# Send leads to Zoho CRM

> A chat lead becomes a record in the Zoho module you choose, in your own data centre.

Source: https://welcomeai.dev/docs/zoho
Category: Destinations
Updated: 2026-09-11

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## The data centre comes first

Zoho runs **separate estates** and they do not share accounts. An account created in Europe lives on
`zohoapis.eu` and does not exist on `zohoapis.com`; a refresh token minted at `accounts.zoho.eu` is
refused at `accounts.zoho.com`.

This is asked for on the connect screen rather than guessed, because guessing it wrong produces an
authentication error that reads exactly like a bad credential -- and sends people to rotate a token
that was fine all along. Pick the one your account is in: `.com`, `.eu`, `.in`, `.com.au`, `.jp`,
`.ca`, `.com.cn` or `.sa`.

## What you need

A **Self Client** in Zoho's API console, and a refresh token from it, for three scopes:

- `ZohoCRM.modules.ALL` -- create the record.
- `ZohoCRM.settings.modules.READ` -- list the modules, so the route can point at one.
- `ZohoCRM.settings.fields.READ` -- read a module's fields, so the mapper offers what exists.

From that you get a **client id**, a **client secret** and a **refresh token**. The refresh token does
not expire on its own; every call trades it for an short-lived token that lasts about an hour.

## Connect and route

1. In **Destinations**, connect Zoho CRM with the four values.
2. Pick the **module**. Every module your account can create in is there, standard and custom.
3. Create a **route** -- which leads it takes, and which module they land in.
4. **Map the fields**, read from that module's own setup.

## Picklists, and the 201 that is not a success

A picklist value is sent only when it matches one the module has. A near miss is left out and named
in the dispatch log, because Zoho refuses the **whole record** over one bad value.

Zoho also answers `201 Created` with a **per-record status inside the body**: a refused record arrives
inside a response that looks successful. We read that status, so a refusal is a failed dispatch with
Zoho's own reason on it rather than a success that never happened.

**Leads and Contacts need a last name.** It is filled in from what the lead carries when your mapping
leaves it out.

## What it does not do

It creates. It does not deduplicate against what is already in the module, and it does not assign an
owner -- an owner is a Zoho user id, and a lead answer is a string.