todo_chatter_panel

The chatter for a to-do, hidden by default on large screens and shown on small ones, toggled from elsewhere in the interface.

Siddharth JambukiyaOdoo Techno-Functional Consultant

August 27, 2026Updated August 29, 20264 min read

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Technical name	`todo_chatter_panel`
Views	form (view widget, <widget> element)
Module	`project_todo`, the To-Do app
Used in core	The to-do form in `project_todo`
Versions	Odoo 20.0, Odoo 19.0, Odoo 18.0, Odoo 17.0
No-code setup	No. It is set in view XML and depends on module-specific data
Alternatives	`mail_activity_list_reschedule_dropdown`, `subtask_counter`, `html`

What the to-do chatter does

A to-do is mostly a note, and the chatter beside it is mostly empty. Showing it permanently costs half the width of the form for something that is usually not being used.

This widget makes it a panel that can be collapsed. On a phone it starts open, because there the two are stacked rather than side by side; on a desktop it starts closed and is revealed on demand.

The control that reveals it is not part of the widget. A button elsewhere in the interface fires an application event, and this panel listens for it.

What this means for your team

To-do lists live or die on how quickly a note can be captured, and anything permanently occupying screen space works against that. Collapsing the discussion by default is the right default for a personal tool.

The pattern generalizes: for any record where the conversation is occasional rather than continuous, a collapsible chatter is worth considering over the standard permanent one.

Supported options in Odoo 19

The widget declares no options and takes the standard view widget props. The event it listens for and the classes its registration supplies are listed below. Read from the to-do chatter panel source, Odoo 19.0.

Option	Type	What it does
`TODO:TOGGLE_CHATTER`	application event	Carries a display flag. The only thing that opens or closes the panel.
`the small screen flag`	read from the environment	Decides the starting state: open on small screens, closed otherwise.
`additionalClasses`	registration hint	Five layout classes including the one that hides the panel before the first render.

It manipulates its own parent. Toggling adds or removes a hiding class on the element containing the widget, rather than on the widget's own root, which is what lets it collapse the whole column.

Working examples

Placing it

<widget name="todo_chatter_panel"/>

No attributes. It embeds the standard chatter.

What toggles it

# an application event carrying a display flag
TODO:TOGGLE_CHATTER

Fired by a control elsewhere.

The classes it ships with

o_todo_chatter  d-none
position-relative  p-0  overflow-y-auto

Supplied by the registration.

Open on phones, closed on desktops

The starting state is decided from the environment's small screen flag, and it is worth reading twice: the panel is open when the screen is small and closed when it is not. That is the opposite of what a side panel usually does, and it follows from the layout being stacked on small screens rather than beside the note.

Communication is by application event. The widget subscribes to the bus for a to-do specific toggle event and reads a display flag from it. Nothing in the widget opens or closes itself, which means the control can live wherever the layout needs it.

The toggle then does two things: it records the new state, and it adds or removes a hiding class on the widget's parent element. Reaching for the parent rather than the root is what collapses the entire column, including whatever padding the layout put around the panel.

The registration supplies five layout classes, one of which hides the panel by default. That is why the closed state does not flash on load: the element starts hidden in markup rather than being hidden after the first render.

Version compatibility

Version	Status	Notes
Odoo 20.0	Partial / changed	Not released. Reworked around newer conventions.
Odoo 19.0	Verified	Verified against the shipped source.
Odoo 18.0	Verified	Same event and class list.
Odoo 17.0	Verified	Same approach with older component conventions.
Odoo 16.0	Not available	Widget does not exist.

Upgrade note. Present since Odoo 17 alongside the To-Do app's current form. The event name and the class list have been stable across those versions.

What is changing in Odoo 20

Odoo 20 is expected at Odoo Experience in Brussels, 24 to 26 September 2026. The development branch is unstable and this may still change; we re-verify this page after the release.

Reworked. The development branch updates the component to the newer state and reference conventions. The event-driven toggle and the class list are what to expect to survive.

Common problems and fixes

Symptom	Cause and fix
The panel never appears	Nothing is firing the toggle event. Use the standard to-do form, which provides the control.
It starts open on a desktop	The environment reported a small screen. Check the viewport width and any layout override.
Collapsing leaves a gap	The hiding class is applied to the parent; something is styling a grandparent. Check the surrounding layout classes.
The panel flashes on load	The hiding class from the registration was removed. Keep the registration's additional classes.
The chatter is empty	The to-do has no messages or followers yet. Expected on a new record.
The widget is missing	The To-Do module is not installed in that database. Install To-Do.

To-do chatter vs the alternatives

Widget	Best for	Key difference
`todo_chatter_panel`	A collapsible chatter beside a to-do, revealed on demand	Toggled by an application event and hidden by a class on its own parent
`mail_activity_list_reschedule_dropdown`	Rescheduling activities from a list	An action rather than a discussion panel
`subtask_counter`	Sub-task progress on a row	A counter rather than a panel
html	The to-do's own content	The note rather than the conversation

The standard chatter on the form is right wherever discussion is continuous rather than occasional. This widget exists for the case where the conversation is the exception.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it open on phones and closed on desktops?+

On a small screen the layout stacks rather than sitting side by side, so the panel is not competing with the note for width. On a desktop it is.

How is it toggled?+

By an application event carrying a display flag. Nothing inside the widget opens or closes it, which lets the control live wherever the layout needs it.

Why does it style its parent element?+

Because hiding the widget's own root would leave the column and its padding behind. Applying the class to the parent collapses the whole thing.

Why does it not flash on load?+

The registration ships a hiding class, so the element starts hidden in markup rather than being hidden after the first render.

Which versions have it?+

Odoo 17 onwards. The development branch reworks it around newer conventions.

Personal task tools your team will keep using

To-do lists compete with notebooks and chat, and they lose whenever capture is slow. We configure Odoo To-Do and Project so the quick note and the tracked task are the same thing, on versions 16 through 19.

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How this page was produced

The small screen dependent starting state, the application event subscription and its display flag, the class toggle applied to the parent element and the five layout classes supplied by the registration were read from the to-do chatter panel source on the Odoo 19.0 branch. Version coverage comes from comparing the file across the 17.0 and 18.0 branches and its absence on 16.0, plus a comparison against the public development branch. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct the page.