N2 Development

[yonitjio]

Hey everyone 👋

It seems like N2 hasn’t been getting much interest or engagement lately.
Before deciding whether to make it private or archive it, I’d like to get community input.

[yonitjio]

Background

This project is a fairly complex one — a visual drag‑and‑drop automation tool for Odoo — which requires significant time, effort, and resources. Although it is currently focused on the educational aspects (making it available for people to learn about creating node‑based UIs for Odoo), I’m really passionate about it. At the same time, we need to be realistic: if there isn’t significant community interest right now, sharing it publicly may not be the best approach.

Keeping development private allows me to focus on building it properly, step by step, and eventually make it available commercially to help support ongoing development.

For context: here are some real‑world benchmarks of similar tools:

• n8n: Plans start at ~ €20/month for 2.5 K workflow executions. (n8n.io)
• React Flow: Offers a commercial “Pro” subscription for node‑based UI development and advanced support. (reactflow.dev/pro)
• JointJS+: Per‑developer perpetual license at ~ US$2,990 for unlimited commercial use. (jointjs.com)

While this project is currently educational and niche, the techniques used — building node‑based UIs, visual drag‑and‑drop automation — are broadly applicable and have real commercial potential, though development requires significant commitment.

So at the very least, the project can serve as a learning resource for automation and node‑based UI development. That is the very reason the project was initiated publicly in the first place.

I really appreciate your thoughts and feedback — whether you think a public approach makes sense now, or it’s better to keep this private for the moment so it can be developed properly.

[yonitjio]

Native (N2 inside Odoo) vs External System

Feature / Aspect	N2 (Internal)	External System (n8n, Zapier, Node-RED, etc.)
Integration depth	Full native access to Odoo ORM, models, views, and security rules	Requires API calls (Odoo REST/JSON-RPC); may miss internal triggers or security nuances
Performance	Runs directly in Odoo, can leverage server actions and scheduled jobs	Depends on network, API limits, and external server performance
Security	Uses Odoo’s user roles, ACLs, record rules; no extra layer	Security must be handled externally; API keys, tokens, and access control needed
Customization	Fully extensible; can create nodes that act on any Odoo model or field	Limited to what the external API exposes; deep ORM manipulations harder
Ease of deployment	Just install module; no extra infrastructure	Requires separate system deployment, hosting, authentication
Real-time events	Triggers can be bound to record events (create/write/delete)	Webhooks can achieve similar, but may have latency and retry limitations
User experience	Single UI inside Odoo; users don’t leave platform	Users must switch platforms; might require additional training
AI/Advanced features	Can leverage AI module to auto-generate flows based on context	External AI integration possible, but disconnected from Odoo’s context
Cost	Free (community-driven) + Odoo server	SaaS pricing or hosting costs for external system
Scalability / Extensibility	Scales with Odoo server; can build custom nodes for any model	Depends on external platform; may have rate limits or node restrictions
Observability / Debugging	Logs and execution context are inside Odoo; easier to trace	Must monitor logs in separate system; harder to debug across platforms

[yonitjio]

Just to add — even if the project is ultimately developed privately, I plan to continue to share updates and technical insights about the core module with everyone who has starred ⭐ the repository if interested.

Due to GitHub’s limitation in not allowing read-only collaborators on private repositories, the exact mechanism for sharing the core module will be decided later. The goal is to ensure that those showing interest can still follow its progress and benefit from the learning aspects, even if the full codebase isn’t public.

[yonitjio]

After reviewing the poll results, it appears that N2 will likely become a private project. Here’s the current plan:

• Remove the N2 UI components from this repository
• Create a separate private module for the UI
• Release the core UI and node components once this repo receives more badges (details TBD)

Thank you to everyone who has starred this repository. If you would like access to the private N2 repository, please react positively to the poll (not upvote, upvote does not show user name)—I’ll use your reaction as approval for the invitation.

Please note that the privatization process is still in the planning stage, so no immediate changes will occur.

As a reminder, this project exists primarily for me to document my experiences and experiments. While I’m passionate about it, it’s not a source of income. Because of that, community engagement and interest are the main driving forces that motivate me to keep improving the project.

I truly hope this repo continues to grow in engagement and visibility. If you find the project valuable, I would greatly appreciate it if you shared it with others, helped spread the word, and encouraged people to give it a star.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Last note: If you'd like to try a basic demo of the project, you can find it here (https://n2.skysize.io/).

[yonitjio]

Quick update: as mentioned earlier, I plan to share the N2 UI modules privately—accessible only to those who have starred this repository. To support this, I’ll set up a dedicated download site for the N2 UI and related modules. The site will be built on an Odoo eCommerce instance with a custom module that removes cart and pricing features, so the interface should look familiar:

So if you’re interested in N2, please consider starring this repository. And if you have any ideas on how to carry out this plan—particularly how to invite and validate users—feel free to share them here.

[yonitjio]

Quick Update: I’m developing a set of Odoo modules that will enable sharing the N2-related modules directly through the N2 website.

As mentioned earlier, the plan is to allow anyone interested in N2—and who has starred this repository—to download a copy of the modules. To support this, I’m implementing GitHub OAuth integration for signup and login on the N2 website.

To download the modules, you’ll need to sign in with your GitHub account and grant N2 access to your basic user information. N2 will use your GitHub username and email to create your account on the site. When you attempt to download the modules, N2 will verify via the GitHub API whether you’ve starred this repository. If you have, the download will proceed; if not, you’ll be redirected to an error page.

[yonitjio]

Thanks for the patience, everyone! As mentioned earlier, N2 development is still private, but the website for distributing the N2 modules is now ready.

You can download the modules by signing in with your GitHub account via OAuth. This is only used to verify your GitHub identity — I don’t track or store anything beyond what’s necessary for authentication. The website also uses Umami analytics in its default configuration, which only collects anonymous, aggregated usage data. No personal information is tracked.

As previously mentioned, downloads are limited to users who have starred the repository.

Please also note that the N2 modules are still experimental, and the licensing has changed to a proprietary license. They’re still free to download, but the license restricts usage to experimental or testing environments only.

Currently, the available modules are n2, n2_ui, n2_trigger, and n2_messaging. More will be added later as development continues.

The website itself is also experimental, as I’ve added custom modules, so glitches/bugs may happen — if you run into any issues, feel free to let me know.

If you’ve already starred the repo, just sign in on the website and you’ll be able to access the modules. Thanks again for all the support! 🙏

[yonitjio]

See how I developed the modules for the N2 website in this video: