Actions APIs - Field Updates

Actions APIs - Field Updates




Hello all!!
Welcome back to a fresh Kaizen week.
In the previous weeks, we covered Workflow Rules APIs, Actions APIs - Email Notification APIs, and Tasks Update APIs.
This week, we will continue with another Actions API - the Field Update API in Zoho CRM.

Field Updates in Zoho CRM

The Field Update option helps you automatically update specific field values in records when the associated workflow rule is triggered.

Note: Field Updates can also be used in Blueprint and Approval Processes, but in this post, we will focus only on Field Updates used with Workflow Rules in Zoho CRM.
When multiple leads enter Zoho CRM each day, from small to large industries, the Sales team manages all these entries inside a module. Every single lead is important for a company, whether it comes from a small or large industry. High-profit leads should not be missed and must be treated with high priority, frequent follow-ups, and faster actions to convert them into won deals.

High-profit deals without Field Update

There are chances of missing or failing to prioritize high-profit deals when all entries are cluttered inside the same module. This leads to manual mistakes and confusion for the Sales team. It becomes manual work, which increases the possibility of missing high-profit Leads.

High-profit deals with Field Update

A Field Update + Workflow Rule can solve these issues by creating an automated process. This avoids manual intervention and reduces errors.

Use case
Zylker, an IT solutions provider, wants to give high-priority attention to leads coming from large industries or leads that have a high lead score, especially when the Lead Status is Not Contacted.
Whenever a lead has a Lead Score ≥ 80 and is Not Contacted, the system should automatically update a field called Profit Category and set it to High Profit.

Why Lead Score for our use case?
Lead Score shows how active and interested a lead is. A score of 80 or above means the lead is highly engaged and more likely to convert. This makes it a dependable way to identify important leads that need quick attention.

Scenario
Whenever a lead meets the following conditions:
  1. Lead Score ≥ 80
  2. Lead Status = Not Contacted
The system should automatically update the Profit Category field to High Profit, and add a Contact Immediately tag. This helps the Sales team quickly identify high-profit records even when many records are cluttered in the module.

This can be achieved using a Field Update combined with a Workflow Rule.

Why not just use a Custom View?

A custom view can filter and display leads that meet these conditions, but it still depends on the Sales team to open the view and take action. In a busy Leads module, important leads can be missed or delayed. Also, if you want to perform dependent actions, you will need to create and schedule a custom function manually.
With a Workflow and Field Update, the system emails and also trigger many other actions like Field Update, Webhooks, and so on to your executives about these leads automatically. In our case, the Profit Category and tag are updated the moment the lead meets the condition, making high-profit leads stand out everywhere in CRM - without relying on manual checks or someone remembering to look at a view.

Profit Category mapping based on Lead Score

Profit Category is a custom picklist field in the Leads module.

The following table shows how Zylker classifies profit categories based on Lead Score:

Lead Score

Profit Category

20-40

Minimal Profit

40-60

Average Profit

60-80

Good Profit

80+

    High Profit


In this use case, we focus only on the High Profit category.
Let us now see how to enable a Field Update in Zoho CRM through the UI.

Creating a Field Update via UI

To create a Field Update in Zoho CRM, follow the steps below:
  1. Go to Setup > Automation > Actions > Field Updates.
  2. Click Create Field Update.
  3. Enter the Name of the field update.
  4. Select the Module.
  5. Choose the Field that should be updated.
  6. Provide the value to be updated that must be applied.
  7. Save the Field Update.
Field Update Configuration
In this use case, a Field Update is created to modify the Profit Category field when the workflow rule is triggered.

Field Update Details:
  1. Name: Profit Category
  2. Module: Leads
  3. Field to Update: Profit Category
  4. New Value: High Profit
This Field Update will be used as an action inside the workflow rule.
How to create the workflow for this use case and associate this Field Update with the workflow has been covered in the following section of this post.

