How to Integrate Retool with Salesforce

Open your Retool instance and click the Resources tab in the left sidebar. Click Add Resource and scroll to the CRM & Sales section, or search for 'Salesforce' in the search box. Select the Salesforce connector. Retool's Salesforce connector supports two OAuth 2.0 authentication paths. The first is Retool's pre-configured OAuth app, which is the simplest option — you click Connect to Salesforce and Retool handles the OAuth handshake using its own Salesforce Connected App. The second option is a Custom Connected App, which you configure in Salesforce Setup for tighter control over OAuth scopes and callback URLs. For most teams, the pre-configured option is sufficient. Click Connect to Salesforce, and Retool will redirect you to Salesforce's OAuth authorization page. Log in with your Salesforce credentials and click Allow to grant Retool access. You'll be redirected back to Retool with the connection authenticated. For production environments where you need fine-grained OAuth scope control: in Salesforce Setup, navigate to App Manager → New Connected App. Set the callback URL to your Retool instance's OAuth callback URL (shown in the Retool resource configuration panel). Select the API scopes your Retool app needs (typically: api, refresh_token, offline_access). Copy the Consumer Key and Consumer Secret back into Retool's resource configuration under the Custom OAuth App option. Name the resource something descriptive like 'Salesforce Production' or 'Salesforce Sandbox' to distinguish environments. Click Create Resource. Retool will verify the connection and display a success message.

Open a Retool app (or create a new one) and click the + button in the Code panel at the bottom of the screen. Select your Salesforce resource from the dropdown. The query editor will open in Salesforce mode. Retool's Salesforce query editor supports two modes: SOQL mode for reads, and Action mode for writes (Create Record, Update Record, Delete Record, and Bulk operations). For your first query, leave the mode on SOQL. Write a SOQL query to fetch open opportunities. SOQL syntax is similar to SQL but queries Salesforce Objects instead of database tables. Object names are CamelCase (Opportunity, Lead, Account, Contact, Case). Field names use the same casing as defined in Salesforce. Dynamic parameterization works the same as in Retool SQL queries: use {{ }} expressions to reference component values. For example, to filter by a date range selected in a DateRangePicker component, reference {{ dateRange.startDate }} and {{ dateRange.endDate }}. Save the query with a meaningful name like getOpenOpportunities. Click Run to verify it returns data. In the Response panel below the query editor, you'll see the raw Salesforce API response with a records array containing the matched objects.

1SELECT 
2  Id,
3  Name,
4  StageName,
5  Amount,
6  CloseDate,
7  Probability,
8  Owner.Name,
9  Account.Name,
10  CreatedDate
11FROM Opportunity
12WHERE StageName != 'Closed Won'
13  AND StageName != 'Closed Lost'
14  AND CloseDate >= {{ moment(dateRange.startDate).format('YYYY-MM-DD') }}
15  AND CloseDate <= {{ moment(dateRange.endDate).format('YYYY-MM-DD') }}
16ORDER BY CloseDate ASC
17LIMIT 200

Now that your SOQL query is returning data, bind it to UI components. In the Component panel on the right side of the Retool editor, drag a Table component onto the canvas. With the Table selected, go to the Data property in the right-hand properties panel. Set it to {{ getOpenOpportunities.data.records }}. The Salesforce API wraps results in a 'records' array, so you must reference .data.records (not just .data) to get the array of opportunity objects. Retool will auto-populate columns based on the field names in your SOQL query. You can rename columns in the Table's column configuration panel, change their types (text, currency, date, percentage), and hide system fields like attributes that Salesforce adds automatically. To build a pipeline summary, add a JavaScript transformer query. Name it opportunitySummary. This transformer will calculate aggregate metrics from the raw SOQL results and return a structured object that KPI Card components can reference. For a pipeline chart, drag a Chart component onto the canvas. Set its data to {{ opportunitySummary.data.byStage }} and configure a bar chart showing stage names on the X axis and total value on the Y axis. Add filter components: a Select dropdown for StageName (set options to the SOQL-valid stage names), a DateRangePicker for CloseDate range, and a TextInput for searching by Account name. Wire these to your SOQL query's {{ }} parameters. Each time a filter changes, Retool re-runs the query automatically.

