Queue-North-Website/docs/zoho-setup.md

Zoho CRM Setup Guide for Queue North Admins

This guide walks you through setting up Zoho CRM integration to automatically capture leads and support cases from Queue North's website.

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🔒 Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• A Zoho CRM account (admin access required)
• Access to Zoho API Console: https://api-console.zoho.com

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Step 1: Create a Zoho Self-Client App

1. Go to https://api-console.zoho.com
2. Click "Create Self Client"
3. Fill in:
   • Client Name: Queue-North-Zoho-Integration
   • Description: Auto-capture leads and cases from Queue North website
   • Redirect URI: https://www.zoho.com (required for Self-Client, not used)
4. Click Create
5. Copy and save:
   • Client ID
   • Client Secret

⚠️ Store these securely — they're like a username and password.

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Step 2: Generate an Authorization Code

1. In the Self Client tab, click "Generate Code"
2. Set the Scope to:

   ZohoCRM.modules.leads.CREATE,ZohoCRM.modules.leads.READ,ZohoCRM.modules.cases.CREATE,ZohoCRM.modules.cases.READ
   

3. Set Expiry to 10 minutes (use it quickly)
4. Click Generate
5. Copy the authorization code — it expires in 10 minutes

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Step 3: Exchange Auth Code for Tokens

Run this curl command (replace placeholders):

curl -X POST https://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/token \
  -d "code=<YOUR_AUTH_CODE>" \
  -d "client_id=<YOUR_CLIENT_ID>" \
  -d "client_secret=<YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET>" \
  -d "grant_type=authorization_code" \
  -d "redirect_uri=https://www.zoho.com"

Response will include:

{
  "access_token": "1000.xxxxx.xxxxx",
  "refresh_token": "1000.yyyyy.yyyyy",
  "expires_in": 3600,
  "token_type": "bearer"
}

Save the refresh_token — this never expires and must be kept secret.

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Step 4: Configure Environment Variables

Add these to your .env file:

# Zoho integration is OFF by default — set to true to enable
ZOHO_ENABLED=false
ZOHO_API_DOMAIN=https://www.zohoapis.com
ZOHO_ACCOUNTS_DOMAIN=https://accounts.zoho.com
ZOHO_CLIENT_ID=<from Step 1>
ZOHO_CLIENT_SECRET=<from Step 1>
ZOHO_REFRESH_TOKEN=<from Step 3>
# Cases forwarding is also OFF by default
ZOHO_CASES_ENABLED=false

Note: Both ZOHO_ENABLED and ZOHO_CASES_ENABLED default to false. Set them to true only after completing Steps 1–3 and verifying your credentials.

Datacenter Variants

If your Zoho datacenter is outside the US, adjust the domains:

Region	API Domain	Accounts Domain
US	www.zohoapis.com	accounts.zoho.com
EU	www.zohoapis.eu	accounts.zoho.eu
IN	www.zohoapis.in	accounts.zoho.in
AU	www.zohoapis.com.au	accounts.zoho.com.au

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Step 5: Test the Integration

Test Lead Capture

1. Submit a lead on the contact form (name, email, phone, message)
2. Wait ~5–10 seconds
3. Log in to Zoho CRM → Leads tab
4. Verify the new lead appears with correct data

Test Case Capture

1. Submit a support request (e.g., booking inquiry, technical question)
2. Wait ~5–10 seconds
3. Log in to Zoho CRM → Cases tab
4. Verify the new case appears with correct data

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Troubleshooting

Token Errors

• "invalid_grant": Your authorization code expired. Generate a new one in Step 2 and repeat Step 3.
• "invalid_client": Double-check Client ID and Secret — no extra spaces.
• "invalid_scope": Re-run Step 2 with the exact scopes listed above.

Field Mismatches

• If leads/cases don't appear, check if Zoho requires custom fields like Service_Interest
• Edit the field mapping in server/zoho/ to match your Zoho CRM field API names

Cases Not Appearing

• Ensure ZOHO_CASES_ENABLED=true is set
• Verify the Cases tab is enabled in your Zoho CRM plan
• Check that your Zoho CRM user has Cases CREATE permissions

Lead Upsert Behavior

• Leads are upserted by email: duplicate email = update existing lead
• Cases are always inserted (new ticket each time)
• If you see duplicate leads, check for slight email variations (e.g., test@ vs test+1@)

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Architecture Notes

Flow Overview

Website Contact Form → SQLite (always saved)
                        ↓
                 Zoho CRM (best-effort)
                        ↓
                 Fire-and-forget (no failure blocking)

OAuth2 Refresh Token Flow

1. Use refresh_token to get a new access_token when expired
2. access_token expires in 1 hour
3. refresh_token never expires — store it securely

Upsert Logic

• Leads: Email-based upsert (update if exists, create if new)
• Cases: Always insert (new case per submission)

Fire-and-Forget Design

• Zoho failures do not block form submissions
• All data is saved to SQLite first
• Zoho attempts happen in the background
• No retry logic needed — users won't wait for Zoho

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What Happens Next?

After configuration:

1. Deploy the environment variables to production
2. Set ZOHO_ENABLED=true and ZOHO_CASES_ENABLED=true in production .env
3. Restart the application
4. Submit a test lead and support case to verify data flows to Zoho CRM
5. Check Zoho CRM Leads and Cases tabs to confirm both appear

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Need help? Contact your site administrator.