# AX Check: retool.com Checked 2026-10-05. Retool's quickstart and pricing are both clear and ready to use. 21 of 23 checklist items passed, including readable install steps and a fully stated pricing table with no login wall. ## Onboarding needs a login ## Coding sessions All three independent sessions (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, Kimi K3, Qwen 3.8 Max) completed the task and produced full pricing tables covering Free, Team, Business, and Enterprise tiers, each noting explicit assumptions like per-user rates, workflow run caps, and AI credit pooling. ### DeepSeek V4.1 Flash [View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/c0134ba8-98cc-4014-b4f8-5fd2da570c00) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/retool.com/sessions/deepseek.json) Final output gives a full pricing table (Free/Team/Business/Enterprise) with explicit assumptions: builder vs internal user definitions, pooled AI credits per month, workflow-run overage ($75/5,000 runs), and notes the paid-plan requirement for the CLI workflow. #### End-to-end onboarding - **Onboarding needs a login**: Agent found a real agent-oriented CLI (@tryretool/cli v0.1.10) and explored its docs thoroughly, but every command touching the hosted product (init, clone, push, publish) requires an authenticated host. No credentials existed in-session: auth status showed not signed in, no RETOOL_* env vars, and retool init failed immediately. No authenticated operation against the real product occurred; agent wrote local-only reference files and asked the human to supply a host/token. Event 61: ```text Not signed in to any host. Review authentication and host-selection commands with `retool auth --help`. exit=1 --- env creds? --- (no RETOOL env vars) ``` Event 67: ```text No Retool host is configured. Review authentication and host-selection commands with `retool auth --help`. exit=1 --- files created? --- total 8 ``` Event 125: ```text **To unblock me:** give me a Retool host and either run `retool auth login --host .retool.com` (or `--device`) or provide a `react_apps:write` PAT as `RETOOL_TOKEN`, on a paid org. ``` #### Hallucinated URLs None identified in this transcript. #### Blockers - **No Retool host credentials available in sandbox**: retool init, the command that provisions a hosted app, requires a signed-in host. The session had no browser, no device-auth flow run, and no RETOOL_TOKEN/RETOOL_HOST set, so every hosted-provisioning command failed immediately with an auth error. This is a credentials/test-environment limitation, not a product defect — the CLI behaved exactly as documented (auth required to reach the server). Event 61: ```text Not signed in to any host. Review authentication and host-selection commands with `retool auth --help`. ``` Event 67: ```text No Retool host is configured. Review authentication and host-selection commands with `retool auth --help`. ``` - **CLI workflow requires a paid Retool organization**: The CLI's own README lists a paid Retool org as a hard requirement for the code-based app workflow, meaning even with credentials, a free-tier account could not necessarily use retool init/push/publish. This is product packaging behavior (plan gating), not agent error. Event 79: ```text - A Retool account with permission to create and edit apps - A Retool organization on a paid plan ``` - **pnpm not installed in sandbox**: The documented install step (pnpm i -g @tryretool/cli) and later pnpm install (required for retool check to typecheck) could not be run because pnpm was absent from the sandbox; the agent worked around this using npx for the CLI itself but never installed project dependencies. This is a test-environment limitation. Event 45: ```text pnpm: not installed ``` #### Suggested Changes - **Publish a minimal App.tsx routing example in the public CLI docs or skill file**: The retool-ready skill spec and CLI docs describe backend functions and generated hooks in detail but never show how a page gets wired into App.tsx (the file the spec says to 'write last'). Add a short routing snippet to the CLI guide or the retool-ready skill so a developer without a live checkout can write a syntactically correct App.tsx on the first try. Verify by searching the published skill text for an App.tsx code block. Event 98: ```text === App.tsx mentions in skill === 149: backend function, a page, `App.tsx`, a tsconfig, and platform files). It names 163:5. Write the page(s), then `App.tsx` last. `retool check` again. 380:/frontend/App.tsx routes — write this LAST ``` - **Clarify paid-plan requirement on the CLI quickstart page itself**: The paid-org requirement only appears in the npm README, not in the docs.retool.com CLI guide fetched first. Add the 'Retool organization on a paid plan' prerequisite to the Prerequisites section of the CLI guide so developers discover the gate before installing tooling. Verify by confirming the prerequisites list on that page mentions plan tier. Event 35: ```text Prerequisites ​ Before you install the Retool CLI, you need: Edit permissions to create and build apps. A terminal or agentic development environment that has access to a bash tool. Node.js 22 git pnpm ``` Event 79: ```text - A Retool account with permission to create and edit apps - A Retool organization on