How to Send Zoho CRM Lead Alerts to Slack with Pipedream

pipedream.com > Dashboard > New Workflow

Create a new Pipedream workflow

Go to pipedream.com and sign in. Click 'New Workflow' in the top right of the dashboard. You'll land on a blank workflow canvas with a trigger slot at the top. Give the workflow a name like 'Zoho CRM Lead → Slack' in the title field at the top of the canvas so you can find it later.

1. 1Click the blue 'New Workflow' button at the top right of the dashboard
2. 2Click the workflow title field (defaults to 'My Workflow') and rename it to 'Zoho CRM Lead → Slack'
3. 3Click 'Save' or press Enter to confirm the name

Workflow Canvas > Add a trigger > Zoho CRM > New Lead

Add the Zoho CRM trigger

Click the 'Add a trigger' block at the top of the canvas. Search for 'Zoho CRM' in the app search box. Select 'New Lead' as the trigger event — this fires an instant webhook every time a new lead record is created. Pipedream will show you the trigger configuration panel on the right side of the screen.

1. 1Click the 'Add a trigger' block
2. 2Type 'Zoho CRM' in the app search field
3. 3Click 'Zoho CRM' in the results list
4. 4Select 'New Lead' from the trigger event dropdown

Trigger Configuration Panel > Connect Account > Zoho CRM OAuth

Connect your Zoho CRM account

Click 'Connect Account' in the trigger configuration panel. A popup window will open asking you to authorize Pipedream to access Zoho CRM via OAuth. Sign in with your Zoho credentials and click 'Accept' on the permissions screen. Pipedream needs read access to leads — make sure the account you connect has CRM Lead read permissions in Zoho.

1. 1Click 'Connect Account' in the right panel
2. 2Select 'Connect new account' if no account is listed
3. 3Sign in to Zoho in the popup window
4. 4Click 'Accept' on the Zoho OAuth permissions screen
5. 5Confirm you see the account name appear in the 'Account' dropdown

Trigger Configuration Panel > Generate Test Event

Configure the trigger and load sample data

With the account connected, set the polling interval or click 'Generate Test Event' to pull a real lead from Zoho CRM into Pipedream. Pipedream will fetch the most recent lead record and display it as structured JSON in the trigger output panel. You'll use these fields to build the Slack message in the next steps. Click 'Continue' once you see lead data.

1. 1Click 'Generate Test Event' button in the trigger panel
2. 2Wait 5-10 seconds for Pipedream to fetch a real lead from Zoho CRM
3. 3Expand the JSON output to confirm you see fields like First_Name, Last_Name, Company, Lead_Source
4. 4Click 'Continue' to move to the next step

Workflow Canvas > + > Run Node.js code

Add a Node.js code step to format the Slack message

Click the '+' button below the trigger block to add a new step. Select 'Run Node.js code' from the step type options. This code step will pull fields from the Zoho trigger output and construct a clean, readable Slack message. You'll write or paste the formatting logic here before sending it to Slack. This is where Pipedream's code-first approach pays off — you can pull, rename, and format any Zoho field without a separate formatter tool.

1. 1Click the '+' button below the Zoho CRM trigger block
2. 2Click 'Run Node.js code' from the step type list
3. 3Rename the step to 'Format Lead Message' by clicking the step title
4. 4Paste the formatting code from the Pro Tip section below into the code editor

This code runs in the Node.js code step between the Zoho trigger and the Slack step. Paste it into the code editor in Step 5. It formats a Slack Block Kit message with a header, lead details, and a direct CRM link — much richer than a plain text message. It also includes basic error handling so the workflow logs a clear message instead of crashing if a field is missing.

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    // Pull lead data from the Zoho CRM trigger

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    // Pull lead data from the Zoho CRM trigger
    const lead = steps.trigger.event;

    // Safely extract fields with fallback values
    const firstName = lead.First_Name || '';
    const lastName = lead.Last_Name || 'Unknown';
    const fullName = `${firstName} ${lastName}`.trim();
    const company = lead.Company || 'No company listed';
    const email = lead.Email || 'No email';
    const phone = lead.Phone || 'No phone';
    const source = lead.Lead_Source || 'Unknown source';
    const status = lead.Lead_Status || 'New';
    const ownerName = lead.Owner?.name || 'Unassigned';
    const leadId = lead.id;

    if (!leadId) {
      throw new Error('Lead ID missing from Zoho trigger payload — cannot build CRM link');
    }

    // Build the direct Zoho CRM link for this lead
    const crmUrl = `https://crm.zoho.com/crm/org/leads/${leadId}`;

    // Format a Slack Block Kit message for a richer notification card
    const blocks = [
      {
        type: 'header',
        text: {
          type: 'plain_text',
          text: `🆕 New Lead: ${fullName}`,
          emoji: true
        }
      },
      {
        type: 'section',
        fields: [
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Company:*\n${company}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Source:*\n${source}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Email:*\n${email}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Phone:*\n${phone}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Status:*\n${status}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Owner:*\n${ownerName}` }
        ]
      },
      {
        type: 'actions',
        elements: [
          {
            type: 'button',
            text: { type: 'plain_text', text: 'View in Zoho CRM' },
            url: crmUrl,
            style: 'primary'
          }
        ]
      }
    ];

    // Return both plain text fallback and blocks for the Slack step
    return {
      text: `New lead: ${fullName} from ${company} (${source}) — ${crmUrl}`,
      blocks: JSON.stringify(blocks)
    };
  }
});

Code Step Panel > Test

Test the code step

Click 'Test' in the code step panel to run it against the sample lead data fetched in Step 4. Pipedream will execute the Node.js function and show the return value in the 'Results' tab. Verify that the formatted message string looks correct — you should see the lead's name, company, source, email, and a CRM link in the output. Fix any undefined fields before moving on.

