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Connect to GitHub

Learn how to connect GitHub to Retool.

You can use the GitHub integration to create a resource and make it available in Retool. Once complete, your users can write queries that interact with GitHub data.

Requirements​

The GitHub integration requirements depend on whether you have a cloud-hosted or self-hosted Retool organization. You may also need to make GitHub configuration changes before creating the resource.

Sufficient user permissions to create resources

All users for Retool organizations on Free or Team plans have global Edit permissions and can add, edit, and remove resources. If your organization manages user permissions for resources, you must be a member of a group with Edit all permissions.

Allow Retool to access the data source

If the data source is behind a firewall or restricts access based on IP address, then you must ensure that your Retool organization can access it. If necessary, configure your data source to allow access from Retool's IP addresses.

CIDR IP addresses
3.77.79.248/30
35.90.103.132/30
44.208.168.68/30
Individual IP addresses
3.77.79.249
3.77.79.250
35.90.103.132
35.90.103.133
35.90.103.134
35.90.103.135
44.208.168.68
44.208.168.69
44.208.168.70
44.208.168.71

Retool is building support for querying firewalled resources without allowlisting Retool’s IP address. To learn more or be considered for early access, contact cloud-connect@retool.com.

GitHub settings and authentication

You must have sufficient access and familiarity with your GitHub data source so you can provide:

  • Required connection settings (e.g., URL and server variables).
  • Authentication credentials (e.g., API keys).

In some cases, you may need to make changes to your GitHub configuration, such as generating authentication credentials or allowing access through a firewall. Refer to the configuration and authentication sections to learn more.

Configure the resource​

Sign in to your Retool organization and navigate to the Resources tab. Click Create new > Resource, then select GitHub.

Configuration​

Specify the name, location, and description to use for your GitHub resource. Retool displays the resource name and type in query editors to help users identify them.

Provide the following configuration settings to create the resource. Depending on how your data source is configured, you may also need to provide optional settings for Retool to connect.

Name

The name to use for the resource.

Description

A description of the resource.

API version

The API version with which to perform requests.

Override default outbound Retool region

Retool connects to your data source from the us-west-2 region. Choosing a different outbound region can improve performance through geographic proximity.

RegionLocation
us-west-2US West (Oregon)
eu-central-1(Frankfurt, Germany)

Authentication​

The GitHub integration supports the following authentication methods. Depending on which authentication method you use, you may need to make changes to your GitHub configuration.

Access token

Authentication is performed using an access token. You must be able to obtain and provide these credentials to create the resource.

Custom OAuth 2.0 client credentials

Authentication is performed using a custom OAuth 2.0 client app. You must create this client and then provide its credentials. Once configured, your users are redirected to GitHub to sign in and authorize Retool to access data.

OAuth apps typically require the following values during creation:

  • OAuth callback URL: The URL to which users are redirected once they have successfully signed in.
  • Scopes : The permissions granted to Retool. Each scope defines a specific set of permissions (e.g., messages:read to read messages users:write to create new users). You must ensure that any scopes defined in your OAuth app matches the scopes you specify when configuring the resource.

Once you've created an OAuth app you can obtain its credentials, such as the Client ID and Client secret. You then provide these to configure Retool for OAuth authentication.

Refer to the GitHub documentation for detailed instructions on creating an OAuth app.

Scopes

Scopes govern what permissions Retool has once you connect your account authenticates. For some integrations, Retool automatically populates a set of recommended scopes to make full use of the integration. In some cases, you may need to specify the scopes for Retool to use.

Client ID

The client ID with which to authenticate.

Client secret

The client secret with which to authenticate.

Share credentials between users

Whether the authenticated credentials should be shared across all users. If enabled, all users share the same credentials and do not need to complete authentication themselves. All queries from Retool are made on behalf of the same authenticated user. Not all resources allow credential sharing so this option may not be available.

Test the connection​

Click Test Connection to verify that Retool can successfully connect to the data source. If the test fails, check the resource settings and try again.

Testing a connection only checks whether Retool can successfully connect to the resource. It cannot check whether the provided credentials have sufficient privileges or can perform every supported action.

Save the resource​

Click Create resource to complete the setup. You can then click either Create app to immediately start building a Retool app or Back to resources to return to the list of resources.

Next steps​

Your GitHub resource is now ready to use. Check out related queries and code documentation to learn how to interact with GitHub data.