Sign inGet started
Docs
Get started

Zoho Books API Authentication

How to authenticate Zoho Books API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud runs the OAuth flow and refreshes Zoho Books tokens for you.

Every Zoho Books API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Zoho Books account. This page covers both, plus exactly how to send them, so you do not need to visit any other page to get authenticated.

Steps to authenticate

  1. Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
  2. Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
  3. Create a Zoho Books connection in Connections. Zoho Books uses OAuth. When you create the connection, you are redirected to sign in to Zoho Books and approve access — MindCloud stores the resulting tokens and refreshes them automatically, so your integration never has to.
  4. Copy the connection’s connectionId — you will send it on every request alongside your MindCloud API Key.

How requests are authenticated

Authentication has two layers. Your MindCloud API Key authenticates the request to MindCloud, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The connectionId selects the connected Zoho Books account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Zoho Books credentials behind that connection, so you never send provider tokens with your requests.

Pass connectionId in the query string for GET and DELETE actions, and in the JSON body for POST, PUT, and PATCH actions.

For example, calling List Organizations with an Zoho Books connection looks like this:

curl --request GET \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v1/universal/zohoBooks/latest/actions/list-organizations" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --get \
  --data-urlencode "connectionId=$CONNECTION_ID"

The Authorization: Bearer <your MindCloud API Key> header authenticates you to MindCloud; the connectionId tells MindCloud which Zoho Books account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

Set up Zoho Books OAuth

You need a Zoho account with access to Zoho Books. If you already have a Client ID and Client Secret, you can skip the client-creation step.

  1. Open Zoho Developer Console

    Sign in with the Zoho account that manages your Zoho Books organization.

    Zoho Developer Console
  2. Create or review a server-based client

    Choose Server-based Applications. Enter a client name, your homepage URL, and the exact redirect URI that MindCloud shows during connection setup, then click CREATE.

  3. Copy the client credentials into MindCloud

    Paste the Client ID and Client Secret into this app configuration so MindCloud can start the Zoho OAuth flow.

  4. Confirm your Zoho domain

    Open your Zoho Books web app and note the domain suffix in the URL, such as com, eu, in, com.au, jp, ca, com.cn, or sa. Enter that value in the Zoho Domain field.

  5. Enable Multi DC if this client will be used outside its original data center

    In Zoho Developer Console, enable Multi DC for the client when Zoho documents that your users may authenticate from different Zoho regions.

Keep your key safe

Keep your MindCloud API Key on your server; do not ship it in browser code, mobile apps, public repositories, or logs. Anyone with the key can call the Universal API as your MindCloud account, across every connection you have created.