Apps glossary
Learn the meanings of app-related terms.
Definitions of apps-related terms. Refer to the main glossary for definitions of terms across Retool.
A
Add UI tab
A tab in the left panel of the classic app IDE that allows you to search for and add components or modules to your app.
AI credit
The unit that Retool uses to track usage of AI tools in Retool. Prompts that require more complex reasoning or larger outputs use more credits.
App
A web-based React application built in Retool, composed of components, connected resources, functions, and designed to enable users to interact with data.
App builder
The interface for building apps. Available to users with a Builder seat.
App Settings tab
A tab in the classic app IDE that allows you to change general settings.
App-level theme
A theme that defines consistent style, scoped to a single app. App-level themes override organization-level themes. Themes control aspects such as colors, typography, and style.
Apps landing page
The page that displays a list of recent, published, draft, starred, and trashed apps. Users can explore apps from this page, and create new apps and modules.
Artifact
A snapshot of an app at the time of release. Used when implementing multi-instance releases of protected apps.
Ask AI
An assistant that helps you write queries. You can instruct Ask AI to generate, edit, explain, or fix queries.
Assist
The Retool feature that enables you to generate or edit apps using natural language.
Assist panel
A tab in the classic app IDE that allows you to access Assist.
B
Branch
A set of changes in the app builder, associated with an app preview and with its own version history. A branch is the unit of work that you publish, and it can contain one or multiple threads. When using Source Control, a branch in the app builder UI maps directly to a branch in your Source Control provider.
C
Canvas
The primary workspace in which you build the user interface for your app. The canvas can contain distinct frames, such as the sidebar or header.
Circular dependencies
An error state where two or more properties rely on each other to function. The dependency graph enables Retool to prevent these.
Classic app
A web application built in the classic app IDE using drag-and-drop components, frames, pages, queries, and logic. Distinct from apps built in the React-based app builder.
Classic app IDE
The web-based, drag-and-drop interface for building classic apps and mobile apps. Available to users with a Builder seat.
Code Search tab
A tab in the classic app IDE that includes various options for searching code in your apps.
Code tab
A tab in the classic app IDE that conains all of the app's queries, transformers, and variables.
Command palette
A search bar in the classic app IDE that includes a host of commands you can use to quickly execcute common actions like opening app settings, creating new queries, or editing component properties.
Component
A prebuilt interface element used to display data or interact with.
Component Tree tab
A tab in the classic app IDE that contains a hierarchical tree from which you can select, rename, switch, or delete components. You can view and select components regardless of visibility including those within multiview containers, such as Tabbed Container component views. Selecting a component makes it visible and, where necessary, switches a container's view to make it active.
Console tab
A tab in the classic app Debug Tools that shows a list of errors, warnings, and success messages that relate to your queries, transformers, event handlers, etc.
CRUD
Create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) are the four basic operations (actions) of persistent storage. CRUD is also sometimes used to describe user interface conventions that facilitate viewing, searching, and changing information using computer-based forms and reports.
Current working version
The version that reflects the current state of the app or workflow, reflecting the latest edits.
Custom component library
A set of custom React components that can be reused within Retool apps. Components are authored in React and TypeScript, can leverage public or private npm packages, and are managed as libraries with unique names and metadata. Once deployed, custom components appear in the Add UI tab for easy drag-and-drop use in app building.
Custom CSS
A set of custom style rules that can override and extend the default styling of classic apps. Can apply on a per-app or an organization basis.
Custom page
A feature available when using external apps that enables organization admins to replace Retool’s login, reset password, signup, and invitation claim pages with classic apps.
Custom page path
A custom URL path that allows you to access a classic app at {domain}/app/{custom-url}.
D
Debug tools
A feature of the classic app IDE that enables you to troubleshoot and fix issues with apps, resources, and queries.
Debug Tools
Built-in debugging tools available in the classic app IDE, Resource configuration page, and Query Library that help troubleshoot and fix issues with classic apps, resources, and queries. Debug Tools include the Console, Timeline, State, Linting, and Performance tabs, and provide detailed information about query execution, errors, connection tests, and application state.
