How to Integrate Retool with Qualtrics

Before configuring Retool, you need two pieces of information from your Qualtrics account: your API token and your datacenter ID. Both are required to construct the correct API base URL. To find your datacenter ID, log into Qualtrics and look at the URL in your browser. It will follow the pattern: yourorg.co1.qualtrics.com or yourorg.ca1.qualtrics.com. The portion between your org name and '.qualtrics.com' is your datacenter identifier (co1, ca1, eu, iad1, sjc1, etc.). Alternatively, navigate to Account Settings (click your profile icon in the top right → Account Settings). On the Qualtrics IDs page, look for the 'Datacenter ID' field — it shows the datacenter code directly. To generate an API token on the same Qualtrics IDs page, scroll to the API section and click 'Generate Token'. If a token already exists, you can view it or regenerate it. Copy the token string — it's a long alphanumeric value. Treat it like a password; it grants full API access to your Qualtrics account. Your Qualtrics API base URL will be: https://yourorg.co1.qualtrics.com/API/v3 — replace 'yourorg' with your organization's subdomain and 'co1' with your actual datacenter ID. Keep both the API token and base URL handy for the next step.

Navigate to the Resources tab in your Retool instance and click Add Resource. Select REST API from the resource type list. Name the resource 'Qualtrics API'. In the Base URL field, enter your Qualtrics API base URL: https://yourorg.co1.qualtrics.com/API/v3. Replace 'yourorg' with your actual organization subdomain and 'co1' with your datacenter ID. Do not include a trailing slash. For authentication, Qualtrics uses a custom header called X-API-TOKEN (not the standard Authorization: Bearer format). In the Headers section, click Add Header and enter: - Key: X-API-TOKEN - Value: your Qualtrics API token For better security, store your API token in a Retool configuration variable first: go to Settings → Configuration Variables, create a variable named QUALTRICS_API_TOKEN, mark it as Secret, and then in the header value field use {{ retoolContext.configVars.QUALTRICS_API_TOKEN }} instead of the raw token value. Add a second header for content type: key = Content-Type, value = application/json. This ensures POST and PUT request bodies are interpreted correctly. Click Save Changes. To test the connection, create a simple test query with Method = GET and Path = /surveys?pageSize=5. A successful response means your authentication and base URL are correct.

Create queries to list all Qualtrics surveys and fetch their response statistics. In your Retool app's Code panel, click + to add a new query. Name it getSurveys and select the Qualtrics API resource. Set Method to GET. In the Path field, enter /surveys. Add URL parameters: - key = pageSize, value = 100 - key = offset, value = {{ (pagination.page - 1) * 100 || 0 }} Qualtrics returns surveys in a result.elements array inside the response. Each survey object includes: id, name, isActive, creationDate, lastModifiedDate, and ownerId. Create a second query named getSurveyStats to get response counts for a selected survey. Set Method to GET, Path to /surveys/{{ table_surveys.selectedRow.id }}/responses?format=ndjson is not the right endpoint — instead use the survey metadata endpoint: /surveys/{{ table_surveys.selectedRow.id }} to get the survey's full details including response count in the result.responseCounts object. Bind getSurveys to a Table component. The data path is {{ getSurveys.data.result.elements }}. Configure columns for name, isActive, and the formatted creation date. Add a refresh button that triggers getSurveys to re-run. Add a search input that filters the surveys table client-side using Retool's Table filter column functionality.

1// JavaScript transformer — format Qualtrics survey list for Table
2const surveys = data.result?.elements || [];
3return surveys.map(survey => ({
4  id: survey.id,
5  name: survey.name || 'Unnamed Survey',
6  status: survey.isActive ? 'Active' : 'Inactive',
7  owner: survey.ownerId || 'N/A',
8  created: survey.creationDate
9    ? new Date(survey.creationDate).toLocaleDateString('en-US', {
10        year: 'numeric', month: 'short', day: 'numeric'
11      })
12    : 'N/A',
13  last_modified: survey.lastModifiedDate
14    ? new Date(survey.lastModifiedDate).toLocaleDateString('en-US', {
15        year: 'numeric', month: 'short', day: 'numeric'
16      })
17    : 'N/A'
18}));

