How to integrate Zoho invoice MCP with CrewAI

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Zoho invoice to CrewAI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Zoho invoice agent that can list all unpaid invoices from last month, show expenses categorized by project for may, find payments received from a specific client through natural language commands.

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

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

Also integrate Zoho invoice with

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get a Composio API key and configure your Zoho invoice connection
  • Set up CrewAI with an MCP enabled agent
  • Create a Tool Router session or standalone MCP server for Zoho invoice
  • Build a conversational loop where your agent can execute Zoho invoice operations

What is CrewAI?

CrewAI is a powerful framework for building multi-agent AI systems. It provides primitives for defining agents with specific roles, creating tasks, and orchestrating workflows through crews.

Key features include:

  • Agent Roles: Define specialized agents with specific goals and backstories
  • Task Management: Create tasks with clear descriptions and expected outputs
  • Crew Orchestration: Combine agents and tasks into collaborative workflows
  • MCP Integration: Connect to external tools through Model Context Protocol

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

The Zoho invoice 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 Invoice account. It provides structured and secure access to your invoicing, billing, and expense data, so your agent can perform actions like listing invoices, fetching payments, retrieving contacts, and managing expenses on your behalf.

  • Comprehensive invoice management: Let your agent list and review all invoices, making it easy to track billing history, filter by status, or check for outstanding payments.
  • Automated expense tracking: Have your agent retrieve and organize expense records, helping you monitor spending and simplify bookkeeping.
  • Contact catalog access: Quickly pull a list of clients, vendors, or customers from your Zoho Invoice account to streamline outreach and relationship management.
  • Real-time payment tracking: Direct your agent to list all payments, filter by customer or date range, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
  • Itemized inventory insights: Fetch detailed item catalogs or retrieve specific item details to keep your invoicing accurate and up to date.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Add Credit Note to InvoicesTool to apply a credit note to one or more invoices.
Add Invoice CommentTool to add a comment to an invoice.
Apply Credits to InvoiceTool to apply credit notes to an invoice in Zoho Invoice.
Cancel Write Off InvoiceTool to cancel a write-off on an invoice.
Clone Zoho Invoice ProjectTool to clone an existing project.
Create Additional AddressTool to add an additional address to a contact.
Create ContactTool to create a contact in Zoho Invoice.
Create Contact PersonTool to create a contact person for an existing contact.
Create Credit NoteTool to create a credit note to refund or give credit to a customer.
Create Credit Note CommentTool to add a comment to a credit note.
Create CurrencyTool to create a new currency in Zoho Invoice.
Create Customer PaymentTool to create a customer payment in Zoho Invoice.
Create EmployeeTool to create an employee in Zoho Invoice.
Create EstimateTool to create a new estimate (quote) for a customer.
Create Estimate CommentTool to add a comment to an estimate.
Create Exchange RateTool to create an exchange rate for a specified currency.
Create Expense CategoryTool to create a new expense category in Zoho Invoice.
Create InvoiceTool to create a new invoice for a customer in Zoho Invoice.
Create ItemTool to create a new item in Zoho Invoice.
Create Project CommentTool to post a comment to a project.
Create Recurring InvoiceTool to create a recurring invoice profile that automatically generates invoices at specified intervals.
Create Refund Credit Note RefundsTool to create a refund for a credit note.
Create TaskTool to create a new task in a Zoho Invoice project.
Create TaxTool to create a new tax in Zoho Invoice.
Create Tax GroupTool to create a new tax group in Zoho Invoice.
Create Time EntryTool to log time entries for projects in Zoho Invoice.
Create Zoho Invoice UserTool to create a new user in Zoho Invoice.
Delete Additional AddressTool to delete an additional address from a contact.
Delete ContactTool to delete a contact from Zoho Invoice.
Delete Contact PersonTool to delete a contact person from Zoho Invoice.
Delete Credit Notes Applied to InvoiceTool to delete invoices credited from a credit note.
Delete CurrencyTool to delete a currency from Zoho Invoice settings.
Delete Customer PaymentTool to delete an existing payment from Zoho Invoice.
Delete EmployeeTool to delete an employee from Zoho Invoice.
Delete Estimate CommentTool to delete a comment from an estimate.
Delete EstimatesTool to delete one or more estimates (quotes).
Delete ExpenseTool to delete an expense from Zoho Invoice.
Delete Expense CategoryTool to delete an expense category from Zoho Invoice.
Delete InvoiceTool to delete an existing invoice from Zoho Invoice.
Delete Invoice AttachmentTool to delete an attachment from an invoice.
Delete Invoice CommentTool to delete a comment from an invoice.
Delete Invoice Expense ReceiptTool to delete the receipt attached to an expense in Zoho Invoice.
Delete ItemTool to delete an existing item from Zoho Invoice.
Delete ProjectTool to delete a project from Zoho Invoice.
Delete Project CommentTool to delete a comment from a project.
Delete TaxTool to delete a simple or compound tax from Zoho Invoice settings.
Delete TaskTool to delete a task from a Zoho Invoice project.
Delete Time EntryTool to delete a time entry from Zoho Invoice.
Delete UserTool to delete a user from Zoho Invoice.
Disable Contact Payment RemindersTool to disable payment reminders for a contact.
