When a part of Odoo is slow, the cause is often a slow query underneath. This piece is about finding and fixing slow queries in Odoo.
Slow queries and slow performance
Odoo runs on a database, and a great deal of what Odoo does involves queries to that database, getting and working with data. When a part of Odoo is slow, when something takes too long, the cause is, often, a slow query: a query to the database that is taking too long, and that slowness showing up as the slow performance the user experiences. So finding and fixing slow performance is, often, finding and fixing the slow query behind it.
Finding the slow query
Finding a slow query means identifying which query, behind a slow part of Odoo, is the one taking too long. The first step is finding what is slow, which part of Odoo, which operation, is performing badly. From there, the work is identifying the query underneath that is the cause, the query whose slowness is producing the slow performance. Finding the slow query is a matter of looking, with the means available for examining what queries are running and how long they take, to identify the specific query that is the genuine cause of the slowness.
Why queries are slow
Understanding why queries are slow guides the fixing. A query can be slow for recognisable reasons. A common one is a query that is doing far more work than it should, retrieving or processing far more than is genuinely needed. Another is a query whose work the database cannot do efficiently because of how the data is structured or accessed. The slow query has a genuine cause, a genuine reason it is slow, and finding that cause is the basis for fixing it.
Fixing the slow query
Fixing a slow query means addressing the genuine cause of its slowness. If the query is doing more work than it should, the fix is to make it do only what is genuinely needed. If the query's work is something the database is doing inefficiently, the fix addresses that, so the work can be done efficiently. The fix is specific to the genuine cause: a slow query is fixed by understanding why it is slow and addressing that genuine reason, not by guesswork. The aim is that the query does its genuine work efficiently, and the slow performance it was causing is resolved.
Performance is a matter of finding the genuine cause
An honest note. Finding and fixing slow queries, like performance work generally, is a matter of finding the genuine cause and addressing it, not of guessing. The slowness has a genuine cause, a specific slow query, slow for a specific reason, and the disciplined approach is to find that genuine cause, the specific query, the specific reason, and fix that. Performance work done by guesswork, changing things in the hope of speeding things up, without finding the genuine cause, is unreliable. Finding and fixing slow queries is done by genuinely identifying the slow query and its genuine cause, and addressing it.
The takeaway
Finding and fixing slow queries in Odoo addresses a common cause of slow performance: a query to the database taking too long. Finding the slow query means identifying what is slow and then the specific query underneath that is the genuine cause. Queries are slow for recognisable reasons, doing more work than needed, work the database cannot do efficiently, and fixing a slow query means understanding its genuine cause and addressing that. Performance work is a matter of finding the genuine cause, not guessing. For how we approach Odoo, see our ERP practice.