My goal: Understand how to update apps built with the retool AI.
On the paid plans, if we build an app using the new AI interface, what are the options to tweak the app once the AI is done?
Can we download the code, edit it locally an then upload back to retool?
Can we edit the code directly on retool?
I ask because we don’t mind using an AI to help build the framework, but it’s often faster to write code ourselves/test queries etc. without going back and for with an AI
Thanks
Hey @Roy33, welcome to the Community! Happy to hear that you have been building in the new app builder! Yes, you can edit the code! Manually edit app code | Retool Docs
To manually edit your app code, navigate to the Code tab in the left panel. The Code tab includes an outline of all files that are included in your app.
Let me know if this is helpful - I also attached a video! 
Thank you. I figured it out.
For others here’s the deal 
- as far as I can tell.
The classic app stays classic.
For the new app, you can create it with the AI, and then go in and edit the actual files to make your own tweaks (so you don’t have to wait for the AI to change “blue” to “green”
An important limitation IMO is that you can’t connect a github repo unless you are on a very high plan.
So while you can download a file and edit locally and copy back up, for me that’s not a great workflow because you can’t work on the whole app in a local editor (as far as I can tell) → but you can certainly edit in retool.
RN we’re sticking with classic.
TY
Any chance to link to github / at which cost to do our own edits? not in the code tab (cannot use our own own agent harnesses and so on, need it in my terminal or vscode)
like @Roy33 asked
Hey @Jesse_Klotz, great questions! And welcome back to the community! Glad to see you building in the new app builder. 
Yes, you can link to GitHub. The new React apps support Git source control (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure Repos, CodeCommit), so you can edit the code in your own environment and sync back. It's an Enterprise feature right now: Protect apps in the new app builder | Retool Docs. In terms of price, you'll want to speak to sales to discuss.
For all cloud plans, you can pull the React files down via the Retool MCP and edit them locally in VS Code or your own agent. The catch is there's no deterministic way to push those edits back into Retool yet. The team is actively scoping MCP tools for direct file upload/modification to make that clean round-trip possible.
Another builder is running nearly the same Claude Code + VS Code setup, with a helpful reply from our team here: New React App Builder - Claude Code (via VS Code) Workflow
Hope this is helpful! 
