Odoo debug

Expert Odoo debugger. Target: 17/18/19 CE+EE.

Enable Debug Mode

# URL parameter
https://myodoo.com/web?debug=1          # debug mode
https://myodoo.com/web?debug=assets     # also disables asset bundling
https://myodoo.com/web?debug=0          # disable

# Settings → General Settings → Developer Tools → Activate the developer mode

Logging Configuration

# odoo.conf
log_level = debug         # debug, info, warning, error, critical
log_handler = :DEBUG      # all loggers at DEBUG

# Per-module logging in conf:
log_handler = odoo.addons.my_module:DEBUG,odoo.sql_db:DEBUG

# Or at runtime (restart not needed with RPC):
import logging
_logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

_logger.debug("Debug: %s", variable)
_logger.info("Info: %s", value)
_logger.warning("Warning")
_logger.error("Error: %s", e, exc_info=True)

Odoo Shell

# Start shell for database mydb
python odoo-bin shell -d mydb --no-http

# Useful shell commands
env['my.model'].search([])
env['my.model'].browse(1).read()
env['my.model'].browse(1).name_get()

# Check field value
rec = env['my.model'].browse(5)
print(rec.name, rec.state, rec.partner_id.name)

# Execute method
rec.action_confirm()
env.cr.commit()  # commit if you want to persist

# Rollback if testing
env.cr.rollback()

# Run as different user
env2 = env(user=env.ref('base.user_demo'))
env2['my.model'].search([])

SQL Query Logging

# In odoo.conf:
log_handler = odoo.sql_db:DEBUG

# Or per-session in code:
import logging
logging.getLogger('odoo.sql_db').setLevel(logging.DEBUG)

# Count queries in a block
from odoo.tools import sql
# Use profiler (v15+)
with env.cr.savepoint():
    from odoo.tools.profiler import Profiler
    with Profiler():
        records = env['my.model'].search([])

Common Errors & Fixes

MissingError: Record does not exist

# Wrong: browsing deleted record
rec = env['my.model'].browse(99999)
rec.name  # raises MissingError

# Fix: check exists
rec = env['my.model'].browse(99999)
if rec.exists():
    print(rec.name)

psycopg2.IntegrityError: FOREIGN KEY violation

• Check ondelete= on Many2one fields
• Ensure ir.model.access.csv allows unlink
• Check _sql_constraints unique violations

UserError: You cannot delete a record

• Model has unlink() override with check — read error message
• Record in "done" or locked state

AttributeError: 'my.model' object has no attribute 'xyz'

• Field not defined in model
• Module not updated: python odoo-bin -d mydb -u my_module

ValueError: External ID not found

• Missing ref="..." in XML data
• Module not installed — check depends in manifest

ir.rule hiding records unexpectedly

# Debug: check which rules apply
env['ir.rule'].sudo()._get_domain(env['my.model'], 'read')
# Or bypass rules temporarily with sudo
records = env['my.model'].sudo().search([])

Computed field not updating

# Force recompute
rec.modified(['dependency_field'])
rec._recompute_recordset()
# Or: mark for recompute
env.add_to_compute(rec._fields['computed_field'], rec)

Translation not found / strings not translating

# Regenerate .po file
python odoo-bin --i18n-export=/tmp/my_module.pot -d mydb -l en_US --modules=my_module
# Import translations
python odoo-bin --i18n-import=/tmp/my_module_fr.po -d mydb -l fr_FR --modules=my_module

Performance Debugging

N+1 Query Detection

# BAD: N+1
for rec in records:
    print(rec.partner_id.name)  # query per record

# GOOD: prefetch (Odoo does this automatically with browse, but explicit for clarity)
records.mapped('partner_id.name')  # single query

Disable Prefetch (for memory)

env['my.model'].with_prefetch().search([])  # custom prefetch set
env['my.model'].with_context(prefetch_fields=False).search([])

Analyze Slow Queries

-- In psql
EXPLAIN ANALYZE
SELECT * FROM my_model WHERE state = 'draft' ORDER BY name;

-- Check missing indexes
SELECT schemaname, tablename, attname, n_distinct, correlation
FROM pg_stats
WHERE tablename = 'my_model';

Add index in Python:

partner_id = fields.Many2one('res.partner', index=True)

Profiling (v15+)

# Enable profiler from Settings → Technical → Profiler
# Or programmatically:
from odoo.tools.profiler import Profiler, profiler

with Profiler(db=env.cr.dbname):
    slow_method()

Upgrade / Update Module

# Update specific module
python odoo-bin -d mydb -u my_module

# Update with dependencies
python odoo-bin -d mydb -u my_module,dep_module

# Run tests during update
python odoo-bin -d mydb -u my_module --test-enable --test-tags my_module

# Full upgrade (slow)
python odoo-bin -d mydb -u all

Browser Dev Tools (OWL)

// In browser console:
// Get OWL component from DOM element
const el = document.querySelector('.o_my_component');
const component = owl.__apps__[0].getNode(el)?.component;

// Access env services
odoo.__DEBUG__.services['orm']
odoo.__DEBUG__.services['notification']

Backend URL Navigation (Version-Critical)

Odoo changed its URL routing system between versions. Always use the correct format for the target version.

Odoo 17.0 — Hash-based routing

# Navigate by action ID or XML ID (resolved via /web/action/load)
http://host/web#action=<action_id>&cids=1
http://host/web#action=my_module.action_my_model&cids=1

# Navigate to menu (expands the menu and loads its action)
http://host/web#menu_id=<menu_id>&cids=1

# Combine action + menu (menu highlighted, action loaded)
http://host/web#action=<action_id>&menu_id=<menu_id>&cids=1

# Debug mode — append to hash or as query param before hash
http://host/web?debug=1#action=<action_id>&cids=1

Odoo 18.0 / 19.0 — Path-based routing

# Path segments derived from model _name (dots → dashes, strip odoo.* prefix)
http://host/odoo/payroll
http://host/odoo/employees
http://host/odoo/my-model/<id>

# Debug mode
http://host/odoo?debug=1
http://host/odoo/my-model?debug=assets

Do NOT use /odoo/... paths in Odoo 17.0 — they are invalid and will 404. Do NOT use web#action=... hash routing in Odoo 18/19 — the hash is ignored.

Finding IDs at runtime (v17)

# In odoo-bin shell or RPC — find action/menu IDs
env['ir.actions.act_window'].search_read([('res_model','=','my.model')], ['id','name'])
env['ir.ui.menu'].search_read([('name','ilike','My Menu')], ['id','complete_name'])

Version-Specific Debug

v17: Debug mode toggle in URL: ?debug=assets disables bundle minification. v17: ?debug=tests runs browser QUnit tests. v17: URL routing is hash-based (/web#action=...) — see "Backend URL Navigation" above. v18: Built-in query profiler in Settings when debug mode active. v18/v19: URL routing is path-based (/odoo/...) — hash routing no longer works. v19: ODOO_DISABLE_ASSETS_CACHE=1 env var forces asset recompilation.

Useful One-liners (Shell)

# Find all records in error state
env['my.model'].search([('state', '=', 'error')]).mapped('name')

# Check user permissions
user = env.ref('base.user_demo')
user.has_group('my_module.group_my_module_manager')

# Inspect field definitions
env['my.model']._fields['state']
env['my.model']._fields['state'].selection

# Find XML ID of a record
env['ir.model.data'].search([('model', '=', 'res.partner'), ('res_id', '=', 1)])

# Recompute all stored fields of model
env['my.model']._recompute_all()  # v17+

# Flush pending writes
env.flush_all()