Thursday, January 22, 2026
1 change · 18.0
Resolved issues and error corrections
This update resolves a critical issue where Odoo servers could crash when module descriptions contained invalid formatting (like Markdown). The fix allows for raw text rendering of module descriptions, preventing the `docutils` parser from encountering errors and causing the server to fail. This ensures smoother module installation and updates.
Original PR description
Modules containing valid Markdown in their description or README.md could cause Odoo to crash during startup or module updates if the content confused the reStructuredText (RST) parser. ### Steps to…
Modules containing valid Markdown in their description or README.md could cause Odoo to crash during startup or module updates if the content confused the reStructuredText (RST) parser.
### Steps to reproduce
1. Create a module with a manifest like this:
```py
{
'name': 'base',
'description': """
....
""",
}
```
2. Start the Odoo server or attempt to install or update update the module.
3. The server crashes:
```
docutils.utils.SystemMessage: (SEVERE/4) Unexpected section title or transition.
```
### Cause
The crash occurs during the execution of the `_get_desc` method in the `ir.module.module` model, which computes the `description_html` field.
When Odoo processes a module, it checks for a pre-rendered HTML description at `static/description/index.html`. If this file is missing, the `_get_desc` method attempts to generate HTML from the module's `description` field (often populated from the `README.md` file) by calling the `docutils.core.publish_string` function.
The **docutils** library is designed specifically for **reStructuredText (RST)**. If the input text contains structural patterns that violate RST rules—such as inconsistent header levels or "transitions" in invalid contexts—docutils flags a severe error and raises a `docutils.utils.SystemMessage` exception.
### Fix
This commit handles these exceptions and falls back to a raw text rendering. It also improves the logic by removing the restriction that prevented non-application modules from rendering their description via RST.
opw-5424131
Forward-Port-Of: odoo/odoo#243517