odoo-jsonrpc-patterns

name	odoo-jsonrpc-patterns
description	JSON-RPC patterns for Odoo 17 (Community + Enterprise) — session auth, `account.move` vendor bill creation with line items, multi-currency resolution, and `mail.activity` manager approvals. Load this when writing C# or Python code that talks to Odoo without the official XML-RPC library, or when debugging `NotNullViolation` / inactive currency errors.

Odoo 17 JSON-RPC Patterns

All of this is code-verified against a real Odoo 17 Community running in Docker. Reference implementations are in src/rpa_architect/codegen/odoo_client_gen.py (C#) and proof/odoo/seed_database.py (Python).

Session authentication (cookie-based)

Odoo's /web/session/authenticate returns a session_id cookie. All subsequent calls to /web/dataset/call_kw reuse that cookie. Do NOT try XML-RPC or OAuth — Odoo Community 17's user-facing API is cookie JSON-RPC.

POST /web/session/authenticate
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "params": {"db": "odoo", "login": "admin", "password": "admin"}
}

In C# use HttpClientHandler { CookieContainer = new CookieContainer(), UseCookies = true } so the session cookie is automatically attached on follow-up calls.

call_kw request shape

POST /web/dataset/call_kw
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "call",
  "params": {
    "model": "account.move",
    "method": "create",
    "args": [[{...record_values...}]],
    "kwargs": {}
  }
}

The args outer list wraps a single list of records. The inner list contains one record dict per entity to create. Forgetting one layer yields TypeError: unsupported operand type(s).

Creating a vendor bill with line items

account.move with move_type: "in_invoice" is a vendor bill. Line items go in invoice_line_ids using the special ORM command tuples:

{
  "move_type": "in_invoice",
  "partner_id": 42,
  "invoice_date": "2026-04-10",
  "ref": "INV-2026-001",
  "currency_id": 3,
  "invoice_line_ids": [
    [0, 0, {"name": "Hex bolts M8", "quantity": 100, "price_unit": 0.45}],
    [0, 0, {"name": "Safety goggles", "quantity": 4, "price_unit": 12.50}]
  ]
}

• [0, 0, {...}] = "create new record with these values"
• [1, id, {...}] = "update existing record id"
• [2, id] = "delete record id"
• [4, id] = "link existing record id"

After create, the amount_total is computed — you must read it back:

{"model": "account.move", "method": "read",
 "args": [[bill_id], ["name", "amount_total", "state"]]}

Multi-currency gotcha — EUR/GBP ship inactive

Odoo 17 Community databases ship with EUR and GBP rows in res.currency but with active: false. Passing currency_id that resolves to an inactive currency silently falls back to company currency (usually USD) without raising.

Fix: before creating a bill in a non-default currency, run:

{"model": "res.currency", "method": "search_read",
 "args": [[["name", "=", "EUR"]], ["id", "active"]]}

# if active == false:
{"model": "res.currency", "method": "write",
 "args": [[id], {"active": true}]}

Manager approval via mail.activity (the correct pattern)

Direct mail.activity.create(...) with res_model: "account.move" fails:

NotNullViolation: null value in column "res_model_id" violates not-null constraint

because Odoo 17 stores the model as a foreign key to ir.model, not the string. Use the model-level activity_schedule helper which looks up the ir.model id internally:

{
  "model": "account.move",
  "method": "activity_schedule",
  "args": [[bill_id]],
  "kwargs": {
    "act_type_xmlid": "mail.mail_activity_data_todo",
    "summary": "Review high-value invoice",
    "note": "Amount $5,500 exceeds threshold",
    "user_id": 2
  }
}

The activity appears as a 🔔 badge on the bill record in the Odoo UI and as a To-Do on the bill's chatter. This is the Community-tier substitute for UiPath Action Center (which is Enterprise only — see uipath-community-cloud-gotchas §5).

Finding or creating vendors idempotently

Pattern: search_read by name; if empty, create; return the id either way.

# Find
{"model": "res.partner", "method": "search_read",
 "args": [[["name", "=", vendor_name], ["supplier_rank", ">", 0]],
          ["id", "name"]],
 "kwargs": {"limit": 1}}

# Create
{"model": "res.partner", "method": "create",
 "args": [[{"name": vendor_name, "supplier_rank": 1,
            "is_company": true}]]}

supplier_rank > 0 is what marks a partner as a vendor — don't rely on is_supplier (removed in Odoo 13+) or category_id.

Duplicate-invoice detection

Use search_count on (ref, partner_id) composite — cheap, no row fetch:

{"model": "account.move", "method": "search_count",
 "args": [[["ref", "=", invoice_number],
           ["partner_id", "=", partner_id],
           ["move_type", "=", "in_invoice"]]]}

Non-zero = already processed. This is the core "idempotency key" for RPA invoice-processing bots.

Exposing local Odoo to UiPath Community Cloud

The serverless robot needs a public URL. Options tested live:

• cloudflared tunnel (recommended): cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:8069 → stable for session, no account needed, URL is https://*.trycloudflare.com
• ngrok: works but free tier rotates URL on restart
• Direct public IP: only if the host is on a public IP with port 8069 open

Bake the public URL into the C# bot at pack time (§7 of uipath-community-cloud-gotchas explains why env-var approaches don't work in Portable).