Map Dependency Fields in Zoho CRM using APIs

Map Dependency Fields in Zoho CRM using APIs




Hi Everyone!!

Welcome back to another week of Kaizen series!

Over the past few weeks, we have been addressing your questions and feedback shared through our Kaizen 200th feedback form. Thank you for your continued engagement and thoughtful queries. We truly enjoy helping users solve real challenges through these Kaizen series.

This week, we will explore the Map Dependency Fields in Zoho CRM, and how you can configure and manage them using Zoho CRM APIs.

Map dependency fields with a use case

In Zoho CRM, dependency fields are also called picklist dependencies. They create a relationship between two picklist fields. A controlling field is the parent field, and a dependent field is the child field. The option chosen in the parent field decides which options should be shown in the child field. Helps you to make easy data entry and maintain cleaner with only relevant options.

In many businesses, one field’s options depend on another. For example, if your support team tracks Issue Type and Sub-Issue, showing all sub-issues at once lets users select incorrect options. A user might accidentally choose Payment Failed under Login Issue. This results in incorrect data selection and makes confusion in records.

Dependency fields solve this problem by creating a parent-child relationship between two picklist fields.

Let us consider the Support Cases module, where two picklist fields are already created:
  1. Parent Field - Issue Type: The value chosen here determines which options appear in the dependent field.
  2. Child Field - Sub-Issue: The available options change dynamically based on the selected value in the parent field.
Below table shows the picklist fields along with their respective options.

                            Issue Type

                                   Sub-Issue 

Login Issue

Forgot Password, Account Locked, 2FA Not Working
Payment Issue

Credit Card Declined, Refund Not Received, Double Charge

Feature Request

New Integration, UI Enhancement, Report Customization

By mapping these fields, CRM users see only the Sub-Issue values relevant to the selected Issue Type.

Without map dependency

Without configuring a map dependency, the Sub-Issue picklist would always display all available options - regardless of the selected Issue Type. For example, users might see options like Forgot Password, Double Charge, and Report Customization all at once. This can easily confuse users and lead to incorrect selections, such as choosing Double Charge under Login Issue.

With map dependency

With mapping dependencies, you can guide users to make correct selections by showing only the relevant options in the child field based on the option selected in the parent field.

Mapping picklist options in UI

You can map picklist field options directly from the Zoho CRM user interface.
Follow these steps:
  1. Go to SetupCustomizationModules and Fields.
  2. Select the desired module. In this case, Support Cases.
  3. Click the (more) icon next to the module name.
  4. Select Map Dependency Fields.
  5. On the Map Dependency Fields page, click the New button to create a new dependency.
  6. Choose the Parent Field and Child Field you want to map.
  7. Click Next button.


      8. Add option mappings to define which child field options should be shown based on the option selected in the parent field, then Save your configuration.

UI options mapping view

Mapping picklist options via API

Before mapping the options, you must need the following APIs :
  1. Modules Metadata API - To know the API name of the module.
    1. Endpoint: GET - /settings/modules
    2. Here, the API name of the Support Cases module is Support_Cases.
  2. Layouts Metadata API - Since dependencies are layout-specific, this API helps you identify the layout ID and all the available picklist fields for mapping. It also provides detailed metadata such as the layout ID, field IDs, and the corresponding picklist value IDs.
    1. Endpoint: GET /settings/layouts?module=Support_Cases

Create Dependency using the POST Map Dependency

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/layouts/5725767000007972011/map_dependency?module=Support_Cases

Request Method: POST

Input JSON
Each object in the map_dependency array requires a parent field, a child field, and a pick_list_values array that maps each parent option to its relevant child options.


