Subfolders
Now you can organize your Retool apps by putting folders inside of other folders!
This is a large change to the way Retool apps are managed! Subfolders may alter some behaviors you once relied on. We've aimed to minimize short term impact while preserving logical expected subfolder behavior going forward.
As you explore this new world of possibility with subfolder organization, keep the following in mind!
How can I start using subfolders in my Retool org?
Subfolders are now live on Cloud.
Self-hosted: Subfolders will be available in Retool 3.93 Edge and later. This is a breaking change, so please take note of the following:
- Once your users start creating subfolders, you may have difficulties if you roll back to a version that doesn't support the subfolders that your users just created.
Before upgrading, be sure to create a backup of your Retool instance.
What happens when I delete a folder?
Before, deleting a folder would move all of its apps to your root folder, and then destroy the folder permanently. Now, deleting a folder will move it into the Trash.
Permissions to move apps and folders
Because moving an app can change who has access to it, now you can only move an app if you have own access to the app, and edit access to the folder you are moving the app into.
Because fine-grained permissions are only available on our Business and Enterprise plans, the changes we've made will affect different plans differently:
How does the subfolder update relate to Free and Team plans?
Every user on the Free and Team plans, whether admin or not, has own access to all apps and folders. So non-admins have the ability to move apps to other folders or subfolders.
How does the subfolder update relate to Business and Enterprise plans?
Building subfolders has changed the way our permissions system works. Now, each folder passes its permissions down to all of its descendants via inheritance. The only way to take inherited permissions away from an app is by moving the app into a different folder with a lower access level.
Inheritance allows users to grant access to an app by moving the app into a shared folder that others can use, or remove access to an app by moving it into a folder that others have no access to.
I noticed that some users who could create new apps in a particular folder before, now can't. Why?
We have made changes to folder permissions to avoid exposing apps. As a result, some users may have had their access to certain folders reduced.
If a user has edit permissions to a folder, they'll now get edit permissions to all of that folder's children via inheritance. Some users had edit permission to a folder, but didn't have edit permission to an app inside that folder. We had to reduce these users' access to the folder so that they wouldn't suddenly get access to the app inside the folder.
The main implication of these changes is that a few users no longer have the ability to create apps inside folders where they previously could.
How can I give my users the ability to create apps again?
If a user no longer has a folder to create apps in, an admin should create a new folder and give that user edit access to the folder.
Have more questions that aren't addressed above?
Please create a separate topic in the Account and User Management category or the App Building category.