Odoo Coding Guidelines

Odoo Coding Guidelines

Use this skill when the user asks to review, check, write, or validate Odoo code against official coding standards. Source: https://www.odoo.com/documentation/19.0/contributing/development/coding_guidelines.html

Load sub-files based on what is being reviewed:

• Python files, models, fields, methods → read python.md
• XML views, data files, templates → read xml.md
• JavaScript files → read javascript.md
• CSS / SCSS files → read css.md
• Full code review or checklist requested → read checklist.md
• Module structure, file naming, directory layout → read structure.md

For mixed reviews (e.g. a whole module), load all relevant files.

General Principles

Language

• All code must be in English: variable names, field names, method names, model names, comments, commit messages, XML IDs, and string literals used as technical identifiers.

Comments

• Comments must explain WHY, never WHAT. The code itself should be readable enough to convey what it does.
• If a comment is needed to explain what a block of code does, refactor the code until it is self-explanatory, then remove the comment.
• Acceptable comments: hidden constraints, non-obvious invariants, workarounds for specific bugs, behavior that would surprise a reader.

Naming

• Never truncate names to save keystrokes. Autocomplete makes long names free — short names cost readability.

  # ❌
  def comp_tot_amt(self): ...
  inv_dt = fields.Date(...)
  
  # ✅
  def _compute_total_amount(self): ...
  invoice_date = fields.Date(...)