Odoo Manager Skill

🔐 URL, Database & Credential Resolution

URL Resolution

Odoo server URL precedence (highest to lowest):

1. temporary_url — one-time URL for a specific operation
2. user_url — user-defined URL for the current session
3. ODOO_URL — environment default URL

This allows you to:

• Switch between multiple Odoo instances (production, staging, client-specific)
• Test against demo databases
• Work with different client environments without changing global config

Examples (conceptual):

// Default: uses ODOO_URL from environment
{{resolved_url}}/xmlrpc/2/common

// Override for one operation:
temporary_url = "https://staging.mycompany.odoo.com"
{{resolved_url}}/xmlrpc/2/common

// Override for session:
user_url = "https://client-xyz.odoo.com"
{{resolved_url}}/xmlrpc/2/common

Database Resolution

Database name (db) precedence:

1. temporary_db
2. user_db
3. ODOO_DB

Use this to:

• Work with multiple databases on the same Odoo server
• Switch between test and production databases

Username & Secret Resolution

Username precedence:

1. temporary_username
2. user_username
3. ODOO_USERNAME

Secret (password or API key) precedence:

1. temporary_api_key or temporary_password
2. user_api_key or user_password
3. ODOO_API_KEY (if set) or ODOO_PASSWORD

Important:

• Odoo API keys are used in place of the password, with the usual login.
• Store passwords / API keys like real passwords; never log or expose them.

Environment variables are handled via standard OpenClaw metadata: requires.env declares required variables (ODOO_URL, ODOO_DB, ODOO_USERNAME, ODOO_PASSWORD). ODOO_API_KEY is an optional environment variable used instead of the password when present; it is not listed in metadata and should simply be set in the environment when needed.

Resolved Values

At runtime the skill always works with:

• {{resolved_url}} — final URL
• {{resolved_db}} — final database name
• {{resolved_username}} — final login
• {{resolved_secret}} — password or API key actually used to authenticate

These are computed using the precedence rules above.

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🔄 Context Management

The temporary_* and user_* names are runtime context variables used by the skill logic, not OpenClaw metadata fields. OpenClaw does not have an optional.context metadata key; context is resolved dynamically at runtime as described below.

Temporary Context (One-Time Use)

User examples:

• "Pour cette requête, utilise l’instance staging Odoo"
• "Utilise la base odoo_demo juste pour cette opération"
• "Connecte-toi avec cet utilisateur uniquement pour cette action"

Behavior:

• Set temporary_* (url, db, username, api_key/password)
• Use them for a single logical operation
• Automatically clear after use

This is ideal for:

• Comparing data between two environments
• Running a single check on a different database

Session Context (Current Session)

User examples:

• "Travaille sur l’instance Odoo du client XYZ"
• "Utilise la base clientx_prod pour cette session"
• "Connecte-toi avec mon compte administrateur pour les prochaines opérations"

Behavior:

• Set user_* (url, db, username, api_key/password)
• Persist for the whole current session
• Overridden only by temporary_* or by clearing user_*

Resetting Context

User examples:

• "Reviens à la configuration Odoo par défaut"
• "Efface mon contexte utilisateur Odoo"

Action:

• Clear user_url, user_db, user_username, user_password, user_api_key
• Skill falls back to environment variables (ODOO_URL, ODOO_DB, ODOO_USERNAME, ODOO_PASSWORD / ODOO_API_KEY)

Viewing Current Context

User examples:

• "Sur quelle instance Odoo es-tu connecté ?"
• "Montre la configuration Odoo actuelle"

Response should show (never full secrets):

Current Odoo Context:
- URL: https://client-xyz.odoo.com (user_url)
- DB: clientxyz_prod (user_db)
- Username: api_integration (user_username)
- Secret: using API key (user_api_key)
- Fallback URL: https://default.odoo.com (ODOO_URL)
- Fallback DB: default_db (ODOO_DB)

---

⚙️ Odoo XML-RPC Basics

Odoo exposes part of its server framework over XML-RPC (not REST). The External API is documented here: https://www.odoo.com/documentation/18.0/fr/developer/reference/external_api.html

Two main endpoints:

• {{resolved_url}}/xmlrpc/2/common — authentication and meta calls
• {{resolved_url}}/xmlrpc/2/object — model methods via execute_kw

1. Checking Server Version

Call version() on the common endpoint to verify URL and connectivity:

common = xmlrpc.client.ServerProxy(f"{resolved_url}/xmlrpc/2/common")
version_info = common.version()

Example result:

{
  "server_version": "18.0",
  "server_version_info": [18, 0, 0, "final", 0],
  "server_serie": "18.0",
  "protocol_version": 1
}

2. Authenticating

Use authenticate(db, username, password_or_api_key, {}) on the common endpoint:

uid = common.authenticate(resolved_db, resolved_username, resolved_secret, {})

uid is an integer user ID and will be used in all subsequent calls.

