Connect Odoo to Hermes Agent via XML-RPC

This is the first and simplest method from the three ways to integrate Odoo with Hermes Agent — direct XML-RPC API calls. Your agent connects straight to your Odoo instance, no middleware, no MCP server, no n8n pipeline. Just your agent and your ERP talking directly.

I made a YouTube short walking through this exact setup:

Watch on YouTube →

What you'll build

By the end of this guide, your Hermes Agent will:

• Connect to your Odoo instance using an API key
• Search and read records from any Odoo model
• Pull live leads, sales orders, and inventory data
• Answer business questions in natural language

Prerequisites

You need a running Odoo instance and a Hermes Agent. Here are the exact credentials from my demo instance — use these to follow along, then swap in your own.

Step 1 — Generate an Odoo API Key

If you're using the demo instance above, the API key is already generated and ready.

Step 2 — Add the Connection to Hermes

Edit your Hermes config.yaml and add the Odoo connection block:

Set readonly: true if the agent only needs to query data (recommended for first setup). Remove it or set false if you want the agent to create or modify records.

Step 3 — Give Your Agent the Connection Prompt

Now paste this prompt into your Hermes Agent session. It tells the agent exactly how to reach your Odoo database using the credentials from Step 2:

The agent reads the environment variables (or the config block you just set up) and establishes the XML-RPC connection. Once it confirms, you're ready to query data.

Step 4 — Start Hermes and Verify

Start or restart your Hermes Agent:

Now ask your agent something simple to verify the connection works:

If everything is configured correctly, the agent returns live data from your Odoo instance. Here's what it looks like with the demo instance:

That's it. Three minutes, one config block, and your agent talks to Odoo.

What you can do now

Once the connection is live, try these queries:

• "Show me all leads in the CRM" — pulls from crm.lead
• "List my recent sales orders" — queries sale.order
• "What products are low on stock?" — checks stock.quant for low quantities
• "What's the total value of open quotes?" — sums sale.order with state = 'draft'
• "Create a new lead for ACME Corp" — if readonly is off, the agent creates records too

Security first

• Create a dedicated Odoo user for the agent — never use your admin account
• Use read-only access unless the agent needs to create or modify records
• Restrict model access to only the models the agent needs (CRM, Sales, Inventory — not Settings)
• Rotate the API key periodically, and revoke immediately if it leaks
• The demo credentials above are from a sandbox instance — use your own for production

Why XML-RPC?

Direct XML-RPC is the fastest path: one hop, one config block, one less thing to break. No MCP server to maintain, no n8n workflow to debug. For simple queries, demos, and prototyping, it's the right choice.

If you need deterministic business processes with audit trails (invoice creation, order processing), the n8n pipeline approach is better. But for 80% of what you'll ask your agent to do — "who are my customers?", "what's my pipeline?", "show me pending orders" — XML-RPC is all you need.

derez.ai — Deploy your AI agent in 5 minutes. · 3 Ways to Integrate Odoo + Hermes · Full Speed Run · MCP Approach