Odoo XML Views Builder

Overview

This skill generates and reviews Odoo XML view definitions for Kanban, Form, List, Search, Calendar, and Graph views. It understands visibility modifiers,

groups

,

domain

,

context

, and widget usage across Odoo versions 14–17, including the migration from

attrs

(v14–16) to inline expressions (v17+).

When to Use This Skill

• Creating a new form or list view for a custom model.
• Adding fields, tabs, or smart buttons to an existing view.
• Building a Kanban view with color coding or progress bars.
• Creating a search view with filters and group-by options.

How It Works

1. Activate: Mention

   @odoo-xml-views-builder

   and describe the view you want.
2. Generate: Get complete, ready-to-paste XML view definitions.
3. Review: Paste existing XML and get fixes for common mistakes.

Examples

Example 1: Form View with Tabs

<record id="view_hospital_patient_form" model="ir.ui.view">
    <field name="name">hospital.patient.form</field>
    <field name="model">hospital.patient</field>
    <field name="arch" type="xml">
        <form string="Patient">
            <header>
                <button name="action_confirm" string="Confirm"
                    type="object" class="btn-primary"
                    invisible="state != 'draft'"/>
                <field name="state" widget="statusbar"
                    statusbar_visible="draft,confirmed,done"/>
            </header>
            <sheet>
                <div class="oe_title">
                    <h1><field name="name" placeholder="Patient Name"/></h1>
                </div>
                <notebook>
                    <page string="General Info">
                        <group>
                            <field name="birth_date"/>
                            <field name="doctor_id"/>
                        </group>
                    </page>
                </notebook>
            </sheet>
            <chatter/>
        </form>
    </field>
</record>

Example 2: Kanban View

<record id="view_hospital_patient_kanban" model="ir.ui.view">
    <field name="name">hospital.patient.kanban</field>
    <field name="model">hospital.patient</field>
    <field name="arch" type="xml">
        <kanban default_group_by="state" class="o_kanban_small_column">
            <field name="name"/>
            <field name="state"/>
            <field name="doctor_id"/>
            <templates>
                <t t-name="kanban-card">
                    <div class="oe_kanban_content">
                        <strong><field name="name"/></strong>
                        <div>Doctor: <field name="doctor_id"/></div>
                    </div>
                </t>
            </templates>
        </kanban>
    </field>
</record>

Best Practices

• ✅ Do: Use inline

  invisible="condition"

  (Odoo 17+) instead of

  attrs

  for show/hide logic.
• ✅ Do: Use

  attrs="{'invisible': [...]}"

  only if you are targeting Odoo 14–16 — it is deprecated in v17.
• ✅ Do: Always set a

  string

  attribute on your view record for debugging clarity.
• ✅ Do: Use

  <chatter/>

  (v17) or

  <div class="oe_chatter">

  + field tags (v16 and below) for activity tracking.
• ❌ Don't: Use

  attrs

  in Odoo 17 — it is fully deprecated and raises warnings in logs.
• ❌ Don't: Put business logic in view XML — keep it in Python model methods.
• ❌ Don't: Use hardcoded

  domain

  strings in views when a

  domain

  field on the model can be used dynamically.

Limitations

• Does not cover OWL JavaScript widgets or client-side component development.
• Search panel views (

  <searchpanel>

  ) are not fully covered — those require frontend knowledge.
• Does not address website QWeb views — use

  @odoo-qweb-templates

  for those.
• Cohort and Map views (Enterprise-only) are not covered by this skill.