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 past few weeks. One of the feedbacks asked us to cover "more on ZDK CLI". In this post, we will discuss building an Event Management System in Zoho CRM Using ZDK CLI.

Consider the case of Zenith, a Zoho CRM partner who is also partner for Zoho's competing products. Zenith is hosting a conference in which their representatives are inviting speakers from Zoho and also other competing products. The attendees of the conference will be either external attendees or leads or contacts of Zenith. For this purpose existing meetings module of Zoho CRM (previously called Events) can not be used as it is not a good fit for this case. Custom modules and fields are required for this. In this post, we’ll discuss how to create a Event Management System that is complimentary to Zoho CRM using ZDK CLI. 

Why Use ZDK CLI?

ZDK CLI allows developers to:

1. Create and edit CRM metadata (modules, fields, roles, profiles, and widgets)
2. Define relationships between modules (lookups, multi-select lookups)
3. Push and sync metadata changes to sandbox.
4. Resolve conflicts when multiple users work on the same metadata.

This makes it ideal for building reusable CRM systems such as event management.

Initial Setup

As the initial setup, initialize the ZDK CLI project directory using zdk init command and create a new ZDK Project folder "Zenith". 

zdk init

Then, login to the sandbox environment for Zenith using zdk auth:login command. 

zdk auth:login

When you execute zdk auth:login, you can either select any org that is already signed in or select NEW LOGIN to visit the login page and select the sandbox org you will be working on.

After logging in to Zoho select the sandbox environment and give required permissions.

For the current beta release, ZDK CLI is exclusively available for Sandbox environment and is not operational in Production environments. 

You will be redirected to the terminal after successful login and you can start working on ZDK CLI.

Change the api_version to 8 in zdk-project.json file.

Step 1: Define the Modules

For an event management use case, we will need the following custom modules:

1. Conference – Stores details of each event.
2. Attendees – Tracks participants, whether leads, contacts, or external.
3. ConferenceAttendees (Linking Module, not created) – Connects conferences and attendees with registration status.
4. Venues – Captures details of event locations.
5. Speakers – Stores details of invited speakers.

This has been visualized in the data model below.

To create a module, use the command

zdk meta:create modules

This creates the json file for module metadata : Conference.modules-meta.json  in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference 

Conference.modules-meta.json content

{     "singular_label": "Conference",     "plural_label": "Conferences",     "api_name": "Conference",     "profiles": [         {             "api_name": "Administrator"         }     ],     "display_field": {         "api_name": "Conferences"     },     "show_as_tab": true }

Similarly create modules Attendees , Venues, and Speakers modules

Step 2: Customize Fields

To create a field, use the command

zdk meta:create fields

Conference module:

Conference modules's fields are:

1. Attendees (multiselectlookup to Attendee module) 
2. Speakers (multiselectlookup to Speakers module) 
3. Venue (lookup to Venue module) 
4. Date (datetime) 
5. Duration(double) 
6. Description (textarea) 
7. Status (picklist: Planned, Ongoing, Completed)

Attendees field

Let us check how to create the field attendees of type multi-select lookup (to Attendee module)

The json file Attendees.fields-meta.json created in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference/fields will look like this

To provide dependent details for the multi select lookup, add the multiselectlookup json object to the Attendees.fields-meta.json file as below:

{     "field_label": "Attendees",     "display_name": "Attendees",     "api_name": "Attendees",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "multiselectlookup",     "multiselectlookup": {         "connected_details": {             "module": {                 "api_name": "Attendee"             },             "field": {                 "field_label": "AttendingConference"             }         },         "linking_details": {             "module": {                 "plural_label": "Conferences_X_attendees"             }         }  } }

Speakers (multi-select lookup to Speakers module)

Similar to Attendees field, create Speakers field and modify the json file Speaker.fields-meta.json created in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference/fields:

{     "field_label": "Speaker",     "display_name": "Speakers",     "api_name": "Speakers",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "multiselectlookup",     "multiselectlookup": {         "connected_details": {             "module": {                 "api_name": "Speaker"             },             "field": {                 "field_label": "AttendingConference"             }         },         "linking_details": {             "module": {                 "plural_label": "Speakers_X_attendees"             }         }  } }

Venue (lookup field to Venue module)

Similarly, create the Venue field with type as "lookup" The json file Venue.fields-meta.json created in the path Zenith/crm/meta/modules/Conference/fields will look like this

To provide dependent details for the lookup, add the lookup json object to the json as below.