UI - Field Update Creation View

Creating a Field Update via API

You can create a Field Update using the Create Field Update API available from Zoho CRM API version 8.
Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/automation/field_updates
Request Method: POST
Input JSON


{
    "field_updates": [
        {
            "name": "Profit Category ",
            "module": {
                "api_name": "Leads",
                "id": "5725767000000002175"
            },
            "type": "static",
            "feature_type": "workflow",
            "field": {
                "api_name": "Profit_Category",
                "id": "5725767000008570298"
            },
            "value": "High Profit"
        }
    ]
}


Keys explanation

                         Key

                        Explanation

field_updates

 

Holds all details to create a field update.

name

Field Update name

module

Specify the module details

module.api_name

Represents the module API name. In our case, it is "Leads" module.

module.id

Represents the System ID for the module

type

Represents the Update type. Usually “static” for fixed-value updates.

feature_type

Represents that this Field Update is for workflow Rules.

field

Represents which field should be updated.

field.api_name

Represents the field API name.

field.id

Represents the unique ID of the field.

value

The value to be updated


Sample Response

{
    "field_updates": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "id": "5725767000008604002"
            },
            "message": "field update deleted successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}



A note on the unique ID

You can add:
  1. You need this ID to retrieve, update, and delete the Field Update later.

Retrieve your Field Update

You can retrieve a Field Update by using the Get Field Update API. It lists all available Field Update actions available in your org.

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/automation/field_updates/5725767000008604002
Request Method: GET

Sample Response:
Below is the sample response returned by Zoho CRM.

{
    "field_updates": [
        {
            "created_time": "2025-11-15T07:57:39-08:00",
            "update_type": null,
            "lock_status": {
                "locked": false
            },
            "apply_assignment_threshold": false,
            "editable": true,
            "module": {
                "api_name": "Leads",
                "id": "5725767000000002175"
            },
            "related_module": null,
            "deletable": true,
            "source": "crm",
            "type": "static",
            "created_by": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5725767000000411001"
            },
            "notify": false,
            "feature_type": "workflow",
            "modified_time": "2025-11-15T07:57:39-08:00",
            "field": {
                "api_name": "Profit_Category",
                "id": "5725767000008570298"
            },
            "dependent_fields": null,
            "associated": false,
            "related_records": null,
            "name": "Profit Category Leads",
            "modified_by": {
                "name": "Patricia Boyle",
                "id": "5725767000000411001"
            },
            "id": "5725767000008604002",
            "value": "High Profit"
        }
    ]
}


Note: This API helps you fetch all the details of a specific Field Update using its unique ID. Also, you can create a workflow and associate the created Field Update action using its unique ID.

Workflow Rule Configuration 

Trigger:
  1. When a Lead is created or edited.
Condition:
  1. Lead Score is greater than or equal to 80.
  2. Lead Status is currently Not Contacted.
Actions:
  1. Associate the created Field Update action: High Profit
  2. Add a Contact Immediately tag to the record.

Workflow Rule and Field Update action via UI

Configuring Workflow and associating the Field Update action

Workflow Rule and Field Update action via API
Create a Workflow:
You can use the Configure Workflow Rule API to create a workflow.

Associate the Field Update:

You can associate the Field Update action with the workflow by using the unique ID of the Field Update.
Retrieve the Field Update ID using the Get Field Updates API.

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/automation/workflow_rules
Request Method: POST

Sample Input:

{
    "workflow_rules": [
        {
          .
          .
          .

            "execute_when": {
                "details": {
                    "trigger_module": {
                        "api_name": "Leads",
                        "id": "5725767000000002175"
                    },
                },
                "type": "create_or_edit"
            },
            "module": {
                "api_name": "Leads",
                "id": "5725767000000002175"
            },
            "conditions": [
                {
                    "instant_actions": {
                        "actions": [
                            {
                               
                                "name": "Profit Category",
                                "details": {
                                    "module": {
                                        "api_name": "Leads",
                                        "id": "5725767000000002175"
                                    }
                                },
                                "id": "5725767000008604002",   //associating the created Field Update with the Workflow.
                                "type": "field_updates"
                            },
                            {
                                "name": "High Priority Deal",
                                "details": {
                                    "module": {
                                        "api_name": "Leads",
                                        "id": "5725767000000002175"
                                    },
                                    "over_write": false,
                                    "tags": [
                                        {
                                            "name": "High Priority Deal",
                                            "id": "5725767000008570458",
                                            "color_code": "#63C57E"
                                        }
                                    ]
                                },
                                "id": "5725767000008570470",
                                "type": "add_tags"
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    "criteria": {
                        "group_operator": "AND",
                        "group": [
                            {
                                "comparator": "greater_equal",
                                "field": {
                                    "api_name": "Entity_Scores__s.Score", //Lead Score's API name
                                    "id": "5725767000002324045" 
                                },
                                "type": "value",
                                "value": "80"
                            },
                            {
                                "comparator": "contains",
                                "field": {
                                    "api_name": "Lead_Status",
                                    "id": "5725767000000002611"
                                },
                                "type": "value",
                                "value": "Not Contacted"
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                }
            ]
            .
            .
            .
        }
    ]
}