1// opportunitySummary transformer
2// Input: getOpenOpportunities.data.records (array of Salesforce Opportunity objects)
3
4const records = getOpenOpportunities.data.records || [];
5
6// Group by stage
7const byStage = records.reduce((acc, opp) => {
8  const stage = opp.StageName;
9  if (!acc[stage]) acc[stage] = { stage, count: 0, totalValue: 0 };
10  acc[stage].count += 1;
11  acc[stage].totalValue += opp.Amount || 0;
12  return acc;
13}, {});
14
15const stageArray = Object.values(byStage).sort((a, b) => b.totalValue - a.totalValue);
16
17// Total pipeline metrics
18const totalPipeline = records.reduce((sum, opp) => sum + (opp.Amount || 0), 0);
19const avgDealSize = records.length > 0 ? totalPipeline / records.length : 0;
20
21return {
22  byStage: stageArray,
23  totalPipeline: `$${(totalPipeline / 1000000).toFixed(2)}M`,
24  dealCount: records.length,
25  avgDealSize: `$${Math.round(avgDealSize).toLocaleString()}`
26};

Retool's Salesforce resource supports Create Record, Update Record, Delete Record, and Bulk operations in addition to SOQL. These are configured in Action mode in the query editor. To update an opportunity's stage from the Table: create a new query named updateOpportunity. Switch the query type from SOQL to Action. In the Action dropdown, select Update Record. Set Object Type to Opportunity. Set Record ID to {{ table1.selectedRow.data.Id }} (referencing the Table's selected row). In the Fields to Update section, add StageName with a value of {{ stageSelect.value }}. Back in the Table component properties, set an Action Column with a button labeled 'Update Stage'. Set the button's onClick event handler to trigger the updateOpportunity query. Chain the success event: in the updateOpportunity query's Event Handlers section, add an On Success handler that triggers getOpenOpportunities to refresh the Table data. To create a new lead from a form: add a Form component. Configure text input fields for FirstName, LastName, Company, Email, Phone, and LeadSource. Create a query named createLead with Action type Create Record, Object Type Lead. Map each form field to the corresponding Lead field: FirstName → {{ form1.data.FirstName }}, etc. Connect the form's Submit button to trigger the createLead query. For high-volume operations, Retool's Salesforce connector supports the Bulk API. Use the Bulk Query action type for SOQL queries returning more than 2,000 records, which bypasses Salesforce's standard API governor limits. Bulk operations are asynchronous — Retool polls for completion and returns results when the job finishes.

1// updateOpportunity query configuration (Action mode)
2// Object Type: Opportunity
3// Action: Update Record
4// Record ID: {{ table1.selectedRow.data.Id }}
5// Fields:
6{
7  "StageName": "{{ stageSelectDropdown.value }}",
8  "Amount": "{{ parseFloat(amountInput.value) }}",
9  "CloseDate": "{{ closeDatePicker.value }}",
10  "NextStep": "{{ nextStepInput.value }}"
11}

If your Salesforce org has custom Apex REST classes (server-side business logic you've already built in Salesforce), you can call them from Retool using the REST API action type in the Salesforce resource. In the query editor, switch Action Type to REST API. This exposes HTTP method, endpoint path, headers, and body fields. Custom Apex REST endpoints are accessible at the path /services/apexrest/YourEndpointName. For example, if you have an Apex class decorated with @RestResource(urlMapping='/quotes/*'), you can call it at /services/apexrest/quotes/. For accessing Salesforce's standard REST API directly (for endpoints not covered by Retool's built-in action types): the REST API action type also works. For example, the Salesforce Reports and Dashboards API is accessible at /services/data/v59.0/analytics/reports. To configure connection-level settings: open the Salesforce resource editor. In the Advanced settings section, you can set the Salesforce API version (default is latest — lock this for production stability), enable debug logging for troubleshooting, and configure the OAuth credential sharing policy. For teams with strict access control requirements: Retool's Salesforce resource supports per-user OAuth tokens by default (each team member authenticates individually against Salesforce). For service-account-style shared access, enable 'Share OAuth 2.0 credentials between users' in the resource settings. Use this carefully — it means all Retool users operate under the same Salesforce user session, which may have audit log implications. For complex integrations combining multiple Salesforce resources, internal databases, and Retool Workflows for background sync jobs, RapidDev's team can help architect and build your complete Retool solution.

1// Example: Call custom Apex REST endpoint
2// Action Type: REST API
3// Method: POST
4// Path: /services/apexrest/calculateQuote
5// Body:
6{
7  "opportunityId": "{{ table1.selectedRow.data.Id }}",
8  "discountPercent": "{{ discountSlider.value }}",
9  "includeAddOns": "{{ addOnsCheckbox.value }}"
10}
11
12// Example: Fetch Salesforce analytics report data
13// Method: GET  
14// Path: /services/data/v59.0/analytics/reports/{{ reportIdInput.value }}
15// Returns: report metadata and factMap with row data