn, and adapt as customers respond differently than expected. Right now, Zoho Cadences do not support inserting a new step between existing follow-ups or changing the type of an existing primary step. If I realize

• WhatsApp Calling Integration via Zoho Desk

  Dear Zoho Desk Team, I would like to request a feature that allows users to call WhatsApp numbers directly via Zoho Desk. This integration would enable sending and receiving calls to and from WhatsApp numbers over the internet, without the need for traditional

• Client Script | Update - Client Script Support For Custom Buttons

  Hello everyone! We are excited to announce one of the most requested features - Client Script support for Custom Buttons. This enhancement lets you run custom logic on button actions, giving you greater flexibility and control over your user interactions.

• Introducing Custom Columns in Forecasts in Zoho CRM

  Hello all, Forecasts in Zoho CRM help sales representatives, managers, and business stakeholders evaluate performance and plan future sales activities. While standard metrics such as Target, Achieved Amount, and Pipeline Amount provide a baseline view,

• Re-Apply SLA When Ticket Reopened from Closed Status?

  If you have an SLA applied, timers are deactivated when going to "On Hold" status type and reactivated when going back to an Open status type. What we discovered is when a customer replies to a closed case and it reopens, the SLA is not applied and timers

• Zoho 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 comptabilité

• 404 error at checkout

  Our customers are getting a 404 error at checkout. Anyone else with the same problem?

• Let's bring Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Material Requirement Planning (MRP), and Production Planning/Management module / feature in Zohobooks

  Let's bring Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Material Requirement Planning (MRP), and Production Planning/Management module / feature in Zohobooks

• Will I see emails sent via campaigns in CRM?

  It would be useful for people to be able to see emails sent via campagins in Zoho CRM is that possible?

• Zoho Forms - Failed CRM Sync Improvement

  I'd like to suggest an enhancement to the Zoho Forms and Zoho CRM integration. Currently, once a form entry has been submitted, there is no simple way to push that individual entry to CRM again if needed. Before anyone mentions it, I am aware that the

• Zoho ZUGs Meetups 2026 en España: Descubriendo nuevas posibilidades con Zoho

  ¡Hola, Español Zoho Community! Hemos celebrado una nueva edición de los Zoho User Groups (ZUGs) en España (Madrid, Barcelona & Valencia), una excelente oportunidad para reunirnos, formarnos y descubrir nuevas formas de sacar más partido a nuestras herramientas

• What is MCP and How Does It Connect to Zoho Invoice?

  If you've ever wished you could just tell your invoicing software what to do, without clicking through menus, pulling up reports manually, or switching tabs every five minutes, that's exactly what the Zoho MCP server is built for. MCP stands for Model

• DYK 7 - Set dependency from Gantt and List view

  Did you know task dependencies in Zoho Projects can be managed across different task views? In a project, multiple teams work together towards the same goal but team members prefer accessing data with different perspectives depending on their responsibilities.

• Goods In Transit

  Hi I was wondering if anyone had any tips or work-around to show goods in transit as a liability? We raise a PO with our supplier in China and when the goods are shipped and are invoiced, hence they are a liability of the business. However I can't convert

• Accounts Payable and receivable

  I'm currently creating my accounts and noticed that I cannot create any more accounts payable or receivable. Is there any way to create more of this accounts and associate them to the default one available?

• How to display Pick List values with vertical separation in Canvas

  I have a Multi-Select Pick List whose values I would like displayed vertically. So far, I have only been able to figure out how to adjust the width and other sizing of the field itself or even how to wrap the values to the next line below. I am trying

• Ability to Use Both AND and OR When Creating Rules (Advanced Conditions)

  I'd like to be able to use more complicated logic when setting up rules. E.g. in Zoho Mail, I can choose "Advanced conditions (AND/OR) to create a rule that can be applied to multiple subject lines from the same sender. But in Zoho TeamInbox, I will have

• Introducing a knowledge management and training software in Zoho Projects Plus

  Keeping your workforce updated on emerging technology trends is essential to stay on top of the game. While project management software focuses on planning, execution, and project tracking, incorporating a learning management solution within project management