For more details on Workflow Rules using APIs, refer to Kaizen #213 - Workflow APIs - Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.


Edit your existing Field Update

You can update an existing Field Update using the Update Field Update API. To update it, use the unique ID of the Field Update in the request URL. Use Get Field Update API to get the required Field Update ID.

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/automation/field_updates/5725767000008599001
Request Method: PUT

Input JSON

{
    "field_updates": [
        {
            "name": "Profit Category - Updated", //updated the response
            "field": {
                "api_name": "Profit_Category",
                "id": "5725767000008570298"
            },
            "value": "Good Profit" //updated value
        }
    ]
}


Note:
  1. Only the configured modules cannot be updated using the PUT - Field Update API call. The rest of the fields can be updated.
  2. The updated value must be valid for the field type. For example, picklist fields accept only existing picklist options. 
  3. After updating a Field Update, any workflow linked to it will automatically start using the updated configuration.

Delete Your Existing Field Update

You can delete an existing Field Update using the Delete Field Update API. To delete it, you must use the unique ID of the Field Update in the request URL.
 If you do not know the ID, use the Get Field Update API to retrieve it.

Request URL:  {{api-domain}}/crm/v8/settings/automation/field_updates/5725767000008599001
Request Method: DELETE

Sample Response:

{
    "field_updates": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "id": "5725767000008604002"
            },
            "message": "Field update deleted successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}




Note
  1. You cannot delete a Field Update if it is currently associated with any Workflow, Blueprint, or Approval Process. Remove the Field Update from the workflow first, and then try deleting it.

We hope this post helps you understand how to use Field Updates through the Zoho CRM Actions API - Field Update API.


Try it out, and let us know your experience in the comments section or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com.
Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming Kaizen posts!

Cheers!




    • 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

    • Revenue Management: #2 How to compute revenue?

      In our previous post, we discussed the revenue recognition standards under IFRS 15 and ASC 606 and the five-step model. Now, let's examine three distinct business scenarios to see how the standards and model work in practice. This will help you understand

    • External lookup in CRM (as in Books)

      Hello Context: We have a CRM module, similar to Deals, but for Purchasing. Once the PO is created, a link to this PO should be updated in that "deal". In Books, you can add a custom 'external' field which can look up into CRM modules. I'm asked to have

    • "Undo Send" Feature

      Would love it if TeamInbox had an "Undo Send" feature, that gives you 10 seconds or so to "undo" the sending of an email. Many other email clients already have this feature, and my clients really miss it, as it has saved them many times in the past when

    • Zoho Sites

      Does anyone have experience building Zoho sites or know how I can find someone who does?

    • Zoho Crm Lagging

      Hi Zoho Support Team, Starting from today, my Zoho CRM has been extremely slow and laggy when accessing any pages or modules. This is affecting my work and overall productivity. Could you please help to check if there are any ongoing issues or if there’s

    • Is there a way to reference/attach mails to deals/contacts when the mails haven't come through their contacts normal email and the mail comes through software / app who use their mail system

      There are often system mails that come through systems or other software which use their email addresses since they use their own mail servers to mail. This causes an issue as it does not record the mail in the history of the CRM since the email is not

    • Recommendation

      I give up on Zoho. It's never going to be an all in one solution, their own apps don't even connect. Can any one recommend an alternative at least for the crm / people.

    • CRM - Site/Location

      Hi Zoho, One massive oversight of the Zoho CRM is the inability to add multiple sites or locations to one account. Many organisations have several (in some cases, hundreds) of sites across the country or even the globe. The workaround to this, of course,

    • An unknown error occurred. Please contact support

      Whenever I visit this page I see this. I changed browser and still the same. Can someone from Zoho help me please?

