How to integrate Zoho bigin MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Zoho bigin to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Zoho bigin agent that can add new contact to sales pipeline, list all open deals this week, tag recent leads as 'hot prospects' through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Zoho bigin account through Composio's Zoho bigin MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Zoho bigin with

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Zoho bigin
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Zoho bigin as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Zoho bigin operations

What is OpenAI Agents SDK?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

What is the Zoho bigin MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Zoho bigin MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Zoho bigin account. It provides structured and secure access to your CRM pipeline data, so your agent can manage contacts, track deals, organize records, handle attachments, and streamline your small business workflows—all on your behalf.

  • Automated record management: Add, update, or delete records in any Zoho bigin module to keep your CRM data accurate and up to date.
  • Tagging and categorization: Create new tags or apply them to records, making it easy to segment contacts, deals, or companies for better organization.
  • Attachment handling: Retrieve, download, or delete attachments associated with your records, letting your agent manage files and documents with ease.
  • Module and data discovery: List available modules and fetch records with sorting, filtering, and pagination—perfect for quickly surfacing the data you need.
  • Deleted records auditing: Access and review recently deleted records for auditing or restoration, helping you maintain data integrity and recover lost information.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Add RecordsTool to add new records to a module.
Add Tags to RecordsTool to add tags to a specific record in a module.
Create Bulk Read JobTool to create a bulk read job for exporting large amounts of data asynchronously.
Create NotesTool to create notes and associate them with records in Zoho Bigin.
Create Record NotesTool to create new notes for a specific record.
Create TagsTool to create tags for a module.
Delete AttachmentTool to delete an attachment from a record.
Delete NoteTool to delete a note from a specific record.
Delete NotesTool to delete multiple notes from Zoho Bigin.
Delete RecordTool to delete a specific record from a module.
Delete Record PhotoTool to delete a profile photo from a record.
Delete RecordsTool to delete records from a module.
Delink Related RecordsTool to delete the association between a module record and related list records.
Disable NotificationsTool to disable instant notifications for one or more channels.
Download AttachmentTool to download an attachment from a record.
Download Bulk Read ResultTool to download the bulk read job result in ZIP format (containing CSV or ICS export).
Download Record PhotoTool to download the profile photo associated with a specific record.
Enable NotificationsTool to enable instant webhook notifications for module events in Bigin.
Get All NotesTool to retrieve the list of notes associated with records.
Get AttachmentsTool to retrieve attachments for a record.
Get Bulk Read Job StatusTool to retrieve the details of a bulk read job performed earlier.
Get Custom ViewTool to get the metadata of a specific custom view configured in a module.
Get Custom ViewsTool to retrieve the list of custom views available for a module.
Get Deleted RecordsTool to get a list of deleted records in a module.
Get FieldsTool to retrieve field metadata for a Bigin module.
Get LayoutTool to retrieve details of a specific layout by layout ID.
Get LayoutsTool to retrieve the list of layouts available for a module.
Get Module MetadataTool to retrieve metadata of a specific module by its API name.
Get ModulesTool to retrieve a list of all modules.
Get Notification DetailsTool to retrieve information about enabled notifications.
Get OrganizationTool to retrieve organization details including name, ID, currency, time zone, and other settings.
Get ProfilesTool to retrieve the list of available profiles and their properties in an organization.
Get RecordTool to retrieve details of a specific record in a module using the record ID.
Get Record NotesTool to retrieve the list of notes associated with a specific record.
Get RecordsTool to retrieve records from a Bigin module.
Get Records CountTool to get the count of records in a Bigin module.
Get Related Lists MetadataTool to retrieve the list of related lists metadata for a module.
Get Related RecordsTool to retrieve related records associated with a specific record in a module.
Get RolesTool to retrieve the list of available roles and their properties in an organization.
Get Team Pipeline RecordsTool to retrieve pipeline records from Team Pipelines in Zoho Bigin.
Get UserTool to retrieve details of a specific user using the user identification.
Get UsersTool to retrieve the list of users in the organization.
Search RecordsTool to search for records in a Bigin module using various criteria.
Update NoteTool to update an existing note for a specific record in a module.
Update Notification DetailsTool to update notification channel details in Zoho Bigin.
Update Notification InfoTool to update specific notification information without losing existing data.
Update RecordsTool to update existing records in a module.
Update Related RecordsTool to update related records associated with a specific record in a module.
Update UserTool to update details of an existing user by user ID.
Update UsersTool to update details of multiple users in an organization.
Upload AttachmentTool to upload an attachment to a record.
Upload Organization PhotoTool to upload or update the brand logo or image for the current organization.
Upload Record PhotoTool to upload a photo/image to a specific record (e.
Upsert RecordsTool to insert or update records in a module based on unique field values.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Zoho bigin project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key

Install dependencies

pip install composio_openai_agents openai-agents python-dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

Import dependencies

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Zoho bigin.

Set up the Composio instance

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())
What's happening:
  • load_dotenv() loads your .env file so OPENAI_API_KEY and COMPOSIO_API_KEY are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.

Create a Tool Router session

# Create a Zoho bigin Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["zoho_bigin"]
)

mcp_url = session.mcp.url

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only zoho_bigin.
  • The router checks the user's Zoho bigin connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Zoho bigin.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Zoho bigin tools only when needed during the conversation.

Configure the agent

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Zoho bigin. "
        "Help users perform Zoho bigin operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Zoho bigin and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a HostedMCPTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers dict includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • require_approval: 'never' means the agent can execute Zoho bigin operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.

Start chat loop and handle conversation

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Zoho bigin.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using Runner.run().
  • The responses are printed to the console, and conversations are saved locally using SQLite.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Zoho bigin and OpenAI Agents SDK:

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())

# Create Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["zoho_bigin"]
)
mcp_url = session.mcp.url

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Zoho bigin. "
        "Help users perform Zoho bigin operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Zoho bigin MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Zoho bigin.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.

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FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Zoho bigin MCP?

With a standalone Zoho bigin MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Zoho bigin tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Zoho bigin and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK?

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Zoho bigin tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Zoho bigin while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Zoho bigin scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Zoho bigin data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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