If authentication fails, uid is False / 0 — the skill should:

• Inform the user that credentials or database are invalid
• Suggest checking ODOO_URL, ODOO_DB, username, and secret

3. Calling Model Methods with execute_kw

Build an XML-RPC client for the object endpoint:

models = xmlrpc.client.ServerProxy(f"{resolved_url}/xmlrpc/2/object")

Then use execute_kw with the following signature:

models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db,
    uid,
    resolved_secret,
    "model.name",     # e.g. "res.partner"
    "method_name",    # e.g. "search_read"
    [positional_args],
    {keyword_args}
)

All ORM operations in this skill are expressed in terms of execute_kw.

---

🔍 Domains & Data Types (Odoo ORM)

Domain Filters

Domains are lists of conditions:

domain = [["field_name", "operator", value], ...]

Examples:

• All companies: [['is_company', '=', True]]
• Partners in France: [['country_id', '=', france_id]]
• Leads with probability > 50%: [['probability', '>', 50]]

Common operators:

• "=", "!=", ">", ">=", "<", "<="
• "like", "ilike" (case-insensitive)
• "in", "not in"
• "child_of" (hierarchical relations)

Field Value Conventions

• Integer / Float / Char / Text: use native types.
• Date / Datetime: strings in YYYY-MM-DD or ISO 8601 format.
• Many2one: usually send the record ID (int) when writing; reads often return [id, display_name].
• One2many / Many2many: use the Odoo command list protocol for writes (not fully detailed here; see Odoo docs if needed).

---

🧩 Generic ORM Operations (execute_kw)

Each subsection below shows typical user queries and the corresponding execute_kw usage. They are applicable to any model (not only res.partner).

List / Search Records (search)

User queries:

• "Liste tous les partenaires société"
• "Cherche les commandes de vente confirmées"

Action (generic):

ids = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "model.name", "search",
    [domain],
    {"offset": 0, "limit": 80}
)

Notes:

• domain is a list (can be empty [] to match all records).
• Use offset and limit for pagination.

Count Records (search_count)

User queries:

• "Combien de partenaires sont des sociétés ?"
• "Compte les tâches en cours"

Action:

count = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "model.name", "search_count",
    [domain]
)

Read Records by ID (read)

User queries:

• "Affiche les détails du partenaire 7"
• "Donne-moi les champs name et country_id pour ces IDs"

Action:

records = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "model.name", "read",
    [ids],
    {"fields": ["name", "country_id", "comment"]}
)

If fields is omitted, Odoo returns all readable fields (often a lot).

Search and Read in One Step (search_read)

Shortcut for search() + read() in a single call.

User queries:

• "Liste les sociétés (nom, pays, commentaire)"
• "Montre les 5 premiers partenaires avec leurs pays"

Action:

records = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "model.name", "search_read",
    [domain],
    {
        "fields": ["name", "country_id", "comment"],
        "limit": 5,
        "offset": 0,
        # Optional: "order": "name asc"
    }
)

Create Records (create)

User queries:

• "Crée un nouveau partenaire 'New Partner'"
• "Crée une nouvelle tâche dans le projet X"

Action:

new_id = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "model.name", "create",
    [{
        "name": "New Partner"
        # other fields...
    }]
)

Returns the newly created record ID.

Update Records (write)

User queries:

• "Met à jour le partenaire 7, change son nom"
• "Baisse la probabilité de ces leads"

Action:

success = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "model.name", "write",
    [ids, {"field": "new value", "other_field": 123}]
)

Notes:

• ids is a list of record IDs.
• All records in ids receive the same values.

Delete Records (unlink)

User queries:

• "Supprime ce partenaire de test"
• "Efface ces tâches temporaires"

Action:

success = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "model.name", "unlink",
    [ids]
)

Name-Based Search (name_search)

Useful for quick lookup on models with a display name (e.g. partners, products).

User queries:

• "Trouve le partenaire dont le nom contient 'Agrolait'"

Action:

results = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "res.partner", "name_search",
    ["Agrolait"],
    {"limit": 10}
)

Result is a list of [id, display_name].

---

👥 Contacts / Partners (res.partner)

res.partner is the core model for contacts, companies, and many business relations in Odoo.

