Kaizen 214 - Workflow APIs - Part 2
Last week, we discussed how Zylker Cloud Services used the Workflow APIs to discover and audit all the automations in their CRM, listing every workflow, checking triggers, and understanding their automation limits. This week, we take the next step: understanding what configurations are valid before creating or updating workflows via APIs.
Step 4: Workflow Rule Configurations API
When you work in the CRM UI, creating workflows feels straightforward. The interface shows only valid triggers and actions. Try adding an unsupported action, and it simply will not appear. This is because the UI enforces hundreds of rules behind the scenes.
With APIs, these validations must be handled manually. That is where the Workflow Rule Configurations API comes in. It gives all the valid triggers and actions for a given module, preventing errors before they happen.
Why this API matters
Consider two examples:
You want to create a workflow for the Products module based on a Scoring Rule update. The UI hides this option because scoring rules are not supported for Products.
You try to add a Field Update action for a Record Delete trigger. This is invalid, as the record no longer exists. The UI prevents it, but via API, you would get an error if you try to create or update the workflow with this configuration.
The Configuration API removes this guesswork, allowing you to fetch and respect valid triggers and actions.
Sample Request:
GET {api-domain}/crm/v8/workflow_configurations?module=Deals
Sample Response:
{ "workflow_configurations": { "related_triggers_details": [ { "api_name": "Notes", // The API name of the related module that can trigger workflows "module": { // Details about the related module "singular_label": "Note", "plural_label": "Notes", "api_name": "Notes", "name": "Notes", "id": "4876876000000002197" }, "name": "Notes", // Module name "triggers": [ // Available triggers for this related module { "api_name": "create", "deprecated": false, "name": "Create", "scheduled_actions_supported": true, "actions": [ // List of supported actions for this trigger "add_tags", "remove_tags", "email_notifications", "tasks", "create_record", "create_connected_record", "add_meeting", "webhooks", "functions", "flow" ] }, // ... other triggers (create_or_edit, edit, delete) omitted for brevity ] } ], "triggers": [ // Primary triggers for the Deals module itself { "api_name": "score_increase", "deprecated": false, "name": "ScoreIncrease", "scheduled_actions_supported": false, // Indicates whether scheduled actions are allowed for this trigger "actions": [ // Only these instant actions are supported "field_updates", "assign_owner", "add_tags", "remove_tags", "email_notifications", "tasks", "webhooks", "functions", "circuits", "flow" ] }, // ... other triggers omitted for brevity ... ], "actions": [ // Details about available workflow actions { "is_clickable": true, "associate_action": false, "limit_per_action": null, "api_name": "schedule_call", "supported_in_scheduled_action": true, "name": "ScheduleCall", "limit": 1 // Maximum instances per workflow }, { "is_clickable": true, "associate_action": true, "limit_per_action": null, "api_name": "tasks", "supported_in_scheduled_action": true, "name": "Task", "limit": 5 }, // ... other actions omitted for brevity ... ] } } |
Interpreting and using the Workflow Configuration API
The configuration response might look complex, but it gives us all the information we need about configuring Workflow Rules in Zoho CRM, for the specific module.
4.1 "What can trigger my Workflow?"
The triggers array shows all the supported triggers for that specific module.
"triggers": [ { "api_name": "create", "deprecated": false, "name": "Create", "scheduled_actions_supported": true, "actions": [ "field_updates", "assign_owner", "add_tags", "remove_tags", "email_notifications", "tasks", "create_record", "create_connected_record", "add_meeting", "webhooks", "functions", "circuits", "flow" ] }, . . // ... other triggers omitted for brevity ... { "api_name": "score_increase", "deprecated": false, "name": "ScoreIncrease", "scheduled_actions_supported": false, "actions": [ "field_updates", "assign_owner", "add_tags", "remove_tags", "email_notifications", "tasks", "webhooks", "functions", "circuits", "flow" ] } ] |
The response lists all available triggers for the module. For each trigger type, you get:
Trigger conditions: When the workflow will be triggered (on create, edit, score change, etc.)
Action compatibility: Which actions can be used with each trigger type
Scheduled actions support: Whether scheduled actions are supported for that trigger or not.
For instance, the score_increase trigger triggers the workflow when the score of a record is increased. The scheduled_actions_supported key is false for this trigger, which means that this specific trigger type doesn't support scheduled actions. This directly translates to API behaviour: attempting to configure a Workflow Rule via API with a scheduled action for the score_increase trigger will result in an error.
