Bold Tech

OpenAI recently introduced structured JSON outputs via the API. This is great news for Retool and Internal tools. Now when creating AI applications, you don't have to parse returns and can now provide the JSON schema you'd like the API to return. You can now consistently rely on the response in your internal tools. 🎆 Link to Open AI's blog post here: https://lnkd.in/eRjv5hUP

Have a rogue Retool query run? In Retool's debug console, click the query in question and it will show the triggeredById which will say the query name or component name it was triggered from. You can then go back into the application & disable the event handler on the query without having to search through the entire application for the rogue event handler.

What do you need to know to develop in Retool? Retool at its heart is a developer tool. This means that Retool focuses on expediting developer development time as opposed to enabling non-technical developers to build on the platform. At it's core you need to know JS & SQL, but should also probably be familiar with development best practices to develop on the platform. We actually wrote about the low-code to developer tool spectrum on Justin Gage's Technically here: https://lnkd.in/g5xKRRW4

We recreated Harvest's time-tracker functionality in Retool, but skipped the paying for SaaS part. Read up on how we made a bespoke version of Harvest's time tracker to fit our team's needs here: https://lnkd.in/eSB2e_e9 (free download of the Retool application at the end of the article)

Retool tip: with the Retool API, you can use user attributes to allow end users to customize their app experience to fit their personal needs and stylings. Here is an example of setting a dark mode toggle as a user attribute. This can be used to set text size, default tab selections and more!

Retool Tip: Did you know that if you don't have permission to access a page, it won't appear in navigation if you're using the "Go to App" event? This means that for multipage applications, an end-user's navigation menu will dynamically change to only show what they have permission to see. Read more about how to make multipage applications in Retool here: https://lnkd.in/gTekdUZP

Retool Tip: Have you ever trapped yourself in an endless loop in Retool and can’t return to your app? You can add ?_historyOffset=10 to the end of your URL which will allow you to "travel back in time" 10 steps. You can increase the number to go further back in time if you still don't see any app data. The idea here is to go back to the most recent working version before issue occurred so you don't have to redo as much work (i.e. going back 10000 steps would likely work, but it could be many, many changes behind).

We had a blast presenting at a co-hosted Retool event last week. Joey Karczewski and Stefan C. covered everything about Optimising Retool for the Enterprise! It was awesome sharing insights and learning from everyone there. Huge thanks to everyone who joined and made it such a fun and informative session. Can’t wait for more collaborations like this! If you’ve missed it and want to hear more, sign up to our blog (link in comments!) #Retool #Retoolexperts #Event #Presentation #Developers #LearningTogether

📊 Plotly in Retool: Tip of the day #3 ➡️ Built-in range buttons. Did you know you can add buttons directly into the chart component in Retool using Plotly? Setting up range buttons (and sliders) for your chart inside Plotly can be a great way of saving screen real estate in your Retool apps, as well as being a good-looking design choice. Read how in our full Plotly guide ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gja8rSRu #Retool #internalTools #charts #softwareDevelopment

📊 Plotly in Retool: Tip of the day #2 ➡️ Range Slider: Instead of cramming a huge chart into your Retool app, you can add a range slider to your charts to scrub through the data and make it easier to interpret. More chart upgrades here: https://lnkd.in/gTgKV7yq