{

    "map_dependency": [ //Array that contains one or more dependency mappings

        {

            "parent": { // Mandatory - Represents the parent picklist

                "api_name": "Issue_Type", //Mandatory - API name of the parent field

                "id": "5725767000007985243" // Mandatory - Unique ID of the parent picklist

            },

            "pick_list_values": [  //Mandatory - List of parent picklist values and their corresponding child mappings

                {

                    "display_value": "-None-",

                    "maps": [

                        {

                            "display_value": "-None-",

                            "actual_value": "-None-",

                            "id": "5725767000007985204"

                        }

                    ],

                    "actual_value": "-None-",

                    "id": "5725767000007985249"

                },

                {

                    "display_value": "Login Issue",

                    "maps": [

                        {

                            "display_value": "Forgot Password", //Label shown in the UI for the parent value

                            "actual_value": "Forgot Password", //Actual stored value of the parent picklist option

                            "id": "5725767000007985185" //Mandatory - Unique ID of the parent picklist option

                        },

                        {

                            "display_value": "Account Locked",

                            "actual_value": "Account Locked",

                            "id": "5725767000007985187"

                        }

                        

                    ],

                    "actual_value": "Login Issue", //Actual value of the parent field's option

                    "id": "5725767000007985242" //Mandatory - Unique ID of the parent field's option

                },

                {

                    "display_value": "Payment Issue",

                    "maps": [

                        {

                            "display_value": "Credit Card Declined",

                            "actual_value": "Credit Card Declined",

                            "id": "5725767000007985191"

                        },

                        {

                            "display_value": "Refund Not Received",

                            "actual_value": "Refund Not Received",

                            "id": "5725767000007985193"

                        },

                        {

                            "display_value": "Double Charge",

                            "actual_value": "Double Charge",

                            "id": "5725767000007985195"

                        }

                    ],

                    "actual_value": "Payment Issue",

                    "id": "5725767000007985244"

                },

                {

                    "display_value": "Feature Request",

                    "maps": [

                        {

                            "display_value": "New Integration",

                            "actual_value": "New Integration",

                            "id": "5725767000007985197"

                        },

                        {

                            "display_value": "UI Enhancement",

                            "actual_value": "UI Enhancement",

                            "id": "5725767000007985199"

                        },

                        {

                            "display_value": "Report Customization",

                            "actual_value": "Report Customization",

                            "id": "5725767000007985201"

                        }

                    ],

                    "actual_value": "Feature Request",

                    "id": "5725767000007985246"

                }

            ],

            "child": { //Mandatory - Represents the child field

                "api_name": "Sub_Issue", //Mandatory - API name of the child field

                "id": "5725767000007985186" //Mandatory - Child picklist field ID

            }

        }

    ]



Sample Response 

{
    "map_dependency": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "id": "5725767000008174001"
            },
            "message": "map dependency created",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}


Retrieve the configured field mappings using the GET Mapped Dependency Fields API

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/layouts/5725767000007972011/map_dependency/5725767000008174001?module=Support_Cases

Request Method: GET
Sample Response

{
    "map_dependency": [
        {
            "parent": {
                "api_name": "Issue_Type",
                "id": "5725767000007985243"
            },
            "internal": false,
            "active": true,
            "id": "5725767000008180001",
            "source": 1,
            "category": 0,
            "pick_list_values": [
                {
                    "display_value": "-None-",
                    "maps": [
                        {
                            "display_value": "-None-",
                            "actual_value": "-None-",
                            "id": "5725767000007985204"
                        }
                    ],
                    "actual_value": "-None-",
                    "id": "5725767000007985249"
                },
                {
                    "display_value": "Login Issue",
                    "maps": [
                        {
                            "display_value": "Forgot Password",
                            "actual_value": "Forgot Password",
                            "id": "5725767000007985185"
                        },
                        {
                            "display_value": "Account Locked",
                            "actual_value": "Account Locked",
                            "id": "5725767000007985187"
                        },
                        {
                            "display_value": "2FA Not Working",
                            "actual_value": "2FA Not Working",
                            "id": "5725767000007985189"
                        }
                    ],
                    "actual_value": "Login Issue",
                    "id": "5725767000007985242"
                },
              .
              .
              .
            ],
            "child": {
                "api_name": "Sub_Issue",
                "id": "5725767000007985186"
            }
        }
    ]
}
You will get a JSON structure containing all dependency mappings. Check if your parent and child fields appear as configured.