Disable Invoice Payment ReminderTool to disable payment reminders for an invoice.
Email Contact StatementTool to email a statement to a contact in Zoho Invoice.
Email EstimateTool to email an estimate to a customer.
Email InvoiceTool to email an invoice to customers.
Email Multiple EstimatesTool to send estimates via email to customers in bulk.
Enable Invoice Payment ReminderTool to enable payment reminders for an invoice.
Enable Payment RemindersTool to enable payment reminders for a contact.
Enable Portal AccessTool to enable portal access for contact persons in Zoho Invoice.
Bulk Export InvoicesTool to bulk export multiple invoices as a single PDF file.
Get All TasksTool to list all tasks in a Zoho Invoice project.
Get Client ReviewTool to retrieve details of a particular client review by comment ID.
Get ContactTool to retrieve a specific contact by ID.
Get Contact AddressesTool to retrieve all addresses for a contact.
Get Contact PersonTool to retrieve details of a specific contact person.
Get Credit NoteTool to retrieve the details of a specific credit note by creditnote_id.
Get Credit Note Email HistoryTool to retrieve email history for a credit note.
Get Credit Note RefundTool to retrieve details of a specific credit note refund.
Get ExpenseTool to retrieve a specific expense by ID.
Get InvoiceTool to retrieve the details of a specific invoice by invoice_id.
Get Invoice AttachmentTool to get invoice attachment details.
Get Invoice Email ContentTool to retrieve the email content for a specific invoice.
Get Zoho Invoice ItemTool to retrieve the details of a specific item by item_id.
Get Payment Reminder Mail ContentTool to retrieve payment reminder mail content for a specific invoice.
Get Price ListTool to retrieve the details of a specific price list by pricebook_id.
Get ProjectTool to retrieve details of a specific project by project ID.
Get Project UserTool to retrieve a specific user from a project.
Get Recurring InvoiceTool to retrieve the details of a specific recurring invoice by recurring_invoice_id.
Get Statement Mail ContentTool to retrieve statement mail content for a specific contact.
Get TaskTool to retrieve a specific task from a Zoho Invoice project.
Get TaxTool to retrieve details of a specific tax by tax_id.
Get Tax GroupTool to retrieve a specific tax group by ID.
Get Time EntryTool to retrieve a specific time entry from Zoho Invoice.
Inactivate ProjectTool to deactivate a project in Zoho Invoice.
List Child Expenses CreatedTool to list child expenses created from a recurring expense.
List Client ReviewsTool to retrieve all client reviews for contacts.
List Contact CommentsTool to list all comments on a contact.
List Contact RefundsTool to list refunds associated with a contact.
List ContactsTool to list contacts.
List Credit NotesTool to list credit notes.
List CurrenciesTool to list all currencies configured for the organization.
List Customer Payment RefundsTool to list refunds of a customer payment.
List EmployeesTool to list all employees in the organization.
List EstimatesTool to list all estimates.
List Expense CategoriesTool to list all expense categories with optional filtering, sorting, and pagination.
List Expense CommentsTool to list expense history and comments.
List ExpensesList all expenses with optional filtering, sorting, and pagination.
List Invoice CommentsTool to list all comments and history for an invoice.
List Invoice PaymentsTool to list payments for a specific invoice.
List InvoicesTool to list invoices.
List Invoices CreditedTool to list invoices to which a specific credit note has been applied.
List ItemsTool to list all items.
List OrganizationsTool to list all organizations.
List PaymentsTool to list payments.
List Price ListsTool to list all price lists.
List Project CommentsTool to list all comments for a project.
List Project InvoicesTool to list all invoices for a specific project.
List ProjectsTool to list all projects.
List Project UsersTool to list all users assigned to a specific project.
List Recurring InvoicesTool to list recurring invoices.
List Retainer InvoicesTool to list retainer invoices.
List Retainer Invoice TemplatesTool to list retainer invoice templates.
List UsersTool to list users in a Zoho Invoice organization.
Mark Contact as ActiveTool to mark an inactive contact as active.
Mark Contact as InactiveTool to mark a contact as inactive in Zoho Invoice.
Mark Contact Person as PrimaryTool to mark a contact person as primary in Zoho Invoice.
Mark Estimate as DeclinedTool to mark an estimate as declined.
Mark Expense Category as ActiveTool to mark an inactive expense category as active.
Mark Invoice as SentTool to mark an invoice as sent.
Mark Invoice as VoidTool to mark an invoice as void.
Mark Item as InactiveTool to mark an active item as inactive.
Mark Retainer Invoice as SentTool to mark a retainer invoice as sent.
Bulk Print EstimatesTool to bulk print multiple estimates as PDF.
Bulk Print InvoicesTool to bulk print invoices as PDF.
Refund Customer PaymentTool to refund an excess customer payment.
Resume Recurring InvoiceTool to resume a recurring invoice in Zoho Invoice.
Send Bulk Invoice ReminderTool to send payment reminders for multiple invoices in bulk.
Send Contact EmailTool to send an email to a contact in Zoho Invoice.
Start TimerTool to start a timer on an existing time entry in Zoho Invoice.
Stop Recurring InvoiceTool to stop a recurring invoice in Zoho Invoice.
Update Additional AddressTool to update an additional address for a contact.
Update ContactTool to update an existing contact in Zoho Invoice.
Update Contact PersonTool to update a contact person in Zoho Invoice.
Update Credit NoteTool to update an existing credit note in Zoho Invoice.
Update Credit Note TemplateTool to update the template associated with a credit note.
Update Customer Payment RefundTool to update an existing customer payment refund.
Update Estimate Shipping AddressTool to update the shipping address for an estimate.
Write Off InvoiceTool to write off an invoice.

