image_url

image_url is the display twin of the binary image widget. Instead of reading image bytes from an attachment, it takes the text in a char field and hands it to the browser as an <img src>. Odoo's database never sees the pixels; only the URL string is stored.

The component keeps the URL in local state and watches the record, so the preview refreshes the moment the field value changes. If the browser cannot load the URL (dead link, blocked host, wrong content type), the onLoadFailed handler swaps the source for Odoo's standard gray placeholder image rather than showing a broken image icon.

Sizing is soft: the option or attributes become max-width and max-height inline styles, so a large source image scales down proportionally and a small one is never blown up.

The widget shines wherever images already live somewhere else: a PIM or supplier catalog exposing product shots by URL, a CDN with your marketing assets, link preview thumbnails like Odoo's own mail module. You get visual lists and forms with zero storage cost, no attachment sync jobs and no duplicated binaries.

The flip side is a real operational dependency: the images render only while the remote host serves them, from the viewer's own browser. Catalogs shown to customers or auditors should not rely on third party hosts you do not control; that is when the binary image widget with real attachments is the better trade.

Studio exposes this widget as Image on Text fields:

1. Open the form in Studio.

2. Add or select a Text field that will hold the image URL.

3. In the properties panel, set Widget to Image.

4. Pick a Size: small, medium or large.

5. Close Studio, paste an image URL into the field and check the preview.

Studio only exposes the three size presets; exact pixel bounds need the width and height attributes in XML. Studio also cannot validate what users paste: the field accepts any text, and you only discover a bad URL when the placeholder shows.

Odoo's own usage in mail_link_preview_views.xml, a link preview thumbnail at a fixed box:

<field name="og_image" nolabel="1" widget="image_url"
       options="{'size': [150, 150]}"/>

Attribute based sizing (only works without the size option):

<field name="logo_url" widget="image_url"
       width="120" height="48"/>

Note that custom arrays like [150, 150] work in the option even though Studio only offers the three presets.

Three source details separate this widget from what you might assume:

The fallback is one way. Once a load fails, the state holds the placeholder URL until the record data changes again; there is no retry loop. A flaky CDN therefore shows placeholders until the user touches the field or reloads.

There is dead code in 19. The component instantiates the notification service in setup and then never uses it, a leftover from an older implementation that reported load failures. Do not expect a toast when images break; the placeholder is the only signal.

The 18 to 19 sizing tweak. Until 18 the style getter only emitted max bounds when props existed. 19 adds explicit width: auto / height: auto for the missing sides, which fixed stretched images inside flex containers but can change layouts that relied on CSS sizing the img element from outside. If thumbnails moved after your 19 upgrade, this is why.

Odoo 20 is expected at Odoo Experience in Brussels, 24 to 26 September 2026. The changes below are read from the public development branch and are not final until release.

No functional changes: the option, the attributes, the precedence rule and the placeholder fallback are all identical on master. The diff is the framework wide props migration plus an internal state helper swap (useState to proxy). Even the unused notification service is still there. We will re verify this page against the released branch after the launch.