How to Connect Odoo to BOTS4.me: Connector Install Guide (Odoo 13–19)

🧭 First, Pick Your Path: Where Does Your Odoo Run?

There are two install paths, and the only thing that decides between them is your Odoo hosting type. Both end in the same place: one connection serves every BOTS4.me app that works with Odoo.

Not sure which hosting you have — or still choosing? See Odoo Online vs Odoo.sh vs on-premise: which can you automate?

Plan note: Odoo Online needs Odoo’s Custom plan for API access; Odoo.sh and on-premise work on any plan.

🔌 Path A: Odoo.sh & On-Premise — the One-Click Connector

• Step 1 — Create your BOTS4.me account. Register at bots4.me/bots, or skip this step and create the account inside Odoo in Step 3. Each start-free app then begins with a free Discovery month.
• Step 2 — Install “BOTS4.me Connect”. On apps.odoo.com, open BOTS4.me Connect, choose your Odoo version (13.0 to 19.0) and download the free zip; it contains one folder, b4m_connect. On-premise: put that folder into a directory on your addons path, restart the Odoo service, switch on developer mode, open Apps → Update Apps List, search for “BOTS4.me Connect” and click Activate (Install on older versions). Odoo.sh: commit the folder to your repository (try a staging branch first) and push; when the build is green, install it from Apps in that build’s database. The single-app modules on the store (for example “Mail2ERP by BOTS4.me”) install the same way and show only their own app. The source is LGPL-3, so you or your integrator can read every line before installing.
• Step 3 — Run the connect wizard. As an Odoo administrator, open BOTS4.me Connect → Settings and click Connect. Choose “Create a new account at www.bots4.me” (enter your email; if a BOTS4.me partner recommended us, put their code in Partner Code) or “I already have an account at www.bots4.me” (email and password). Then enter the 6-digit code from your email, or from your authenticator app if you use one. The wizard talks directly to bots4.me over HTTPS; no credentials are typed into any third-party screen.
• Step 4 — Keys are minted for you. On successful login, BOTS4.me issues an API key and an HMAC signing secret for this specific Odoo database, and the module creates a local technical user, “BOTS4.me Connect”, so the bots read and write Odoo records over XML-RPC with their own identity, never your personal admin login. That user gets only the Odoo rights of the apps you activate. Like any internal user, it counts toward a per-user Odoo Enterprise subscription. On Odoo 18 and later, Odoo limits how long API keys stay valid: when the module shows “API key expires soon”, click Disconnect, then Connect, and no app settings are lost.
• Step 5 — Setup forms are pre-filled. The connector sends your Odoo’s metadata (URL, database UUID, company billing block, IMAP mail-server addresses) to pre-fill the BOTS4.me setup forms. Mail passwords stay inside your Odoo until you hand a mailbox to an app, either with + My IMAP mail (1 click) or by clicking Start free Discovery month on an app that reads email. They are encrypted before they leave your Odoo.
• Step 6 — Activate your first app. Under Apps, every app shows its status (Not activated, Needs setup, Active, Configured). Click Complete billing first once, fill your billing details on bots4.me, then click Start free Discovery month on the app you want. That single click activates the app, connects this Odoo as its ERP and, for apps that read email, hands over your Odoo IMAP mailbox. Anything still missing gets its own button on the app: + This Odoo as ERP (1 click), + My IMAP mail (1 click), + Mailbox (Gmail, Microsoft 365) or + Cloud storage. Dashboard, Logs and Settings open bots4.me already signed in.

☁️ Path B: Odoo Online — Zero-Code Setup with an API Key

Odoo Online (the SaaS edition at odoo.com) does not allow custom Python modules — that’s a platform rule, not a BOTS4.me limitation. So the Online path uses a zero-code XML helper module plus a standard Odoo API key that you create yourself (external API access is part of Odoo’s Custom plan):

• Step 1 — Create your BOTS4.me account at bots4.me/bots.
• Step 2 — Create an Odoo API key. In your Odoo Online database, go to Settings → Users & Companies → Users → your user → Account Security (switch on developer mode if the tab is hidden) and click New API Key. Name it “BOTS4.me”, choose how long it stays valid (Odoo 18 and later ask) and copy the key; Odoo shows it only once. Before it expires, create a new one and paste it into the same Odoo connection at bots4.me (Edit → Update ERP Account).
• Step 3 — Start the app and paste the key at bots4.me. Sign in at bots4.me/bots, click Start free Discovery month on the app’s card and accept the Terms once — no credit card needed. Then open Settings (gear) → the app → Access Manager, click Add Destination or Add Source (the app shows the one it needs), choose ERP → Odoo and fill in the Odoo URL (for https://yourcompany.odoo.com the Database Name fills itself in), your login email as Username, and the API key in Password or API Key. Click Add ERP Account.
• Step 4 — Add the zero-code helper (optional). The module “BOTS4.me for Odoo Online” on apps.odoo.com contains data records only, no Python, so Odoo Online accepts it. It adds a BOTS4.me app to your Odoo with Connect / Dashboard, Setup Guide and How to Create an API Key. The bots connect through Odoo’s standard external API either way.
• Step 5 — Verify in DEMO. In the app’s Control tab, switch Bot Power on and leave the Mode on DEMO. After the first run you get a DEMO report email listing what the bot read and what it would have written, and the Logs tab shows every decision; nothing changes in Odoo. When the DEMO reports look right, set Mode to LIVE on the Control tab — it unlocks after the first DEMO report email.

