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

• Lightbox Pop-up form

  I would like to embed my form using the lightbox pop up. I don't want it to load automatically. I want it to load when some clicks the button. I can see this option, however when I use the "show pop-up launch button" on the website, the button automatically

• Lightbox Pop-up form

  I would like to embed my form using the lightbox pop up. I don't want it to load automatically. I want it to load when some clicks the button. I can see this option, however when I use the "show pop-up launch button" on the website, the button automatically

• Connecting Portals from different Zoho apps

  Hi, I note that Zoho has functionality for customer portals for several of the Zoho apps, like CRM, Projects, Desk etc. Is there any way to connect these portals?  It would be great if we could give our customers access to a portal in which they could

• Customer Management: #5 Never Let the Customer Slip

  When Rahul started Knight's Watch Consulting, his focus was simple: deliver good work and keep clients happy. He offered one-time consulting projects, monthly advisory retainers and usage-based support for growing clients. Business was steady, and customers

• Deluge date time issue

  The deluge function info zoho.currentdate.toString("MMM/YYYY") returns Dec 2026 instead of 2025

• Zoho Projects Android and iOS app update: Mobile device permission based on user profiles

  Hello everyone! We have brought in support for mobile device permissions based on the user profiles which are configured in organization level. Administrators can now configure the permissions on the web app(projects.zoho.com) by following the steps mentioned

• treatment for rehires

        Hello,  we are aware of the fact that Zoho People at the moment does not has a provision for rejoining exited employees. But is there any quick fix or hack to this? It will be appreciated a lot. 

• Zoho Projects Android and iOS app update: Timesheet module is now renamed as 'Time Logs', delete option has been renamed to 'Trash'.

  Hello everyone! We have now renamed the Timesheet module as Time Logs and the delete option as 'Trash' on the Zoho Projects Android and iOS app. Time Logs Android: Time Logs iOS: Trash option Android: Trash option iOS: Please update the app to the latest

• Zoho Mail app update: Manage profile picture, Chinese (Traditional) language support

  Hello everyone! In the latest version (v3.1.9) of the Zoho Mail app update, we have brought in support to manage profile picture. You can now set/ modify the profile picture within the app. To add a new profile picture, please follow the below steps:

• Reminders for Article Approval

  Is there a way to send reminders for approvers to review articles and approve/deny them? I'm not seeing that option anywhere.

• Add Full-Screen Viewing for Quartz Recordings in the Client Interface

  Hi Zoho Team, We would like to request an enhancement to the Zoho Quartz client interface when viewing submitted recordings. Current Limitation: When viewing a Quartz recording from the client (user) interface, there is currently no option to switch the

• 2025 Recap: A Year to Remember | Zoho Inventory

• Important Update : Pipedrive deprecated fields no longer supported in Zoho Analytics

  Dear Pipedrive users, We would like to inform you about a recent update related to your Pipedrive integration with Zoho Analytics. The Pipedrive team has deprecated certain fields from their application. You can find more details in the official Pipedrive

• Product Updates in Zoho Workplace applications | November 2025

  Hello Workplace Community, Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that went live across all Workplace applications this November. Zoho Mail Format comments easily using Slash Commands With Slash commands, you can easily format text, insert

• Right-Click Pipeline to Open in New Tab

  Please add the ability to right-click on a pipeline to open it in a new tab

• Adjusting Physical Inventory

  Not getting very far with support on this one, they say they are going to fix it but nothings happened since November. Please give this a thumbs up if you would like to see this feature or comment if you have some insight. Use Case: Inventory set to be

• I need to Record Vatable amount and non vatable amount separately in zoho books in a single line

  I need to Record Vatable amount and non vatable amount separately in zoho books in a single line give me the customisation option and in invoice copy to customer the total amount should be inclusive 5%vat and no need to show the vatable and non vatable

• sync views to sheet

  Im looking to sync my views aka reports in analytics to zoho sheets, when data is updated in analytics it also should be updated in sheets, till now zoho sheets only offer raw data connection and it is not enough as these reports are difficult to re-do

• How to update the Status in a custom module?

  Hi, I have a custom module "cm_payment_registry" in Billing, I am trying to change the status which is "Draft" with: array = {"custom_status":"Approved"}; zoho.billing.update("cm_payment_registry",organization.get("organization_id"), XXXXXXXXXXXXXX, array,"connectionname");

• Opening balances - Accounts Receivable and Payable

  Our accounting year starts on 1st August 2013 and I have a Trial Balance as at that date, including Accounts Receivableand Accounts Payable balances, broken down by each customer and supplier. Q1 - do I show my opening balance date as 31st July 2013 or

• Replace Zoho Invoice with QuickBooks

  We are implementing Zoho FSM for a cleaning business in the US with 50+ field workers. This business has been using Quickbooks for accounting for decades and will not migrate to Zoho Books. A major issue in the integration is the US sales tax calculation.

• 2025 Highlights: A Year of Steady Progress and Significant Developments

  As we come to the end of 2025, let's take a moment to reflect on the significant progress and developments we've made to improve your travel and expense management. In the Spotlight Introducing Online Booking (US edition only - Early access) Enable online

• 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

• 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 I create a CODE 128 custom field for my items in Zoho Inventory and then use it for generating Sales Orders?

  Can anyone helps me, I don't want to use the SKU code for scanning my products.  ​Because all my products have a CODE-128 label attached.

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• Next Page