    • How to Streamline Pick & Ship

      Is there a way to streamline the built-in pick and ship process? I guess mostly on the ship side. Our current process allows us to choose shipping super fast. It's an EasyPost plugin for WooCommerce. You have to populate the boxes / weights / shipping

    • How to add, delete or rename the "payment method" drop down?

      When we recorded payment in invoice, there's a "payment method" drop down with choices like cash, bank transfer... We want to add and delete or rename some new selection. How to do such adjustment? Please advice.

    • Smarter data gathering with Query component in Wizards

      Dear All, Introducing the Query Component in Wizards for CRM! A smart search field that saves you time and effort, and helps you manage and gather data more efficiently than ever before. Long and complex record entries can be overwhelming and prone to

    • Introducing teamspaces and team modules in Zoho CRM mobile app

      Hello everyone, We have an exciting update to share in the Zoho CRM mobile app. As part of CRM For Everyone—a new set of features that reflect our vision to democratize CRM and make it accessible for all—teamspaces and team modules are now available on

    • Client Script - change page and/or section background colours

      Hello, Would anyone be willing to help me with a bit of Client Scripting code? I have had a go myself but only been able to alter the form field styles, not the overall page/section/heading styles. I want to set a different page background colour for

    • Zoho SalesIQのチャットボット、ブロックのコピー機能

      Zoho SalesIQのチャットボットの構築でドラッグアンドドロップで作成を行っているます。 内容は同じブロックのコピーペースト機能がないみたいなのですが、同一のブロック、同一の複数のブロックをいくつも作成する場合は、皆様はどのように行われていますか？ 例えば添付の４つのブロックをまとめてコピーして、別のフローの先につなげる場合です。 教えていただけますと幸いです。よろしくお願いいたします。

    • Questions About Zoho Commerce Member Portal

      Hello, A couple questions about the Zoho Commerce Member Portal: 1. Can I add only specific pages be added to the Members Portal, and not the entire website? 2. When a customer signs up on my Zoho Commerce site, is there a setting that gives me a chance

    • Online Payment Fees

      We don't take many online credit card payments so the merchant service provider (PayPal) charges us the 2.9% fee for processing the amount. I would like the ability for the fee to be automatically added to the total amount for "ease of payment". We'd

    • Error occured. please try again!!!

      I created a new list. Added two new contact's email addresses. I try to EDIT either one of them to add their first name, last name and phone number. Whatever I try to edit and update, I get the error message  Error occured. please try again!!! And it doesn't update any of their info. I tried just editing first and last name. Still get the error. No matter what I try to update, I get the error. I tried creating a new list, and adding just one email address and then edit it and also get the error.

    • "Send email as" not work

      Hi team, I currently use ZOHO MAIL services on the MAKE platform (formerly INTEGROMAT). In MAKE I entered my ZOHO MAIL credentials but the problem is that when the emails are sent from the automation in MAKE, the emails do not come in with the name set

    • *UPDATE: ISSUE RESOLVED, SEE HOW FOR HELP* Issue imbedding Youtube Videos

      **UPDATE: RESOLVED** For anyone that is having a similar issue, try this workaround before attempting to have the Zoho techs fix it. I have been in communication with them for weeks about this and they can't seem to fix the issue. Thinking it may have just been my computer or my browser, I tried two different computers on two different networks, each running different versions of Windows, and tried it on Chrome, Firefox and IE; nothing worked. So, needless to say, it's an issue with Zoho somewhere.

    • Backorder For Composite Items

      Hello If i released SO for composite item and use backorder feature of zoho inventory then it should backorder child item items of composite and not composite item.This is basic of backordering.I conveyed this to zoho call center but no solution yet.