Dependency graph
A directed graph representing dependencies of several objects towards each other. It is possible to derive an evaluation order or the absence of an evaluation order that respects the given dependencies from the dependency graph.
Deprecated component
A component that is no longer supported by Retool. It continues to work in existing classic apps but should not be used in new apps
Dot notation
A syntax used to access an object's methods or properties.
Drafts
A personal folder for standard users to develop and test apps. Apps in the Drafts folder cannot be shared with other users, and must be published to another folder before it can be shared.
Drawer frame
A type of frame that adds a slide-out container to the right side of your classic app. It's commonly used to display forms or detailed data for a particular item/user/product/datapoint.
E
Edit mode
The mode of interacting with an app through the app builder as an editor.
Embedded app
A classic app embedded within web pages or other apps. Embedded apps enable users to authenticate through the existing authentication system in which the app is embedded, so they don't need to log in twice.
Error reporting
The ability to send logs and error reports on workflows, web apps, and mobile apps with Datadog or Sentry.
Event handler
A mechanism to respond to user interactions and system events without requiring custom JavaScript. You can use event handlers to trigger queries, control components, and perform other actions in response to user interactions.
Exponential backoff
A strategy where a failed operation is retried with progressively longer delays, increasing the wait time exponentially (e.g., 1 second, then 2, then 4, then 8) after each failure to avoid overwhelming a struggling server or network, allowing it time to recover and increasing the chance of a successful retry.
External app
A classic app that is fully white-labeled. You can create a standalone experience that reflects your brand, complete with custom domains, themes, and customizeable product pages.
F
Frame
A layout container that enables you to divide the classic app canvas into distinct sections in which you add components. Frames provide you with flexible layout options for arranging your app's user interface. You can add frames to pages or use them globally.
Function
A logic operation that Retool uses to interact with your resources, apply business logic, and return structured results. Functions are multi-step, TypeScript code with typed parameters. Functions are serverless and run on Retool's backend.
G
H
Header frame
A type of frame that allows you to build a header. This frame is globally scoped and persists across all pages.
Human-In-The-Loop (HITL)
A process that requires human action in order to proceed, such as a tool call that requires approval, or Assist resource query creation.
I
Inspector
The interface in the classic app IDE, located in a collapsible right panel, that enables you to configure app and component settings. Component settings are often organized into Content, Interactions, and Appearance sections. When a particular component is not selected, it contains settings related to the app as a whole, such as URL, shortcut, and max width.
Internationalization (i18n)
A feature that allows you to adapt classic app content and data for your users across different languages and regions. This includes localizing applications and formatting text, dates, and currencies across different languages. Retool provides default translations for strings in components in several langauges.
J
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K
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L
Landing page
A feature (available when utilizing external apps) that allows administrators to automatically route end users to specific classic apps upon login. This routing is based on the user's assigned permission group.
Left panel
The portion of the IDE on the left side of the screen. It contains several tabs for working with components or workflow blocks, writing code, managing releases, and changing app settings.
Legacy component
A component that has been superseded by a newer, separate component, but is still available for use. The newer component provides the same general functionality but works differently.
Live version
The published release of an app or a workflow. If there is no published release, then the live version and the working version are the same.
Localization
A feature of internationalization that enables you to add multi-language support for your application, and format text, dates, and currencies for an international region.
localStorage
A flexible solution for temporarily storing data in the browser. Makes use of the Windows localStorage property.
M
Main frame
A type of frame that takes up the entire canvas area by default.
Media type
The media type that indicates the purpose and format of data (e.g., application/pdf for PDF files).
Mobile layout
A setting in classic apps that enables you to make your app responsive for smaller viewport widths.
Modal frame
A type of frame that appears above other content, such as a dialog box.
Module
A collection of components and code that you can build and embed within other classic apps. Modules enable you to reuse components and code in multiple apps, and modules can pass data to and from the parent app.
Multiplayer
A feature of the classic app IDE that enables multiple users to make changes to the same app simultaneously.
N
Navbar
A portion of the classic app IDE where you customize the IDE environment and configure high-level app settings.
