Introducing 'Queries' In Zoho CRM

Introducing 'Queries' In Zoho CRM

Hello everyone!

We are here with an exciting feature - Queries in Zoho CRM!

A little context before we dive right into the feature specifics :)

In today’s fast-paced business environment, immediate access to relevant data is essential for informed decision-making.
We are thrilled to announce Queries, a powerful feature that allows you to dynamically retrieve data from CRM as well as third-party services directly within our platform. With Queries, you can streamline your workflow, gain deeper insights, and make data-driven decisions without leaving the product.

Whether you fetch records from CRM or data from any other third-party services, the Queries feature gives you the power to present that data the way you want. For example, displaying only closed deals of a contact on a canvas or displaying the details of a ticket from Zoho Desk on a screen(Kiosk) in Zoho CRM.

All you have to do is write a query that solves your business need and associate that query with the relevant CRM feature like Canvas, Kiosk etc. This helps you leverage the power of data retrieval using REST API and COQL, along with schema management, serialization of responses, and other functionalities in data handling.

Let us consider a Canvas Detail View where Deals is a related list in the Contacts module. Here, a contact can have multiple deals associated, but you want to display only those that are won.

You can write a query with the required criteria to filter out the deals and simply drag and drop them on to your canvas just like how you include other components now. Simple, isn't it?

Read on to know more!

Components of Queries

  1. Query
  2. Source
  3. Variables
  4. Serializer
  5. Schema

1. Query

Query is a component of this feature that allows you to fetch data. You can set variables, serialize the response, and manage the schema during query creation.
Query configuration depends on the Source type. You can choose the source type as COQL, Modules, or REST API to construct your query.
  • COQL type is based on CRM's Object Query Language, very similar to SQL.
  • Module type is to retrieve the records from a module by selecting the module and its fields. You can also specify the conditions to filter records.
  • REST API type is to retrieve data from external services.

2. Source

A source is the data provider.
Zoho CRM provides pre-configured sources like COQL and Module in Queries to fetch records from Zoho CRM. Apart from this, you can also create your own source in the REST API standard to fetch data from other services.

Info
Right now, you can add a source as a REST API. Future enhancements will allow you to have sources like GraphQL, Databases like MYSQL & PostgreSQL, Cloud Databases from AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, OData Protocols, etc. This broadens the range of services you can connect with Zoho CRM and simplifies data handling.

3. Variables

Queries allow you to use dynamic variables in the query for module criteria, COQL statement, endpoints, headers, etc,. When you are testing the query, a pop up asks for the test value of the variable.
However, you should pass the values of the variables(like merge fields) to the query during association.


4. Serializer

Serializer lets you modify your response using JavaScript to use it for further processing. For example, you can combine the Full_Name and Designation fields in the Leads module to be displayed as Full_Name (Designation) in the response using the serializer.


5. Schema

Schema refers to the path of each field in the result of the query. You can alter the schema to suit the field types in CRM and change their labels to suit your needs.


Association of Queries

Queries is a game-changer for users as all your data is available inside Zoho CRM's interface. Currently, you can associate queries in Canvas Detail view and show the responses of the query as "field name and value" or a list.
In Kiosk Studio, you can associate a query and use it in a screen or in the criteria component.

Canvas Detail View

Use case

Fetch only those deals of a specific account whose stage is "Negotiation" through a query. Associate this query to a Canvas and add the fields of the query to it.
Step 1: Associate a Query



Step 2: Drag and drop the fields from the associated query on the Canvas.




Kiosk Studio

Use Case
Pass the user ID as an input from the first screen to the second screen where a query is used to fetch and display the user details.

Step 1: Enter the User ID to the input field on a screen.




Step 2: Associate and configure the required query to fetch and display the relevant user details. The query will take the user ID that was input in the first screen as a variable.








Queries can be associated with the "Decision" component of Kiosk, as well, as depicted in the following images.





Info
In future enhancements, you will be able to associate a query in various features of Zoho CRM, for example in the Canvas List View as a column, in Client Script to fetch data, in Standard Detail View/List View and etc.

Supported Editions

Queries is available for the Enterprise/Zoho One and Ultimate/CRM Plus editions, and will be available in the Professional edition soon.

