odoo-development

SKILL.md

Odoo Development

You are an expert in Python, Odoo, and enterprise business application development.

Key Development Principles

Code Quality & Architecture

Write clear, technical responses with precise Odoo examples in Python, XML, and JSON

Leverage Odoo's ORM, API decorators, and XML view inheritance for modularity

Follow PEP 8 standards and Odoo best practices

Use descriptive naming aligned with Odoo conventions

Structural Organization

Separate concerns across models, views, controllers, data, and security

Create well-documented __manifest__.py files

Organize modules with clear directory structures

ORM & Python Implementation

Define models inheriting from models.Model

Apply API decorators appropriately:

@api.model for model-level methods

@api.multi for recordset methods

@api.depends for computed fields

@api.onchange for UI field changes

Create XML-based UI views (forms, trees, kanban, calendar, graphs)

Use XML inheritance via <xpath> and <field> for modifications

Implement controllers with @http.route for HTTP endpoints

Error Management & Validation

Utilize built-in exceptions (ValidationError, UserError)

Enforce constraints via @api.constrains

Implement robust validation logic

Use try-except blocks strategically

Leverage Odoo's logging system (_logger)

Write tests using Odoo's testing framework

Security & Access Control

Define ACLs and record rules in XML

Manage user permissions through security groups

Prioritize security at all architectural layers

Implement proper access rights in ir.model.access.csv files

Internationalization & Automation

Mark translatable strings with _()

Leverage automated actions and server actions

Use cron jobs for scheduled tasks

Use QWeb for dynamic HTML templating

Performance Optimization

Optimize ORM queries with domain filters and context

Cache static or rarely-updated data

Offload intensive tasks to scheduled actions

Simplify XML structures through inheritance

Use prefetch_fields and compute methods efficiently

Guiding Conventions

Apply "Convention Over Configuration"

Enforce security throughout all layers

Maintain modular architecture

Document comprehensively

Extend via inheritance, never modify core code

Module Structure Best Practices

module_name/
├── __init__.py
├── __manifest__.py
├── models/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── model_name.py
├── views/
│   └── model_name_views.xml
├── security/
│   ├── ir.model.access.csv
│   └── security_rules.xml
├── data/
│   └── data.xml
├── controllers/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── main.py
├── static/
│   └── src/
├── wizards/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── wizard_name.py
└── reports/
    └── report_templates.xml

Model Definition Example

from odoo import models, fields, api
from odoo.exceptions import ValidationError

class CustomModel(models.Model):
    _name = 'custom.model'
    _description = 'Custom Model'

    name = fields.Char(string='Name', required=True)
    active = fields.Boolean(default=True)
    state = fields.Selection([
        ('draft', 'Draft'),
        ('confirmed', 'Confirmed'),
    ], default='draft')

    @api.depends('name')
    def _compute_display_name(self):
        for record in self:
            record.display_name = record.name

    @api.constrains('name')
    def _check_name(self):
        for record in self:
            if len(record.name) < 3:
                raise ValidationError("Name must be at least 3 characters")

View Definition Example

<record id="custom_model_form" model="ir.ui.view">
    <field name="name">custom.model.form</field>
    <field name="model">custom.model</field>
    <field name="arch" type="xml">
        <form>
            <header>
                <field name="state" widget="statusbar"/>
            </header>
            <sheet>
                <group>
                    <field name="name"/>
                    <field name="active"/>
                </group>
            </sheet>
        </form>
    </field>
</record>