To create an API endpoint in Odoo that triggers the generation of reports and provides options for viewing and downloading them in your central dashboard, you can follow these general steps:

1. Define the API Endpoint: Create a controller in your Odoo module that defines the API endpoint. This controller will handle the incoming requests and trigger the report generation process.
2. Generate Reports: Implement the logic to generate the reports based on the incoming requests. This logic will depend on the specific reports you want to generate and the data sources involved.
3. Return Report Data: Return the generated report data in a format that can be displayed in your central dashboard. This could be in the form of HTML for displaying the report directly in the dashboard, or a URL or file path for downloading the report.