Update the existing mapped options using the PUT Mapped Dependency Fields API

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/layouts/5725767000007972011/map_dependency/5725767000008174001?module=Support_Cases

Request Method: PUT

Input JSON

{

    "map_dependency": [

        {

            "parent": {

                "api_name": "Issue_Type",

                "id": "5725767000007985243"

            },

            "pick_list_values": [

                {

                    "display_value": "-None-",

                    "maps": [

                {

                    "display_value": "Login Issue",

                    "maps": [

                        {

                            "display_value": "Forgot Password",

                            "actual_value": "Forgot Password",

                            "id": "5725767000007985185"

                        },

                        {

                            "display_value": "Account Locked",

                            "actual_value": "Account Locked",

                            "id": "5725767000007985187"

                        },

                        { // mapped a new option to the existing mapping

                            "display_value": "2FA Not Working",

                            "actual_value": "2FA Not Working",

                            "id": "5725767000007985189"

                        }

                    ],

                    "actual_value": "Login Issue",

                    "id": "5725767000007985242"

                }

            ],

            "child": {

                "api_name": "Sub_Issue",

                "id": "5725767000007985186"

            }

        }

    ]

}





Delete existing dependency using the DELETE Mapped Dependency Fields API

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/layouts/5725767000007972011/map_dependency/5725767000008174001?module=Support_Cases

Request Method: DELETE

Sample Response


{
    "map_dependency": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "id": "5725767000008174001"
            },
            "message": "map dependency deleted",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}



Assigning picklist values using the Insert Records API

When you insert a record, you can directly pass the picklist option’s display value (not the ID) in the request body.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/v8/{module_api_name}
Request Method: POST

Sample Input 

{

    "data" : [

        {

            "Name" : "Support Case 1",

            "Support_Case" : "Login Issue",

            "Issue_Type" : "Login Issue",

            "Sub_Issue":"Forgot Password"

        }

    ]

}


Note: When creating or updating records via API, CRM does not validate the dependency relationship between parent and child picklist values.
To ensure data consistency and prevent data loss, always use the Get Map Dependency API before creating or updating records and to know correct mappings as well. This helps you retrieve the correct parent–child mappings and pass only valid picklist values in your API requests.

FAQs

Q1. Is the Map Dependency field supported in subforms?

Yes. You can configure dependency mappings for picklist fields within subforms as well. The Map Dependency Fields API supports creating parent–child picklist relationships directly inside a subform. To do this via API, use the subform’s API name as the module name when making the dependency mapping call.
This ensures that the dependency is created specifically for the picklist fields inside that subform, not the main module.

Q2. Can I keep the parent field in the main form and the child field in the subform?

Not currently. As of Zoho CRM API Version 8, cross-level mapping where the parent field is in the main form and the child field is in a subform, or vice versa is not supported neither via the UI nor through the API.

You can only:
  1. Map picklists within the main form, or
  2. Map picklists within the same subform.

Q3. What happens if I delete a picklist value that is part of a dependency?

If you delete a picklist option, the corresponding mapping will be automatically removed from the dependency.


Q4. What happens if I rename a picklist value that is part of a dependency?

If you rename a picklist option, the dependency will be automatically updated with the new option label.



We hope this post helps you learn more on mapping dependency fields in CRM using Zoho CRM APIs. Try it out, and let us know your experience in the comment section or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com 

Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming Kaizen posts!



    • 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

    • Not able to delete a QC nor able to revert or create a cycle of manufacturing for QC failed Jobs

      Not able to delete a QC nor able to revert or create a cycle of manufacturing for QC failed Jobs
    • Dheeraj Sudan and Meenu Hinduja-How do I customize Zoho apps to suit my needs?

      Hi Everyone, I'm Meenu Hinduja and my husband Dheeraj Sudan, run a business. I’m looking to tweak a few things to fit my needs, and I’d love to hear what customizations others have done. Any tips or examples would be super helpful! Regards Dheeraj Sudan
    • is there any way to change the "chat with us now" to custom message?

      is there any way to change the "chat with us now" to custom message? I want to change this text
    • Deprecation Notice: OpenAI Assistants API will be shut down on August 26, 2026

      I recieved this email from openAI what does it means for us that are using the integration and what should we do? Earlier this year, we shared our plan to deprecate the Assistants API once the Responses API reached feature parity. With the launch of Conversations,
    • Capture Last check-in date & days since

