Insert Records using External ID
Purpose
To add new entities to a module using external ID. Here are a few scenarios.
- Associating a lookup record through an external field
- Creating an inventory module's record with external fields in the line items
- Inserting a subform lookup record through an external field in the associated module
- Inserting an Event record and associating What_Id through an external field
- Inserting an Event record and associating What_Id and Participant through external fields
Request Details
Request URL
https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2.1/{module_api_name}
Supported modules
Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Deals, Campaigns, Tasks, Cases, Events, Calls, Solutions, Products, Vendors, Price Books, Quotes, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Invoices, Custom, and Activities
Possible operation types
Header
Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken d92d4xxxxxxxxxxxxx15f52
X-EXTERNAL: {module_API_name}.{external_field_API_name}
Scope
scope=ZohoCRM.modules.all
(or)
scope=ZohoCRM.modules.{module_name}.{operation_type}
Possible module names
leads, accounts, contacts, deals, campaigns, tasks, cases, events, calls, solutions, products, vendors, pricebooks, quotes, salesorders, purchaseorders, invoices, custom, and notes
Possible operation types
ALL - Full access to the record
WRITE - Edit records in the module
CREATE - Create records in the module
Sample Request
Copiedcurl "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2.1/{base_module_API_name}"
-X POST
-H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken 1000.8cb99dxxxxxxxxxxxxx9be93.9b8xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf"
-H "X-EXTERNAL: {module_API_name}.{external_field_API_name}"
-d "@sample.json"Associating a lookup record through an external field
In this example, Contacts is the base module's API name where Account_Name is a lookup field's API name in the Contacts module. External_Account_ID is the API name of the external field in the Accounts module. We will reference the external field's value in the Accounts module to create a record in the Contacts module.
Note
If you specify the value and the record ID of the external field for the lookup record, the system considers only the value of the external field when you give the X-EXTERNAL header. Without this header, the system considers only the record ID.
Sample Request
Copiedcurl "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2.1/Contacts"
-X POST
-H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken 1000.8cb99dxxxxxxxxxxxxx9be93.9b8xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf"
-H "X-EXTERNAL: Contacts.Account_Name.External_Account_ID"
-d "@sample.json"Sample Input
Copied{
"data": [
{
"Last_Name": "ext contact 1",
"Account_Name": {
"External_Account_ID": "externalaccount1"
}
}
]
}Sample Response
Copied{
"data": [
{
"code": "SUCCESS",
"details": {
"Modified_Time": "2020-10-22T01:35:09-11:00",
"Modified_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
},
"Created_Time": "2020-10-22T01:35:09-11:00",
"id": "554023000001627036",
"Created_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
}
},
"message": "record added",
"status": "success"
}
]
}Creating an inventory module's record with external fields in the line items
In this example, we will create a quote by using the external values in the Product_Details section that comprises the associated product and the price book. So, Quotes is the base module's API name, the API names of the external fields in the Products and Price Books modules are External_Product_ID and External_Price_book_ID, respectively.
Sample Request
Copiedcurl "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2.1/Quotes"
-X POST
-H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken 1000.8cb99dxxxxxxxxxxxxx9be93.9b8xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf"
-H "X-EXTERNAL: Quotes.Product_Details.product.External_Product_ID, Quotes.Product_Details.book.External_Price_book_ID"
-d "@sample.json"Sample Input
Copied{
"data": [
{
"External_Quote_ID": "quote1",
"Subject": "Quote 1",
"Quoted_Items": [
{
"product": {
"External_Product_ID": "12345678900"
},
"book": {
"External_Price_book_ID": "pricebook1"
},
"quantity": 100
}
]
}
]
}Sample Response
Copied{
"data": [
{
"code": "SUCCESS",
"details": {
"Modified_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"Modified_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
},
"Created_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"id": "111111000000133093",
"Created_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
}
},
"message": "record added",
"status": "success"
}
]
}Inserting a subform lookup record through an external field in the associated module
In this example, Subform_External is the API name of the subform in the Contacts module. It has a look up field to the Deals module. The Deals module has an external field External_Deal_ID. We will reference this external field in the subform and insert a record in the Contacts module.