Exporting Qualtrics responses requires a two-step asynchronous process: first, initiate an export job, then poll for completion, and finally download the export file. This is more complex than a simple GET request. Create a query named startResponseExport. Set Method to POST. Path = /surveys/{{ dropdown_survey.value }}/export-responses. Body type = JSON. Body: { "format": "json", "startDate": "{{ dateRange.start }}", "endDate": "{{ dateRange.end }}", "compress": false } The response includes a result.progressId. Store this in a Retool Variable named exportProgressId. Create a second query named checkExportProgress (GET, /surveys/{{ dropdown_survey.value }}/export-responses/{{ exportProgressId.value }}). This returns the export status — run this every few seconds using a Retool Timer component until status is 'complete'. Create a third query named downloadExport (GET, /surveys/{{ dropdown_survey.value }}/export-responses/{{ exportProgressId.value }}/file). This downloads the completed export file as JSON. For a simpler alternative that avoids the multi-step export, use Qualtrics' responses endpoint for recent data: GET /surveys/{{ dropdown_survey.value }}/responses — this returns up to 100 responses directly without an async export job. Add URL parameters: startDate, endDate, and pageSize for filtering. Bind the response data to a Table. The responses are in data.result.elements, with each element containing a values object where keys are question IDs (QID1, QID2, etc.) and values are the response choices. For complex survey data that requires joining Qualtrics responses with internal customer data, RapidDev's team can help architect a Retool solution that enriches survey data with CRM and database records.

1// JavaScript transformer — flatten Qualtrics responses for Table
2const responses = data.result?.elements || [];
3return responses.map(response => {
4  const values = response.values || {};
5  return {
6    responseId: response.responseId,
7    start_date: values.startDate
8      ? new Date(values.startDate).toLocaleDateString('en-US')
9      : 'N/A',
10    end_date: values.endDate
11      ? new Date(values.endDate).toLocaleDateString('en-US')
12      : 'N/A',
13    // Duration in minutes
14    duration_min: values.duration
15      ? Math.round(values.duration / 60) + ' min'
16      : 'N/A',
17    finished: values.finished === 1 ? 'Complete' : 'Incomplete',
18    // Map specific question IDs to readable labels
19    // Update QID1, QID2 to match your survey's actual question IDs
20    nps_score: values.QID1 || 'N/A',
21    satisfaction: values.QID2 || 'N/A',
22    email: values.QID3 || values['QID3_TEXT'] || 'N/A'
23  };
24});

The most powerful Retool-Qualtrics use case combines survey response data with internal customer records. For NPS programs, this means joining respondent emails from Qualtrics with account data from your database or CRM. Add your database as a second resource in the Retool app (Resources tab → Add Resource → PostgreSQL or your database type). Create a query named getCustomerByEmail: SELECT customer_id, account_name, account_tier, arr, csm_name, product_line FROM customers WHERE email = '{{ table_responses.selectedRow.email }}' When a survey response row is selected in the Qualtrics responses table, this query automatically runs and loads the customer profile in a detail panel on the right. Create a JavaScript query named computeNPSSummary that aggregates all responses to compute the NPS score: Bind the NPS computation to a Stat component showing the overall NPS score (range -100 to 100), and add breakdown Charts showing promoter/passive/detractor percentages by customer segment. For a running NPS trend, create a query that fetches monthly response exports and computes NPS per month, then binds to a Line chart showing NPS over time. Add a data export button that downloads all joined records as a CSV using Retool's built-in Table export functionality, giving your CX team a combined dataset of survey responses enriched with account data for offline analysis.

1// JavaScript query — compute NPS score from Qualtrics responses
2// Assumes nps_score column (0-10) exists after transformer
3const responses = getResponses.data?.result?.elements || [];
4const scores = responses
5  .map(r => parseInt(r.values?.QID1 || r.values?.NPS_SCORE, 10))
6  .filter(s => !isNaN(s));
7
8if (scores.length === 0) return { nps: 'N/A', promoters: 0, passives: 0, detractors: 0, total: 0 };
9
10const promoters = scores.filter(s => s >= 9).length;
11const passives = scores.filter(s => s >= 7 && s <= 8).length;
12const detractors = scores.filter(s => s <= 6).length;
13const total = scores.length;
14
15const nps = Math.round(((promoters - detractors) / total) * 100);
16
17return {
18  nps,
19  promoters,
20  passives,
21  detractors,
22  total,
23  promoter_pct: ((promoters / total) * 100).toFixed(1) + '%',
24  detractor_pct: ((detractors / total) * 100).toFixed(1) + '%'
25};