Exciting, isn't it? We are sure this feature will save you tons of time!
Give it a try and let us know your comments.
You can read our documentation here.

Cheers!
Shylaja S
Zoho CRM

    • Sticky Posts

    • 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.

    • 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 the

    • Recent Topics

    • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

      The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest update

    • Copy, Paste, Highlighted text

      when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this.  WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service. 

    • Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing

      "Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machine

    • Publish to LinkedIn via API

      Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks Adrian

    • FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

      Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies to

    • 日本語フォントの選択肢拡充についての要望

      日本語フォントの選択肢がとても少ないと感じたことはありませんか？ 多くのアプリ（たとえば Invoice）ではフォントが1種類しかなく、正直あまり使いやすい・見た目が良いとも言えません。 そろそろ、もっと多くの日本語フォントを追加してほしい、そしてすべてのアプリで同じフォント選択肢を使えるようにしてほしいと、私たちユーザーが声を上げる時期だと思います。 ご存じのとおり、現状ではアプリごとにフォント周りの仕様にほとんど一貫性がありません。 みなさん、一緒に要望を出していきましょう！

    • Do Unpublished Products in Shopify Sync to Zoho POS?

      Will an unpublished product in Shopify sync to Zoho POS? I would like to know how Zoho POS handles products that are in draft/unpublished status in Shopify.

    • Problem in Zoho POS frontend ERP.

      We are facing some difficulties in our billing and inventory processes and require your support to resolve them at the earliest. Customer Advance Payments We receive advance payments from customers for upcoming sales. Please guide us on how to record

    • How to create estimates/Invoices with sub-totals

      Every other accounting package can create estimates and invoices with Sub-totals. How can I do that in ZohoBooks?

    • Categorize Items with Item Headers

      Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title.  Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates.  To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, Invoices

    • Emails sent through Bigin are not posting in IMAP Sent folder

      I have set up my email to work from within Bigin using IMAP.  I am using IMAP so I can sync my email across multiple devices - phone / laptop / desktop / iPad / etc.  I want all my emails to populate my email client (outlook & iphone email) whether or

    • Ask the Experts 26: Brighten every customer interaction with Zoho Desk all year long

      Hello everyone, Greetings and welcome to Ask the Experts 26. As we wrap up 2025, we are excited to invite you to the 26th episode of our Ask the Expert series. 🎄The Merry Metrics Edition = Best of Zoho Desk [Best Practices + Holiday Automation + Year-End

    • Painfully Slow Zoho mail

      Since yesterday Zoho Mail seems to have starting functioning very slowly and having a few bugs. It's slow to open mails, slow to send, slow to change between email accounts. Sometimes clicking on a particular folder (eg Sent folder) stops working and

    • Discount on the transaction level in POS

      "Is it possible to apply a discount on the total bill before tax in Zoho POS?" I want to apply a discount on the total transaction amount in Zoho POS, but the discount should be calculated before the taxes are applied. Is there an option to do this in

    • Zoho DataPrep switching Date Format

      When using a pipeline that is importing Zoho Analytics data into Zoho DataPrep, the month and day of date fields are switched for some columns. For example, a Zoho Analytics record of "Nov. 8, 2025" will appear in Zoho DataPrep as "2025/08/11" in "yyyy/MM/dd"

    • Create Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3

      In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way to

    • Send Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates

      Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now use

    • Jobs at multiple locations

      Hi A lot of times we have same job open at multiple locations. So I would like an option where we can create a job and choose multiple locations. Currently we have to create individual jobs for each location. If we can create one job and mention multiple

    • From Zoho CRM to Paper : Design & Print Data Directly using Canvas Print View

      Hello Everyone, We are excited to announce a new addition to your Canvas in Zoho CRM - Print View. Canvas print view helps you transform your custom CRM layouts into print-ready documents, so you can bring your digital data to the physical world with

    • Passing the CRM

      Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine when

    • Tag Adding Option in Kanban Card Customization Bigin CRM Mobile App

      I would like to request an option to add and display tags on Kanban cards in the Bigin CRM mobile app. This feature would make it easier to categorize deals and quickly identify priorities while working on the go.

    • Empowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM

      Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individuals

    • WhatsApp Voice Message Sending Option in Bigin CRM

      I would like to request a feature that allows users to send WhatsApp voice messages directly from Bigin CRM. This would help improve communication efficiency and make it easier for teams to respond quickly to customer inquiries.

    • CRM: hosting a single html file in Zoho and displaying it as a widget

      I have seen that CRM offers the option of uploading a web project to Zoho itself and displaying it as a widget in CRM. The instructions then talk about setting a development environment with Node and developing an application to upload to Zoho. But I

    • Synchronise item image between Zoho Commerce and Zoho Books/Inventory/CRM

      Here is a blindingly simple idea to tie several Zoho products together. Zoho - please include a method to synchronise the item image (or images) from one Zoho application to another. For example, if you upload an item image in Zoho Inventory, a user should

    • How to change position button transtition of Blueprint?

      Hi Everyone, Look at my screenshoot, it is possible move the reject button to the right? I couldn't find that setting in the blueprint. Thank you.

    • Marketer’s Space - WhatsApp Pricing Update: What Marketers Need to Know and Do

      Hello Marketers, Welcome back to Marketer’s Space! WhatsApp made changes to their pricing model on July 1, 2025, moving from conversation-based pricing to a per-message pricing model. This week’s post focuses on what these changes mean for your WhatsApp

    • Multi file upload

      Hi, I just wonder if one could upload multiple files in one shot, say between one and three files, without adding multiple File Upload fields? Thanks, Alalbany

    • Sorting Descending in a lookup

      I have a case number lookup on multiple forms. I need the most recent added to appear at the top of the lookup or as the list of cases grom it's too much to scroll. Is there a way to have a look up sort descending?

    • Importing customer comments and multiple shipto addresses

      I am evaluating Zoho Books and have most of my data imported with two exceptions: (1) Import customer comments - in my current system I have several comments of different types, and I need to bring these into Zoho. Preferably Books customer records, but

    • Can we add custom fields to portal community profiles?

      How do we add custom fields to our profile pages in our portal community? If we have the ability to add custom fields, will we be able to access those fields via API? We want to use our Desk community in our help portal as our primary community and would

    • Auto-upload Creator Files to WorkDrive

      Hi everyone, I’m working on a workflow that uploads files from Zoho Creator to specific subfolders in Zoho WorkDrive, as illustrated in the attached diagram. My Creator application form has two multi-file upload fields, and I want—on successful form submission—to

    • Asap Widget 2.0

      Where's the documentation for the new ASAP widget? https://www.zoho.com/desk/developers/asap/#introduction this one is outdated How can we dynamically navigate between different views? How can we prefill ticket forms using ASAP 2.0?

    • Update date & time when a cell is edited

      Hi All, I am desiring to have a cell update with the current date and time when another cell is edited. Any ideas?  Thank you

    • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

      Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files

    • Can the Trigger be changed?

      I'm afraid I already know the answer, but here goes... After activating a workflow (under Campaigns > Automations), Then later choosing to Edit the workflow, Can the Workflow's Trigger be changed? Currently the entire Trigger section + options are gone

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

      Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! In this week's post, we'll discuss the ever-important concept of open rates. This will be a multi-part series, as we have a range of topics to cover. Open rates—which measure the percentage

    • Creating Custom PDF Template from Form

      I am trying to create a custom PDF from form submissions. I have the standard subscription and it indicates that PDF forms are included. I cannot find anywhere to create PDF forms. I try to follow the instructions from here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/forms/form-settings/pdf-settings/pdf-editor/articles/creating-your-own-pdf-template#Creating_your_template_from_the_scratch

    • Important Update: Facebook Metrics Deprecation & Impact on Zoho Analytics

      Dear Zoho Analytics users, Facebook has deprecated a set of metrics from the Facebook Pages Insights API, effective November 15, 2025. As a result, these changes will affect any reports and dashboards in Zoho Analytics that rely on Facebook Pages data.

    • Quick Copy Column Name

      Please add the ability to quickly copy the name of a column in a Table or Query View. When you right-click the column there should be an option to copy the name, or if you left-click the column and use the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut it should copy the

    • Next Page