New App Builder Feedback

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Hey I love the new app builder + MCP functionality. But there are some hard edges that make it difficult:

  • how long is ‘classic’ going to be supported?
  • how come I can’t get shared components into it? I want to have a shared nav and not have to rewrite my old classic app and still link between it and the new app surfaces
  • the old classic app needs an ‘export to new app’ functionality where you can literally break it out into the new app format. at the moment I’m basically downloading it via access to my authenticated user onto your web-based APIs and stealing the data stream in order to figure out what it was in whatever ‘code format’ it was to inform a design switchover in Claude Code and it’s janky and problematic
  • your MCP server setup is OK and your ‘claude in browser’ setup is OK too but it’s just very slow and error-prone compared to if I could write the app and run it locally on my dev server on my own computer with my own claude and ship it to you to run with the prod vars like how Railway works.

I love the fact that you’re enabling low-code no-code AI devs in browser but for people like me who are real software engineers and power users there just aren’t quite enough DX niceties like proper Github integration and two-way flows from Github to Retool and vice versa to make it a proper one-stop shop for my development helping the rest of our org’s low-code users to get a quick lift from my help when required.

We would prefer to use Retool long into the future but without the above sorted out and a view for a roadmap where you enable local/cloud AI agent support and proper flow of data it’s just going to be very difficult.

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Hey @Isaac_Rowntree, welcome to the Community! This is exactly the kind of feedback that helps us build the new app builder into the tool power users like you actually want, so thank you. :folded_hands: Love that you're already getting real use out of it and MCP. Most of what you're running into is more solved than it looks, so let me answer them one by one.

How long will classic be supported? For a good while, so there's no pressure. We've committed to supporting classic for at least two years after the new builder reaches GA, and we'll keep fixing blocking issues and incidents on classic throughout. So there's no hard cutoff hanging over you, and you can move over on your own timeline. That said, the new builder is where our investment is going, so the sooner you start bringing things across, the sooner you're building on the surface that keeps getting better every week. :+1:

Shared nav / components across classic and new apps: Reusable modules aren't in the new builder yet, so today there's no clean way to share a nav across the two. It's something we're tracking, and I'll add your +1 to the ticket so it carries weight with the team.

Export classic to new app: Good news, this already exists, so you can stop scraping your own authenticated APIs. From the apps landing page it's Create > App > "Convert classic app" in the Chat tab. Fair warning that it has some limits today, so complex apps can hit snags. If yours won't convert, drop the details here and I'll get them in front of the team, since real failing examples are the fastest way to make conversion better.

Local dev, your own Claude, two-way GitHub: This is the big one, and it's where the new builder actually shines for someone building the way you do. What you're describing is Source Control:

  • Source Control for apps connects an app to GitHub (or GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure Repos, CodeCommit) and lets you edit the React code in your own environment instead of the browser.
  • Checking out local branches in the app builder is the bridge you're after: branch and develop locally, then pull it into the builder to validate.
  • The Retool CLI is worth a look for scripting work from your own machine.

One heads up: Source Control lives on our Enterprise plan, so the full local-to-prod loop would mean stepping up to Enterprise. Given it's the exact workflow you're chasing, I'd be happy to connect you with the team so you can see what it unlocks before deciding anything.

In the meantime, converting a classic app and driving it through MCP will get you a good chunk of the way without waiting on anything. You clearly know the workflow you want, and it's the direction we're building toward, so feedback like yours genuinely shapes where this goes. Keep the sharp edges coming, and tell me if you'd like that intro to the team. :raising_hands:

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I agree with a lot of this. The new builder looks promising, but for teams with existing Classic apps, migration and reuse are still big gaps. Proper GitHub integration and a reliable two-way workflow would also make it much more practical for developers. Being able to develop locally with your own tools and then deploy to Retool, while keeping production variables managed there, would be a huge improvement.