Decision Matrix

Quick Reference Guide

This page provides decision matrices for common Odoo configuration choices. Use these tables when you need to quickly determine the right approach for a given scenario.

Field Type Decision

Basic Field Types

If You Need To Store...	Use This Field Type	Example
Short text (name, reference, email)	Char	Customer name, order reference
Long text (description, notes)	Text	Product description, internal notes
Formatted text (HTML emails, descriptions)	Html	Email templates, rich descriptions
Whole numbers (quantity, count)	Integer	Stock quantity, number of employees
Decimal numbers (weight, percentage)	Float	Weight in kg, discount percentage
Money amounts	Monetary (with currency field)	Price, total amount
Yes/No choice	Boolean	Is active, is published
Date only	Date	Birth date, expiry date
Date with time	Datetime	Order timestamp, meeting time
Fixed list of choices	Selection	Status, priority, type
File attachment	Binary	PDF documents, spreadsheets
Image	Image	Product photo, company logo

Relational Field Types

If You Need To...	Use This Field Type	Example
Link to ONE other record	Many2one	Order → Customer
Show child records (list)	One2many	Order → Order Lines
Link to MANY other records (tags)	Many2many	Product → Categories
Display value from linked record	Related field	Show customer country on order
Calculate value from other fields	Computed field	Total = qty × price

Special Field Types

If You Need...	Use This	Notes
Different values per company	company_dependent=True	Product cost varies by company
Dynamic custom fields per parent	Properties field	Different project task attributes
Searchable file content	Char + attachment	Store filename, attach file separately
JSON/structured data	Json field	Flexible structured data

Storage Decision

When to Store Computed/Related Fields

Scenario	store=True?	Reason
Field shown in list views	✅ Yes	Avoid N+1 queries
Field used in Group By	✅ Yes	Required by database
Field used in filters/search	✅ Yes	Better search performance
Field used in reports	✅ Yes	Faster report generation
Field only shown on form	⚠️ Maybe	Depends on complexity
Value changes frequently (age, days left)	❌ No	Would need constant recalculation
Simple display from related record	❌ No	Unless needed for reports
Context-dependent value (stock by location)	❌ No	Cannot store - value varies

Storage Decision Flowchart

graph TD
    A[New Computed/Related Field] --> B{Shown in List View?}
    B -->|Yes| S[store=True]
    B -->|No| C{Used in Group By?}
    C -->|Yes| S
    C -->|No| D{Used in Filters?}
    D -->|Yes| S
    D -->|No| E{Used in Reports?}
    E -->|Yes| S
    E -->|No| F{Context-Dependent?}
    F -->|Yes| N[store=False]
    F -->|No| G{Form View Only?}
    G -->|Yes| N
    G -->|No| S

Relationship Decision

Choosing the Right Relationship Type

Business Relationship	Technical Field	Example	Notes
Record belongs to ONE other	Many2one	Order → Customer	Most common relationship
Record has MANY children	One2many	Order → Order Lines	Inverse of Many2one
Record has MANY tags/categories	Many2many	Product → Categories	No additional data needed
Many-to-many with extra data	Intermediate model	Product ↔ Supplier (with price)	Create linking model
Show value from linked record	Related field	Customer country on order	Consider storing

Many2many vs Intermediate Model

Question	Many2many	Intermediate Model
Need extra data on the link?	❌ No	✅ Yes
Just tagging/categorization?	✅ Yes	❌ Overkill
Example: Product-Tags	✅ Perfect	❌ Unnecessary
Example: Product-Supplier (with price)	❌ Can't store price	✅ Create product.supplierinfo

Widget Decision

Choosing Display Widgets

Field Type	Default Widget	Alternative	When to Use Alternative
Selection	Dropdown	radio	2-4 options, all visible
Selection	Dropdown	statusbar	Workflow status in header
Selection	Dropdown	badge	Status in list view
Selection	Dropdown	priority	Star-based priority
Many2one	Dropdown	many2one_avatar	Show image with name
Many2one	Dropdown	many2one_avatar_user	User assignment
Many2many	List	many2many_tags	Colorful tags
Many2many	List	many2many_checkboxes	Small fixed set
Float	Number input	percentage	Show as %
Float	Number input	progressbar	Visual progress
Char	Text input	email	Clickable email
Char	Text input	phone	Clickable phone
Char	Text input	url	Clickable link
Binary	File upload	image	Display as image
Text	Multi-line	html	Rich text editor

