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Odoo integrations

Use MailDesk with Inventory

5 min read Odoo 18.0

Create a stock transfer from an email, link the email to a transfer that already exists, and see its status and number of moves next to the message. In Odoo this app is called Inventory. Its technical name is stock, and the MailDesk screens use the word Stock.

Who this is for: warehouse and logistics staff (daily use) and MailDesk administrators (one-time setup per mailbox).

You need:

  • The MailDesk Stock Integration module (maildesk_mail_client_stock). It is a separate module.
  • MailDesk Basic and MailDesk Pro.
  • The Odoo Inventory app (stock).
  • A connected mailbox that syncs.

Which MailDesk plan includes this module is described in Plans and included features.

Before you begin

  • Install the module on your Odoo database and check that Inventory is installed. Install steps are in Install MailDesk.
  • Administrators: turn the integration on for each mailbox that needs it (Step 1). It is off by default.
  • Users: you need normal Odoo Inventory access. The panel works as you, so your inventory access rules still apply. You also need access to the mailbox. See Security and access rights.

Step 1: Turn on Stock for a mailbox (administrator)

  1. Open MailDesk ▸ Configuration ▸ Mailboxes ▸ Mailbox Accounts and open the mailbox.
  2. Open the Settings tab and find the card Stock Linking & Transfer Flow.
  3. Switch Enable on. The card shows its options.
  4. Set the options you need, then save the mailbox.

The Stock Linking and Transfer Flow card on the Settings tab of a mailbox account, with the Enable toggle switched on

What you should see: the card expands and shows Defaults, Permissions and Automation.

Group Options
Defaults Default Responsible, Default Incoming Operation Type, Default Outgoing Operation Type, Default Internal Operation Type, Show Delivery Status, Show Move Count
Permissions Allow Create Transfer, Allow Link Stock Transfer, Allow Unlink Stock Transfer, Allow Responsible Change, Allow Origin Change, Allow Scheduled Date Change, Allow Deadline Change, Allow Picking Priority Change
Automation Auto-link by Reply Headers (Stock), Auto-link by Subject Token (Stock), Log Agent Replies (Stock), Log Customer Replies (Stock)

Set the operation types once

Create transfer uses the Default Internal Operation Type first. If it is empty, it uses the outgoing type, then the incoming type. Set the type you use most.

Step 2: Open the Stock panel on an email

  1. Open an email in MailDesk.
  2. Click the Stock panel button (truck icon) on the email toolbar.

The Stock button, a truck icon, on the toolbar of an open email

What you should see: the Stock panel opens beside the message. If nothing is linked, it says This email is not linked to any transfer or stock picking yet. and shows Create transfer, Create with AI and Link Existing.

The Stock panel for an email that has no transfer linked yet

Step 3: Create a transfer from the email

  1. In the panel, click Create transfer.
  2. New Stock Transfer opens in a window. MailDesk fills in the partner (when the sender matches exactly one contact), the Default Responsible, the operation type, the email subject as source document, and the email text as a note.
  3. Add the products, complete the other fields and save.

The new transfer form opened from the panel and filled in from the email

What you should see: the transfer appears in the panel as a card. The first linked transfer carries the Primary badge.

The panel showing the new transfer as the first linked transfer, marked Primary

Create with AI

Create with AI opens the MailDesk AI panel and starts a transfer draft. The AI reads the email text and proposes details such as the carrier, tracking number, shipment date, source reference and a summary. You can change the draft, and nothing is created until you confirm. The transfer has no stock moves: your staff add the products, because the AI does not guess them. If the draft has no summary, or no operation type can be found, nothing is created. AI features belong to MailDesk Pro; see AI permissions and data access.

  1. In the panel, click Link Existing.
  2. In Link Existing Stock Transfer, choose the transfer.
  3. Tick Make Primary if this transfer should be the main one for the email. (This option appears when the email already has linked transfers.)
  4. Click Link.

The Link Existing Stock Transfer window with the transfer field

Unlinking is safe

Unlinking removes only the link between the email and the transfer. The transfer is not changed or deleted.

Step 5: Change a transfer from the panel

On a card, click the edit icon to open the quick-edit fields. If your administrator allowed it, you can change the responsible, the source document, the scheduled date, the deadline and the priority (Normal or Urgent). Click the card to open the full transfer in a window, or use the icon to open it in a new tab.

Step 6: Check the email in Inventory

Open the transfer in Odoo. The linked email appears in its chatter with an Open in MailDesk link.

A linked email shown in the chatter of the transfer, with the Open in MailDesk link

What you should see: in MailDesk, the toolbar button shows a badge with the number of linked transfers, and each card shows the status and the move count when Show Delivery Status and Show Move Count are on.

Log options

The options Log Agent Replies (Stock) and Log Customer Replies (Stock) are on the card, but the module does not post a separate message into the transfer's chatter. The linked email itself is the record, and followers of the transfer are not notified again.

How automatic linking works

When Auto-link by Reply Headers (Stock) or Auto-link by Subject Token (Stock) is on, MailDesk links a follow-up email on its own, but only when the match is exact. Both options are on by default. A scheduled action does the work in the background, so the link can appear a few minutes after the email arrives.

  • Reply headers: the reply belongs to an email that is already linked.
  • Subject token: the subject contains [PICK-123], which names one transfer.

If it does not work

Symptom Check Safe next step
There is no Stock Linking & Transfer Flow card. Is the module installed? Is the Settings tab open? Install the module, then reload the mailbox form.
There is no Stock button on emails. Is Enable on for this mailbox? Do you have access to this mailbox? Ask an administrator to turn it on or give you access.
Create transfer, Create with AI or Link Existing is missing. The permission options on the card. Ask an administrator to switch on Allow Create Transfer or Allow Link Stock Transfer.
The cards show no status or move count. Show Delivery Status and Show Move Count. Ask an administrator to switch them on.
Create with AI shows an error. Is an AI provider set up, and is AI allowed for this mailbox? Is an operation type set? See AI permissions and data access. Use Create transfer instead.
Odoo shows an access error. Your Inventory access rights. Ask your Odoo administrator for Inventory access.
A follow-up email was not linked. Are the auto-link options on? Does the token match a transfer? Link it by hand with Link Existing.

For other problems, see Troubleshooting.

Next step

Use MailDesk with Purchase to create requests for quotation from supplier emails.