List Company Partners

User queries:

• "Liste toutes les sociétés"
• "Montre les sociétés avec leur pays"

Action:

companies = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "res.partner", "search_read",
    [[["is_company", "=", True]]],
    {"fields": ["name", "country_id", "comment"], "limit": 80}
)

Get a Single Partner

User queries:

• "Affiche le partenaire 7"
• "Donne-moi le pays et le commentaire du partenaire 7"

Action:

[partner] = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "res.partner", "read",
    [[7]],
    {"fields": ["name", "country_id", "comment"]}
)

Create a New Partner

User queries:

• "Crée un partenaire 'Agrolait 2' en tant que société"
• "Crée un contact personne rattaché à la société X"

Minimal body:

partner_id = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "res.partner", "create",
    [{
        "name": "New Partner",
        "is_company": True
    }]
)

Additional fields examples:

• street, zip, city, country_id
• email, phone, mobile
• company_type ("person" or "company")

Update a Partner

User queries:

• "Change l’adresse du partenaire 7"
• "Met à jour le pays et le téléphone"

Action:

models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "res.partner", "write",
    [[7], {
        "street": "New street 1",
        "phone": "+33 1 23 45 67 89"
    }]
)

Delete a Partner

User queries:

• "Supprime le partenaire 999 de test"

Action:

models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "res.partner", "unlink",
    [[999]]
)

---

🧱 Model Introspection (ir.model, ir.model.fields, fields_get)

Discover Fields of a Model (fields_get)

User queries:

• "Quels sont les champs de res.partner ?"
• "Montre les types et labels des champs pour ce modèle"

Action:

fields = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "res.partner", "fields_get",
    [],
    {"attributes": ["string", "help", "type"]}
)

The result is a mapping from field name to metadata:

{
  "name": {"type": "char", "string": "Name", "help": ""},
  "country_id": {"type": "many2one", "string": "Country", "help": ""},
  "is_company": {"type": "boolean", "string": "Is a Company", "help": ""}
}

List All Models (ir.model)

User queries:

• "Quels modèles sont disponibles dans ma base Odoo ?"

Action:

models_list = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "ir.model", "search_read",
    [[]],
    {"fields": ["model", "name", "state"], "limit": 200}
)

state indicates whether a model is defined in code ("base") or created dynamically ("manual").

List Fields of a Specific Model (ir.model.fields)

User queries:

• "Donne-moi la liste des champs du modèle res.partner via ir.model.fields"

Action (simplified):

partner_model_ids = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "ir.model", "search",
    [[["model", "=", "res.partner"]]]
)
fields_meta = models.execute_kw(
    resolved_db, uid, resolved_secret,
    "ir.model.fields", "search_read",
    [[["model_id", "in", partner_model_ids]]],
    {"fields": ["name", "field_description", "ttype", "required", "readonly"], "limit": 500}
)

---

⚠️ Error Handling & Best Practices

Typical Errors

• Authentication failure: wrong URL, DB, username, or secret → authenticate returns False or later calls fail.
• Access rights / ACLs: user does not have permission on a model or record.
• Validation errors: required fields missing, constraints violated.
• Connectivity issues: network errors reaching xmlrpc/2/common or xmlrpc/2/object.

The skill should:

• Clearly indicate if the issue is with connection, credentials, or business validation.
• Propose next steps (check env vars, context overrides, user rights).

Pagination

• Use limit / offset on search and search_read to handle large datasets.
• For interactive use, default limit to a reasonable value (e.g. 80).

Field Selection

• Always send an explicit fields list for read / search_read when possible.
• This reduces payload and speeds up responses.

Domains & Performance

• Prefer indexed fields and simple operators (=, in) for large datasets.
• Avoid unbounded searches without domain on very big tables when possible.

---

🚀 Quick End-to-End Examples

Example 1: Check Connection & List Company Partners

1. Resolve context: {{resolved_url}}, {{resolved_db}}, {{resolved_username}}, {{resolved_secret}}
2. Call version() on {{resolved_url}}/xmlrpc/2/common
3. Authenticate to get uid
4. Call execute_kw on res.partner with search_read and domain [['is_company', '=', True]]

Example 2: Create a Partner, Then Read It Back

1. Authenticate via common.authenticate
2. create a new res.partner with {"name": "New Partner", "is_company": True}
3. read that ID with fields ["name", "is_company", "country_id"]

Example 3: Work on Another Database for One Operation

1. Set temporary_url and/or temporary_db to point to another Odoo environment.
2. Authenticate and perform the requested operation using resolved context.
3. Temporary context is cleared automatically.

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📚 References & Capabilities Summary

• Official Odoo External API documentation (XML-RPC): https://www.odoo.com/documentation/18.0/fr/developer/reference/external_api.html
• Requires an Odoo plan with External API access (Custom plans; not available on One App Free / Standard).

This skill can:

• Connect to Odoo via XML-RPC using password or API key.
• Switch dynamically between multiple instances and databases using context.
• Perform generic CRUD (search, search_count, read, search_read, create, write, unlink) on any Odoo model via execute_kw.
• Provide ready-made flows for res.partner (contacts / companies).
• Inspect model structures using fields_get, ir.model, and ir.model.fields.
• Apply best practices regarding pagination, field selection, and error handling.