This API constraint is visibly enforced in the CRM interface. When configuring a score-based trigger in the UI:
4. 2. "What can my Workflow actually do?" - Understanding Actions
The actions array defines the execution capabilities of your workflows. For each action type, you get important information like:
Limits per action instance: Maximum number of items that can be processed within a single action instance
Instance limits: How many times this specific action can be added to a condition in the Workflow rule.
Scheduled action support: Whether the action can be added as a scheduled action.
For example, in the add_tags action:
{ "is_clickable": true, "associate_action": false, "limit_per_action": 10, // Maximum 10 tags per Add Tags action "api_name": "add_tags", "supported_in_scheduled_action": true, "name": "AddTags", "limit": 1 // Maximum one Add Tags action per workflow } |
From this data, it is clear that within a single Add Tags action, you can select up to 10 specific tags to add. Similarly, you can only include one Add Tags action instance in the entire workflow rule. Also, this action cannot be used as a scheduled action.
This has direct implications for API users:
Attempting to configure a workflow that adds more than 10 tags in one action will result in an error
Trying to add two separate Add Tags actions to the same workflow will fail
Adding a Add Tags action under scheduled actions section will also result in an error.
In the UI, these constraints are proactively taken care of. As seen in the GIF, if you add fewer than 10 tags, clicking Add Tags again only lets you edit the existing action. Also it lets you add only up to 10 tags in an action. And if you have already added an action with 10 tags, the Add Tags option will no longer be available. Either way, the system prevents any possibility of adding a second Add Tags action, regardless of tag count.
This UI experience is what the Workflow Rules Configuration API replicates for developers. By checking these limits before making API calls, you can build workflows using APIs with the same confidence and error-free experience that UI users have.
4.3. “What can trigger my Workflow from a related module?” – Understanding related triggers
The related_triggers_details array shows how changes in related records can trigger workflows in your primary module. For example, in the Deals module, for the Notes related trigger:
"related_triggers_details": [ { "api_name": "Notes", // The API name of the related module "module": { // Detailed information about the related module "singular_label": "Note", "plural_label": "Notes", "api_name": "Notes", "name": "Notes", "id": "4876876000000002197" }, "name": "Notes", // Module name "triggers": [ // Available triggers for this related module { "api_name": "create", // Trigger when related records are created "deprecated": false, "name": "Create", "scheduled_actions_supported": true, "actions": [ // Supported workflow actions for this trigger "add_tags", "remove_tags", "email_notifications", "tasks", "create_record", "create_connected_record", "add_meeting", "webhooks", "functions", "flow" ] }, // ... other triggers (create_or_edit, edit, delete) omitted for brevity ] } ] |
For each related module, you get:
Module information: Details about the related module that can trigger workflows.
Available triggers: The actions on the related record (create, edit, delete, etc) that can trigger the workflow.
Supported actions: For each trigger, the actions that are supported for that specific trigger.
For instance, the Notes related trigger allows you to create workflows that execute when notes are added to deals. The configuration shows that when a note is created, your workflow can perform actions like sending email notifications, creating tasks, triggering webhooks, and more.
If you try to include an unsupported trigger or unsupported action, the API call will fail. For example, adding a field_updates action for a Notes create trigger . The configuration API response clearly shows that field_updates is not among the supported actions for Notes-related triggers.
The API also gives us important differences between trigger-action configurations. For example, while field_updates action is supported for the create trigger for the main module (Deals), the same action is not supported for the related module (Notes) create trigger. These distinctions would otherwise only be discovered through API errors.
In the UI, this limitation is enforced. When setting up a workflow triggered by Notes, the "Field Updates" action does not appear in the available actions list.
By checking the related_triggers_details section before making API calls, you can discover exactly which actions are supported for each related module trigger, thus avoiding configuration errors while creating or updating Workflow rules.
Conclusion
The Workflow Configuration API transforms how we approach automation development through APIs. Instead of discovering constraints through failed API calls, we can now design workflows with the right configuration, without any trial-and-error methods. It gives us complete visibility into all valid trigger-action combinations before a single line of code is written, enough information to build automations triggered by related records, and limit awareness to respect action constraints before they become API errors.
For Zylker, this means we can now confidently proceed with updating the old Workflow rules and creating new ones. In our next post, we will put this knowledge into action.
