Configuration, handoff, and production management (as an agency for a client)

🤝 Discussion
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(For agencies...)
How do you recommend handling handoff to the client and subsequently managing the system in production? How do you recommend handling configuring resources and credentials/secrets?

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Hi @caffeine,
This is a great question. Hopefully we can get a few people to share.

Are you able to tell us more about you, your project, and your client? Are there internal developers you are going to hand off to, a tech oriented person, or? Have you already given a demo of your MVP to the client? Have you or someone else already setup/invited users and set permissions?

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Hey Colton,
Nice seeing you at the agency office hours—and thanks again for the context!

Hopefully our chat helped a bit. As Sebastian and I mentioned, our usual handoff approach is to create the Retool app in the client’s account and simply add ourselves as users. This allows for better permission control and avoids dealing with transferring secrets later on.

But if you’ve already built the app in your own account, here are a few tips that might make the handoff smoother:

  • :white_check_mark: If possible, set up their account for them. This way, you can transfer the app, test everything, and configure users, permissions, and resources properly.
  • :closed_lock_with_key: Use Retool’s Configuration Variables to store API keys and credentials securely. For any secrets that need to be shared, use something secure like AWS Secrets Manager, 1Password, or Bitwarden—never email or Slack.
  • :gear: Pre-create the client's resources before importing the app JSON. If you match the resource names exactly, the import process will map them automatically and reduce rework.

Let me know if that helps or if there are other specific aspects of a handoff you're thinking through. There are plenty of others like documentation, inline code comments, client onboarding, and training, so happy to chat further anytime.

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