The Retool CLI is now available in public beta. It enables you to build, manage, and publish Retool-native React apps from the command line and with the help of your chosen code development agent harness, like Claude Code or Codex.

With this tool, you can write and validate app code directly on your machine. You can use the CLI independently or pair it with a local development agent. Follow the installation instructions to get started, learn how the CLI works, or compare the CLI to the MCP.

You can now embed apps in other apps, in classic apps, and in apps or websites outside Retool using an iframe. To enable app embedding, an organization admin adds Content Security Policy directive rules that name the pages that are allowed to frame your app.

Refer to the Embed apps guide to learn how.

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.