🧭 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 connector serving all eleven apps.

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

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

• Step 1 — Create your BOTS4.me account. Register at bots4.me/bots if you haven’t already. Every app comes with the first month free.
• Step 2 — Install “BOTS4.me Connect”. Find the free module on apps.odoo.com (or install it from your Odoo Apps menu). It ships one zip per Odoo major version, 13.0 through 19.0, from a single audited codebase. The source is LGPL-3 — you or your integrator can read every line before installing.
• Step 3 — Run the connect wizard. Open the BOTS4.me menu in Odoo’s left sidebar and click Connect. Enter your BOTS4.me email and password; a 2FA code is emailed to you. No credentials are typed into any third-party screen — the wizard talks directly to bots4.me over HTTPS.
• Step 4 — Keys are minted for you. On successful login, BOTS4.me mints an API key and an HMAC signing secret for this specific Odoo database and provisions a local technical user, so the BOTS4.me pipeline can read and write Odoo records over XML-RPC with a dedicated identity — never your personal admin login.
• 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 unless you explicitly click “+ My IMAP mail”.
• Step 6 — Use the launchpad. The left-menu launchpad shows every app’s status (Active / Configured / Quota) and deep-links straight into the matching page on bots4.me, already logged in as the bound user — no second sign-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:

• 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 → your user → Account Security and click New API Key. Give it a recognizable name like “BOTS4.me” and copy the key — Odoo shows it only once.
• Step 3 — Paste it at bots4.me. In the BOTS4.me dashboard, open your app’s ERP Access settings, choose Odoo Online, and paste your database URL, database name, login email, and the API key.
• Step 4 — Add the zero-code helper. The XML helper module (data records only, no Python) is available for Odoo Online to smooth field access — install it like any other module. Your connection works over Odoo’s standard XML-RPC API either way.
• Step 5 — Verify in Demo Mode. Switch the bot on in Demo Mode and check its first report: it lists exactly what it read and what it would have written, without changing anything.

🔒 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 API call between your Odoo and 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 module’s full source is published. Your integrator can audit exactly what leaves your server: metadata to pre-fill forms, never your mail passwords (unless you explicitly share an IMAP account), 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.
• 15-minute entitlement refresh. A scheduled cron re-checks your subscriptions every 15 minutes, so app statuses in the launchpad stay current — and a cancelled app stops being served promptly.

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

✅ After Connecting: One Connector, All 11 Apps

You install the connector exactly once. From then on, every BOTS4.me app — Mail2ERP, AutoERP, Pay2ERP, Supplier2ERP, AutoCASH, AutoSTOCK, AutoPURCHASE, AutoSPAM, Mail2CLOUD, Mail2KNOW, and ClientFACTORY — is simply toggled on or off from the dashboard at bots4.me/bots. Nothing extra to install per app.

Each app starts in Demo Mode — it reads, decides, and reports, but writes nothing — then graduates to read-only and finally full automation when you’re confident. Per-app Control, Logs, and Settings tabs give you Bot Power on/off, AI Mode (Off → Essential → Premium → Ultra), run schedules from every 15 minutes to weekly, operating hours, and individually toggleable features. 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