odoo-mcp-searching

name

odoo-mcp-searching

description

Build Odoo domain filters and search queries via MCP execute_method. Use when searching/reading records from Odoo models (res.partner, crm.lead, sale.order, mail.message, etc.), constructing complex domains with AND/OR/NOT operators, or when a search returns wrong results and you need to fix the filter. Triggers on mentions of "search", "filter", "find records", "domain", "search_read", "search_count", or any Odoo model name in a read context.

Odoo MCP — Searching & reading records

Use execute_method on the odoo-joliemachine MCP server (tool mcp__odoo-joliemachine__execute_method). Always pass args_json and kwargs_json as JSON strings, never Python dicts.

Universal shape

execute_method(
    model="res.partner",
    method="search_read",
    args_json='[[["customer_rank", ">", 0]]]',     # domain (list of triples)
    kwargs_json='{"fields": ["name", "email"], "limit": 50}'
)

Response envelope:

{"success": True, "result": [...]} | {"success": False, "error": "..."}

Always check success before touching result.

Method selection

Goal	Method
Get matching IDs only (cheap)	search
Get records + fields in one call	search_read (preferred for most reads)
Count without fetching	search_count
Read specific records by ID	read (args_json='[[ids], [fields]]')
Autocomplete by name	name_search

Domain construction

A domain is a list of triples [field, operator, value] plus optional logic operators "&" (AND, default), "|" (OR), "!" (NOT) in prefix notation.

AND (default, no operator needed):

'[[["customer_rank", ">", 0], ["country_id", "=", 75]]]'

OR — use "|" prefix before the two conditions it joins:

'[[["|", ["city", "=", "Paris"], ["city", "=", "Lyon"]]]]'

Nested logic — two "|" followed by conditions = OR of 3 terms:

'[[["|", "|", ["state", "=", "draft"], ["state", "=", "sent"], ["state", "=", "done"]]]]'

Operators

Operator	Use
=, !=, >, >=, <, <=	Scalar comparisons
in, not in	Against lists — required for many2many fields
like, ilike	Substring match (ilike is case-insensitive)
=like, =ilike	Pattern with % wildcard
child_of, parent_of	Hierarchical (parent_id trees)

Many2many gotcha

Never use = on a many2many field. Always use in with a list, even for a single ID:

# WRONG — silent empty result
'[[["category_id", "=", 5]]]'

# CORRECT
'[[["category_id", "in", [5]]]]'

Efficient reads

Always scope with fields to avoid pulling every column:

kwargs_json='{"fields": ["name", "email", "phone"], "limit": 100}'

Smart-limit auto-applies limit=100 if you forget — don't rely on it as documentation. Be explicit.

Common recipes

Find customers in a country:

execute_method(
    model="res.partner",
    method="search_read",
    args_json='[[["customer_rank", ">", 0], ["country_id", "=", 75]]]',
    kwargs_json='{"fields": ["name", "email"], "limit": 100}'
)

Leads modified in the last 7 days:

execute_method(
    model="crm.lead",
    method="search_read",
    args_json='[[["write_date", ">=", "2026-04-12"]]]',
    kwargs_json='{"fields": ["name", "stage_id", "expected_revenue"], "order": "write_date desc", "limit": 50}'
)

Draft or sent sale orders for a partner:

execute_method(
    model="sale.order",
    method="search_read",
    args_json='[[["partner_id", "=", 42], "|", ["state", "=", "draft"], ["state", "=", "sent"]]]',
    kwargs_json='{"fields": ["name", "amount_total", "state"]}'
)

Traverse relations with dotted fields:

# Orders from customers in Belgium
execute_method(
    model="sale.order",
    method="search_read",
    args_json='[[["partner_id.country_id.code", "=", "BE"]]]',
    kwargs_json='{"fields": ["name", "partner_id", "amount_total"]}'
)

When a search returns nothing

1. Check the field exists — resource odoo://model/{model}/schema
2. Many2many with =? → swap to in
3. Date string format? → "YYYY-MM-DD" or "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS"
4. Archived records excluded by default — add ["active", "in", [true, false]] or use .with_context({"active_test": False})
5. Check permissions — odoo://model/{model}/access

When to stop guessing

After the first failed search, read odoo://cookbook/patterns for recipes covering non-obvious domain shapes. After ≥4 failures on the same problem, document the resolution via add_cookbook_pattern.