Updates, changes, and improvements at Retool.
Refer to the stable and edge release notes for detailed information about self-hosted releases.
You can now use Retool's MCP server to import React apps directly from your agentic coding environment.
Open a React app, and ask Retool to import the app. Retool guides you through the process of selecting the appropriate resources, and sends you a link to the newly imported app in the app builder. From there, you can make tweaks to the generated app, and securely publish the app using the MCP server or from the app builder.
Retool 4.0 is the most significant infrastructure change to self-hosted Retool since launch. It introduces the new app builder built on React, with AI-assisted building and a real-time collaborative editing environment. These features are powered by a set of additional services: the agent sandbox, JS executor, MCP server, and r2 agent. These services run alongside other Retool containers and require Kubernetes with Helm chart 6.11.4 or later.
For new deployments: Retool now provides Terraform blueprints that automatically provision all required AWS infrastructure (VPC, EKS cluster, RDS, S3, load balancer, ACM certificate) and deploy Retool via Helm. This is the recommended path for production.
For existing deployments: The upgrade path depends on how you're currently deployed. New services are disabled by default so you can upgrade the chart first and enable them when ready. Some deployment configurations require migration before upgrading.
In addition, a database migration is performed to prepare for upcoming improvements to organization permissions. This migration does not affect any functionality within this release but any migration issues must be resolved before attempting to upgrade to a future release.
Self-hosted admins now see an Update available banner on the Retool home page when a newer release or patch update is available for their instance.
The banner shows the available version and links directly to the relevant release notes. Admins can dismiss each notification individually — dismissals are remembered per version.
Two notification tiers appear based on what's available:
On airgapped instances, no outbound version check is made and the banner does not appear.
The Settings navigation is reorganized into clearer, task-based groups so you can find what you need more quickly.
Settings are now grouped under the following sections: Management, Monitoring, Permissions, Authentication, Features, and Customization. For example, Users, Groups, Roles, and User attributes are grouped under Permissions, while Single sign-on (SSO) and IAM credentials are grouped under Authentication.
Settings navigation update.
Admins can now use the Overview page in Settings to set up their Retool organization and respond to pending user requests.
The Get started section guides you through configuring the core areas of your organization, including single sign-on (SSO), resources, permissions, spaces, source control, and the Retool API.
Retool marks each step as complete once you configure it, and you can mark any step that does not apply as not relevant. The module is hidden once you complete the Get started steps.
The Overview also surfaces pending join requests and suggested users, so you can approve new members without leaving the page.
Retool 4.1 is now available on the Edge release channel for self-hosted organizations.
The following patches are now available on the Stable release channel:
Update your Retool instance to apply the latest bug fixes and security patches.
Retool's new app builder now supports importing React apps from external sources, such as Replit, Lovable, and Claude Code, for further refinement and development in Retool.
To import your React app in Retool, generate a .zip file of the code, and select Import React code from the app builder. Learn more about how it works.
Apps created with the new app builder can now be protected and checked into your chosen Source Control Manager (SCM). Source Control lets organizations manage changes using remote SCM providers GitHub, GitLab, AWS CodeCommit, Bitbucket, and Azure Repos. Using this distributed approach, your users can:
To get started, first protect your app. Then you can create, publish, and tag new versions.
App building with the MCP server is available in cloud instances. It will be available in upcoming stable and edge releases.
Builders on cloud instances can now use Retool's MCP server to build apps. Apps are built using React and use Retool's updated app builder. Connect the MCP server to Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, Kiro, or another agentic coding environment, and describe the app you want to build. Retool's building agent generates the app and returns a preview link. Publish and manage the app from the app builder.
Beyond initial generation, you can also use the MCP server to:
App building tools require the user to be a builder, and the builder must authorize the mcp:write scope. Refer to the tools reference for the full list.
Using the MCP server to build classic apps is not supported.