Zoho Books connector
Your Silux Chat bot verifies customers against Zoho Books, then answers questions about their account balance and invoices from your live data.
What your bot can do with Zoho Books
Account balance
Reads the balance Zoho Books holds for the verified customer and adds it to their account summary.
Customers ask: “How much do I owe?” · “Is my account up to date?”
Recognise and verify customers
Finds the customer in Zoho Books by the email address or mobile number they give, checks their name and one more detail, then sends a one-time code to the contact details Zoho Books holds. Nothing personal is shared until the code is entered.
Customers ask: “I want to check my account — it’s Jane Smith, jane@example.com”
Invoices
Reads a verified customer’s invoices from Zoho Books — number, date, amount and whether it is paid.
Customers ask: “Is my latest invoice paid?” · “How much was my last bill?”
Set it up
Most businesses finish in under ten minutes. You need to be able to sign in to Zoho Books as an administrator.
Step 1 — in Zoho Books
- 1Connect with Zoho (OAuth); your Organisation ID is in Zoho Books
- 2Settings
- 3Organisation Profile.
Permissions (scopes) requested — read-only:
ZohoBooks.contacts.READZohoBooks.invoices.READLeast access: grant only the read permissions named above. Never use an owner or full-admin key where Zoho Books lets you create a restricted one.
Step 2 — in Silux Chat
- 1Open Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and search for “Zoho Books”.
- 2Fill in:
Field Example Stored Organisation ID 10234695 Setting Zoho data centre domain zohoapis.eu Setting - 3Press Sign in with Zoho Books. The platform makes a real, read-only call to Zoho Books with a made-up customer and shows a tick or a cross for each capability, with Zoho Books’s exact error if something is refused.
- 4If this is your first way of verifying customers it is switched on automatically; otherwise press Use to verify customers. The platform then runs its chained test (verify → code → account → orders → invoices) with the built-in test customer — no real person is contacted.
There is no key to copy. You press “Sign in with Zoho Books”, approve read-only access on Zoho Books’s own page, and are returned to your dashboard. The access token is stored encrypted and refreshed automatically before it expires.
How customer verification works
- STEP 1
Customer asks
They ask about their own account. The bot asks for their full name and their email or mobile, plus one more detail such as their postcode.
- STEP 2
Found in Zoho Books
The customer is looked up in Zoho Books by email, then mobile. The surname must match exactly and the first name must match or start with the same letter, plus one more detail.
- STEP 3
Code sent
A 6-digit code goes to the mobile Zoho Books holds (by text, when your plan has SMS) or otherwise to the email it holds. The chat never chooses where it goes.
- STEP 4
Verified
The customer types the code. It is valid for 10 minutes and five wrong attempts cancel it. The verified session lasts 30 minutes.
If the details don’t match, the customer is told only that they couldn’t be matched — never which detail was wrong. If Zoho Books can’t be reached, the bot says it can’t check accounts right now rather than “no account found”. The bot is blocked in code from reading orders, invoices or bookings until verification succeeds. Full details: Customer identity verification & OTP.
What the bot can and cannot see
Can see (after verification)
- Record ID
- Name
- Email address
- Phone / mobile
- Balance
- Invoice number
- Date
- Amount
- Status
- Outstanding
- Currency
Only these standard fields are mapped from Zoho Books’s responses. Everything else in the response is discarded before the bot sees it.
Never sees
- bank details, ledgers or other customers’ accounts
- passwords, security answers or login details
- records belonging to anyone other than the verified customer
- anything outside the fields listed alongside
Security
Sign-in tokens encrypted at rest
Credentials are stored encrypted, shown only masked after saving, and destroyed — not just hidden — when you disconnect.
Read-only look-ups
Every capability is a look-up. The connector cannot create, change or delete anything in Zoho Books.
HTTPS only
Calls go to the vendor’s HTTPS address, redirects are not followed, and private network addresses are refused.
Injection-safe
Values a customer types are cleaned before they are placed in Zoho Books’s search, and URL-encoded in addresses.
Other customers filtered out
A row that names a different customer’s email is dropped, whatever the vendor’s search returned.
Checked daily
Connections are re-tested every day, and the owner is emailed if a working connection starts failing.
More: Security & data protection.
Technical details
For developers and IT teams: the Zoho Books endpoints this connector reads, relative to https://www.{domain}/books/v3. Values in braces come from the settings you enter.
| Capability | Request | Standard fields returned |
|---|---|---|
| Recognise and verify customers | GET/contacts | id, name, email, phone, balance |
| Invoices | GET/invoices | invoice, date, amount, status, outstanding, currency |
| Account balance | GET/contacts/{customer_id} | balance, currency |
Test level: Documented-API tested. Each capability is run automatically against Zoho Books’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields; your own connection is then tested with a real call when you connect. The bot receives these through the standard Account Connect endpoints, exactly as if you had built them yourself.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| “the vendor refused the credentials (401)” or (403) | The sign-in was revoked or has expired, or it lacks a read permission this connector needs. Sign in with Zoho Books again. |
| “That Organisation ID doesn’t look right” | Enter it in the form shown, e.g. 10234695 — without https:// or a trailing slash. |
| “Silux Chat’s Zoho Books app is not registered yet” | Our sign-in app with Zoho Books isn’t available yet; our team is notified automatically. Email support@siluxcall.co.uk for timing or alternatives. |
| Customers are “not matched” although they exist | Customers are looked up by email or mobile, not postcode. Check the customer’s email or mobile is saved on their Zoho Books record, and that the surname matches. |
| A capability shows a cross but others work | That permission wasn’t granted in Zoho Books, or your Zoho Books plan doesn’t include that part of the API. Grant it and press Test. |
| “the vendor kept rate-limiting the request” | Zoho Books returned “too many requests” three times in a row. The platform already waits and retries automatically (up to 10 seconds, as Zoho Books asks); if it persists, ask Zoho Books about your API quota. |
| Results are empty for a verified customer | The records exist under a different email or customer record in Zoho Books, or none are recent. Check the customer’s record in Zoho Books directly. |
Full error reference: Troubleshooting & error reference.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Zoho Books connection read-only?
Yes. Every request Silux Chat makes to Zoho Books is a look-up; none creates, changes or deletes anything in Zoho Books. Give the key or sign-in read-only permissions wherever Zoho Books offers them.
Do I need a developer to connect Zoho Books?
No. You sign in with Zoho Books in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and press “Sign in with Zoho Books”. The platform makes a real call to Zoho Books straight away and shows exactly which features work.
How does the bot know it is really my customer?
It finds the customer in Zoho Books by the email or mobile they give, checks their name and one more detail, then sends a one-time code to the mobile or email held in Zoho Books — never to one typed in the chat. The code lasts 10 minutes, five wrong attempts cancel it, and a verified session lasts 30 minutes.
What happens if my Zoho Books key is revoked or expires?
The bot tells customers it can’t check their account right now — it never pretends there are “no orders”. Connections are re-tested daily and the account owner is emailed when a working connection starts failing. Reconnect it in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors.
How has the Zoho Books connector been tested?
It is Documented-API tested: every capability is run automatically against Zoho Books’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields. When you connect, it is tested again with a real call to your own Zoho Books account before your bot uses it.
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Need help with your integration?
Our integration team can review your endpoints, help you choose the right connector and check a test run with you. Tell us which system you use and what you would like the bot to answer.