Kaizen #200 - Answering Your Questions | Authentication using Zoho CRM Python SDK

Kaizen #200 - Answering Your Questions | Authentication using Zoho CRM Python SDK



We’re incredibly excited to bring you the 200th post in our Kaizen series!

Idea
This journey has been as much about listening as it has been about sharing. And today, we’re making both count. Over the past few weeks, we’ve collected your feedback through the Kaizen feedback form added in our earlier posts. Thank you for the time and thought you’ve put into it.

Starting today, we’ll be actively addressing your most requested topics. 

Overview – OAuth 2.0 and Zoho CRM SDKs

In this Kaizen, we’ll walk you through how OAuth 2.0 authentication is handled using the Zoho CRM Python SDK, and how the SDK simplifies token refresh, storage, and management for multiple users and organizations across multiple data centers.

Introduction:


OAuth2.0 Recap:



Token Management using Zoho CRM SDKs:


Sample Project Overview

We’ve used a fully working sample project to demonstrate the OAuth flow in action.

Frontend

A static interface built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Files include:
  • index.html – login and data input page
  • script.js – client-side login and record handling
  • redirect.html – used to capture the grant token from Zoho

Backend

A Python server using Zoho CRM SDK to:
  • Authenticate users using OAuth 2.0
  • Store and manage tokens
  • Fetch and manipulate CRM records

Note:

Before running the project, you’ll need to register your client in the Zoho API Console. Once registered, use the generated Client ID and Client Secret in your server code.
If you're planning to support users across multiple Zoho Data Centers (DCs):
  • Be sure to enable Multi-DC for your client.
  • Use the same client credentials (Client ID and Secret) for all the DCs during authentication.

Implementation Demo:

How the SDK Maps Tokens to Users

One of the key challenges in multi-user apps is ensuring that each user's tokens are stored and retrieved correctly. The Zoho CRM Python SDK handles this automatically.
As part of the OAuth flow, the SDK retrieves the user's email and organization info in the background using the scopes ZohoCRM.users.READ and ZohoCRM.org.READ. It then uses this unique user–org combination to:
  • Store access and refresh tokens separately for each user
  • Automatically update tokens when a user logs in again
  • Ensure that all API calls are authorized with the correct tokens
If you're implementing Login with Zoho using the standard OAuth redirect flow, all of this is handled internally by the SDK using the user and org information retrieved during login. There’s no need to manually pass a UserSignature in the token object.
 
If you're not implementing Login with Zoho, or if you’d prefer to explicitly associate a token with a known user, you can pass a UserSignature object during initialization:
  1. from zohocrmsdk.src.com.zoho.api.authenticator import UserSignature

    user = UserSignature(email)
    token = OAuthToken(..., user_signature=user)
    Initializer.initialize(..., user=user)
This ensures the SDK can correctly identify the token's owner and separate tokens for different users or orgs in a multi-user application.

Multi-User & Multi-DC Token Management


Authentication can often be one of the trickiest parts of any integration, especially when you're dealing with multiple users, environments, and token refresh cycles. With the Zoho CRM SDKs, much of that complexity is handled for you, from generating and persisting tokens, to refreshing them silently when they expire, and managing user-org mappings behind the scenes.

We hope this Kaizen gave you a clearer picture of how to use our SDKs confidently in your apps. Try out the project, play around, and see how it all works in real time. 

If you have any queries, let us know the comments below, or send an email to support@zohocrm.com. We'd love to hear from you.


    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

      Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

    • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how

    • 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

    • Recent Topics

    • Setting certian items to be pickup only

      How do we have some items that are pickup only? I have several items in my item's list that I do not ship. But they need to be on the website to be sold, and picked up in store. Need to be able to do this as one of these products is a major seller for

    • Using gift vouchers

      We would like to be able to offer a limited number of gift vouchers, of varying values, to our customers, and are looking for the best way to do this. We have looked at Coupons and Gift Certificates, but neither seem to fit the bill perfectly. Coupons:

    • Automatically updating field(s) of lookup module

      I have a lookup field, which also pulls through the Status field from the linked record. When the lookup is first done, the Status is pulled through - this works perfectly. If that Status is later updated, the lookup field does not update as well. As

    • Zoho Commerce and Third-party shipping (MachShip) API integration

      We are implementing a third-party shipping (MachShip) API integration for our Zoho Commerce store and have made significant progress. However, we need guidance on a specific technical challenge. Current Challenge: We need to get the customer input to

    • Adding custom "lookup" fields in Zoho Customization

      How can I add a second “lookup” field in Zoho? I’m trying to create another lookup that pulls from my Contacts, but the option doesn’t appear in the module customization sidebar. In many cases, a single work order involves multiple contacts. Ideally,

    • Can you import projects into Zoho Projects yet?