    • Paid Support

      We are in the process of creating tiers for our support offerings. There will be three tiers of support available - 2 paid and 1 free. The paid tiers will be purchased in allotted hours. I need to figure out how to a) work in the out of the box SLA, Contracts

    • Automatically CC supervisor

      Hello,  in our organization agents are replying to tickets and they are required to CC their supervisor on all emails to and from customers.  is there a way to have an email address automatically populate in the CC field when reply to a ticket?  tha

    • Zoho One - White Label

      Releasing a white-label feature for Zoho One, or any software or service, can offer several advantages and benefits for both the company providing the software (Zoho in this case) and its users. Here are some key reasons for releasing a white-label feature

    • Are this Features included in the Road Map

      1. Sync between description/short description in Zoho Books/Inventory and Zoho Commerce: I am unsure how it works now. I belive the description is not pulled. 2. Pick Up: This feature is great. It is added on Zoho Commerce but not on Books/Inventory which

    • Reconciliation - Show Transactions After End Date

      I did a quick search, and I've only seen this brought up indirectly. In the reconciliation interface, transactions dated up to a week after the end date should be available for being reconciled. The use case is pretty simple... many times, transactions

    • Auto populate email field in zoho form

      Hi,  Is there a way the email field in zoho forms can be auto populated based on the name selected from a drop down list?

    • Option to accept and pay for estimate from Public Estimate link?

      Is there any way that our customers can get the Estimate in their email, click on "View Estimate" and from the public link, click Accept and Pay? When they click that, in the background Zoho would create the invoice record in the so that the payment would

    • Kaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In last week's post in the Kaizen series, we discussed how subforms work in Zoho CRM and how to manipulate subform data using Zoho CRM APIs. In this post, we will discuss how to manipulate a multi-select

    • Easily track referrals with Zoho Forms

      Referral tracking can be a powerful way for businesses to understand where their leads are coming from. With Zoho Forms, tracking the referral sources of your leads is an easy and straightforward process. Here are some tips to help you make the most of

    • Add an email to an existing ticket is not working

      I noticed that in Zoho Desk the funcionality to add an email to an existing ticket is not working using the syntax [##12345##], has the method changed? In red is the syntax we use to add email to an existing ticket As you can see, he did not add the email

    • New CRM to Campaigns Sync Doesn't Continue Making Updates

      Changes made in CRM are not appearing in mapped fields in matching Campaign records after migrating to the new sync process. The only way we've found to get records to update is to call into Support and point out the problem. After convincing Support

    • Zoho Integration with UPS

      I have 2 questions: Firstly, is there a way to notify UPS that we have a package to collect once we have done the shipping label? Secondly, how do I get the tracking number and shipment method onto the Invoice and Package Slip for the customer? Than

    • Cannot log in to IMAP account as of last night

      Hey I've been using MFA with an authenticator for a while and have had to use application passwords for Outlook and Edison Mail on my Android devices. Last night the app passwords started to be rejected on my Android devices so I created new ones for

    • Low Stock View

      We use the Low Stock view frequently as a guide to inform us when to reorder items, but the view is misleading because it does not take into account Purchase Orders that have already been raised. Unless you are aware and check item by item, this can lead

    • Improve History Feature in Zoho Inventory

      At present there is a "history" tab on Zoho Inventory Items, however this only shows a date and time stamp along with the users name. It doesn't say what was changed. What is the value of this if you can't see what was changed? My Ideal is to include

    • Show backordered items on packing slip

      We send out a lot of large orders, and often there are one or two things backordered. How can I fix the packing slips to show quantity ordered  & quantity packed There should also be the ability to "ship" 0 of an item so the receiver knows that things

    • Document | Files

      The vendor "Partial matches" still not fixed here after years of putting up with having to select most vendors manually ! ( again, the banking "Transaction rules" would solve a lot of these issues ) Some unwanted, irrelevant pdf's also arrive. It would

    • books+POS+ tap to pay+ stripe

      So in the UK we now have tap to pay with stripe. So we can use the stripe app as a POS terminal. Brilliant news. Can we hope that the Books App might add this feature ASAP. It would be great to have one system rather than using the not very good Square

    • Canvas Form View - Client Script Page on load - Url params not working

      We have a custom module with a canvas page for form view. We have a button in Customers module to open this canvas page using invokeurl function. We send few parameters as in the URL as query parameters. https://crm.zoho.in/crm/orgxxxxxxxx/tab/CustomModule12/create/canvas/64333200000261xxxx?layoutId=643332000002605001&c=${Customers.Customer

    • Next Page