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:
  • Python 3.9 or higher
  • A Composio account and API key
  • A Zoho invoice connection authorized in Composio
  • An OpenAI API key for the CrewAI LLM
  • Basic familiarity with Python

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
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.

Install dependencies

bash
pip install composio crewai crewai-tools[mcp] python-dotenv
What's happening:
  • composio connects your agent to Zoho invoice via MCP
  • crewai provides Agent, Task, Crew, and LLM primitives
  • crewai-tools[mcp] includes MCP helpers
  • python-dotenv loads environment variables from .env

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio
  • USER_ID scopes the session to your account
  • OPENAI_API_KEY lets CrewAI use your chosen OpenAI model

Import dependencies

python
import os
from composio import Composio
from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew
from crewai_tools import MCPServerAdapter
import dotenv

dotenv.load_dotenv()

COMPOSIO_API_KEY = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
COMPOSIO_USER_ID = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_USER_ID")

if not COMPOSIO_API_KEY:
    raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set")
if not COMPOSIO_USER_ID:
    raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set")
What's happening:
  • CrewAI classes define agents and tasks, and run the workflow
  • MCPServerHTTP connects the agent to an MCP endpoint
  • Composio will give you a short lived Zoho invoice MCP URL

Create a Composio Tool Router session for Zoho invoice

python
composio_client = Composio(api_key=COMPOSIO_API_KEY)
session = composio_client.create(user_id=COMPOSIO_USER_ID, toolkits=["zoho_invoice"])

url = session.mcp.url
What's happening:
  • You create a Zoho invoice only session through Composio
  • Composio returns an MCP HTTP URL that exposes Zoho invoice tools

Initialize the MCP Server

python
server_params = {
    "url": url,
    "transport": "streamable-http",
    "headers": {"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY},
}

with MCPServerAdapter(server_params) as tools:
    agent = Agent(
        role="Search Assistant",
        goal="Help users search the internet effectively",
        backstory="You are a helpful assistant with access to search tools.",
        tools=tools,
        verbose=False,
        max_iter=10,
    )
What's Happening:
  • Server Configuration: The code sets up connection parameters including the MCP server URL, streamable HTTP transport, and Composio API key authentication.
  • MCP Adapter Bridge: MCPServerAdapter acts as a context manager that converts Composio MCP tools into a CrewAI-compatible format.
  • Agent Setup: Creates a CrewAI Agent with a defined role (Search Assistant), goal (help with internet searches), and access to the MCP tools.
  • Configuration Options: The agent includes settings like verbose=False for clean output and max_iter=10 to prevent infinite loops.
  • Dynamic Tool Usage: Once created, the agent automatically accesses all Composio Search tools and decides when to use them based on user queries.

