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Resources quickstart

A quickstart tutorial for connecting your first data source to Retool.

A resource is a set of user-configured properties that determine how Retool interacts with a data source, such as an API or database. You create a resource for each data source you want to use with Retool, then select it when writing a query to interact with the data.

This quickstart tutorial walks you through connecting a DummyJSON, a free REST API with sample data, to Retool as a resource.

Get started​

First, sign in to Retool or create a new organization.

If you're joining an existing organization, confirm with an admin that you are in a group with Edit all access to resources.

Create a resource​

Use the following steps to create a REST API resource that connects to DummyJSON, a free REST API that returns sample data for testing.

  1. On the Resources page, click Create new and select Resource.
  2. Select the REST API resource type.
  3. Name the resource DummyJSON and set the Base URL to https://dummyjson.com.
  4. Click Create resource. A confirmation message appears and prompts you to return to the Resources page or create an app.

Test your resource​

You can now use your newly-created resource across Retool.

In the app builder, prompt the app building agent with @ and your resource name to generate functions against it. Check that the function runs successfully and returns the data that you expect.

Use @DummyJSON to display a list of users from the /users endpoint in a table.

In classic apps, workflows, and agents, write queries using the REST API query editor.

Share your resource​

Access to a resource depends on your organization's permission settings. Users on Free or Team plans can use all resources. Organizations on Business and Enterprise plans manage access to resources through permission groups or role-based access control.

Next steps​

Learn more about resources and how to use them.