Retool now supports manual file management of apps from the Code tab of the app builder. This enables builders to exercise finer-grained control over code files without needing to prompt the agent and consume credits.

Builders can manually add:

• Folder: A new empty folder inside the frontend or backend directory of your app.
• Frontend component: A new TypeScript file that represents a React component, which Retool populates with a basic structure of the component.
• Frontend file: A new generic frontend file. Provide the full file name, including the file extension.
• Backend function: A new TypeScript file that represents a function, which Retool populates with the basic structure of a function.
• Backend file: A new generic backend file. Provide the full file name, including the file extension.

Builders can also delete certain files or folders, including those that define components and backend functions, or other temporary or user-written files.

You can now queue messages in Chat tab of the app builder. While the agent is working, you can send up to five messages, which will be automatically sent in a batch once the agent responds.

You can edit or remove messages from the queue before they are sent, or clear the queue of all messages.

Retool introduced finer controls on branches in the app builder. You can now rename branches from the Change History panel by hovering over a branch name and clicking the icon.

You can also copy the branch name, which enables builders using Source Control to transition between development in the app builder and development locally. Learn more about switching development environments.

Retool made signficant improvements to the efficiency and performance of the app building agent. Builders will notice faster agent responses and lower AI credit consumption, especially on long-running building sessions. These improvements can result in up to 50% fewer credits consumed.

The app builder now includes a debug console to help you inspect your app, surface issues, and resolve them with the agent. Open it from the status bar at the bottom of the app builder.

The console has three tabs:

• Errors: Function, build, and frontend errors. Hover a row to add its context to the chat or ask the agent to fix it, or click Fix all to resolve every error at once.
• Logs: Logs emitted by the app or the agent, including function, build, frontend, sandbox, agent, and git events.
• Timeline: A record of function runs with the elapsed time and the success of each, useful for diagnosing performance issues.

The agent has access to the same information available to builders in the debug console. This enables the agent to disagnose and address issues more quickly, and it can write more performant functions.

Multi-instance releases are now supported for apps built in the new app builder, in addition to classic apps and workflows. To enable multi-instance releases, navigate to Settings > Source control > Edit settings and turn on Enable multi-instance releases.

Organizations using Source Control can manage releases of protected apps, classic apps, and workflows across multiple deployment instances. This feature enables you to publish different release versions across instances, making it possible to test a newer version on staging or development instances before promoting to production.

Multi-instance releases work slightly differently for apps and classic apps. Learn more about the difference, or get started with multi-instance releases for apps.

You can now use Plan mode for further control over the actions that the app building agent takes.

1. Click to switch from Build mode to Plan mode and tell the agent what changes you want it to make.
2. The agent creates a comprehensive plan, which is written as a Markdown file in the .plan folder. Click Review to view the file.
3. Review the plan, and switch to the Markdown tab to make any changes. You can also ask the agent to update the plan.
4. When you're ready, click Build plan.

Organization admins can now add shared building context that applies to all apps built with the new app builder. Building context is applied as custom instructions in the system prompt when the user makes any changes via prompting in the Chat tab, similar to the way AGENTS.md files work. Building context is valuable for defining design practices, coding conventions, data usage recommendations, and other guidelines across your organization.

To add shared context, navigate to Settings > Building context. Add your instructions in Markdown format, and click Publish to apply your changes to all apps.

Building context applies to all apps in your organization. If you have Spaces enabled, it applies to all apps in your space.

The app builder now supports multiple chat conversations (threads) working on the same branch rather than a single thread per branch.

A thread is a single chat conversation with the agent in the Chat tab. Threads are intended to help you keep your work organized by task or theme. For example, use one thread for updating your app theme, and another thread for editing a chart on that page. Manage threads from the Chat tab.

A branch is a set of changes to your app, associated with an app preview, and with its own change history. A branch is the unit of work that you publish, and you create a new branch to begin a distinct line of work. For example, create a new branch when you want to change the resources that your app uses, or when you want to overhaul a page. Manage branches from the Change History tab in the navbar.

When using Source Control, branches in the protected app builder map to branches in your external git repository.

For Enterprise organizations that use Source Control to protect apps, you can now use the app builder to check out a branch that you created outside of Retool. This enables you to transition your changes from a local development environment to the app builder. This can be useful for visually validating your changes in the preview canvas.