Odoo CSS Not Loading / Static Files Broken — Complete Fix

Symptoms

• Odoo pages load without styling (raw HTML)
• Images and icons are missing
• JavaScript errors in browser console
• Login page works but backend is unstyled
• After module update, styles break

Cause 1: Asset Bundles Need Regeneration

Most common cause. Odoo compiles CSS and JS into asset bundles. After updates, these can become stale.

Fix:

# Option 1: Clear assets via Odoo
# Enable developer mode → Settings → Technical → Assets Bundles
# Click "Clear" to regenerate

# Option 2: Delete assets from database
psql -U odoo -d your_database -c "
DELETE FROM ir_attachment 
WHERE name LIKE '%assets%' 
AND res_model = 'ir.ui.view';"

# Option 3: Restart with asset regeneration
odoo -d your_database --dev=assets

Cause 2: Nginx Not Serving Static Files

When: Static files return 404 through nginx.

Fix:

# nginx configuration
location /web/static/ {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8069;
    expires 7d;
    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
}

# Or for direct file serving (faster):
location /web/static/ {
    alias /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/odoo/addons/web/static/;
    expires 7d;
}

Cause 3: Browser Cache

Fix:

# Hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R (or Cmd+Shift+R on Mac)
# Or clear browser cache and cookies for the Odoo domain

Cause 4: SCSS Compilation Error

When: Custom module has invalid SCSS.

Diagnosis: Check Odoo log for SCSS compilation errors.

Fix: Fix the SCSS syntax error in your custom module, then regenerate assets.

Cause 5: Proxy Mode Not Enabled

When: Running behind nginx but proxy_mode is not set.

Fix:

# odoo.conf
proxy_mode = True

Without proxy_mode, Odoo generates URLs with the wrong scheme/host, causing static file URLs to break.

Cause 6: Missing Static File Directory

When: Custom module's static/ directory is missing or permissions are wrong.

Fix:

# Check permissions
ls -la your_module/static/

# Fix permissions
chown -R odoo:odoo your_module/static/
chmod -R 755 your_module/static/

Quick Fix Checklist

Prevention

DeployMonkey handles nginx configuration, proxy mode, and asset serving automatically. The AI agent detects static file issues and suggests fixes.