Security Decision

Access Rights vs Record Rules

Question	Access Rights	Record Rules
Can user access the model at all?	✅
Which records can user see?		✅
CRUD permissions	✅
Data filtering		✅
Performance impact	Low	Higher (evaluated per record)

Record Rules vs Domains

Scenario	Use Record Rule	Use Domain
Salesperson sees only their leads	✅ Security	❌
Default filter shows "Open" items	❌	✅ UX
Multi-company data isolation	✅ Security	❌
Dropdown shows only active items	❌	✅ Field domain
Privacy/legal requirement	✅ Security	❌
Helpful default filter	❌	✅ UX

Automation Decision

Choosing the Right Automation Type

Requirement	Server Action	Scheduled Action	Automated Action
User triggers manually	✅	❌	❌
Runs at specific time	❌	✅	❌
Responds to record changes	❌	❌	✅
Batch processing	❌	✅	❌
Immediate response needed	❌	❌	✅
Daily/weekly reports	❌	✅	❌
Lead assignment on create	❌	❌	✅
Bulk update selected records	✅	❌	❌

Automation Trigger Decision

When should it trigger?	Use This Trigger
When record is created	On Create
When record is updated	On Update
When specific field changes	On Update + Trigger Fields
When stage/status changes	Stage is set to / State is set to
X days before/after a date	Based on date field
At regular intervals	Scheduled Action
When email is received	On incoming message
From external system	On webhook

Integration Decision

Choosing Integration Approach

Integration Need	Recommended Approach	When to Use
B2B document exchange	EDI/UBL (Peppol BIS 3)	Sales ↔ Purchase order automation
Generate text content	AI Agents with LLM	Marketing, support, content
Extract data from documents	AI Digitization (OCR + LLM)	Invoices, receipts, contracts
Real-time external sync	XML-RPC / JSON-RPC API	Custom integrations, webhooks
Lead scoring	Predictive Lead Scoring (PLS)	Sales pipeline optimization
Simple field sync	Automated Actions + Webhook	Low-code external notification

API Protocol Decision

Requirement	XML-RPC	JSON-RPC	REST (custom)
Standard Odoo operations	✅ Native	✅ Native	Needs controller
External system compatibility	Good	Better	Best
Performance	Good	Good	Best
Ease of use	Moderate	Easy	Depends
Binary data handling	Supported	Supported	Native

State vs Stage Decision

Characteristic	Use State (Selection)	Use Stage (Many2one)
Fixed workflow	✅	❌
Users can customize	❌	✅
Legal/financial process	✅	❌
Sales pipeline	❌	✅
Requires code to change	✅	❌
Each team has different stages	❌	✅

Quick Decision Summary

"What field type should I use?"

Need to link to ONE record? → Many2one
Need to show child records? → One2many
Need multiple tags? → Many2many (or intermediate if extra data)
Need calculated value? → Computed
Need value from linked record? → Related
Fixed choices? → Selection
Yes/No? → Boolean
Money? → Monetary
Everything else? → Char, Text, Integer, Float, Date, Datetime

"Should this field be stored?"

In list view? → Store it
In Group By? → Store it
In search/filter? → Store it
In reports? → Store it
Context-dependent? → DON'T store
Only on form? → Probably don't need to store

"Manual action or automatic?"

User decides when? → Server Action
At specific times? → Scheduled Action
On record change? → Automated Action

Knowledge Check

Q1: User needs to group orders by customer country. What's needed?

Answer: A stored related field for country

Create a stored related field: partner_country_id = fields.Many2one(related='partner_id.country_id', store=True). Non-stored related fields can't be used for Group By.

Q2: Product can have multiple suppliers with different prices. Many2many or intermediate?

Answer: Intermediate model (product.supplierinfo)

Many2many can't store additional data like price per supplier. You need an intermediate model with Many2one to both product and supplier, plus price fields.

Q3: Send email when lead is won. Which automation type?

Answer: Automated Action with "Stage is set to" trigger

Automated Actions respond to record changes. Use the "Stage is set to" trigger with the Won stage to fire when leads are marked as won.

Q4: Daily report at 9 AM. Which automation type?

Answer: Scheduled Action

Scheduled Actions run at specified intervals. Configure to run daily at 9 AM with a Server Action that generates and sends the report.

Q5: Users should only see their own records. Record Rule or Domain?

Answer: Record Rule

Security requirements that users should NEVER bypass require Record Rules. Domains are for convenience filtering that users can change.