Introducing the New Anvil Editor

The Anvil Editor allows you to build web applications quickly, easily and entirely in Python. Today, we are excited to announce a beta release of a brand new, easier and more powerful Editor.

The new Beta Editor doesn’t just bring a slick new look, tabbed editing, and Dark Mode. It’s also a major upgrade for how you collaborate with your colleagues, manage deployments of your apps, and much more.

A screenshot of the new Anvil Editor showing the App Browser, design view and the version control tab.

This is a beta release, so there’s lots more to come. And if you’re a stickler for the old ways, don’t worry: the Classic Anvil Editor is still available. Your old apps with work with the Beta Editor and vice versa. We think you’ll love the new update, so start building today!

Start building with the Beta Editor

So what’s new?

Version control and collaboration

At the bottom of the Editor is a version control tab that lets you create branches, commit changes, merge branches and resolve conflicts, all without leaving Anvil. You can now easily invite colleagues to edit your app, and the new version control tools mean you won’t get in each other’s way. Let the collaboration commence!

The version control panel in the new Anvil editor showing two branches and multiple commits
Docs: Version Control and Collaboration
As a consultant, collaborating with clients is a crucial part of my job. The collaboration features in the new Anvil Editor mean I can work seamlessly with my clients.

Owen Campbell

Director, Empiria

Manage your deployments

Manage separate URLs for development, staging and production deployments, all in one place:

Deployment configuration showing staging and production environments
The version control panel in the new Anvil editor showing staging and production environments
Docs: Deployment Environments
I get more done in less time, and the environments are a total gamechanger for deployment.

Kevin Dalias

Founder, Eave Data

Tabbed editing

You can now open multiple forms and modules in separate tabs, and switch between them easily. Switch from writing client code to writing server code to editing your data tables to editing your assets and back again:

Multiple tabs open in the new Anvil editor

Split view

With the Beta Editor, you can view your client code and your UI design side-by-side. You can now write Python code and tweak your UI without the need to switch back and forth. At the top of the Editor, there is a toggle to switch between code, design and split view.

Split view in the new Anvil editor showing the design view on the left and code view on the right

Multiple databases

Each Anvil app can now have multiple databases. This is handy if you want different deployment environments to use different databases – for example, so you can test your app without affecting production data.

A screenshot of the new Anvil Editor showing two databases, one called 'Default database' and the other called 'Dev databse'

When you move your app into production, Anvil will help you migrate your database, for example if you’ve added columns or tables.

Docs: Using Multiple Database

Dark Mode

Do you like things…a little darker? Switch the Editor into the new Dark theme:

A screenshot of the new Anvil Editor in Dark Mode

And more…

There is so much more that we can’t fit into a blog post. Try out the Beta Editor for yourself and be sure to read our updated documentation.

What’s Next?

The new Editor is still in beta, so we have a few more updates up our sleeves. We’re looking forward to hearing what you think! As always, you can ask questions and give us feedback on the Anvil forum.

You can still use the current (“Classic”) Editor, and switch between editors as much as you like, even editing the same app. (See the docs for the details.)

So why not give it a try?

Start building with the Anvil Beta Editor