DocumentationAPI Reference

Getting started with custom objects

The Zendesk REST API provides many types of native data objects for storing and managing your customer data, including tickets, users, and organizations. We call these "standard objects." However, standard objects can't provide every possible type of data object that your organization might want. Admins can create custom objects to capture, model, and retrieve data that doesn't fit into the standard Zendesk objects. Extending the Zendesk data model with custom objects enables you to seamlessly integrate your custom data with tickets, triggers, Explore analytics, integrations, and the Zendesk Apps framework. Zendesk provides fully functional custom objects APIs, but custom objects can also be used without any coding.

Understanding custom objects

A custom object is comprised of two parts: the object itself and the fields that define the object's schema. However, in practice there are four key things you need to understand to successfully use custom objects:

  • Custom objects - A custom object describes a container for your custom data.
  • Custom object fields - The custom fields added to a custom object define its properties or schema. Without fields, a custom object can't be used.
  • Lookup relationship fields - Lookup relationship fields are a type of custom field that can be defined on the custom object or on a standard object. They describe single-direction relationships that can be created. Selecting a value within a lookup relationship field creates an association between two records.
  • Custom object records - A record is a single instance of the custom data defined by your custom object.

Activating custom objects

Before you can use custom objects, an admin must enable the feature. Custom objects are available on Support Enterprise plans and all Zendesk Suite plans.

To turn on custom objects in your account

  1. In Admin Center, click ()Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Custom objects > Objects.

  2. Click Get started.

Note: If you previously used legacy custom objects, those objects are now visible on the Legacy objects and Relationships pages. To enable the latest custom objects experience, click Try it out in the banner at the top of the Legacy objects page.

Planning your custom object workflow

Before you start creating and using custom objects, take some time to work with your account admins and agents to plan your custom data workflow. The number of custom objects you can create depends on your plan. Additionally, you should understand your data, think about how it would fit into a data model, and determine how you want to leverage your custom data within Zendesk. Thinking about these things before you start will save you time in the long-run.

Getting started with the Custom Objects API

After an admin turns on custom objects, you can begin using the APIs. They consist of the following resources:

You can also refer to the other custom object tutorials: