Custom API with Public Apps

App Building
1

I would like to develop a public app which allows users to save preferences along with an email address to receive targeted information regularly.

I understand you have noted many times that Retool is intended for internal apps. But I am puzzled by the documentation on custom API authentication.

https://docs.retool.com/docs/custom-api-authentication

It seems that I could store user profiles in a separate database which requires authentication via an API - and then add custom API authentication to a public app.

Will this work?

2 Likes
2

Hi @rkaplan! On public links, we actually collect no user info, which means any kind of authentication would be challenging. All authentication is associated with specific Retool user accounts, and since public app users are fully anonymous there is no user to work with that system. Public apps allow for unauthenticated, open access to the embedded app. If you need to give users access to confidential information or dangerous functionality, they would have to login with a Retool account.