      I see some very old posts asking about importing project records into Zoho Projects. But I can't find anything up to date about the topic. Has this functionality been added? Importing tasks is helpful. But we do have a project where importing projects

    • Allocating inventory to specific SO's

      Is there a way that allocate inventory to a specific sales order? For example, let's say we have 90 items in stock. Customer 1 orders 100 items. This allocates all 90 items to their order, and they have a back order for the remaining 10 items which could

    • Zoho Inventory. Preventing Negative Stock in Sales Orders – Best Practices?

      Dear Zoho Inventory Community, We’re a small business using Zoho Inventory with a team of sales managers. Unfortunately, some employees occasionally overlook stock levels during order processing, leading to negative inventory issues. Is there a way to

    • Automation #10 - Auto Assign Ticket based on Keywords

      This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips on optimizing

    • Automate attendance tracking with Zoho Cliq Developer Platform

      I wish remote work were permanently mandated so we could join work calls from a movie theatre or even while skydiving! But wait, it's time to wake up! The alarm has snoozed twice, and your team has already logged on for the day. Keeping tabs on attendance

    • Reusable Custom Functions Across Department Workflows

      Dear Zoho Desk Team, We appreciate the powerful workflow automation capabilities in Zoho Desk, particularly the ability to create and use custom functions within workflows. However, we have encountered a limitation that impacts efficiency and maintainability.

    • Don't Allow Customer to Edit Values After Submitting Ticket

      After a customer submits a ticket through the customer portal, they can go into the ticket and see some of the values from the questions they answered in the sidebar. Currently, a customer can edit these values even after they submitted them. This makes no sense. We ask very specific questions that we don't want customers to later change! Please disable the ability for customers to edit the values to their submission questions in the portal. Screenshot attached.

    • Analytics <-> Invoice Connection DELETED by Zoho

      Hi All, I am reaching out today because of a big issue we have at the moment with Zoho Analytics and Zoho Invoice. Our organization relies on Zoho Analytics for most of our reporting (operationnal teams). A few days ago we observed a sync issue with the

    • text length in list report mobile/tablet

      Is there a way to make the full text of a text field appear in the list report on mobile and tablet? With custom layouts, the text is always truncated after a certain number of characters.

    • Automation #4 - Auto Delete Tickets based on Rules

      This is a monthly series in which we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Unwanted tickets spamming

    • Zoho Community Digest — Enero 2026

      ¡Hola, comunidad! 🌟 Aquí os traemos las novedades más interesantes de Zoho durante este mes de enero, incluyendo actualizaciones de productos, integraciones y un recordatorio sobre los workshops certificados que vuelven a España. 🎓 Eventos y Comunidad

    • Automation #3 - Auto-sync email attachments to tickets

      This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Most of our customers use email

    • Automation #11 - Auto Update Custom Fields with Values from Emails

      This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

    • Automation #13 - Auto assign tickets based on agent shift time

      This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

    • Automation #14: Capture Jira Issue Key/ID in a Ticket Custom Field

      Hello Everyone! This month's edition brings you a custom function to consolidate your records associated with Jira integration. Jira integration enables support engineers and R&D units to collaborate seamlessly on feature development, product improvement,

    • Automation #16: Automate Ticket Reopening on Scheduled Timestamp

      Hello Everyone! This edition uncovers the option to schedule reopening a ticket automatically. Zylker Finance tracks insurance policyholder activities through Zoho Desk. For policyholders who pay monthly premiums, tickets are closed upon payment completion.

