Odoo Upgrade Assistant

A comprehensive skill for upgrading Odoo modules between versions, with extensive pattern recognition and automated fixes for common migration issues.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when:

• User requests upgrading Odoo modules between versions (14→19)
• Fixing Odoo version compatibility errors
• Migrating themes or custom modules
• Resolving RPC service errors in frontend components
• Converting XML views for newer Odoo versions
• Updating SCSS variables for Odoo 19 themes

Upgrade Workflow

1. Initial Analysis

# Analyze source module structure
- Check __manifest__.py version
- Identify module dependencies
- List all file types (XML, Python, JS, SCSS)
- Create backup before changes

2. Manifest Updates

• Update version number to target format (e.g., "19.0.1.0.0")
• Add missing 'license' key (default: 'LGPL-3')
• Declare external dependencies
• Update category if needed

3. XML/View Transformations

Search Views (Odoo 19)

<!-- BEFORE (Invalid in Odoo 19) -->
<search>
    <group expand="0" string="Group By">
        <filter name="type" string="Type"/>
    </group>
</search>

<!-- AFTER (Valid in Odoo 19) -->
<search>
    <filter name="type" string="Type"/>
</search>

Tree to List Views

<!-- BEFORE -->
<tree string="Title" edit="1" editable="top">

<!-- AFTER -->
<list string="Title" editable="top">

Kanban Templates (Odoo 19)

<!-- BEFORE -->
<t t-name="kanban-box">

<!-- AFTER -->
<t t-name="card">

Form View Context (Odoo 19)

<!-- BEFORE -->
context="{'search_default_type_id': active_id}"

<!-- AFTER -->
context="{'search_default_type_id': id}"

Cron Jobs (Odoo 19)

Remove numbercall field - no longer supported:

<!-- Remove this line -->
<field name="numbercall">-1</field>

4. Python API Migrations

Slug Function (Odoo 18+)

# Add compatibility wrapper
from odoo.http import request

def slug(value):
    """Compatibility wrapper for slug function"""
    return request.env['ir.http']._slug(value)

def unslug(value):
    """Compatibility wrapper for unslug function"""
    return request.env['ir.http']._unslug(value)

URL For Function (Odoo 19)

# BEFORE
from odoo.addons.http_routing.models.ir_http import url_for
url = url_for('/path')

# AFTER
url = self.env['ir.http']._url_for('/path')

5. JavaScript/OWL Frontend Migrations

RPC Service Replacement (Odoo 19)

The RPC service is NOT available in Odoo 19 frontend/public components.

/** @odoo-module **/

// BEFORE (Odoo 17)
import {useService} from "@web/core/utils/hooks";

export class MyComponent extends Component {
    setup() {
        this.rpc = useService("rpc");
    }

    async fetchData() {
        const data = await this.rpc("/api/endpoint", params);
    }
}

// AFTER (Odoo 19)
export class MyComponent extends Component {
    setup() {
        // RPC service removed - using fetch instead
    }

    async _jsonRpc(endpoint, params = {}) {
        try {
            const response = await fetch(endpoint, {
                method: 'POST',
                headers: {
                    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
                    'X-Csrf-Token': document.querySelector('meta[name="csrf-token"]')?.content || '',
                },
                body: JSON.stringify({
                    jsonrpc: "2.0",
                    method: "call",
                    params: params,
                    id: Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000000)
                })
            });

            if (!response.ok) {
                throw new Error(`HTTP error! status: ${response.status}`);
            }

            const data = await response.json();
            if (data.error) {
                throw new Error(data.error.message || 'RPC call failed');
            }
            return data.result;
        } catch (error) {
            console.error('JSON-RPC call failed:', error);
            throw error;
        }
    }

    async fetchData() {
        const data = await this._jsonRpc("/api/endpoint", params);
    }
}

6. Theme SCSS Variables (Odoo 19)

Proper Structure

// ===================================================================
// Theme Name - Primary Variables
// ===================================================================

// Typography Hierarchy
$o-theme-h1-font-size-multiplier: (64 / 16);
$o-theme-headings-font-weight: 700;  // NOT $headings-font-weight

// Website Values Palette
$o-website-values-palettes: (
    (
        'color-palettes-name': 'my_theme',
        'font': 'Inter',
        'headings-font': 'Inter',
        'btn-padding-y': 1rem,  // Use rem not px
        'btn-padding-x': 2rem,
    ),
);

