API Key (Bearer) Connections¶

Use an API key when your AI tool authenticates with a static Bearer token sent in the HTTP Authorization header. Examples include Cursor, Claude Code CLI, Gemini CLI, Continue.dev, curl, and any custom script.

Create an API key connection¶

Step 1 — Open the wizard¶

Go to MCP Server ‣ Configuration ‣ Connections and click Connect a New Tool.
On Step 1, click the API key (Bearer header) card.

Step 2 — Configure¶

Fill in the form:

Connection Name — a friendly label, e.g. Cursor on my laptop. This is what shows up in the Connections list and in audit logs.
Odoo User — the user the AI client will act as. All actions follow this user’s permissions and record rules. By default, the wizard pre-selects the current admin.
Scope — a hint to the underlying API key (mostly cosmetic):
- Full Access — the AI can call any tool the connection is not otherwise restricted from.
- Read Only — meant for safe, read-only sessions. Still enforces Odoo’s record-level read permissions.
- Custom — placeholder for a future custom scope per tenant.

Click Next.

Step 3 — Review and copy the key¶

The Done screen shows:

The MCP Endpoint URL with a copy-to-clipboard widget.
The API key with a copy-to-clipboard widget — this is the only time it will ever be visible.
A notebook with per-client setup snippets that already have the URL and key filled in.

Warning

The plaintext key is shown once. If you click somewhere else without copying, the key is gone — you would have to click Rotate Key later, or revoke and create a new connection.

Click Save Connection. The wizard creates the permanent connection record and returns to the Connections list.

Per-client setup snippets¶

The Done step generates pre-filled snippets for the most popular clients. Pick the tab matching your tool and paste the snippet exactly as shown:

Cursor¶

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "odoo": {
      "url": "https://your-company.odoo.com/odoo/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer mcp_ak_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor. The Odoo MCP server appears under Settings ‣ MCP.

Claude Code CLI¶

Run once in your terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http odoo https://your-company.odoo.com/odoo/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer mcp_ak_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Verify the registration:

claude mcp list

The Odoo entry should appear with status Ready.

Gemini CLI¶

Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "odoo": {
      "httpUrl": "https://your-company.odoo.com/odoo/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer mcp_ak_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note

Gemini CLI requires httpUrl (not url) for remote MCP servers. The wizard already generates the correct key — just paste the snippet as is.

Continue.dev¶

Add to ~/.continue/config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "odoo",
      "url": "https://your-company.odoo.com/odoo/mcp",
      "requestOptions": {
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer mcp_ak_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

curl¶

Sanity-check the connection at any time:

curl -X POST https://your-company.odoo.com/odoo/mcp \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer mcp_ak_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'

You should get a JSON-RPC response listing the available tools.

Generic Bearer header¶

For any other tool, set this single HTTP header on every request to the MCP endpoint:

Authorization: Bearer mcp_ak_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Connection statuses¶

After creation, the connection’s status moves through:

Awaiting connection — the key exists but no AI client has used it yet.
Connected — the AI client has called Odoo recently.
Idle — the client has been silent for a while (the form shows the idle duration).
Revoked — the key has been revoked (red badge).