{     "field_label": "Venue",     "display_name": "Venue",     "api_name": "Venue",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "lookup"     "lookup": {         "display_label": "Venue",         "api_name": "Venue",         "module": {           "api_name": "Venue"         }       } }

Description (textarea)

After create a textarea field Description using zdk meta:create fields command, add textarea json object to the field meta json file as below :

{         "field_label": "Description",                 "display_name": "Description",                 "api_name": "Description",                 "type": "used",                 "data_type": "textarea",                 "textarea": {                         "type": "rich_text"                 } }

The possible values for text area are small, large and rich_text.

Status (picklist)
After create a picklist field Status using zdk meta:create fields command, add pick_list_values json array to the field meta json file as below:

{     "field_label": "Status",     "display_name": "Status",     "api_name": "Status",     "type": "used",     "data_type": "picklist",   "pick_list_values": [     {       "display_value": "Planned",       "actual_value": "Planned"     },     {       "display_value": "Ongoing",       "actual_value": "Ongoing"     },     {       "display_value": "Completed",       "actual_value": "Completed"     }   ] }

Date and duration fields of type datetime and double does not require any edits to the created meta.json file.

Attendees Module

Similarly, add fields for attendees modules

1. Phone (phone)
2. Company (text)
3. EventsAttended (multi-select lookup to Conference module)
4. Attendee Type (picklist with options Lead, Contact, External)
5. Leads (lookup to Lead module)
6. Contacts (lookup to Contact module
   

Venue Module

1. Location (text)
2. Capacity (integer)
3. Contact erson (text)
4. ContactNumber(phone)
5. Description(textarea)

Speakers Module

1. Phone (phone)
2. Company (text)
3. SpeakerStatus (picklist with options Confirmed, Pending, Canceled)
   

Step 3: Create a Custom Role

To create a field, use the command

zdk meta:create roles

This ensures event managers have the right access without interfering with other CRM operations.

Pushing changes to the sandbox environment

Once all changes are done execute zdk org:push and zdk org:push result --{jobId} command to deploy the changes to the sandbox environment. Once the changes are verified in your sandbox environment you can deploy it to the production environment.

You can extract this metadata zip file, that is created using zdk org:export command to your own ZDK project directory and try pushing the changes to your sandbox environment.

Building the Event Management System for "Zenith" illustrates the core strength of ZDK CLI. It brings software engineering best practices to Zoho CRM customization. By defining modules/fields/roles as json files directly or creating them using the command, the source truth of the metadata is available in local system. The same can be tracked via version control systems like GIT for better collaboration among the team.

Previous post: Kaizen# 209 - Answering Your Questions | All About Client Script | ZDK CLI documentation | Kaizen Directory

• Topic Participants

• Mable Mary M P

  

• Ishwarya SG

  

• 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

• Onboarding process

  I urgently need onboarding support. My account still shows trial period.

• Detailed General Ledger - Display Transaction Description in Reports

  Hi Zoho Team, I'm currently using Zoho Books and have a question regarding the Detailed General Ledger report. When we enter a description or narration in transactions (Bills, Journal Entries, Expenses, etc.), the report does not display this description.

• Which Zoho CRM tasks would you want an AI assistant to handle?

  I’ve started delegating my Zoho CRM work to AI – and many tasks now take me half the time. It has been so useful that we’re now working to make it available to everyone. Instead of clicking through records and tabs, I simply describe what needs to be

• Zoho Mail Does Not Integrate with Analytics

  Hello everyone, Just wanted to make a quick post about the problem with zoho mail. Currently it does not connect to Zoho Analytics, which I think is crazy considering both of these applications have existed for a long period of time. Even zoho voice a

• Net ##th Terms (e.g. due on the following 15th)

  I have a client who pays me twice monthly per our contract. It would be helpful to have terms on my invoices where the invoice is due on the 15th or the 30th of the same or the following month.

