How to Build an ETL App for Odoo Data in Python with CData Connect AI
The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Connect AI Python SDK and the petl framework, you can build Odoo-connected applications and pipelines for extracting, transforming, and loading Odoo data. This article shows how to connect to Connect AI and use petl to extract, transform, and load Odoo data.
The Connect AI Python SDK (cdata-connect-ai) is a DB-API 2.0 (PEP 249) compliant client, so petl can read directly from the SDK connection with etl.fromdb. There is no driver to install per source: connect with a Personal Access Token and build your pipeline.
About Odoo Data Integration
Accessing and integrating live data from Odoo has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:
- Access live data from both Odoo API 8.0+ and Odoo.sh Cloud ERP.
-
Extend the native Odoo features with intelligent handling of many-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many data properties. CData's connectivity solutions also intelligently handle complex data properties within Odoo. In addition to columns with simple values like text and dates, there are also columns that contain multiple values on each row. The driver decodes these kinds of values differently, depending upon the type of column the value comes from:
- Many-to-one columns are references to a single row within another model. Within CData solutions, many-to-one columns are represented as integers, whose value is the ID to which they refer in the other model.
- Many-to-many columns are references to many rows within another model. Within CData solutions, many-to-many columns are represented as text containing a comma-separated list of integers. Each value in that list is the ID of a row that is being referenced.
- One-to-many columns are references to many rows within another model - they are similar to many-to-many columns (comma-separated lists of integers), except that each row in the referenced model must belong to only one in the main model.
- Use SQL stored procedures to call server-side RFCs within Odoo.
Users frequently integrate Odoo with analytics tools such as Power BI and Qlik Sense, and leverage our tools to replicate Odoo data to databases or data warehouses.
Getting Started
Connect to Odoo in Connect AI
CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.
- Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
- Select "Odoo" from the Add Connection panel
-
Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Odoo.
To connect, set the Url to a valid Odoo site, User and Password to the connection details of the user you are connecting with, and Database to the Odoo database.
- Click Save & Test
- Navigate to the Permissions tab and update the user-based permissions.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)
The Python SDK authenticates to Connect AI with your account email and a Personal Access Token (PAT). It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each application to maintain granularity of access.
- Click the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the Settings page.
- On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
- Give the PAT a name and click Create.

- The PAT is only visible at creation, so copy it and store it securely.
Install Required Modules
Install the SDK and the petl framework using the pip utility:
pip install cdata-connect-ai pip install petl
Build an ETL App for Odoo Data in Python
Once the required modules are installed, you are ready to build the ETL app. Code snippets follow, but the full source code is available at the end of the article.
First, import the modules and connect to Connect AI with your account email and PAT:
import petl as etl
import cdata_connect_ai
conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
username="[email protected]",
password="<your_pat>",
)
Create a SQL Statement to Query Odoo
Use SQL to create a statement for querying Odoo. In this article, we read data from the res_users entity. Identifiers are three-part: <Connection>.<Schema>.<Table>, where the connection name defaults to the source name (for example, Odoo1).
sql = (
"SELECT name, email "
"FROM [Odoo1].[Odoo].[res_users] "
"WHERE id = '1'"
)
Extract, Transform, and Load the Odoo Data
With a connection and query in hand, use petl to extract, transform, and load the Odoo data. In this example, we extract Odoo data, sort the data by the email column, and load the data into a CSV file.
table1 = etl.fromdb(conn, sql) table2 = etl.sort(table1, 'email') etl.tocsv(table2, 'res_users_data.csv')
Load New Rows Back into Odoo
When Odoo supports writes, load rows back with a batch INSERT. The SDK's executemany takes @name placeholders and a list of parameter dictionaries, one per row.
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.executemany(
"INSERT INTO [Odoo1].[Odoo].[res_users] (name, email) "
"VALUES (@val1, @val2)",
[
{"@val1": "New value 1", "@val2": "New value 1"},
{"@val1": "New value 2", "@val2": "New value 2"},
],
)
print(f"Rows inserted: {cur.rowcount}")
conn.close()
Note: Even for writable sources, a read-only PAT or connection permission will reject write operations.
With the CData Connect AI Python SDK, you can work with Odoo data just like you would with any database, including direct access to data in ETL packages like petl.
More Information and Free Trial
Now you can pipe live Odoo data through petl using the CData Connect AI Python SDK. For more information on connecting to Odoo (and hundreds of other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start building data pipelines for live Odoo data in Python.
Full Source Code
import petl as etl
import cdata_connect_ai
conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
username="[email protected]",
password="<your_pat>",
)
sql = (
"SELECT name, email "
"FROM [Odoo1].[Odoo].[res_users] "
"WHERE id = '1'"
)
table1 = etl.fromdb(conn, sql)
table2 = etl.sort(table1, 'email')
etl.tocsv(table2, 'res_users_data.csv')
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.executemany(
"INSERT INTO [Odoo1].[Odoo].[res_users] (name, email) "
"VALUES (@val1, @val2)",
[
{"@val1": "New value 1", "@val2": "New value 1"},
{"@val1": "New value 2", "@val2": "New value 2"},
],
)
print(f"Rows inserted: {cur.rowcount}")
conn.close()