      I have two custom fields on my Account form, these are "Date of Last Check-In" and "Days Since Last Contact" Using a custom function how can I pull the date from the last check-in and display it in the field "Date of Last Check-In"? and then also display the number of days since last check-in in the "Days SInce Last Contact" field? I tried following a couple of examples but got myself into a bit of a muddle!
    • Subscriptions for service call

      So we install products and we want to offer a service contract for the customers yearly service calls to be billed monthly. So ideally at some point we want to email them a quote for their needs. WE will choice it our end based on the equipment. It would
    • Connection to other user

      Zoho Cliq handles sharing of Custom OAuth Connections that require individual user logins.
    • How to invite friends on other social media platforms to one of my group chats in arattai?

      Hello, I have formed chat groups in arattai. I want to invite my friends on other social media platforms like WhatsApp/ FB to one of my groups. Different friends would be invited to different groups. How to share an invite link of one of my groups to
    • Zoho Books (UK) needs to be able to submit a CT600 CTSA return

      As well as a VAT Return, most (if not all) small businesses have to submit a CT600 Corporation Tax Self-Assessment. There are many providers who do this (like Xero) bujt not Zoho. Can you add this to the request list please? Many thanks Steve
    • Cliq does not sync messages after Sleep on Mac

      I'm using the mac app of Cliq. When I open my mac after it was in sleep mode, Cliq does not sync the messages that I received. I always have to reload using cmd + R, which is not what I want when using a chat application.
    • Function #2: Create a Deal in Zoho CRM when an Estimate is created in Zoho Books

      For those who use Zoho CRM integrated with Zoho Books, here's a nifty function that helps you optimize your sales process by adding a Deal in Zoho CRM whenever an estimate is created in Zoho Books. Custom Function: To create the custom function, go to
    • Set expiration date on document and send reminder

      We have many company documents( for example business registration), work VISA documents. It will be nice if we can set a expiry date and set reminders ( for example 90 days, 60 days, 30 days etc.,) Does Zoho workdrive provide that option?
    • Analytics : How to share to an external client ?

      We have a use case where a client wants a portal so that several of his users can view dashboards that we have created for them in Zoho Analytics. They are not part of our company or Zoho One account. The clients want the ability to have user specific,
    • Payroll and BAS ( Australian tax report format )

      Hello , I am evaluating Zoho Books and I find the interface very intuitive and straight forward. My company is currently using Quickbooks Premier the Australian version. Before we can consider moving the service we would need to have the following addressed : 1.Payroll 2.BAS ( business activity statement ) for tax purposes 3.Some form of local backup and possible export of data to a widely accepted format. Regards Codrin Mitin
    • Zoho Desk API - Send Reply to CUSTOMERPORTAL

      Hello! I'll try to send a reply to Customer Portal, But the response is 500 (INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR in service response). {"Error":"{\"errorCode\":\"INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR\",\"message\":\"An internal server error occurred while performing this operation.\"}"}
    • Issue with open-rate reporting in Zoho Campaigns

      Hello, Since yesterday I’ve been experiencing an issue with the open-rate reports in Zoho Campaigns. The campaigns I send appear in the reports as if none of the emails have been opened, even though I know they have. To verify this, I replicated the campaign
    • Best practices for managing Project Charters, Business Case and RAID logs within Zoho?

      Hello everyone, I’m currently refining our PMO setup within Zoho Projects and I’m curious how others are handling high-level governance documentation. We’ve been using the standardized Project Charter, Business Case and RAID frameworks from projectmanagertemplate.com
    • Is It Possible to Convert a Custom Module to a Quote?

