Odoo Module Developer

Examples

Example 1: Scaffold a New Module

Prompt: Create a module called "hospital_management" with a model for patients

Generated structure:

hospital_management/
├── __manifest__.py
├── __init__.py
├── models/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── hospital_patient.py
├── views/
│   └── hospital_patient_views.xml
├── security/
│   ├── ir.model.access.csv
│   └── security.xml
└── data/

__manifest__.py:

{
    'name': 'Hospital Management',
    'version': '17.0.1.0.0',
    'category': 'Healthcare',
    'depends': ['base', 'mail'],
    'data': [
        'security/ir.model.access.csv',
        'views/hospital_patient_views.xml',
    ],
    'installable': True,
    'license': 'LGPL-3',
}

models/hospital_patient.py:

from odoo import models, fields, api

class HospitalPatient(models.Model):
    _name = 'hospital.patient'
    _description = 'Hospital Patient'
    _inherit = ['mail.thread', 'mail.activity.mixin']

    name = fields.Char(string='Patient Name', required=True, tracking=True)
    birth_date = fields.Date(string='Birth Date')
    doctor_id = fields.Many2one('res.users', string='Assigned Doctor')
    state = fields.Selection([
        ('draft', 'New'),
        ('confirmed', 'Confirmed'),
        ('done', 'Done'),
    ], default='draft', tracking=True)

Best Practices

• ✅ Do: Always prefix your model _name with a namespace (e.g., hospital.patient).
• ✅ Do: Use _inherit = ['mail.thread'] to add chatter/logging automatically.
• ✅ Do: Specify version in manifest as {odoo_version}.{major}.{minor}.{patch}.
• ✅ Do: Set 'author' and 'website' in __manifest__.py so your module is identifiable in the Apps list.
• ❌ Don't: Modify core Odoo model files directly — always use _inherit.
• ❌ Don't: Forget to add new models to ir.model.access.csv or users will get access errors.
• ❌ Don't: Use spaces or uppercase in folder names — Odoo requires snake_case module names.

Limitations

• Does not cover OWL JavaScript components or frontend widget development — use @odoo-xml-views-builder for view XML.
• Odoo 13 and below have a different module structure (no __manifest__.py auto-loading) — this skill targets v14+.
• Does not cover multi-company or multi-website configuration; those require additional model fields (company_id, website_id).
• Does not generate automated test files — use @odoo-automated-tests for that.