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Data Source

The Odoo ERP connector enables you to ingest data from any Odoo model or API endpoint, including records from CRM, sales orders, invoices, inventory, HR, projects, and more. Follow the instructions below to create a new data flow that ingests data from an Odoo ERP source in Nexla.
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Odoo ERP

Create a New Data Flow​

  1. To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Then, select the desired flow type from the list, and click the Create button.

  2. Select the Odoo ERP connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the Odoo instance, and click Next; or, create a new Odoo ERP credential for use in this flow.

  3. Odoo ERP sources can be configured to ingest data from any valid Odoo API endpoint. The Odoo external API supports both the XML-RPC protocol (available in all Odoo versions) and a REST API (available in Odoo 17 and later). Configuration options available for Odoo ERP sources allow them to be fully customized to suit any use case—including using chained API calls to fetch data from multiple models or sources that require custom request parameters.

    First, select the method that will be used for calls to the Odoo API from the Method pulldown menu. The most common methods for Odoo data retrieval are:

    • GET: For retrieving records from Odoo REST API endpoints (Odoo 17+)
    • POST: For XML-RPC calls or REST API endpoints that require a request body (e.g., search operations)

API Endpoint URL​

  1. Enter the URL of the Odoo API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. This should be the complete URL including the protocol and any required path parameters.

    Common Odoo API endpoint patterns include:

    • Odoo REST API (Odoo 17+): https://mycompany.odoo.com/api/sale.order to retrieve sales orders, or https://mycompany.odoo.com/api/res.partner to retrieve contacts.
    • Odoo XML-RPC: https://mycompany.odoo.com/xmlrpc/2/object for object model operations such as searching or reading records.
    • Odoo JSON-RPC: https://mycompany.odoo.com/web/dataset/call_kw for web client protocol calls.

Odoo's REST API (Odoo 17+) supports filtering records directly in the URL using query parameters such as domain and fields. For example, to retrieve only confirmed sales orders with specific fields, you can append ?domain=[["state","=","sale"]]&fields=["name","partner_id","amount_total"] to your endpoint URL. Additional details about available query parameters are available in the Odoo External API documentation.

Date/Time Macros (API URL)​

Optional

Optionally, the API URL can be customized using macros—all macros added to the API URL will be converted into values when Nexla executes the API call. Macros are dynamic placeholders that allow you to create flexible API endpoints that can adapt to different time periods or data requirements.

Date/time macros are particularly useful when ingesting Odoo records that have been created or modified within a specific time window. For example, you can use macros in the domain filter parameter to retrieve only records modified after a given date, enabling incremental data ingestion.

  1. To add a macro, type { at the appropriate position in the API URL (within the Set API URL field), and select the desired macro from the dropdown list.

    • {now} – The current datetime
    • {now-1} – The datetime one time unit before the current datetime
    • {now+1} – The datetime one time unit after the current datetime
    • custom – Datetime macros can reference any number of time units before or after the current datetime—for example, enter (now-4) to indicate the datetime four time units before the current datetime

  2. Select the format that will be applied to datetime macros from the Date Format for Date/Time Macro pulldown menu. This format will be applied to the base datetime value of the macro—i.e., the value of {now} in {now-1}.

  3. Select the datetime unit that will be used to perform mathematical operations in the included macro(s) from the Time Unit for Operations pulldown menu—for example, for the macro {now-1}, when Day is selected, {now-1} will be converted to the datetime one day before the current datetime.

Lookup-Based Macros (API URL)​

Optional

Column values from existing lookups can also be included as macros in the API URL. Lookup-based macros allow you to reference data from previously configured data sources or lookups, enabling dynamic API endpoints that can adapt based on existing data.

Lookup-based macros are useful when you need to create Odoo API endpoints that reference specific IDs or values from other data sources in your Nexla environment—for example, passing a list of partner IDs retrieved from another source to fetch their corresponding sales orders.

  1. To include a lookup column value macro, select the relevant lookup from the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.

  2. Type { at the appropriate position in the API URL, and select the lookup column-based macro from the dropdown list. Lookup-based macros are automatically populated into the macro list when a lookup is selected in the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.

Path to Data​

Optional

If only a subset of the data returned by the Odoo API endpoint is needed, you can designate the part of the response that should be included in the Nexset(s) produced from this source by specifying the path to the relevant data within the response. This is particularly useful when Odoo API responses contain metadata, pagination information, or other data that is not needed for your analysis.

For example, the Odoo REST API typically returns results within a top-level array or within a records property. By entering the path to the relevant data, you can configure Nexla to treat each element of the returned array as a record.

Path to Data is important when Odoo API responses have nested structures. Without specifying the correct path, Nexla may not be able to properly parse and organize the response data into usable records.

  • To specify which data should be treated as relevant in responses from this source, enter the path to the relevant data in the Set Path to Data in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format, enter the JSON path that points to the object or array that should be treated as relevant data. JSON paths use dot notation (e.g., $.records[*] to access a records array, or $.result[*] for XML-RPC responses).

    • For responses in XML format, enter the XPath that points to the object/array containing relevant data.

    Path to Data Example:

    The Odoo REST API (Odoo 17+) returns results as a JSON array directly at the root level. In this case, the path to the response can be entered as $[*]. For XML-RPC responses that return results inside a result property, enter $.result[*].

Autogenerate Path Suggestions​

Nexla can also autogenerate data path suggestions based on the response from the API endpoint. These suggested paths can be used as-is or modified to exactly suit your needs.

  • To use this feature, click the Test button next to the Set API URL field to fetch a sample response from the API endpoint. Suggested data paths generated based on the content and format of the response will be displayed in the Suggestions box below the Set Path to Data in Response field.

  • Click on a suggestion to automatically populate the Set Path to Data in Response field with the corresponding path. The populated path can be modified directly within the field if further customization is needed.

    PathSuggestions.png

Metadata​

If metadata is included in the Odoo API response but is located outside of the defined path to relevant data, you can configure Nexla to include this data as common metadata in each record. This is useful for preserving contextual information that applies to all records but is not part of the main data array.

For example, when retrieving a list of Odoo sales orders, the API response may include a total count or pagination context alongside the array of records. If you have specified the path to the relevant records but want to include this context data, you can specify a path to this metadata to include it with each record in the generated Nexset(s).

Metadata paths are particularly useful for preserving Odoo API response context such as total record counts, request IDs, or summary statistics that apply to all records in the response.

  • To specify the location of metadata that should be included with each record, enter the path to the relevant metadata in the Path to Metadata in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format, enter the JSON path to the object or array that contains the metadata; for responses in XML format, enter the XPath.

Request Headers​

Optional

  • If Nexla should include any additional request headers in API calls to this source, enter the headers and corresponding values as comma-separated pairs in the Request Headers field (e.g., header1:value1,header2:value2). Additional headers may be required for Odoo REST API versioning, content type specifications, or when using API key authentication via the X-Api-Key header.

    You do not need to include any headers already present in the credentials. Nexla handles authentication headers automatically based on your configured Odoo ERP credential.

Endpoint Testing​

After configuring all settings for the selected endpoint, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current configuration. This allows you to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched and displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Save & Activate the Source​

  1. Once all of the relevant steps in the above sections have been completed, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new Odoo ERP data source. Nexla will now begin ingesting data from the configured endpoint and will organize any data that it finds into one or more Nexsets.