We hope that you found this post useful. If you have any questions or feedback, let us know in the comments below, or write to us at support@zohocrm.com. We would love to hear from you!
Topic Participants
Anu Abraham
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 areKaizen #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 achievedKaizen #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
Ticket Status email
Good day, This was discussed in the past, but it would be helpful if we could have the system assign a custom response to a status. We have various statuses for tickets, e.g. "closed due to no response", or "Pending Status", it would be helpful for theCustomer ticket creation via Microsoft Teams
Hi all, I'm looking to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I'd love to make it so my customers/ end users can make tickets, see responses and respond within microsoft teams. As Admin and an Agent i've installed the zoho assist app withinHolidays
Hi; For defining Holidays, you need to add logic to handle the year as well as the month & day. We need to be able to enter Holidays for the next year. I need to add a holiday for January 2, 2017, but I can't until January 1st, which is a Sunday and weCan I use a Standalone CRM Function as the Callback URL For Async Export Data API?
I am creating an export job using this API https://www.zoho.com/analytics/api/v2/bulk-api/export-data-async/create-export/view-id.html There is a "callbackUrl" key in the CONFIG object. I tried copying the URL for a standalone function in CRM which canFuture Orders - Due Date
Hi In my role, I can receive tickets where the work required is requested months in advance. Using a Future Orders option, which I believe was setup under the On Hold status type, hides the Due Date, in all views/ticket etc. Whilst I understand the reasoningIntroducing Withdrawal Reasons for Offers
We’re excited to introduce a new enhancement to the Offer module that brings more clarity and accountability to every withdrawn offer. The Withdrawal Reason update ensures that each withdrawal — manual or automatic — is backed by a clear explanation,Zoho Creator customer portal users
Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal. At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3GPS tracking only or Check out facility
Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides CheckinHTML Tags added to Reports with Notes
Recently Zoho added the ability to markup text within notes. That way, users can change font size, colors, etc. It's a great change. However, since the change, reports that include a column for "Note Content" are printing HTML tags within the report.In App Auto Refresh/Update Features
Hi, I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users. The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps. I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With theAppraisals on Employee Information Profile
Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other rolesAI Interview Insights: Turn Recorded Interviews into Quick Transcripts & Summaries
Evaluating interviews shouldn’t require replaying long recordings or taking manual notes. With AI Interview Insights, you can now review complete transcripts and AI-generated summaries of your One-way (Recorded) interviews right inside Zoho Recruit. ThisKaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2
Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST WebhookStandard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation
Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get theRequest for Auto PO - Min–Max based Automated Purchase Feature
Dear Zoho POS Team, I’m writing to request a feature enhancement that would significantly streamline inventory management for businesses using Zoho POS — particularly supermarkets, FMCG retail, and multi-store operations like ours. Feature Requested:Canva Integration
Hello! As many marketing departments are streamlining their teams, many have begun utilizing Canva for all design mockups and approvals prior to its integration into Marketing automation software. While Zoho Social has this integration already accomplished,Manage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)
Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages ofHubSpot CRM to Zoho Creator Integration
I'm trying to create an integration between HubSpot CRM and Zoho Creator with HubSpot being the push source (if a contact is created or updated in HubSpot, it pushes the information to Zoho Creator). I have two questions: 1- Is it best to use Zoho FlowSystematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains
Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered dueAccessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users
Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center usersGain control over record sharing with portal users through our new enhancement: criteria-based data exposure
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! Portals is a self-service avenue through which your clients can access and manage their direct and related data in Zoho CRM. This empowers them to be more independent and enables them to experience a sense of transparencyZoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente
La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurantZoho Desk Limitations
Good day, all, I would like to know whether others share my frustration with some of Zoho's limitations. Don't get me wrong, I like Desk (and I also have a subscription for Analytics), I have been with them for close to 10 years, and unfortunately, IItem/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 featureConverting Sales Order to Purchase Order
Hi All, Firstly, this code works to convert a sales order(SO) to a purchase order (PO) via a button, however I am running into an issue when I convert the SO where the values from the line items are not pulled across from the SO to the PO. The ones inhow to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS
Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I tryAll 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 updateCopy, 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 machinePublish 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 AdrianFSM - 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 recordHow 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, InvoicesEmails 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 orAsk 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-EndPainfully 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 andDiscount 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 inNext Page