Deluge Forge

Write, run and manage Zoho Deluge code for CRM, Books and Creator without leaving your editor.

Zoho's in-browser script editor is fine for a quick fix. It is a poor place to live all day: no real search, no version control, no linting worth the name, and every function hides behind another click. Deluge Forge brings your Deluge functions into VS Code as ordinary .dg files, keeps them in sync with Zoho, and lets you run them against your real organization with one keystroke.

• Edit locally. Pull every function of an organization into a workspace folder, work on it with syntax highlighting, completion, diagnostics and an outline, then push it back.
• Run for real. Execute the function you are looking at against your Zoho organization and read the result and the logs next to your code.
• No API keys to create. Deluge Forge reuses the Zoho session you already have open in Chrome. Nothing to register in the Zoho developer console.
• One editor, three products. Zoho CRM, Zoho Books and Zoho Creator, side by side, each organization in its own workspace.

🧭 How it works

 Zoho tab in Chrome
        |   the Deluge Forge Chrome extension reads your signed-in session
        v
 Chrome Native Messaging (local to your computer, no network)
        |
        v
 Deluge Forge in VS Code  ----->  Zoho CRM, Books and Creator, as you

The Chrome extension captures the Zoho session from a tab you already have open and hands it to this extension through Chrome's local Native Messaging channel. This extension keeps it encrypted on your disk and uses it to talk to Zoho on your behalf. You pair the two once, with a short code.

✅ Requirements

Supported computers: macOS and Linux. Windows is supported too and is new: it has been verified on one Windows machine so far.

🚀 Quick start

The Getting Started walkthrough opens once, the first time the extension activates with a licence, and follows the same four steps. You can reopen it from Help, Welcome, Open Walkthrough.

1. Sign in. Run Deluge Forge: Sign in and sign in with your Google account. The extension starts with a trial. If your request has to be approved first, you will be told, and you can sign in again once it is.
2. Pair the browser. Run Deluge Forge: Setup. A dialog shows a pairing code. Open the Deluge Forge Chrome extension's popup and paste it there. You do this once per browser profile.
3. Open Zoho. In the paired Chrome profile, open a Zoho tab you are already signed in to. The Chrome extension captures the session from it. This step is done when the editor has a Zoho session saved.
4. Add a workspace. Run Deluge Forge: Add Workspace. A workspace is one Zoho organization on this computer. Deluge Forge pulls its functions into a folder so you can edit them right away.

Open the Deluge Forge view in the activity bar to see your workspaces. If something is missing, the view tells you which step comes next.

🛠️ Everyday workflow

1. Open a .dg file from your workspace.
2. Edit it. Completion, diagnostics and the outline work as you type.
3. Run it with Cmd+Alt+R (macOS) or Ctrl+Alt+R, or use Deluge Forge: Save and Execute Function to save and run in one step.
4. Read the output and the logs, fix what the run showed you, run again.
5. Push it back to Zoho with Cmd+Alt+U or Ctrl+Alt+U.

How each product runs a function:

• Zoho CRM: the script in your editor is what runs, so you can try a change before you push it.
• Zoho Creator: Creator runs the function that is already saved in Zoho, so push first, then execute.
• Zoho Books: pull, edit, push and execute work the same way as in CRM.

Pull brings a function down from Zoho, and Deluge Forge: Pull All brings down every function of the active workspace. For Creator, Deluge Forge: Pull All Apps (Creator) and Deluge Forge: Pull Some Apps (Creator) pull whole applications. Deluge Forge: Create Function makes a new function in Zoho and a matching file here.

🗂️ What you see in the editor

The Deluge Forge activity bar view has four parts:

• Workspaces: every organization you added, with its functions, and the state of its Zoho session. Switch the active workspace with Deluge Forge: Switch Active Workspace.
• Workspace Dashboard: an overview of the active workspace.
• Function Inspector: details of the function you have selected.
• Data Schema & Variables: the variables and data shapes the editor knows about for the current function. Create, edit, duplicate and delete them from the view, and use them to get smarter completion on values Zoho returns.

The status bar shows the active workspace and how fresh its Zoho session is, so you notice an expired session before a push fails.

✍️ Writing Deluge

Files ending in .dg open in the Deluge language mode, with:

• syntax highlighting;
• completion for Deluge built-ins and for the variables and schemas you defined;
• diagnostics that flag mistakes as you type;
• an outline of the symbols in the file;
• connection names completed from the connections your Zoho organization actually has (Deluge Forge: Pull Connections refreshes the list, Deluge Forge: Manage Connections opens it).

⌨️ Commands

Open the Command Palette and type "Deluge Forge".

⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts

These apply while a .dg file is focused, except Pull All and Manage Connections, which work anywhere.

🔒 Privacy and security

Your Zoho session is the most sensitive thing this extension touches, so here is exactly what happens to it.

• It stays on your computer. The Chrome extension sends the session to this extension over Chrome's local Native Messaging channel. It never travels over the network to Deluge Forge.
• It is encrypted at rest. Sessions are stored with AES-256-GCM in ~/.deluge-forge/sessions.enc (on Windows, %APPDATA%\deluge-forge\sessions.enc). The key is derived from your pairing code. Without the code, the file cannot be read.
• The pairing code lives in a few places, on purpose. The editor keeps it in your operating system's keychain through VS Code's SecretStorage. The local host cannot reach the keychain, so a copy is kept in a file in your user profile, and the Chrome extension keeps a copy in its own local storage. Anyone who can read your browser profile or your home folder can read the code, so protect those the way you protect your sessions.
• Only the Deluge Forge Chrome extension can talk to the local host. The host accepts connections from the extensions you authorized, which by default is the Deluge Forge extension and nothing else.
• Licence checks send licence requests and nothing else. The part of the extension that talks to the licence service has no access to your Zoho sessions.
• Telemetry is off by default. The setting delugeForge.telemetry.enabled is false until you turn it on. When it is on, it sends scrubbed reports about interface problems and nothing from your code or sessions.
• Diagnostics never print secrets. Deluge Forge: Run System Diagnostics shows cookie names, never values, and never the pairing code.

🌍 Supported Zoho data centers

zoho.com, zoho.eu, zoho.in, zoho.com.au, zoho.jp, zoho.ca, zoho.com.cn and zohocloud.ca.

🩺 Troubleshooting

Start with Deluge Forge: Run System Diagnostics. It checks the Node.js it finds, the pairing, the stored sessions (and asks Zoho whether each one still works), the native host registration, whether the host answers, and which builds of the extension, the host and the Chrome extension are talking to each other. The last section tells you what to do next. When you ask for help, attach the whole report.

To start over completely, close VS Code and Chrome, remove the Deluge Forge folder in your user profile (~/.deluge-forge, or %APPDATA%\deluge-forge on Windows), remove and reinstall the Chrome extension, and run the Quick start again. Deleting the folder removes your saved sessions and the local licence file, so you will sign in and run Setup again. The licence service sees a deleted folder as a new computer, so the first sign-in afterwards offers to move your licence here.

📌 Good to know

• Zoho Flow is not supported yet.
• Chrome is the browser Deluge Forge has been exercised with. The local host is registered for Edge and Brave as well.
• Windows support is new and has been verified on one machine. If you hit a Windows problem, the diagnostics report is the fastest way to describe it.

📄 Licence

Deluge Forge needs a licence on this computer. Run Deluge Forge: Licence Status to see where yours stands, and Deluge Forge: Sign in to activate it. A licence is active on one computer at a time. If yours is active elsewhere, signing in offers to move it to this computer, after you confirm.