All begins when I started to test the AI features of Odoo 20.0. The first thing I did was to create an agent, then, since I had a little bit of money left on my Claude account, I look for the option to connect the agent to my Claude account.
This is when I realized that not only this option is not available at the agent level anymore, it is not available at all. And you can't add your API keys anywhere to use credits from your AI provider accounts.
My first thought was that I was missing something. So I dug deeper, watched videos from the Odoo experience, but nothing. Supposedly, Odoo agents are supposed to work magically, and we don't know what's happening under the hood.
Still assuming that I was stupid enough to not see how to select the model, I wrote a post on LinkedIn, tagging Fabien Pinckaers (Odoo's CEO).
Interaction With Fabien On LinkedIn
That's the story of how a billionaire commented my post.
The LinkedIn post and Fabien's answer
To Fabien's credit, a genuinely appreciated that he took the time to read my post and address my concerns very clearly. But, this wasn't the answer I was hoping to get. As you can see in the screenshot above, the selection of the model is indeed handled by Odoo under the hood. And to even be able to use any AI feature in Odoo, you have to buy credits. From Odoo!
Note: no, your enterprise subscription doesn't come with any credits to test.
The argument is that this is to "simplify everything". But, it's like putting someone in jail, and explained to him that his life is now "simplified", because he doesn't need to worry about food nor shelter anymore. Yeah, sure, life's simpler, but what about freedom?
Furthermore, among the 45 comments that the post generated, most of the people agreed that although their solution makes sense on paper, most of the users want to have the option to configure their own AI models.
People unhappy means opportunity.
Me smelling an opportunity.
Restoring The Connection To Any AI to Odoo Agents
So I got to work immediately. Or more specifically, I put Grok to work immediately. And I created... I mean, (sorry) Grok created on my command a module to return the selection of the model at the agent level. You can find the module on the Odoo App Store.
Although it's vibecoded, I took the time to thoroughly test it, and review the code in details.
Here is what it does:
- Providers for ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude, Gemini, Grok, and DeepSeek, plus the possibility of adding any models that you like.
- Fetch models through a daily routine that will check if new models have been released. Or add and remove models yourself manually.
- A Model tab on the agent, with provider, model, and an optional API key for that agent only.
The new Model tab in the agent configuration in Odoo 20.0 - Manage API keys at the model level, or the agent level for more flexibility.
- Odoo AI credits feature stays in place when no external model is set on the agent.
Conclusion
Kudos to Odoo for allowing this kind of open source initiatives, and maxi kudos to Fabien Pinckaers for commenting my post and engaging in the discussion.
But...! The people have spoken! And they want control and freedom over simplicity. Which is why I (Grok) re-created the feature to connect ChatGPT or any AI model to Odoo agents.
I genuinely hope that this module will be helpful. And if you have any remark, suggestion or question, you can comment this blog post, email me at louis@cdb.solutions or send a DM on LinkedIn.
Thank you,
Louis