Sample Request
Copiedcurl "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2.1/Contacts"
-X POST
-H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken 1000.8cb99dxxxxxxxxxxxxx9be93.9b8xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf"
-H "X-EXTERNAL: Contacts.Subform_External.Deal_Lookup.External_Deal_ID"
-d "@sample.json"Sample Input
Copied{
"data": [
{
"Last_Name": "Contact with a Subform",
"Subform_External": [
{
"Deal_Lookup": {
"External_Deal_ID": "userdeal1"
}
}
]
}
]
}Sample Response
Copied{
"data": [
{
"code": "SUCCESS",
"details": {
"Modified_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"Modified_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
},
"Created_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"id": "111111000000134014",
"Created_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
}
},
"message": "record added",
"status": "success"
}
]
}Inserting an Event record and associating the What_Id through an external field
In this example, External_Account_ID is the API name of the external field in the Accounts module. What_Id in the Events module takes the Account's name as its value. We will reference this external field in the Accounts module to the What_Id field and insert an event.
Note
- The What_Id lookup can be mapped to different modules and so while pointing to an external field from What_Id lookup in the X-External header, you should use "->Module Name.External field name” and not “. External field name”.
- Also, while pointing to any Multi module lookup in the X-External header , you should use “->Module Name.External field name”.
Sample Request
Copiedcurl "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2.1/Events"
-X POST
-H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken 1000.8cb99dxxxxxxxxxxxxx9be93.9b8xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf"
-H "X-EXTERNAL: Events.What_Id->Accounts.External_Account_ID"
-d "@sample.json"Sample Input
Copied{
"data": [
{
"se_module": "Accounts",
"What_Id": {
"External_Account_ID": "useraccount1"
},
"Event_Title": "Event Kaizen",
"Start_DateTime": "2020-05-10T10:10:10+05:30",
"End_DateTime": "2020-05-10T11:10:10+05:30"
}
]
}Sample Response
Copied{
"data": [
{
"code": "SUCCESS",
"details": {
"Modified_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"Modified_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
},
"Created_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"id": "111111000000137001",
"Created_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
}
},
"message": "record added",
"status": "success"
}
]
}Inserting an Event record and associating the What_Id and Participant through external fields
In this example, External_Account_ID and External_Contact_ID are the API names of the external fields in the Accounts and Contacts modules, respectively. What_Id in the Events module takes the Account's name as its value. "participant" is a JSON object in the Participants array. We will reference these external values and insert an event.
Note
- If you specify the value of the external field in the participant JSON object and the record ID of the external field in the Contacts module, the system considers only the value of the external field if you specify only the participant in the header.
- The What_Id lookup can be mapped to different modules and so while pointing to an external field from What_Id lookup in the X-External header, you should use "->Module Name.External field name” and not “.External field name”.
- Also, while pointing to any Multi module lookup in the X-External header, you should use “->Module Name.External field name”.
Possible Errors
- DUPLICATE_DATAHTTP 400
The external field contains duplicate data.
Resolution: Input unique data to the external field. - INVALID_DATAHTTP 400
The external ID of the lookup field or the Price Book is incorrect
Resolution: Specify the correct external ID. Refer to the "details" in the error response to know which external ID is incorrect.
Sample Request
Copiedcurl "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2.1/Events"
-X POST
-H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken 1000.8cb99dxxxxxxxxxxxxx9be93.9b8xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf"
-H "X-EXTERNAL: Events.What_Id->Accounts.External_Account_ID, Events.Participants.participant->Contacts.External_Contact_ID"
-d "@sample.json"Sample Input
Copied{
"data": [
{
"External_Event_ID": "Event Kaizen 1",
"Last_Name": "Contact 1",
"Participants": [
{
"type": "contact",
"participant": {
"External_Contact_ID": "participant1"
}
}
],
"What_Id": {
"External_Account_ID": "useraccount1"
},
"$se_module": "Accounts",
"Event_Title": "Kaizen 1",
"Start_DateTime": "2020-05-10T10:10:10+05:30",
"End_DateTime": "2020-05-10T11:10:10+05:30"
}
]
}Sample Response
Copied{
"data": [
{
"code": "SUCCESS",
"details": {
"Modified_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"Modified_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
},
"Created_Time": "2019-12-12T23:35:47+05:30",
"id": "111111000000139016",
"Created_By": {
"name": "Patricia Boyle",
"id": "554023000000235011"
}
},
"message": "record added",
"status": "success"
}
]
}