| name | odoo-views |
| description | Authoring or editing Odoo view XML — form, list, kanban, search, pivot, graph, calendar, activity, gantt — and view inheritance (inherit_id, xpath, position, <attribute>). Use whenever writing a view, adding a field/button/page/filter to an existing view, fixing field visibility, or migrating old view XML, even if the user never says "skill". Covers the v17/18 breaking syntax LLMs get wrong: `attrs` and `states` are REMOVED — use direct `invisible=` / `readonly=` / `required=` / `column_invisible=` with Python expressions; the list root is `<list>` (was `<tree>`); chatter is `<chatter/>`. Before editing any view, dump the inheritance-resolved arch + existing buttons/modifiers with the `odoo-introspect` skill (entrypoints) so your xpath targets actually exist — a wrong xpath fails silently. |
Odoo views
The view you edit is not the view that renders. Odoo merges the base arch with every inheriting view across the addon graph at get_view() time. An xpath that doesn't match the resolved arch silently no-ops — the field you "added" never appears and nothing is logged.
Read ground truth first. Run the odoo-introspect skill's entrypoints on the model: it dumps the inheritance-resolved arch, the buttons (which method/action each fires), and the view-level field modifiers (readonly/invisible/required). It also returns the inheritance_chain — the base view plus every applied extension in priority order — so you pick the right view to inherit and can see which siblings already touch your target node. Render one specific view with --view-xmlid/--view-id. Now your xpath targets exist and you won't duplicate a field.
Version floor: Odoo 17/18, through Odoo 19 (current LTS). Pre-17 deltas and the v18.1 → 19 changes → skills/odoo-introspect/references/version-matrix.md.
v17/18 breaking syntax — get this right
| Old (≤16) | Current | Since |
|---|
attrs="{'invisible': [('state','=','done')]}" | invisible="state == 'done'" | 17.0 |
attrs for readonly/required | readonly="<expr>" / required="<expr>" | 17.0 |
states="draft,sent" | invisible="state not in ['draft','sent']" | 17.0 |
invisible to hide a list column | column_invisible="<expr>" (plain invisible hides only the cell) | 17.0 |
<tree> root + view_mode="tree,form" | <list> root + view_mode="list,form" | 18.0 |
<div class="oe_chatter"><field …/></div> | <chatter/> (self-closing; <chatter>…fields…</chatter> to customize) | 18.0 |
t-esc / t-raw in kanban/QWeb templates | t-out (escapes by default; t-raw removed) | 17.0 |
attrs/states in a v17+ view is a hard parse error at load. <tree> in v18 raises ValueError: Wrong value for ir.ui.view.type: 'tree'. Modifier values are Python expressions over field values + parent / context / uid — not domains.
<field name="commitment_date" invisible="state == 'done'" readonly="state != 'draft'"/>
<field name="discount" column_invisible="parent.pricelist_id == False"/>
<button name="action_confirm" type="object" invisible="state != 'draft'"/>
View types
| Tag | Use | Key attrs / contents |
|---|
<form> | one record | <header> · <sheet> · <chatter/> |
<list> | rows (v18; <tree> ≤17) | editable="bottom", decoration-*, column_invisible, optional |
<kanban> | cards | <templates> + QWeb (t-esc, t-if) |
<search> | filter bar | <field>, <filter>, <group expand="1">, <searchpanel> |
<pivot> / <graph> | analysis | <field type="measure">, graph type= |
<calendar> / <activity> / <gantt> | time / scheduling | date_start=; gantt is Enterprise |
Inheritance — extend, don't fork
<record id="view_order_form_mycustom" model="ir.ui.view">
<field name="name">sale.order.form.mycustom</field>
<field name="model">sale.order</field>
<field name="inherit_id" ref="sale.view_order_form"/>
<field name="arch" type="xml">
<xpath expr="//field[@name='partner_id']" position="after">
<field name="x_priority"/>
</xpath>
</field>
</record>
- Extension (default —
inherit_id set, no mode): patches the parent in place; ships with the module's data.
- Primary (
mode="primary" + inherit_id): a new standalone view derived from the parent — for a second form, or a child view referenced by an action.
position: after | before | inside | replace | attributes (wrap <attribute name="…">value</attribute>).- Field shorthand (no xpath):
<field name="partner_id" position="after">…</field> targets the first matching node.
Full mechanics + every position with examples → references/view-inheritance.md.
Common elements
- Buttons:
type="object" (calls a model method) or type="action" (runs an ir.actions.*). Confirm the target exists via entrypoints before wiring.
- decoration-*:
decoration-danger="amount_total < 0" colors a list row by Python expr (-info, -warning, -success, -muted, -bf, -it).
- Optional columns:
<field … optional="hide|show"/> — user-toggleable, off by default with hide.
- statusbar:
<field name="state" widget="statusbar" statusbar_visible="draft,done"/> inside <header>.
- chatter:
<chatter/> (v18) after </sheet>; model must inherit mail.thread / mail.activity.mixin (→ odoo-dev, odoo-module-scaffold).
- search:
<filter name="mine" string="Mine" domain="[('user_id','=',uid)]"/> and group-by <filter name="grp_state" context="{'group_by':'state'}"/>.
Gotchas that fail silently
- xpath doesn't match the resolved arch → no-op, no error. Dump the arch first (entrypoints).
- Adding a field already present in the view → "Field used twice" error, or a silent dedupe depending on placement.
priority among competing inheriting views changes apply order → your patch lands, then a higher-priority sibling overwrites it. Check the inheritance_chain (entrypoints) to see the order before you pick a priority.position="replace" on a node other views also target → their xpath now misses → a cascade of silent no-ops.- Editing arch on an installed DB without
-u <module> (or --dev=xml) → the old arch is still served.
- Plain
invisible on a list field where you meant to hide the column → the cell hides but the header stays.
References
references/view-inheritance.md — xpath positions, primary vs extension, <attribute> add/remove, priority, debugging a dead xpath.references/view-types.md — per-type arch (form/list/kanban/search/pivot/graph/calendar) with v18 syntax.odoo-introspect entrypoints — resolved arch + buttons + modifiers, before you edit.odoo-module-scaffold — where view files get registered in __manifest__.py data.