a paid plan ``` ### Kimi K3 [View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/14ab5c8b-062b-4108-b6fb-ad5720972e7a) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/retool.com/sessions/kimi.json) Final output lists tiered pricing (Free/Team/Business/Enterprise) with named assumptions — hosted/cloud plan, per-builder vs per-end-user rates, free-tier limits (5 users, ~500 workflow runs/mo). #### End-to-end onboarding - **Onboarding needs a login**: Agent checked environment for Retool credentials (API key, org/instance) and found none. It concluded hosted Retool requires an account and a paid-plan API token, which it could not obtain within the session, and stopped without attempting any signup or API call. Event 4: ```text env | grep -i -E "retool" ; ls -a ~ 2>/dev/null | head -20 ; ls /sandbox/repo ``` Event 7: ```text There are no Retool credentials in this environment (no API key, no org/instance), and Retool's hosted product can't be used anonymously: even its API requires an account on a paid plan that includes API access. ``` #### Hallucinated URLs None identified in this transcript. #### Blockers - **No Retool credentials available, and API access is paywalled**: The sandbox had no Retool API key or instance URL, and the agent determined via its own knowledge (not a verified external check) that Retool's REST API requires a Business/Enterprise plan. This is a missing-credentials blocker combined with product policy (paywalled API access) rather than a test-environment or agent-error issue. The agent stopped immediately rather than attempting any signup flow or workaround. Event 5: ```text . .. .cache .gauge .pi .tmp repo ``` Event 7: ```text I can't touch any of it without you providing an instance URL and API token (and the API itself is paywalled). ``` #### Suggested Changes - **Provide a free-tier API token path for evaluation**: The agent reported that Retool's API access is gated behind Business/Enterprise plans, blocking any lightweight SDK/API exploration on the Free plan. If product owners want agents or first-time developers to self-serve via API, consider documenting or offering a scoped API token option on the Free/Team tier so a developer workflow can be exercised without a paid upgrade. Verify by having a Free-plan account attempt an authenticated API call (e.g., list apps or resources) and confirming it succeeds. Event 7: ```text Requires an API access token, which is a **Business/Enterprise-plan feature** on hosted Retool. ``` ### Qwen 3.8 Max [View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/cea4a476-170c-43d5-9dfd-2b6768731374) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/retool.com/sessions/qwen.json) Final output gives a full pricing table (Free/Team/Business/Enterprise, per seat/user/credits) with explicit assumptions like monthly billing, annual discount, workflow run caps, and hourly agent billing. #### End-to-end onboarding - **Onboarding needs a login**: The agent never obtained Retool credentials. It checked the sandbox environment for API keys (found none), then made unauthenticated probes against the live Retool API which returned 401 Authentication failure. Retool requires a human to sign up via browser (email/Google SSO) to get an org and admin API token, so the agent correctly stopped rather than fabricate credentials or a result. No authenticated operation against the hosted product was ever demonstrated. Event 6: ```text PI_GATEWAY_API_KEY= ``` Event 60: ```text {"success":false,"message":"Authentication failure. Missing Authorization header."} HTTP:401 ``` Event 62: ```text Signup requires a human (email/Google SSO in browser). **So I stopped rather than fabricate an example.** Give me `RETOOL_BASE_URL` + `RETOOL_API_TOKEN` and I can create a Retool Database table, an app over it, and a workflow in ~3 API calls. ``` #### Hallucinated URLs None identified in this transcript. #### Blockers - **No Retool API credentials available in the sandbox**: The sandbox environment contained no Retool API key or token (only an internal gateway key). Unauthenticated calls to the live Retool API returned 401. Retool account/token creation requires a human to complete browser-based signup (email or Google SSO), which is outside the agent's reach in this session. This is a missing-credentials limitation of the test environment, not a product defect — the agent correctly identified this and stopped instead of fabricating results. Event 6: ```text PI_GATEWAY_API_KEY= ``` Event 20: ```text {"success":false,"message":"Authentication failure. Missing Authorization header."} HTTP:401 ``` Event 60: ```text {"success":false,"message":"Authentication failure. Missing Authorization header."