• Problem with UTM Parameters: Zoho Forms - Zoho Desk Integration

  Hi Zoho Support Team, I want to automatically capture UTM Parameters from my website URLs and pass it from Zoho Forms into Zoho Desk. I have activated the UTM tracking feature. I've integrated the UTM Tracking code in my website footer on all pages. I've

• #13 Fix Mistakes Without Breaking Your Records

  A customer purchases 100 custom-printed invitations for an upcoming event. A few days after delivery, they call to say that some invitations were damaged and others need to be reprinted. They request a return. The customer isn't asking for a completely

• Zoho Directory : transformez vos données d’identité en décisions de sécurité

  Que sont les rapports d’identité dans Zoho Directory et pourquoi sont-ils importants? À mesure que les organisations se développent, la gestion des identités devient plus complexe. Les informations existent, mais elles sont souvent réparties entre plusieurs

• How to use Zoho Billing info in a workflow

  We have Zoho Billing and CRM sync'd and the Billing info appears as expected for each Account in Zoho CRM, including subscription status, plan type etc. But how can we use this in a workflow? Thanks Dylan

• Why can't we choose Fixed Asset account for Purchased Items? (eTims issue?)

  Hello, When the company purchase items not for sale and not supposed to be in the inventory stock, like equipment for operational use, there is no way to access the Fixed Asset accounts in the drop down list. Is that an eTims limitation again? Or something

• Auto-approval for shared key access not working for new users

  Hello, I'm an admin of a Zoho Vault organization (34 active users, ZOHO identity provider). I have the "Auto-approval for shared key access" setting enabled in Settings → Fine-Grained Controls → Global, but it does not work as expected. The problem: When

• Zoho Analytics UI Bug

  Hello, all, The Aggregate Formulas in Zoho Analytics' list of fields have a 3-dot menu: If the formula has a long name, the name is not fully visible in the list, and a 3-dot menu is not accessible from it: This is not convenient, especially when the

• Canvases Auto-Skewing/Adding Scroll Bars When They Were Not There Prior

  Is anyone else noticing rendering issues in their canvases today? It seems to be mainly icons which now have scroll bars added which makes them all look off, though some fields seemed to revert to squished length as well. Were the icons replaced with

• Marketing Tip #37: Reduce purchase doubts with better product images

  When customers shop online, they cannot pick up, turn around, or inspect a product in person. That is why your product images need to do more of the selling. Two simple upgrades can make a big difference: Use zoom-friendly images so customers can look

• Why don't Zia agents support file uploads?

  I am trying to build a Zia Agent that allows uploading of a PDF file and uses the GLM5 model to process it and extract information. But agents.zoho.com has no way to enable file uploads on the agent. Additionally, GLM5 based agents keep outputting their

• Zia Agent built in ChatKit UI does not render markdown

  Hi, You have a major shortcoming in the Zia Agent UI. The test UI that is embedded in agents.zoho.com allows you to test the agent has full support for rendering markdown, but your ChatKit UI does not have support for rendering markdown. If I embed it

• 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

• Zoho Books | Product updates | June 2026

  Hello users, Welcome to this month's roundup of what's new in Zoho Books! We have an exciting line-up this time. The highlight is the launch of the all-new France Edition with full ISCA compliance. We're also introducing features such as Layout Rules

• Add spaces to input format

  In Zoho Inovices, I am trying to do a custom input format for a custom field. I have tried a few variations, but this is my most recent: ^[a-z][A-Z][0-9][,][-][_][:][ ]$ In this field, I will be entering different alphanumeric information, depending on

• Enhancement in Zoho CRM: Introducing New Return Types for String Fields Based on Character Length

  Dear Customers, We hope you’re well! In Zoho CRM, formula field with string return type is used in various scenarios where text is involved like concatenating customers’ first and last names, trimming characters from texts, performing find and replace

• GLM 5 not available

  Hello, I am trying to setup a Zia Agent using agents.zoho.com. The settings says that GLM5 is among the list of free zoho hosted models available. However, when I try to setup an agent and pick a model from the list only GLM 4.7 Flash is available. How

• Next Page