Version and deploy workflows
Learn how to deploy and manage workflows that run automatically.
You must deploy a workflow before it can run automatically using a schedule or with webhooks. The Workflow IDE automatically saves changes to your workflow but you must deploy them to take effect. This allows you to build a new workflow, or make changes to an existing one, without disruption.
When you deploy a workflow, Retool creates a versioned release. Each release of a workflow has its own version number and reflects the workflow's state at that specific point in time. Only the deployed version is used by Retool. This allows you to safely test and build changes without disruption.
Any changes you make to a Retool workflow are automatically saved to the current working version. This version contains any changes that have not yet been deployed.
Deploy a workflow release
Click Deploy in the toolbar to create and deploy a new version of the workflow. Retool uses Semantic Versioning and automatically increments the version number based on your selection of Major, Minor, or Patch versioning.
Once you provide a description and selecting the version number to increment, you can deploy the version immediately.
Manage releases
The Deploy History tab contains as list of every deployed version of a workflow. The currently deployed version includes a Deployed tag.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Version number | The deployment version number (e.g., 1.0.2). |
| Description | The description of the version. |
| Author | The Retool user who deployed the version. |
| Deploy date | When the version was last deployed. |
Preview a release
Select a version in the Deploy History tab to preview it in the Workflow IDE.
Deploy an existing release
You can publish an existing version of a workflow at any time. Open the ••• menu for the version to deploy, then select Deploy release.
If you want to remove any releases and are certain they are no longer needed, you can also delete them permanently.
Revert to a previous release
You can revert the current working version of your app to the state from a previous version. All changes since this version are discarded but still remain in the history. This does not affect any other releases and doesn't change the published release.
This is useful if you've made a series of changes in the current working version but want to revert the app to an earlier point.