Odoo External API Guide for Integrations

Most Odoo projects connect to something else: a webshop, a WMS, a payment provider, a data warehouse. This guide covers the basics of integrating with Odoo safely.

API options

• JSON-2 API in recent versions: HTTP requests with JSON bodies, authenticated with an API key. Our Odoo 20 guide covers the version changes.
• XML-RPC and JSON-RPC: the long-standing external API. Still found in many existing integrations, and deprecated in newer versions, so plan to move.
• Custom controllers: HTTP routes in a custom module, when you need a specific endpoint or webhook receiver.

Authentication

Create a dedicated user for each integration, give it only the access rights it needs, and generate an API key for it. Never use an administrator's password in an integration.

Core operations

The external API works on models, such as res.partner or sale.order, with methods including:

• search_read to find and read records with a domain filter
• create to add records
• write to update records
• unlink to delete, which should be rare

Business actions, such as confirming an order, are model methods like action_confirm.

Good practice

• Read only the fields you need. Reading all fields is slow.
• Batch writes. One call with 100 records beats 100 calls.
• Use external IDs or a reference field to avoid duplicates on retry.
• Handle errors and log them with enough detail to fix.
• Respect business logic. Call Odoo methods instead of writing state fields directly.

Webhooks

To push changes out of Odoo, use automation rules that call a webhook URL, or a scheduled job that sends changes in batches. Recent versions support sending webhooks from automation rules.

Performance and limits

Heavy integrations compete with users. Schedule bulk syncs at quiet times and monitor server load. On Odoo Online, API access depends on your plan.

Testing

Test against a staging copy, never production. Include failures: network drops, duplicate messages and validation errors.

Version upgrades

API changes between versions can break integrations. Include integrations in every upgrade checklist.

See our Odoo integration service or ERP API integration explained.