Create a Zoho CRM base connection using the Flow Service API

A base connection represents the authenticated connection between a source and Adobe Experience Platform.

This tutorial walks you through the steps to create a base connection for Zoho CRM using the Flow Service API.

Getting Started

This guide requires a working understanding of the following components of Adobe Experience Platform:

  • Sources: Experience Platform allows data to be ingested from various sources while providing you with the ability to structure, label, and enhance incoming data using Platform services.
  • Sandboxes: Experience Platform provides virtual sandboxes which partition a single Platform instance into separate virtual environments to help develop and evolve digital experience applications.

The following sections provide additional information that you need to know in order to successfully connect to Zoho CRM using the Flow Service API.

Gather required credentials

In order for Flow Service to connect with Zoho CRM, you must provide values for the following connection properties:

Credential
Description
endpoint
The endpoint of the Zoho CRM server you are making your request to.
accountsUrl
The accounts URL is used to generate your access and refresh tokens. The URL must be domain-specific.
clientId
The client ID that corresponds with your Zoho CRM user account.
clientSecret
The client secret that corresponds with your Zoho CRM user account.
accessToken
The access token authorizes your secure and temporary access to your Zoho CRM account.
refreshToken
A refresh token is a token used to generate a new access token, once your access token has expired.
connectionSpec.id
The connection specification returns a source’s connector properties, including authentication specifications related to creating the base and source connections. The connection specification ID for Zoho CRM is: 929e4450-0237-4ed2-9404-b7e1e0a00309.

For more information on these credentials, see the documentation on Zoho CRM authentication.

Using Platform APIs

For information on how to successfully make calls to Platform APIs, see the guide on getting started with Platform APIs.

Create a base connection

A base connection retains information between your source and Platform, including your source’s authentication credentials, the current state of the connection, and your unique base connection ID. The base connection ID allows you to explore and navigate files from within your source and identify the specific items that you want to ingest, including information regarding their data types and formats.

To create a base connection ID, make a POST request to the /connections endpoint while providing your Zoho CRM authentication credentials as part of the request parameters.

API format

POST /connections

Request

TIP
Your Accounts URL domain must correspond with your appropriate domain location. The following are the various domains and their corresponding accounts URLs:
  • United States: https://accounts.zoho.com
  • Australia: https://accounts.zoho.com.au
  • Europe: https://accounts.zoho.eu
  • India: https://accounts.zoho.in
  • China: https://accounts.zoho.com.cn

The following request creates a base connection for Zoho CRM:

curl -X POST \
    'https://platform.adobe.io/data/foundation/flowservice/connections' \
    -H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
    -H 'x-api-key: {API_KEY}' \
    -H 'x-gw-ims-org-id: {ORG_ID}' \
    -H 'x-sandbox-name: {SANDBOX_NAME}' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json'
    -d '{
        "name": "Zoho CRM base connection",
        "description": "Base Connection for Zoho CRM",
        "auth": {
            "specName": "Basic Authentication",
            "params": {
                "endpoint": "{ENDPOINT}",
                "accountsUrl": "{ACCOUNTS_URL}",
                "clientId": "{CLIENT_ID}",
                "clientSecret": "{CLIENT_SECRET}",
                "accessToken": "{ACCESS_TOKEN}",
                "refreshToken": "{REFRESH_TOKEN}"
            }
        },
        "connectionSpec": {
            "id": "929e4450-0237-4ed2-9404-b7e1e0a00309",
            "version": "1.0"
        }
    }'
Parameter
Description
name
The name of your Zoho CRM base connection. You can use this name to lookup your Zoho CRM base connection.
description
An optional description for your Zoho CRM base connection.
auth.specName
The authentication type used for the connection.
auth.params.endpoint
The endpoint of the Zoho CRM server you are making your request to.
auth.params.accountsUrl
The accounts URL is used to generated your access and refresh tokens. The URL must be domain-specific.
auth.params.clientId
The client ID that corresponds with your Zoho CRM user account.
auth.params.clientSecret
The client secret that corresponds with your Zoho CRM user account.
auth.params.accessToken
The access token authorizes your secure and temporary access to your Zoho CRM account.
auth.params.refreshToken
A refresh token is a token used to generate a new access token, once your access token has expired.
connectionSpec.id
The connection specification ID for Zoho CRM: 929e4450-0237-4ed2-9404-b7e1e0a00309.

Response

A successful response returns details of the newly created base connection, including its unique identifier (id). This ID is required in the next step to create a source connection.

{
    "id": "2484f2df-c057-4ab5-84f2-dfc0577ab592",
    "etag": "\"10033e77-0000-0200-0000-5e96785b0000\""
}

Next steps

By following this tutorial, you have created a Zoho base connection using the Flow Service API. You can use this base connection ID in the following tutorials:

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