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Connect to Front

Connect Front to Retool and manage conversations, messages, and contacts.

Front is a customer communication platform for managing email, messages, and shared inboxes.

What you can do with Front in Retool​

After you create a Front resource in Retool, you can:

  • Retrieve conversations, messages, and contacts.
  • Send messages and update conversation status.
  • Manage tags, teammates, and inboxes.
  • Build support dashboards and admin panels on top of Front data.

Before you begin​

To connect Front to Retool, you need the following:

  • Front OAuth app: A Front OAuth app configured with your Retool instance's OAuth callback URL, since Retool's hosted OAuth app is only available on Cloud.
  • Front permissions: User account with appropriate permissions to access and manage the data you need.
  • Retool permissions: Ability to create and manage resources in your organization.

Create a Front resource​

Follow these steps to create a Front resource in Retool.

Create a new resource​

In your Retool organization, navigate to Resources in the main navigation and click Create new → Resource. Search for Front and click the Front tile to begin configuration.

Configure general settings​

Specify a name and description for the resource that indicates which Front account it connects to. The description provides more context to users and Assist about how to use the resource.

Example nameExample description
Front (Support)Front inbox for the customer support team's shared conversations.
Front (Sales)Front account used to track and respond to sales inquiries.

API version​

Select the Front API version to use. Retool defaults to the most recent version, but you can select an earlier version if your integration depends on it.

Example
v3.0.0 (2025-05-09) (DEFAULT)
For OAuth resources

When using Retool's hosted OAuth app (cloud) or a custom OAuth app (self-hosted), you typically only need one resource. Each user authenticates individually and can only access their own data. Creating multiple resources is usually unnecessary unless you need to support multiple OAuth applications.

Configure authentication​

Front resources authenticate using OAuth 2.0.

Self-hosted instances must create a custom OAuth app in Front, since Retool's hosted OAuth app is only available on Cloud.

Create an OAuth app in Front​

Follow Front's guide to create an OAuth app. Note the Client ID and Client secret Front generates for the app.

Configure the resource in Retool​

  1. Client ID: Paste the Client ID from Front.
  2. Client secret: Paste the Client secret from Front.
  3. Copy the OAuth callback URL Retool displays and add it to the OAuth app's redirect URI settings in Front.
  4. Optionally enable Share credentials between users so all users of the resource authenticate as a single shared Front account instead of individually.
  5. Click Create resource.
  6. Click Connect with OAuth and grant permissions in Front.

Configure advanced options​

Configure optional settings available under the Advanced options section of the resource configuration form.

Outbound region​

If your organization uses outbound regions, select the region that should be used for requests to Front. This controls which geographic region your requests originate from.

Verify the connection​

Front resources don't include a Test connection button. Your Front resource was already saved when you clicked Create resource during authentication. After you authorize the connection, Retool displays a Connected status once authentication succeeds, and you can use the resource in queries across your Retool apps and automations.

Interact with Front data​

Once you've created a Front resource, you can interact with Front data using Retool.

Switch to the new app builder

Retool recommends using the new app builder so you can use natural language to build React-based apps using AI.

  • To use Front data in the app builder, reference the resource in the prompt with @, such as @Front (Support). Refer to the data and functions documentation to learn more.
  • For classic apps, workflows, and agents, refer to the REST API queries documentation to learn how to write a resource query.

Best practices​

Follow these best practices to maintain the security of your Front resource.

  • Avoid shared credentials for sensitive inboxes: Enable Share credentials between users only when it's acceptable for all users of the resource to act as the same Front account. Otherwise, let each user authenticate individually.
  • Rotate credentials regularly: Rotate the OAuth client secret on a regular schedule, and immediately if it's ever exposed.
  • Use resource environments: Organizations on an Enterprise plan can configure multiple resource environments to maintain separate Front credentials for production, staging, and development.