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Zoho Cliq

Cliq Widget

A Cliq Widget in Zoho Cliq is an embedded mini-application panel that renders a form or interactive UI inside the chat window, allowing users to

Technical Term

Widgets solve the core problem with slash commands for multi-field inputs: a slash command can only take a single text argument, but a Widget can render a full form with dropdowns, date pickers, and text fields inside the Cliq sidebar. This makes them the right choice for actions that would otherwise send users to an external application to fill in details.

How Cliq Widget Works in Zoho Cliq

A Cliq Widget is an interactive panel rendered inside the Zoho Cliq interface, typically triggered by a slash command or a button in a bot message. The widget is defined using Zoho’s Widgets SDK, which provides UI components such as text inputs, dropdowns, checkboxes, and date pickers. When the user submits the widget form, the data is passed to a Deluge function that processes the submission and may post a confirmation message or update an external system.

When to Use Cliq Widget

Use a Widget when a user action requires multiple structured inputs that are impractical to pass as a single slash command argument. Common use cases include creating a leave request, logging an expense, or raising a support ticket directly from chat. Widgets are also appropriate when input validation matters and you want to guide the user through a defined set of fields rather than accepting free text.

Key Considerations for Cliq Widget

Widgets require the Zoho Cliq Widgets SDK and are built using HTML and JavaScript hosted externally or within Zoho. The widget URL must be registered in the bot configuration. Because widgets load an external frame, ensure your hosting supports HTTPS; plain HTTP URLs will be blocked. Test widget rendering on both the Cliq desktop application and the web browser version, as layout behaviour can differ slightly between them.

India Example: A Pune-based logistics company built a Cliq Widget triggered by /report-delay. Dispatchers fill in a dropdown for the route, a date field for the delay date, and a text box for the reason. On submission, the Deluge handler creates a delay record in Zoho Creator and posts a summary to the #operations channel automatically.
What is the difference between a Cliq Widget and a Slash Command?

A Slash Command accepts a single line of text typed after the command keyword and passes it directly to a Deluge function. A Cliq Widget, by contrast, opens an interactive UI panel with multiple input fields, dropdowns, and validation. Widgets are suited to structured multi-field inputs, while slash commands work well for simple lookups or single-parameter triggers.

Does a Cliq Widget need to be hosted externally?

Yes. A Cliq Widget is essentially a small web application loaded in an iframe inside Cliq. The HTML and JavaScript files must be hosted at an HTTPS URL that Cliq can reach. You can host them on any web server, including Zoho Catalyst or any cloud hosting provider. The widget URL is registered in the bot configuration in the Cliq developer panel.

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