Four years trying to get credentials for a legacy managed_db — support sent me here

💬 Queries and Resources
1

I've been trying to get a connection string (or even a one-time pg_dump) for a legacy managed_db resource since 2022. This is the old auto-provisioned Postgres that came with older Cloud accounts — not the newer Retool DB product, so the connection-string toggle in Retool DB settings doesn't apply here. please don't redirect me to the Retool DB toggle, that's a different resource
All I need is to read/write the same data from an external service alongside my existing Retool app. I'm not migrating off Retool, I just need the database reachable from outside it.

The problem: As org admin, every credential field on the resource shows ---encrypted-on-server--- and there's no way to reveal it. There's also no documented self-service path to export the data with schema, constraints, and identity sequences intact.

What I've tried so far:

  • 2022 — Opened a support thread asking for the password. After a couple weeks of back and forth, the answer was essentially "this might not be possible" and the ticket was closed. The suggested workaround was utils.exportData from a table widget, which doesn't preserve types, constraints, or sequences — not viable at any real scale.

  • 2026 — Opened a new ticket asking for pg_dump access. Support called it a "configuration question" and redirected me here.

  • Confirmed as org admin that all credential fields are server-encrypted with no way to reveal them in the UI.

  • Checked the Resources editor for any export or dump option — nothing available for legacy managed_db.

  • The only documented pg_dump migration path I could find (Configure and migrate to an external platform database) uses docker compose exec on self-hosted Retool's internal Postgres — doesn't apply to Cloud-hosted legacy managed_db.

What would actually resolve this (in preference order):

  1. Direct connection string.

  2. One-time pg_dump delivered by Retool engineering.

  3. Documented self-service export that preserves schema, data, and sequences.

  4. A definitive "this will never be possible" so I can stop chasing it and plan a manual rebuild.

Environment: Retool Cloud. Screenshot of the resource editor below showing ---encrypted-on-server---.

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Happy to share my org name or ticket numbers if that helps. Has anyone else dealt with this?

4

Hey @R_Kay welcome back to the Community! Yes you are in the right place for questions like these. I am reaching out to engineering now, I'll get back to you as soon as I hear what we can do for you! :folded_hands:

5

Hello again, thanks for waiting! @R_Kay Unfortunately, after investigating your setup, this falls outside of what we're able to support on the Team plan.

That said, you can still export your data using SQL queries directly within Retool (without needing pg_dump). We recommend using an LLM with this prompt to get a step-by-step recipe tailored to your setup:

"I have a PostgreSQL DB only accessible via SQL, not pg_dump. I need to export the data with schema, constraints, and identity sequences intact. Give me a recipe."

Hope that helps, and sorry we couldn't do more! :folded_hands: