How to get custom views in Zoho

Custom views in Zoho CRM can be retrieved either as a full list for a given module or as a single view by its ID, using two dedicated API endpoints available through the CRM settings API.

Why this matters

When building integrations or automations on top of Zoho CRM, you often need to know which custom views exist for a module — for example, to replicate a saved filter in an external dashboard or to validate that a view exists before referencing it programmatically. Fetching a specific view by ID lets you inspect its exact configuration without pulling the entire list. As independent expert support (not official Zoho support), Beam Help documents these endpoints so your team can use them confidently.

Step-by-step

Step 1. To retrieve all custom views for a module, send a GET request to the /settings/customviews endpoint, passing the module API name as the module query parameter.^[1] For example, to list all custom views for the Leads module, your request would target /settings/customviews?module=Leads.^[1]

Step 2. The underlying call follows this pattern — your client issues a GET to /settings/custom_views with {"module": m} as the parameter payload, where m is the module name string.^[1] This operation is categorised as a settings call and has been verified as SAFE to run without risk of modifying data.^[3]

Step 3. To retrieve a single custom view by its ID, use the /settings/custom_views/{vid} endpoint instead, where {vid} is the unique view identifier.^[2] You still supply the module name as a query parameter alongside the view ID.^[2]

Step 4. The single-view call follows this pattern — your client issues a GET to /settings/custom_views/{vid} with {"module": m} as the parameter, and vid is the view ID string you want to inspect.^[2] Like the list endpoint, this operation is classified as SAFE with no write-side effects.^[8]

Step 5. If you are working within the Beam Help tooling layer, the getcustomview tool wraps this endpoint and accepts m (module name) and view_id as its parameters.^[7] Pass both values and the tool handles the path construction for you.^[7]

Common pitfalls

• Missing the module parameter. Both endpoints require the module parameter — omitting it will result in a failed or ambiguous response, since Zoho CRM custom views are always scoped to a specific module.^[1][2]
• Confusing the two endpoints. /settings/customviews (no path suffix) returns the full list for a module, while /settings/customviews/{vid} targets one specific view. Using the list endpoint when you already have a view ID is inefficient and returns more data than needed.^[1][2]
• Stale view IDs. View IDs are stable but can become invalid if a custom view is deleted in the CRM UI. Always handle a missing-view response gracefully in your integration code.^[8]

What to check

• Confirm the module API name you are passing matches the exact internal name used by Zoho CRM (e.g., Leads, Contacts, Deals) — a mismatch will return no results.^[1]
• Verify the view ID you supply to /settings/custom_views/{vid} was obtained from a prior list call or from the CRM settings, to avoid referencing a deleted or non-existent view.^[2][8]
• Ensure your API credentials have access to the settings scope, since both endpoints sit under /settings/ and may require elevated permissions beyond standard record-level access.^[3][8]