      I recently created a custom module in our CRM environment for RFQs so that our sales team can submit quote requests directly in Zoho rather than by email/phone. This allows for a cleaner overall process, minimizing potential errors and potentially encouraging
    • Proposal: Actionable API Error Messages to Reduce Support Ticket Volume

      I've encountered a long-standing frustration with how Zoho Creator's API communicates errors to developers, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. This issue has persisted for over 9 years based on community discussions, and
    • 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
    • Closing the Loop: Why Lookup Asymmetry is Harming Data Integrity in Creator

      TL;DR: Lookup fields allow users to add new related records inline via the "+" icon, but there's no equivalent ability to edit an existing related record without navigating away and losing form context. Adding a native "Edit" icon—with automatic User
    • using the Client script on the load of the form if service no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to is Service

      using the Client script on the load of the form if service no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to field is Service if Purchae no is empty means then i want to make issue relate to is Purchase
    • Work Order wont mark as Completed

      I have a couple of work orders that won't mark as completed even when I've marked the Service Appointments as completed fully.
    • Item name special charaters <>

      Im trying to input speical characters such as < and > into item name and item description but comes up with following error: Invalid value passed for Item Name and Invalid value passed for Item Description How do i allow speical characters?
    • Zoho Analytics Dashboard - How to hide the user filter

      I am using the same dashboard template across different external clients and applying a user filter to the data by site URL. How can I hide the user filter in View Mode so the external client won't see the list of other clients in the drop-down menu?
    • Kaizen #229: Email-Deal Associations in Zoho CRM

      Hi All, Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Emails are a core channel for customer communication in any CRM system. In Zoho CRM, emails can be associated with records across multiple modules. In this post, we will focus on email associations with
    • Action Required: Update Microsoft SQL Server Security Settings Before February 2026

      Dear Users, We recently deployed security updates in Zoho Analytics that inadvertently caused connection failures for a few customers using Microsoft (MS) SQL Server hosted on older Windows versions (Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, and 2014). To restore
    • Contacts limit in basic vs standard - what counts? Are customers contacts?

      I’ve been using books for a number years for my small business. I only ever work with 20 clients at any given time. I do purchase services from a number of vendors to run my business, so there are some comtacts there too. I used to use the basic package,
    • Saving issue

      First problem I opened a MS word file in writer. after the work is done, it does not save instantly, I waited for like 10min and it still did not save. second problem When I save a file, then file gets saved as another copy. I just did save, not save
    • Automating Employee Birthday Notifications in Zoho Cliq

      Have you ever missed a birthday and felt like the office Grinch? Fear not, the Cliq Developer Platform has got your back! With Zoho Cliq's Schedulers, you can be the office party-cipant who never forgets a single cake, balloon, or awkward rendition of
    • 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
    • Ability to Set a Unified Tab Order/View for All Users in Zoho Projects

      Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit a feature request regarding tab/menu organization in Zoho Projects. Current Behavior: The tab (module) order in Zoho Projects is user-specific. Each user (internal or external)
    • Task Order

      Hello! I've recently switched to Zoho Projects and a long time user of MS Project, Asana and LiquidPlanner (which has recently been purchased) and I'm running into a frustration I'm hoping someone can assist with. It has to do with how tasks are ordered
    • Automating CRM backup storage?

      Hi there, We've recently set up automatic backups for our Zoho CRM account. We were hoping that the backup functionality would not require any manual work on our end, but it seems that we are always required to download the backups ourselves, store them,
    • 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
    • Vendor legal and DBA names for USA users

      I would like to hear how Zoho Books users are handling DBA names in the vendor profile. If the Company name in the vendor profile has to be the legal name (line 1 of the W-9), whare are you entering the DBA name (the name that checks are made out to)
    • Zoho Books API invoice email bouncing with 'relaying-issues' error

      I have waited over 30 days for zoho books uk to assist with the following and i have had no replies or tickets erronously closed. The service has been terrible - very unlike zoho! So i am raising this here hoping that a community member can assist: Hello,
    • Stop the Workarounds: We Need Native Multi-Step Forms

      After over 17 years of community requests, I'm hoping the Zoho team can finally address the lack of native multi-page form support in Zoho Creator. This has been one of the longest-standing feature requests in the community, with threads spanning nearly
    • Product Updates in Zoho Workplace applications | January 2026

      Hello Workplace Community, Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that went live across all Workplace applications for the month of January. Zoho Mail Zoho People Notifications preview in Zoho Mail Notification emails from Zoho People
    • How do i setup default values for few fields

      We have few fields in CRM like rate of return, type etc - they can be picklist and standard inut fields. picklist we have choice to set default value. but how do we default some value in input type of fields?
    • Next Page