🧭 Try It in Your Free Discovery Month

The first month of each start-free app is a free Discovery month: the usage allowance of the Personal plan with many Family and Business features unlocked to try, and no credit card needed. Here is the shortest route from “connected” to a first result in Odoo.

• 1 — Start the app. In Odoo (Odoo.sh, on-premise): BOTS4.me Connect → Settings, click Complete billing first once, then Start free Discovery month on the app. On Odoo Online: sign in at bots4.me/bots, click Start free Discovery month on the app’s card and accept the Terms once — no credit card needed. Either way the dashboard then shows “Free Discovery month — N days left”.
• 2 — Connect what the app needs. In Odoo, starting the app already connects this Odoo and, if your Odoo has an IMAP mail server, its mailbox. Use + This Odoo as ERP (1 click) or + Mailbox (Gmail, Microsoft 365) for anything still missing. On Odoo Online, add the Odoo connection in the Access Manager as described in Path B, and the mailbox with Add Source.
• 3 — Run it in DEMO. Open the app’s Control tab (or Quick control in Odoo), switch Bot Power on and leave the Mode on DEMO. Switches with a Discovery tag on the Control tab are included in your free month and start switched off — switch on the ones you want to try.
• 4 — Check the result. Read the DEMO report email after the first run and the Logs tab: every document the bot read, and what it would have created or changed in Odoo.
• 5 — Go LIVE. When the DEMO reports look right, set Mode to LIVE on the Control tab — it unlocks after the first DEMO report email. The bot now writes to Odoo through the connection you set up, with the rights of its Odoo user.
• 6 — After the month. When the month ends, the app continues on the free plan by itself with a small monthly allowance: when it is used, new items wait until next month or until you choose a plan, and an item already started always finishes. Choose a plan to keep all features — see the plan table on the app’s product page.

🔒 The Security Model, Honestly Explained

You are giving an external service access to your ERP, so you should demand specifics — not just a “bank-grade security” badge. Here is exactly how BOTS4.me Connect is built:

• HTTPS only, hard-coded. The API endpoint is fixed to https://bots4.me in the module source — it is not an editable settings field, so a compromised configuration record can’t redirect your API traffic to a hostile server. Every URL returned by the API is verified before your browser opens it; non-HTTPS or off-host responses are rejected.
• HMAC-SHA256 request signing. Every call the module makes to BOTS4.me is signed with the per-database secret, so requests can’t be forged or tampered with in transit.
• Credentials restricted to admins. The API key, signing secret, and technical-user fields carry field-level access limited to Odoo’s admin group (base.group_system). Regular internal users can see the launchpad and app statuses, but the secrets never appear in any record read they could run — and all connect/disconnect/configure actions are admin-only.
• Open source, LGPL-3. The full source ships inside the zip you download from apps.odoo.com, so your integrator can audit exactly what leaves your server: metadata to pre-fill forms, a mailbox password only when you hand that mailbox to an app (encrypted before it leaves), and never your business documents.
• Audit trail on both sides. The module keeps a local event log of connects, configuration changes, and errors inside Odoo; the BOTS4.me dashboard keeps full per-run decision logs.
• Automatic entitlement refresh. A scheduled cron re-checks your subscriptions regularly, so app statuses in the launchpad stay current — and a canceled app stops being served promptly.

More on platform security and graduated access: bots4.me/security and access levels. The platform is EU-hosted, built for GDPR, and 2FA is available on every account.

✅ After Connecting: One Connection for Every Odoo App

You install the connector exactly once; nothing extra to install per app. One connection serves every BOTS4.me app that works with Odoo: Mail2ERP, AutoERP, Pay2ERP, Supplier2ERP and AutoCASH, plus AutoSTOCK, AutoPURCHASE and ClientFACTORY. AutoSPAM, Mail2CLOUD and Mail2KNOW need only a mailbox, which the connector can hand over from your Odoo in one click. You start each app separately, from its row in Odoo or its card at bots4.me/bots.

Each app starts in DEMO: it reads, decides and emails you a DEMO report, but writes nothing. When the DEMO reports look right, set Mode to LIVE on the Control tab — it unlocks after the first DEMO report email. On bots4.me, each app’s Control tab holds Bot Power, the Mode, AI Mode (Off, Essential AI, Premium AI or Ultra, depending on the app), the Run Schedule and Operating hours where the app has them, and its feature toggles. The Logs tab shows every decision. In Odoo, Quick control on the app row covers Bot Power, Run Schedule, Demo Mode and AI Mode. For what to automate first, see the hub guide: How to automate Odoo end-to-end.

📚 Related Guides

• Start here: How to automate Odoo end-to-end: from email order to paid invoice
• Hosting: Odoo Online vs Odoo.sh vs on-premise: which can you automate?
• First bots to connect: Import email orders into Odoo · Match bank payments to invoices automatically
• For integrators: Earn recurring revenue as an Odoo partner

🔗 Sources and Further Reading

Official documentation and standards referenced in this guide. External links open in a new tab.

• Odoo 18 developer reference — External API and API keys
• BOTS4.me Connect on the Odoo Apps Store
• Odoo 18 documentation — Access rights
• Odoo — Supported versions