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:

• Prevent unwanted changes to apps.
• Work collaboratively and methodically through reviews.
• Edit React code from your preferred development environment.

To get started, first protect your app. Then you can create, publish, and tag new versions.

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:

• Continue building or iterating on an existing app.
• Monitor active builds and view past agent activity.
• Review function runs that require human approval.
• Inspect or read the files of an existing app.
• Cancel a failed or in-progress build.

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.

A new AI-powered app builder is now available to cloud instances. Build production-ready React apps using natural language in the app builder or through your favorite coding agent via MCP. Whatever or however you build, everything inherits the security standards your organization has already approved and implemented.

The app builder includes:

• A Chat tab where you describe changes in natural language and an AI agent plans and executes them, with file uploads and per-thread model selection.
• A Data tab that shows the resources connected to your app and the functions that interact with them, with optional approval gates on writes.
• A Code tab that lets you view and edit every file your app uses.
• Support for organization themes, third-party npm packages, and publishing and version history.

Apps run on React 19 and a curated set of supporting libraries.

App builders can now defer the initialization of modules until they're viewable to improve the initial loading time of larger apps.

When an app is initially loaded, Retool initializes all code, components, and modules. However, a common use case for modules is including them in conditionally hidden frames, and these modules don't need to be loaded when they are still hidden.

Modules now have a new option in the Inspector: [Beta] Defer evaluation until visible. When a “deferred” module is hidden (either ‘hidden’ state is true, or it is in a hidden frame, or otherwise not being rendered), Retool defers the module's initialization. When the module is shown, Retool invokes the initialization procedure that would typically happen during app startup.

This gives builders more flexibility in how components are loaded in their apps, and large apps load more quickly.

Retool made significant updates that improve Assist's app generation capabilities:

• Improved quality of app generation. Assist has an improved ability to successfully set a wider set of properties across a wider set of components.
• Quicker app generation. Generating an app from scratch is approximately 20% faster.
• Better token efficiency, especially for app editing. Token use has decreased by approximately 40-50%, depending on the change type. Users will notice a decrease in the number of context window issues they encounter.
• Improved support for building forms and using repeatable components inside apps.

READMEs can now be protected for apps that use Source Control. For existing apps that have a README, Retool will add a README.md file to your repository with your next commit. If you are protecting an app for the first time, Retool will include the README.md file automatically.

Retool now uses a service worker in the browser to cache the application frontend so that pages load faster when you revisit them. The service worker uses a stale-while-revalidate strategy: it serves the previously cached version of a page immediately, then fetches the latest version from Retool in the background. If a newer version is available, Retool automatically refreshes the page so you see the latest changes.

The cache is version-aware and automatically invalidates after a Retool upgrade, so you always end up on the latest version of the platform without needing to clear your browser cache. A hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R) bypasses the cache and loads the latest version directly.

The service worker is enabled by default on cloud instances and on self-hosted versions 3.334-stable and later. Admins can disable it from Settings > Beta if they need to diagnose page load issues in their organization.

Newly created apps now have their Max width value set to 1200 px by default. This change improves usability and responsiveness.

Existing apps are unchanged. If you want to adjust the maximum width of your app, navigate to the Inspector and adjust the Max width setting in the Spacing section.

Retool now supports controls for configuring your app theme while prompting Assist.

• Free and Team plan users can choose between light or dark mode and select an accent color.
• Business and Enterprise plans support organization-level theming. Alternatively, users can select a theme preset.
• All plans can configure an app theme via the prompt. Be very clear and specific about your design intent. For example, "Create a dark mode theme with blue accent colors", or "Update the theme to match the Acme brand colors and style."