    • Automation#19:Auto-Close Tickets Upon Task Completion

      Hello Everyone! We’re excited to bring you another custom function this week. In this edition, we’ll show you how to automatically close tickets when all associated tasks are marked as completed. Let’s see how ZylkaPure, a leading water filter company,

    • Automation #15: Automatically Adding Static Secondary Contacts

      Rockel is a top-tier client of Zylker traders. Marcus handles communications with Rockel and would like to add Terence, the CTO of Zylker traders to the email conversations. In this case, the emails coming from user address rockel.com should have Terence

    • Improved UX design for Projects CRM integration

      The current integration embeds the entier projects inteface into the CRM this is confusing and allows users to get lost. For example as a user i navigate to an account and go down to the related projects list and want to get information about a specific

    • Link Purchase Order to Deal

      Zoho Books directly syncs with contacts, vendors and products in Zoho CRM including field mapping. Is there any way to associate vendor purchase orders with deals, so that we can calculate our profit margin for each deal with connected sales invoices

    • Transformer vos stocks en décisions intelligentes avec Zoho Inventory et Zoho Analytics

      Zoho Inventory permet de suivre facilement les niveaux de stock et d’anticiper les restockages. Pour de nombreuses entreprises, cela suffit à gérer les opérations au quotidien. Mais à mesure que l’activité se développe, cette clarté peut commencer à montrer

    • Zoho Commerce - Poor Features Set for Blogging

      Hi Zoho Commerce team, I'm sure you will have noticed that I have been asking many questions about the Blogs feature in Commerce. I thought that it would be useful if I share my feedback in a constructive way, to highlight the areas which I feel need

    • Security Enhancements | Migrate to the Updated Policies

      Hello everyone, Zoho Directory's security policies have been updated and reorganized into three new policies with features that enhance the overall organization security. These policies provide a stronger and more secure sign-in methods and improve the

    • Bring Zoho Shifts Capabilities into Zoho People Shift Module

      Hello Zoho People Product Team, After a deep review of the Zoho People Shift module and a direct comparison with Zoho Shifts, we would like to raise a feature request and serious concern regarding the current state of shift management in Zoho People.

    • 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,

    • Quick Create needs Client Script support

      As per the title. We need client scripts to apply at a Quick Create level. We enforce logic on the form to ensure data quality, automate field values, etc. However, all this is lost when a user attempts a "Quick Create". It is disappointing because, from

    • How to block a WhatsApp user for sending spam

      Is there a way to block those whatsapp users that just come to play and annoy our service, they also spam us. We have a waba service with sales iq

    • Inquiry regarding auto-save behavior for Zoho Sign Embedded Sending

      Dear Zoho Support Team, I am currently integrating Zoho Sign's Embedded Sending functionality using iframes on my website. I would like to know if there is a way to ensure that the document state (including any added fields) is automatically saved as

    • Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

      Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to

    • Automation#17: Auto-Create Tasks in Zoho Projects Upon Ticket Creation in Zoho Desk

      Hello Everyone, This edition delivers the solution to automatically create a task in Zoho Projects when a ticket is created in Zoho Desk. Zylker Resorts uses Zoho Desk for bookings and handling guest requests. Zylker resorts outsources cab bookings to

    • Automation#20 : Auto-Add Ticket Tags based on Keywords

      Hello Everyone! Welcome to unveiling custom functions on our Community series. This week's post lets you add tags to your tickets automatically based on the keywords in the ticket subject and the ticket thread. Discover how this custom function helps

    • Automation#21: Track Ticket Transfers Across Departments

      Hello Everyone! With Halloween just around the corner, we'd like to let you know the Zoho Desk team is always there to sweep away your customer service troubles! This week, we’re excited to introduce a custom function that tracks tickets moved between

    • Email Integration - Zoho CRM - OAuth and IMAP

      Hello, We are attempting to integrate our Microsoft 365 email with Zoho CRM. We are using the documentation at Email Configuration for IMAP and POP3 (zoho.com) We use Microsoft 365 and per their recommendations (and requirements) for secure email we have

    • Homepage not assignable to group

    • MS Teams for daily call operations

      Hello all, Our most anticipated and crucial update is finally here! Organizations using Microsoft Teams phone system can now integrate it effectively with Zoho CRM for tasks like dialling numbers and logging calls. We are enhancing our MS Teams functionality

    • Next Page