} HTTP:401 ``` #### Suggested Changes - **Add a note to the Retool CLI reference flagging it as deprecated earlier in search results**: The agent initially discovered retool-cli via npm and only later, after fetching the docs page, learned it is deprecated and scheduled for removal from cloud instances in 2027. Surface the deprecation warning in the npm package description itself (currently just 'CLI for Retool') so agents and new developers don't waste time evaluating a sunset tool before finding the API + source-control path. Event 20: ```text description = 'CLI for Retool' homepage = 'https://github.com/tryretool/retool-cli#readme' ``` Event 29: ```text CautionThe Retool Classic CLI is deprecated. It will be removed from cloud instances on March 1, 2027 ``` ### Task given to each agent Help me build a simple example using Retool. Tell me how pricing works, and briefly tell me whether this product will be easy for you to manage. Let me know if you get blocked. If this product has no developer workflow you can act on, say so plainly and stop. Stay light: use the hosted product through its SDK or API. Do not start local service stacks or wait for long-running commands; if the quickstart requires either, say so plainly and stop. No product credentials were supplied and no purchases were authorized. ## Score: A · 98/100 (provisional) Grades come from completed site checks. Coding sessions and skipped checks do not affect the score. ### Clarity - **Failed** — llms.txt mentions offered API, MCP, and skills ```text llms.txt mentions MCP blog posts but omits the API, MCP server, and CLI docs it offers. ``` - **Pass** — Homepage answers Markdown requests ```text Homepage returned text/markdown (200) when requested with Accept: text/markdown. ``` - **Pass** — llms.txt provides an actionable documentation index ```text llms.txt (200) indexes product, resources, integrations, use cases, and blog links. ``` - **Pass** — llms.txt provides navigation guidance ```text llms.txt groups links under Product, Resources, Integrations, Use Cases, Enterprise headings. ``` - **Pass** — A compact guide representation exists ```text Retool publishes standalone Markdown quickstarts, e.g. /build/apps/quickstart.md and /agents/quickstart.md. ``` - **Pass** — A focused guide is directly retrievable ```text Apps quickstart.md gives concrete steps: log in, create app, prompt, test, publish. ``` - **Pass** — Equivalent instructions fit a token budget ```text Markdown quickstart is 1578 tokens, well under 8000 and below its 3661-token HTML extraction. ``` - **Pass** — Product-docs links survive format changes ```text Markdown quickstart preserves docs links like /build/apps/guides/create/mcp and /build/apps/concepts/data. ``` - **Pass** — The compact guide is independently actionable ```text Apps quickstart gives concrete steps: log in, Create > App, prompt, test, publish. ``` - **Pass** — Install and next-step links resolve ```text Quickstart next-step links to prompt and MCP pages; docs pages fetched successfully. ``` ### Onboarding - **Pass** — Docs lead to a relevant quickstart ```text Docs quickstart at /build/apps/quickstart gives concrete steps: log in, create app, prompt, publish. ``` - **Pass** — Installation commands are extractable ```text CLI guide lists extractable install commands: pnpm i -g @tryretool/cli, retool auth login, retool skill install. ``` - **Pass** — Code examples are available without interaction ```text Quickstart and CLI pages show inline code and sample prompts without interaction. ``` - **Pass** — Prerequisites and auth boundaries are explicit ```text CLI prerequisites list Edit permissions, Node.js 22, git, pnpm; auth via retool auth login. ``` ### Pricing - **Pass** — Pricing is readable without interaction ```text Pricing page renders as static Markdown with all plan tiers and prices visible without interaction. ``` - **Pass** — Prices are stated, not gated ```text Free, Team, Business prices stated; Enterprise is contact-sales, which is acceptable. ``` - **Pass** — Pricing units and limits are explicit ```text Per-user/month units, workflow runs, storage, user caps and AI credits are explicit. ``` - **Pass** — Agents identify pricing and its assumptions ```text 3 of 3 sessions were judged on pricing; 0 fell short. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: Final output gives a full pricing table (Free/Team/Business/Enterprise) with explicit assumptions: builder vs internal user definitions, pooled AI credits per month, workflow-run overage ($75/5,000 runs), and notes the paid-plan requirement for the CLI workflow. Kimi K3: Final output lists tiered pricing (Free/Team/Business/Enterprise) with named assumptions — hosted/cloud plan, per-builder vs per-end-user rates, free-tier limits (5 users, ~500 workflow runs/mo). Qwen 3.8 Max: Final output gives a full pricing table (Free/Team/Business/Enterprise, per seat/user/credits) with explicit assumptions like monthly billing, annual discount, workflow run caps, and hourly agent billing. This behavioural item does not affect the fast grade. ``` ### Activation - **Pass** — An API reference or OpenAPI spec is reachable ```text Retool API docs and SCIM 2.0 API reference are reachable on docs.retool.com. ``` - **Pass** — An MCP server is documented and well-formed ```text MCP server documented with URL, HTTP transport, OAuth 2.0, and per-client setup. ``` - **Pass** — A CLI install path is documented ```text CLI install documented: pnpm i -g @tryretool/cli, auth login, skill install. ``` - **Skipped** — SDK packages resolve on their registries ```text No registry lookup result for @tryretool/cli was supplied in the evidence. ``` - **Pass** — Agent skills are published ```text CLI ships retool-cli and retool-ready skills, installed via retool skill install. ``` [Full report data](https://www.ax-check.com/retool.com/report.json)