1. 1Click the 'Test' button at the top of the code step panel
2. 2Switch to the 'Results' tab to see the function output
3. 3Confirm the formatted message text contains real lead data, not 'undefined'
4. 4If any field is undefined, check the field name against the trigger JSON output

This code runs in the Node.js code step between the Zoho trigger and the Slack step. Paste it into the code editor in Step 5. It formats a Slack Block Kit message with a header, lead details, and a direct CRM link — much richer than a plain text message. It also includes basic error handling so the workflow logs a clear message instead of crashing if a field is missing.

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    // Pull lead data from the Zoho CRM trigger

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    // Pull lead data from the Zoho CRM trigger
    const lead = steps.trigger.event;

    // Safely extract fields with fallback values
    const firstName = lead.First_Name || '';
    const lastName = lead.Last_Name || 'Unknown';
    const fullName = `${firstName} ${lastName}`.trim();
    const company = lead.Company || 'No company listed';
    const email = lead.Email || 'No email';
    const phone = lead.Phone || 'No phone';
    const source = lead.Lead_Source || 'Unknown source';
    const status = lead.Lead_Status || 'New';
    const ownerName = lead.Owner?.name || 'Unassigned';
    const leadId = lead.id;

    if (!leadId) {
      throw new Error('Lead ID missing from Zoho trigger payload — cannot build CRM link');
    }

    // Build the direct Zoho CRM link for this lead
    const crmUrl = `https://crm.zoho.com/crm/org/leads/${leadId}`;

    // Format a Slack Block Kit message for a richer notification card
    const blocks = [
      {
        type: 'header',
        text: {
          type: 'plain_text',
          text: `🆕 New Lead: ${fullName}`,
          emoji: true
        }
      },
      {
        type: 'section',
        fields: [
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Company:*\n${company}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Source:*\n${source}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Email:*\n${email}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Phone:*\n${phone}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Status:*\n${status}` },
          { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Owner:*\n${ownerName}` }
        ]
      },
      {
        type: 'actions',
        elements: [
          {
            type: 'button',
            text: { type: 'plain_text', text: 'View in Zoho CRM' },
            url: crmUrl,
            style: 'primary'
          }
        ]
      }
    ];

    // Return both plain text fallback and blocks for the Slack step
    return {
      text: `New lead: ${fullName} from ${company} (${source}) — ${crmUrl}`,
      blocks: JSON.stringify(blocks)
    };
  }
});

Workflow Canvas > + > Slack > Send a Message

Add the Slack step

Click '+' below the code step to add another step. Search for 'Slack' and select 'Send a Message' as the action. Connect your Slack account via OAuth — you'll need to authorize the Pipedream Slack app in your workspace. Pipedream will ask for the bot:chat:write and channels:read scopes at minimum.

1. 1Click '+' below the Format Lead Message step
2. 2Search for 'Slack' in the app list
3. 3Select 'Send a Message' as the action
4. 4Click 'Connect Account' and authorize Pipedream in your Slack workspace
5. 5Confirm the account email appears in the Account dropdown

Slack Step Configuration > Channel > Message Text

Configure the Slack message

In the Slack step configuration panel, set the Channel field to the target channel (e.g., #new-leads). In the Message Text field, reference the formatted output from Step 5 using Pipedream's expression syntax: type '{{steps.format_lead_message.$return_value.text}}' or click the reference builder and navigate to the code step's return value. You can also use Block Kit JSON in the 'Blocks' field for richer formatting — the pro tip code returns a blocks array you can wire directly here.

1. 1Click the Channel field and type or select your target channel (e.g., #new-leads)
2. 2Click the Message Text field
3. 3Type '{{' and use the reference picker to select steps > format_lead_message > $return_value > text
4. 4Optionally, paste the blocks array reference into the 'Blocks' field for a richer card format

Workflow Canvas > Test Workflow

Test the full workflow end-to-end

Click 'Test Workflow' at the top of the canvas to run all steps against the sample Zoho lead data from Step 4. Watch each step turn green as it completes. Check your Slack channel — a message should appear within 5 seconds. If any step fails, click it to see the error output and check the troubleshooting section below.

1. 1Click the 'Test Workflow' button at the top of the canvas
2. 2Watch each step indicator turn green as it runs
3. 3Open Slack and check the target channel for the test message
4. 4If a step shows a red error indicator, click it to read the error detail

Workflow Canvas > Deploy

Deploy and activate the workflow

Once the test passes, click 'Deploy' in the top right corner of the canvas. Pipedream will activate the workflow and begin polling Zoho CRM for new leads at the configured interval. The workflow status indicator at the top will change from gray to green. From this point, every new lead added to Zoho CRM will trigger a Slack message automatically.

1. 1Click the 'Deploy' button in the top right of the workflow canvas
2. 2Confirm the deployment in the dialog if prompted
3. 3Check that the workflow status badge changes to 'Active' (green)
4. 4Add a real test lead in Zoho CRM to verify the live workflow fires