• Project status update visibility within a project

  Currently the only place within Zoho projects to see status updates for a given project is actually not in the project it's self it's in the Collaboration section and then by searching for a given project and clicking on the status tab. It would be great

• Using custom CRM fields

  I have created a series of fields in the Deals module that need to be linked to fields in a contract I have customized. I can only see how to map standard fields, not the custom ones. How do I do this?

• Como limitar o Zia Agent?

  Geralmente quando estamos criando um agente de IA no ZIa Agent Studio, colocamos o que ele deve fazer, utilizando as instruções que colocamos no Knowledge Base. Mas como colocamos limites que não devem ser ultrapassados? Para isso utilizamos os Guardrails,

• An important update for Zoho Cliq desktop users

  The latest version of the Zoho Cliq desktop app (v1.8.0) will no longer be supported on macOS 10.15 Catalina and earlier versions. This is because the framework we use (Electron) no longer supports some older macOS versions. If you’re using macOS 10.15

• Zoho Flow - Zoho Desk trigger "Ticket created or updated" overrides Department

  Just in case anyone else has this issue. We had a Zoho Flow with the Zoho Desk trigger "Ticket created or updated". In the trigger I had selected a Department (Sales). What happens is that the Department ID (Sales) is submitted as part of the request

• 2026 Product Roadmap and Upcoming Features

  This is your guide to what is coming in Zoho Vertical Studio throughout 2026. We’ll update this post throughout the year as items move from development to release, and as and when new initiatives are added. Once a feature is released, it will be reflected

• Introducing Canvas templates: Design once, apply everywhere

  Greetings all! We're happy to introduce Canvas templates, a Forms view enhancement that enables you to design form layouts just once and apply them seamlessly across multiple modules. Imagine you use five CRM modules (Contacts, Deals, Leads, and more),

• Why cant i see the Campaigns module in my Zoho app

  I am on the ZOHO CRM Standard edition. I can clearly see and use the Campaign module when viewing the ZOHO CRM desktop. When I switch to my phone, the Campaign Module does not show. I have gone through all the settings I can think of, but I still can't

• 📣 Ask the team behind Zoho SalesIQ: Summer '26 Q&A

  Hi everyone! Following our recent webinars, Summer '26 Release: What's New in Zoho SalesIQ—where we walked you through all the new features, what they do, and how they work—and Driving the AI Evolution: Building Smarter Customer Experiences with Zoho

• Always display images from this sender – Is this feature available?

  In Zoho mail, I had my "Load external images" setting set to "Ask me", and that's fine. That's the setting I prefer. What's not fine though is I always need to tick "Display now" for each email I get, regardless if I've done that multiple times from several

• Set Custom Icon for Custom Modules in new Zoho CRM UI

• Displayed sample tracking for multi branch setup.

  We have multiple branches and one of the biggest challenges for us to be able to track if a particular item is in display or not. I am shooting in the dark but I am wondering if there is a solution for the following : Each product used for display is

• How do I migrate from Office 365 to Zoho Mail?

  Check out Advik Email Migration Wizard, this software is specially developed to move mailboxes from Office 365 to Zoho Webmail. In addition you can migrate from Gmail, Yahoo, Rediffmail and 80+ webmail servers to ZOHO MAIL. Isn't it amazing? This is an all in one email migration solution. Steps to export emails from Office 365 to Zoho Webmail are as follows; Run Advik Email Migration Tool in your system. Select Office 365 as source and enter its login credentials. Select mailbox folders and choose

• Connection Issues

  Morning. Seems like a few of my colleagues that are offsite are having issues with connection to cliq, even when their internet is working perfectly fine and only 1 person onsite has issues. Can you please explain? Thanks

• Backorder process review - Automating Removal of Sales Order from "On Hold" When PO is Received

  Hello Zoho Inventory Team, Currently, sales orders in On Hold status are released only when the bill for the purchase order is created. In our workflow, it would be much more efficient if the sales order could automatically move out of On Hold as soon

• 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

• Which Is the best online store to buy office furniture in Australia ?

