Dictate in any app · Database

Voice typing in Retool

Internal tools are built fast and inherited slowly, with no documentation in between. Typally puts your words into Retool the moment you release the key, in whichever field you left the cursor.

Written by the team behind Typally. Retool's own features are described as accurately as we can — check them yourself before switching anything.
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In short

  • Retool's own dictation: None. Component descriptions and notes are typed.
  • What Typally does instead: sends keystrokes to whichever window is in front, so Retool needs no plugin or setup.
  • Best used for: app descriptions

Does Retool have built-in dictation?

None. Component descriptions and notes are typed.

Why dictate in Retool at all?

A Retool app is built in an afternoon to solve one team's problem, then becomes load-bearing. Nobody documents which query does what, and the person who built it has moved teams.

In practice people use it for: App descriptions, query comments, component notes, and the README explaining what an internal tool is for.

How to dictate in Retool

Typally runs in the background and types into whatever window has focus, so there is nothing to install inside Retool:

1

Install Typally

Windows or macOS, then sign in. No card for the free tier.

2

Put the cursor in the Retool field you are filling

Whatever has the cursor receives the text, so click the right place in Retool before starting.

3

Press and speak

Hold, talk, release. Long passages are fine.

4

Read it before you move on

Retool mixes SQL, JavaScript and configuration. Dictate the comments and descriptions, not the queries.

What Typally adds in Retool

Typally types into app descriptions and query comments, so an internal tool built in an afternoon does not become an unmaintainable mystery. Recording which queries write to the database and which only read prevents the worst class of internal-tool accident, and takes seconds to say.

What this looks like in practice

An internal admin tool with a delete button nobody understood gets a spoken description on each query. It turns out two buttons hit production directly, which is corrected the same day.

One habit that makes it work better

Write down which queries write to the database and which only read. That single distinction prevents the worst class of accident in an internal tool.

What to watch out for in Retool

Retool mixes SQL, JavaScript and configuration. Dictate the comments and descriptions, not the queries.

Frequently asked questions

Does Retool have voice input?

No. All text entry is typed.

What should internal tool documentation cover?

What the tool does, who it is for, and which actions are destructive.

Can I dictate SQL in Retool?

Not practically — SQL is symbol-dense. Comment it instead.

Try it in Retool

You can try this on the free plan — 100 minutes a month, no card, no trial countdown.

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