How to list help center users in Zoho Desk

Listing help center users in Zoho Desk is straightforward once you have your help center ID and a valid API connection — a single GET request returns the full user list for the specified portal.

Why this matters

If you manage a Zoho Desk help center portal, you may need to audit who has registered as a self-service user, troubleshoot login issues, or sync portal users with an external system. The listhelpcenter_users operation gives you programmatic access to that roster without manually browsing the Desk admin UI. This is especially useful for teams running automated onboarding or compliance checks against their support portal.

---

Step-by-step

Step 1. Confirm your Zoho Desk API connection is active and that your OAuth token includes the correct scopes. At minimum you need Desk.basic.READ in your authorised scope set, alongside any other Desk scopes your integration uses (e.g. Desk.contacts.READ, Desk.tickets.ALL). ^[5]

Step 2. Ensure your integration has resolved the Desk organisation ID (orgid). When a Desk API client is initialised, the system looks up the org ID from stored credentials; if it is missing, it auto-discovers it by calling the organisations endpoint and persists the first result. Verify that deskorg_id is populated in your connection record before proceeding. ^[3][6]

Step 3. Identify the help center ID (helpcenter_id) for the portal whose users you want to list. This is the unique identifier of the specific help center within your Zoho Desk organisation — not the org ID itself. You can find it in the Desk admin panel under Help Center → Portals, or retrieve it via a prior API call that lists portals.

Step 4. Send a GET request to the following endpoint, substituting your actual help center ID:

GET /api/v1/helpcenter/{helpcenter_id}/users

The operation name is listhelpcenter_users. The two supported parameters are:

| Parameter | Type | Description |

|---|---|---|

| helpcenter_id | string (path) | The ID of the target help center portal |

| p | dict (query) | Optional pagination or filter parameters |

^[2]

Step 5. In code, the call looks like this (using the Zoho Desk client wrapper):

result = desk_api.list_help_center_users(
    helpcenter_id="your_helpcenter_id",
    p={}   # pass pagination params here if needed
)

The client issues a GET request to /api/v1/helpcenter/{helpcenter_id}/users, forwarding any query parameters you supply in p. ^[2]

Step 6. Parse the response. The API returns a data structure containing the list of registered help center users. Display or process the key fields — such as name, email, and status — for each user record returned. ^[1]

---

Common pitfalls

• Missing org ID. If the deskorgid is blank when the Desk client is constructed, API calls may fail or target the wrong organisation. The system attempts auto-discovery, but if that also fails (e.g. due to an expired token), the org ID will remain empty and requests will be rejected. Always confirm the org ID is resolved before calling help center endpoints. ^[3][6]

• Token scope gaps. Zoho Desk OAuth scopes are granular. If Desk.basic.READ is absent from your token's scope list, calls to help center and organisational endpoints will return authorisation errors. Double-check your configured scopes cover both the basic and any contact-related permissions your use case requires. ^[5]

• Pagination not handled. The p parameter accepts pagination options. If your help center has a large number of registered users, a single call may only return a partial set. Pass appropriate page/limit values in p to iterate through all results. ^[2]

• Wrong ID supplied. Passing an org ID where a helpcenter_id is expected (or vice versa) will result in a 404 or empty response. These are distinct identifiers within Zoho Desk. ^[2][3]

---

What to check

• OAuth scopes are correct — confirm Desk.basic.READ (and any other required scopes) appear in your active token before making the call. ^[5]
• helpcenter_id is valid — verify the ID belongs to an existing portal in your Desk organisation, not the org ID itself. ^[2]
• deskorgid is persisted — check your connection record to ensure the organisation ID was successfully discovered and saved, so the API client routes requests correctly. ^[3][6]

---

*Beam Help is an independent expert support resource for Zoho products and is not official Zoho support. Always refer to Zoho's own documentation for the latest API specifications.*