Duration: 26:09
🧾 Analytical Summary
This session, led by the product owner of Odoo Documents, showcases major improvements in v19 focused on automation, cross-app integration, access control, and usability. The core idea: turn document management from passive storage into an active, automated step in business workflows.
🚀 AI-driven document automation
- Per-folder AI prompts let you specify actions per incoming file (e.g., move invoices to Finance, contracts to Legal, product images to Marketing).
- AI can perform any enabled server actions: move, rename, tag, or trigger flows (e.g., convert vendor PDF into a draft vendor bill).
- Notifications reflect each action the AI performs; actions are fully auditable in context.
🔗 Deep integration across Odoo apps
- A unified Documents picker widget appears throughout Odoo (chatter, editors). You can:
- Pull files/links from Documents into any chatter/editor.
- Preserve access rights by inserting links instead of raw files.
- Push files from other apps (e.g., Accounting invoice PDF) into Documents with the same widget.
- Demo: sending an invoice to the inbox triggers AI-routing to Finance and creates a draft bill automatically.
🧰 Sharing, rights, and traceability
- Multi-select and edit aggregated sharing rights across many items at once (resolves mixed-rights scenarios).
- Chatter tracking records changes to members/rights/moves at both folder and file level, cascading to children so provenance is clear.
📦 Faster organization and movement
- New move widget shows folder content and allows creating missing folders mid-operation, solving drag-and-drop at scale.
- Quick actions on items: share, download, rename, open chatter, and enter folder—improving day-to-day handling speed.
🧮 Accounting bridge improvements
- The Accounting bridge is now enabled by default when Accounting is installed.
- Journal types auto-create folders in Finance; documents sync to the proper folders and get journal tags automatically.
- Sync can be disabled if not needed.
💡 Limitations and roadmap notes
- Field extraction depends on destination app capabilities (works in Accounting via OCR; HR CV parsing in progress).
- Co-authoring/editing: spreadsheets are supported; Word-like editing is under evaluation (potentially via Knowledge).
- Folder uploads: multi-level folder upload not yet; previews depend on available libraries; duplicates can be mitigated via Data Cleaning rules.
🧠 Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
⚠️ Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo’s vision.
Documents has to be more than storage—it should execute business intent. By combining per-folder AI prompts with server actions, we make routing, tagging, and even document-to-record flows effortless. The same picker everywhere matters: you can reference the single source of truth with rights preserved, from any app.
The Accounting bridge and traceability upgrades reflect a philosophy of integrated simplicity: fewer clicks, clearer provenance, and automation that stays transparent. As we extend editing and extraction, we’ll keep prioritizing practical value over complexity.
🏢 Viewpoint: Competitors (Content/ECM/ERP)
⚠️ Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
The per-folder AI prompt model is pragmatic and aligns with real workflows. However, customers with complex retention policies, legal holds, and advanced records management may still require richer ECM capabilities. Co-authoring maturity and broad file preview/editing support will be scrutinized by enterprises standardizing on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
The Accounting bridge and end-to-end auditability are strong differentiators for mid-market ERP buyers. At the high end, success will depend on scaling governance, search, and compliance while maintaining the streamlined UX.
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.