  The most important part of your office is the office furniture. Your office is not complete when you have not put the required furniture in place. You need a furniture in your office so that you and your employees have desks, tables, and chairs which

• Add "Product Code" as available column and search criteria for Assemblies

  Hi Zoho Community. For product (item) assemblies, it would be helpful to be able to create a custom view search criteria that limits the view by product code or perhaps product category. Currently, Product Code is not an available option to display as

• What's New - July 2026 | Zoho Backstage

  Hello everyone, We hope you’re having an expectation-exceeding event experience! We’ve been hard at work bringing you a bunch of enhancements designed to make event management even easier. Let’s take a look at what’s new in Zoho Backstage. Export delivery

• Delete Field that is used in a Zoho Flow connection

  I'm trying to delete a Field used in a Webhook created by Zoho Flow with CRM Connection and i get the following alert: When going to the alert i get to the following issue, can't edit it since its been deployed by a pluggin But yes i have here the prompted

• Q3 USA ZUG Meetups - Build AI Agents with Zoho

  Hi everyone! What if you could build your own AI agent from scratch in just one session? That's exactly what we're going to do at the upcoming ZUG Meetups across the United States, where you'll get hands-on experience with Zia Agents and explore how AI

• Data Export is forcing Creation/Modified date just like reports

  The data export now forces you to select a created or modified date. There is not an All-Time option. This severely cripples the whole function of data export for audit purposes. If the data export (or reports for that matter), requires a date, there

• Default ticket template in helpcenter

  Hello, I have a web form and a ticket template created. How can I make that my default ticket template? If an user clicks New ticket or create a ticket, I want that template to be the default one. Thank you for the time and info.

• Zia Agents looks promising, but I still cannot deploy my first agent or connect WhatsApp after weeks of support tickets

  Hi Everyone, I am posting here because I am stuck and need practical help from someone who has successfully deployed a Zia Agent with WhatsApp. Zia Agents looks like a very promising product. I have watched the platform expand quickly, and I have noticed

• Valid characters for use in email addresses using Zoho's apps/APIs

  We have found an issue with the + sign character in zoho subs - we are allowed to create a customer with an email address that has a plus sign but the API doesn't allow the + so the billing portal is not created. We are going to prevent users from using

• Feature Request – Per-Channel Pre-Chat Form Controls

  We'd like the ability to enable/disable the pre-chat form on a per-channel basis, rather than having a single global setting. On the website widget, asking for name and email before chat starts makes sense. On WhatsApp, however, email isn't necessary

• Copy + Paste in Notes: Text color and text background are not retained

  I've recently started using Zoho Notebook as an Evernote replacement. When copying and pasting text within Zoho Notes, I notice that the formatting of the text (text color and background color) is not retained when pasting. Only the attributes "Bold"

• Need to show discount before total after subtotal

  Need to show discount before total after subtotal on my estimate template (see attachment)

• Google Ads Data is Publicly available in Zoho CRM

  We recently discovered that ALL of the following Google Ads fields are visible to all users in our CRM that have access to either Leads or Contacts modules. Not only is this troubling and inconvenient, it should be unacceptable. It also creates a mess

• Zoho Books bill pay option not available with zoho one

  Why isn't Zoho Books bill pay add-on not available for Zoho one customers not even as a purchasable option. I think this is very inconvenient for companies wanting to use this feature all in one system

• Bounce rates

  Where can I see my bounce rates for: 1. Each email I send out, and 2. in total?

• Appointment- colour code

  This is a real world problem for many companies. We track several employees appointments and this is done by one person so one account. The calendar layout is not great but if we could just colour code appointments to make it easier to see and then what about printing out the diary. I know in the IT world everybody is connected but so many of use still use old technology- paper.

• Add a Parameter to the ZOHO CRM Deluge sendmail to denote priority (defaulting to normal if unspecified)

  Hello! There is a similar thread for Creator out there that is 2 years old, but I'd like to raise it in the ZOHO CRM category as well. Would you kindly update the existing Deluge sendmail function to allow a priority parameter? The parameter should allow

• Email outbox is now available in the sandbox

  Hello all! Testing emails without visibility has always been a blind spot in the sandbox. With the new Outbox, that gap is closed. You can now view and verify every email triggered from your sandbox, whether it’s through workflows, approvals, or mass

• Transform your line of items into line items: ICR can now record your table values as subform values

  Enhancement in Zoho CRM Dear Customers, We hope you're well! Zia Vision’s ICR capability can now recognize, extract, and store tabulated values in your subforms. An ideal example is a university application form. It has printed fields and handwritten

• Next Page