canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/zoho.com

# Zoho APIs

Zoho is a suite of cloud business software spanning CRM, inventory, field service, HR, document signing, word processing, spreadsheets, and a serverless backend platform. Its APIs let AI agents create and manage leads and contacts in CRM, track items and invoices in Inventory, run field service work orders, manage employee forms and attendance in People, send and track signature requests in Sign, create documents in Writer, run spreadsheet operations in Sheet, and execute serverless functions, ZCQL queries, file storage, and transactional email on the Catalyst platform.

## For AI agents

Across Zoho's APIs an agent can manage CRM leads and contacts, inventory items and invoices, field service work orders and appointments, HR forms and attendance, signature requests, documents, and spreadsheets, and run serverless functions, data queries, file storage, and email on the Catalyst backend platform. A single agent can chain these into business workflows that span sales, operations, HR, and backend automation.

## Scope

Use for: Automating Zoho business apps across CRM, inventory, field service, HR, e-signature, documents, spreadsheets, and the Catalyst serverless backend

Not supported:
- payment processing
- real-time streaming
- on-prem deployment
- third-party CRMs
- telephony
- video conferencing

## APIs

| API | Category | Endpoints | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Zoho Inventory API | e-commerce | 40 | Programmatically create item, list items. |
| Zoho FSM API | e-commerce | 34 | Programmatically create a work order, list work orders. |
| Zoho CRM API | crm | 24 | Programmatically create leads, list leads. |
| Zoho Catalyst API | cloud-infrastructure | 22 | Execute serverless functions, query data store tables via ZCQL, manage file storage, and send emails on Zoho Catalyst. |
| Zoho Sign API | developer-tools | 9 | Programmatically get account info, list users. |
| Zoho People API | hr-recruiting | 8 | Programmatically list forms, create form record. |
| Zoho Writer API | developer-tools | 5 | Programmatically create document, list documents. |
| Zoho Sheet API | communications | 1 | Programmatically execute spreadsheet operation. |

## Which API to use

| Need | API | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Manage sales pipeline records like leads, contacts, and deals | zoho-crm-api | Zoho CRM is the contact-management API with dedicated Leads, Contacts, Deals, and Accounts resources |
| Track stock items, invoices, bills, and credit notes | zoho-inventory-api | Zoho Inventory handles items, invoices, and contacts for product-based commerce, which CRM does not cover |
| Schedule field service work orders, appointments, and technicians | zoho-fsm-api | Zoho FSM is the field service API covering work orders and service appointments, distinct from inventory stock |
| Store structured data and run backend logic without servers | main | Zoho Catalyst provides serverless functions, ZCQL data store queries, file storage, cache, and transactional mail |
| Create and manage text documents | zoho-writer-api | Zoho Writer creates and lists documents, while Sheet handles spreadsheet operations instead |
| Run spreadsheet operations on stored sheets | zoho-sheet-api | Zoho Sheet executes spreadsheet operations by resource id, unlike Writer which handles text documents |

## Cross-API use cases

### Order-to-invoice with CRM follow-up

When a deal closes in Zoho CRM, an agent reads the customer record, creates the matching items and invoice in Zoho Inventory, and updates the CRM record so sales and stock stay aligned without manual re-entry.

Example prompt: Get the closed deal and its contact from Zoho CRM via GET /Deals and GET /Contacts, then create the item and invoice in Zoho Inventory via POST /items

### Field service dispatch from a CRM request

An agent reads a customer and their open request from Zoho CRM, then creates a work order and books a service appointment in Zoho FSM so field dispatch follows directly from the sales record.

Example prompt: Read the customer from Zoho CRM via GET /Contacts, then create a work order in Zoho FSM via POST /workorders and a service appointment via POST /appointments

### Signed HR document workflow

An agent reads an employee record from Zoho People, creates a document in Zoho Writer, then sends it for signature through Zoho Sign so onboarding paperwork is generated and routed for signing end to end.

Example prompt: List employee form records in Zoho People via GET /forms/{form_name}/records, create the document in Zoho Writer via POST /documents, then create a signature request in Zoho Sign via POST /requests

### Serverless backend for CRM automation

An agent runs a Catalyst serverless function that queries a data store table via ZCQL and sends a transactional email, then writes the result back to Zoho CRM so backend logic and the sales record stay in sync.

Example prompt: Execute a Catalyst function via POST /project/{projectId}/function/{functionId}/execute and query data via POST /project/{projectId}/query, then update the record in Zoho CRM via PUT /Leads/{record_id}

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring Zoho by hand means running a separate OAuth 2.0 flow or bearer token for each service, refreshing tokens, and picking the right regional host across CRM, Inventory, FSM, People, Sign, Writer, Sheet, and Catalyst. Through Jentic you install once, add each Zoho API from the Jentic directory, store its credential once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** Zoho APIs put record and resource ids in the URL path, so your own rules can pin an agent to one project, form, or record and to a chosen set of operations. Destructive calls like record deletion are excluded unless you add them, and you scope each service independently.
- **Credential handling:** Each Zoho credential is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context, and one service's credential is not shared with another unless you allow it.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search the Jentic directory by intent such as create a lead, create a work order, or execute a serverless function, and Jentic returns the matching Zoho operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint across all eight APIs without browsing reference docs.

## Related vendors

- **Salesforce** — Alternative CRM and business application suite for teams choosing a different sales platform
- **HubSpot** — Alternative CRM with marketing and sales tooling that overlaps with Zoho CRM
- **DocuSign** — Dedicated e-signature provider comparable to Zoho Sign for document signing workflows
- **Shopify** — Alternative commerce platform overlapping with Zoho Inventory for product and order management

## FAQ

### What can an AI agent do across Zoho's APIs?

An agent can manage CRM leads and contacts, inventory items and invoices, field service work orders, HR forms and attendance, signature requests, documents, and spreadsheets, and it can run serverless functions, data queries, file storage, and transactional email on the Catalyst backend. Because these come from one vendor, an agent can chain them into workflows that cross sales, operations, HR, and backend automation.

### Do I need separate credentials for each Zoho API?

Most Zoho services use OAuth 2.0 against Zoho's shared accounts system, so one Zoho account can authorize several APIs, but each service needs its own scopes and Zoho CRM uses a bearer token. In practice you grant per-service access rather than a single blanket credential.

### Which Zoho API should I use for stock versus field service?

Use Zoho Inventory for stock items, invoices, bills, and credit notes, and use Zoho FSM for field service work orders, service appointments, and technicians. They both sit in commerce operations but cover different parts of the workflow, so pick Inventory for products and FSM for on-site jobs.

### Is the Zoho Catalyst API official?

Zoho does not publish an OpenAPI specification for Catalyst, so Jentic generates and maintains that spec and validates it against the live API. The other Zoho APIs in this listing are based on vendor-official specifications.

### Can Zoho's APIs work together in a single agent workflow?

Yes. A common pattern is closing a deal in CRM, creating the invoice in Inventory, and generating a document in Writer for signing through Sign. The Catalyst backend can tie these together with serverless functions, data queries, and email.

### How does an agent find the right Zoho operation?

Through Jentic an agent searches by intent, such as create a lead or create a work order, and receives the matching Zoho operation with its input schema. This avoids browsing reference documentation across eight separate APIs to locate the correct endpoint.