Create a CLI Chatloop and define the Crew

python
print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")

conversation_context = ""

while True:
    user_input = input("You: ").strip()

    if user_input.lower() in ["exit", "quit", "bye"]:
        print("\nGoodbye!")
        break

    if not user_input:
        continue

    conversation_context += f"\nUser: {user_input}\n"
    print("\nAgent is thinking...\n")

    task = Task(
        description=(
            f"Conversation history:\n{conversation_context}\n\n"
            f"Current request: {user_input}"
        ),
        expected_output="A helpful response addressing the user's request",
        agent=agent,
    )

    crew = Crew(agents=[agent], tasks=[task], verbose=False)
    result = crew.kickoff()
    response = str(result)

    conversation_context += f"Agent: {response}\n"
    print(f"Agent: {response}\n")
What's Happening:
  • Interactive CLI Setup: The code creates an infinite loop that continuously prompts for user input and maintains the entire conversation history in a string variable.
  • Input Validation: Empty inputs are ignored to prevent processing blank messages and keep the conversation clean.
  • Context Building: Each user message is appended to the conversation context, which preserves the full dialogue history for better agent responses.
  • Dynamic Task Creation: For every user input, a new Task is created that includes both the full conversation history and the current request as context.
  • Crew Execution: A Crew is instantiated with the agent and task, then kicked off to process the request and generate a response.
  • Response Management: The agent's response is converted to a string, added to the conversation context, and displayed to the user, maintaining conversational continuity.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Zoho invoice and CrewAI:

python
from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew, LLM
from crewai_tools import MCPServerAdapter
from composio import Composio
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()

GOOGLE_API_KEY = os.getenv("GOOGLE_API_KEY")
COMPOSIO_API_KEY = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
COMPOSIO_USER_ID = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_USER_ID")

if not GOOGLE_API_KEY:
    raise ValueError("GOOGLE_API_KEY is not set in the environment.")
if not COMPOSIO_API_KEY:
    raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set in the environment.")
if not COMPOSIO_USER_ID:
    raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set in the environment.")

# Initialize Composio and create a session
composio = Composio(api_key=COMPOSIO_API_KEY)
session = composio.create(
    user_id=COMPOSIO_USER_ID,
    toolkits=["zoho_invoice"],
)
url = session.mcp.url

# Configure LLM
llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-5",
    api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
)

server_params = {
    "url": url,
    "transport": "streamable-http",
    "headers": {"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY},
}

with MCPServerAdapter(server_params) as tools:
    agent = Agent(
        role="Search Assistant",
        goal="Help users with internet searches",
        backstory="You are an expert assistant with access to Composio Search tools.",
        tools=tools,
        llm=llm,
        verbose=False,
        max_iter=10,
    )

    print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")

    conversation_context = ""

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()

        if user_input.lower() in ["exit", "quit", "bye"]:
            print("\nGoodbye!")
            break

        if not user_input:
            continue

        conversation_context += f"\nUser: {user_input}\n"
        print("\nAgent is thinking...\n")

        task = Task(
            description=(
                f"Conversation history:\n{conversation_context}\n\n"
                f"Current request: {user_input}"
            ),
            expected_output="A helpful response addressing the user's request",
            agent=agent,
        )

        crew = Crew(agents=[agent], tasks=[task], verbose=False)
        result = crew.kickoff()
        response = str(result)

        conversation_context += f"Agent: {response}\n"
        print(f"Agent: {response}\n")

Conclusion

You now have a CrewAI agent connected to Zoho invoice through Composio's Tool Router. The agent can perform Zoho invoice operations through natural language commands.

Next steps:

  • Add role-specific instructions to customize agent behavior
  • Plug in more toolkits for multi-app workflows
  • Chain tasks for complex multi-step operations

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FAQ

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

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

Can I use Tool Router MCP with CrewAI?

Yes, you can. CrewAI 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 invoice tools.

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

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Zoho invoice 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 invoice data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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