// Color Palette with menu/footer assignments
$o-color-palettes: map-merge($o-color-palettes, (
    'my_theme': (
        'o-color-1': #124F81,
        'o-color-2': #B1025D,
        'o-color-3': #f8fafc,
        'o-color-4': #ffffff,
        'o-color-5': #1e293b,
        'menu': 1,        // IMPORTANT: Specify which color for menu
        'footer': 4,      // IMPORTANT: Specify which color for footer
        'copyright': 5,   // IMPORTANT: Specify which color for copyright
    ),
));

// Font Configuration (use map-merge!)
$o-theme-font-configs: map-merge($o-theme-font-configs, (
    'Inter': (
        'family': ('Inter', sans-serif),
        'url': 'Inter:300,400,500,600,700&display=swap',
        'properties': (  // IMPORTANT: Add properties section
            'base': (
                'font-size-base': 1rem,
                'line-height-base': 1.6,
            ),
        )
    ),
));

7. Theme Snippet System (Odoo 19)

Remove incompatible website.snippet_options inheritance:

<!-- REMOVE this template - not compatible with Odoo 19 -->
<template id="custom_footer_op" inherit_id="website.snippet_options">
    <!-- Snippet options content -->
</template>

Common Errors and Solutions

Error: "Service rpc is not available"

• Cause: Using useService("rpc") in frontend components
• Solution: Replace with _jsonRpc helper method using fetch API

Error: "Invalid field 'numbercall' in 'ir.cron'"

• Cause: Field removed in Odoo 19
• Solution: Remove <field name="numbercall"> from cron definitions

Error: "Invalid view definition" (search views)

• Cause: <group> tags not allowed in search views (Odoo 19)
• Solution: Remove <group> tags, keep filters at root level

Error: "Missing 'card' template"

• Cause: Kanban template name changed in Odoo 19
• Solution: Change t-name="kanban-box" to t-name="card"

Error: "cannot import name 'slug'"

• Cause: Import location changed in Odoo 18+
• Solution: Add compatibility wrapper function

Error: "External ID not found: website.snippet_options"

• Cause: Snippet system changed in Odoo 19
• Solution: Remove the incompatible template

Error: "field 'active_id' does not exist"

• Cause: active_id not available in form view contexts (Odoo 19)
• Solution: Replace active_id with id

Testing Checklist

After upgrade, test:

• [ ] Module installation without errors
• [ ] All views load correctly
• [ ] JavaScript components function
• [ ] Theme displays properly
• [ ] API endpoints respond
• [ ] Cron jobs execute
• [ ] Search/filter functionality
• [ ] Form submissions work
• [ ] Reports generate correctly

Helper Commands

# Install upgraded module
python -m odoo -d [DB] -i [MODULE] --addons-path=odoo/addons,projects/[PROJECT] --stop-after-init

# Update module after changes
python -m odoo -d [DB] -u [MODULE] --stop-after-init

# Run with development mode for debugging
python -m odoo -d [DB] --dev=xml,css,js

# Install Python dependencies
pip install geopy spacy hachoir

Migration Report Template

Generate comprehensive reports documenting:

• Files modified count
• Lines changed
• Patterns applied
• Manual fixes needed
• External dependencies added
• Testing status
• Known issues
• Rollback instructions

Advanced Patterns

Multi-Module Projects

When upgrading projects with multiple interdependent modules:

1. Analyze dependency tree
2. Upgrade in dependency order
3. Test each module individually
4. Test integrated functionality

Theme Migrations

Special considerations for themes:

1. SCSS variable structure changes
2. Bootstrap version compatibility
3. Snippet system updates
4. Asset bundling changes

Performance Optimization

After upgrade:

1. Regenerate assets
2. Clear caches
3. Recompile Python files
4. Optimize database indexes

Version-Specific Notes

Odoo 17 → 18

• Minor XML changes
• Python API mostly compatible
• JavaScript minor updates

Odoo 18 → 19

• Major frontend architecture changes
• RPC service removed from public
• Snippet system overhaul
• Kanban template naming changes
• Search view structure changes

Odoo 16 → 17

• OWL framework adoption
• Widget system changes
• Asset pipeline updates

References

• Patterns Documentation
• Fix Templates
• Error Catalog
• API Changes