Null-origin iframe
An iframe configured with the HTML sandbox attribute. Browsers treat its contents as if they came from a separate, anonymous origin — so it cannot read the parent page's data, send the user's cookies, or make same-origin API calls on the parent's behalf. Retool uses null-origin iframes in the app builder to isolate developer-authored code from the editor.
O
Observability
The ability to monitor Retool capabilities by observing and reporting on app and workflow behavior. Includes capabilities such as error reporting, performance monitoring, user sessions, and webdriver tests.
Organization-level theme
A theme that defines consistent style and can be applied to many apps across an organization. Themes control aspects such as colors, typography, and style.
P
Page
A distinct section of an app with its own code and components. Users switch between pages using event handlers or navigation controls. Retool only evaluates page code or component values when the page is currently in view.
Page scope
Components, frames, and code that can only be referenced within a single page. Retool only evaluates page-scoped objects when the page is currently being viewed.
Pages tab
A tab in the classic app IDE that allows you to view and manage the pages in your app.
Performance monitoring
The ability to send page load and query traces to Datadog and Sentry
Public links
A link that makes a classic app available, without authentication, to anyone with the URL.
Q
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R
S
Scope
The level of access granted. If you crete a custom OAuth application with which to authenticate, you typically define scopes to give Retool access, such as calendars.read or users.add.
Service worker
A script that runs in the background of the user's browser, separate from the main page, and acts as a programmable network proxy. For instance, Retool uses a service worker to cache the application frontend and reduce page load times.
Sidebar frame
A type of frame that is used primarily for building navigation into your classic apps. This frame is globally-scoped and persist across all pages.
Single Model Provider
A setting that enables Assist users to use a single AI provider instead of the default combination of OpenAI and Anthropic.
Split Pane frame
A type of frame that adds a resizable canvas adjacent to the main frame. It can be used to display a detail view relative to the main frame or split the classic app for multitasking.
Status bar
An interface that runs along the bottom of the classic app IDE and contains options to switch environments, view releases, toggle the runtime that powers the app, and access debug tools
T
Ternary operator
In computer programming, the ternary conditional operator is a ternary operator that is part of the syntax for basic conditional expressions in several programming languages. It is commonly referred to as the conditional operator, conditional expression, ternary if, or inline if. An expression if a then b else c or a ? b : c evaluates to b if the value of a is true, and otherwise to c. One can read it aloud as "if a then b otherwise c". The form a ? b : c is the most common, but alternative syntaxes do exist; for example, Raku uses the syntax a ?? b !! c to avoid confusion with the infix operators ? and !, whereas in Visual Basic .NET, it instead takes the form If(a, b, c).
Theme
A feature that allows users to customize the visual appearance of their applications by defining consistent styles across apps or at the organizational level. Themes control aspects such as colors, typography, metrics (e.g., border radius), and shadows.
Theme Editor
The interface used to create, customize, and manage visual themes for apps and organizations.
Thread
A single chat conversation with the agent in the Chat tab of the app builder. A thread helps you help manage context, and multiple threads can contribute to the same branch.
ToolScript
A JSX-style markup language built to serialize Retool apps which are protected using Source Control.
Transformer
Reusable blocks of JavaScript code to transform data that can be referenced anywhere in a classic app.
U
User session
Behavioral data, such as interactions, that occur with an app during a period of activity.
V
Variable
A place to temporarily store data for a user while a classic app is running.
View mode
The mode of interacting with an app as an end user.
VS Code Extension
An extension that allows you to author complex code in the comfort of your local Visual Studio Code (VS Code) environment.
W
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X
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Y
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Z
Zero-based numbering
Zero-based numbering is a way of numbering in which the initial element of a sequence is assigned the index 0, rather than the index 1 as is typical in everyday non-mathematical or non-programming circumstances. Under zero-based numbering, the initial element is sometimes termed the zeroth element, rather than the first element; zeroth is a coined word for the ordinal number zero. In some cases, an object or value that does not (originally) belong to a given sequence, but which could be naturally placed before its initial element, may be termed the zeroth element. There is no wide agreement regarding the correctness of using zero as an ordinal, as it creates ambiguity for all subsequent elements of the sequence when lacking context.