Retroport Workbench: 99,000 Retail WoW Items Are Now a One-Click Transmog Source for 3.3.5a
By Indie Kings | October 16, 2026
Updated October 16, 2026: Retroport Workbench turns retail World of Warcraft's entire item catalogue, roughly 99,000 items and 5,000 transmog sets, into a one-click transmog source for a 3.3.5a Wrath of the Lich King private server. It previews every pick in 3D before anything installs, fills in stats using WotLK's own stat budget rules, and backs up and can undo everything it touches.Image: Retroport repository card. Credit: GitHub, kbtoy.
Using a modified client on a private server exists outside Blizzard's terms of service.
What the Workbench actually is
The official README describes Retroport Workbench as a tool to browse every retail World of Warcraft item and transmog set in 3D, pick the ones you want, and backport them to a 3.3.5a (Wrath of the Lich King, build 12340) client and an AzerothCore server, in one click, with a backup of everything it changes and an Undo. That pitch undersells the machine around it. The project treats private server transmog like a proper platform: pre-install previews, a basket that shows exactly what will be built, stat generation from the era's own rules, and a full audit trail of replaced files.
The one-click claim has a specific shape. A single install pass converts the basket for the client, adds the new items to the server's Item.dbc and ItemDisplayInfo.dbc, applies the stats to item SQL, backs up everything it replaces, and clears the client's cache. It never touches the world database directly; instead it shows the item SQL (a SOURCE line with a copy button) for you to run yourself, per the README. That is a deliberate boundary worth knowing before you click anything.
Browsing 99,000 items and 5,000 sets
The catalogue is, per the README, about 99,000 retail items and about 5,000 transmog sets. Search runs by name or item id, and filters cover slot, armour or weapon type, expansion, quality, and class. Since nobody browses 99,000 rows by hand, the filters do the real work here.
Sets display as one card carrying all their versions: Normal, Heroic, Mythic, and a PvP season's Gladiator and Elite variants. Items your client already has are marked, which matters when the goal is finding looks the stock 3.3.5a game never shipped. Every version of a set is a click away under the preview.
The 3D preview is the feature that separates this from a spreadsheet of item ids. It is animated, with glows and moving textures, and you can see a full set dressed on a character of any race your client plays, male or female, before anything installs. Weapons and one-kind sets are browsed one at a time. The preview needs WebGL 2; if it will not render, the README says to update your graphics driver.
The basket and the stats step
The Basket is a review layer, not a shopping cart. It shows exactly what will be built: every look each entry brings, entries that overlap with each other, and what is new or removed since your last install. The basket also remembers what is installed, so the next Install adds what is new and drops what you removed. A mistake is meant to be spotted here, before it reaches the client.
The Stats step is where this earns the word "platform." The conversion produces cosmetic copies first, and the README is blunt about the symptom: items install at level 1 with no stats until you give them stats in the Stats step. The backport page tracks how many pieces still have none.
You can set, for every piece at once or one by one: item level, required level, quality, armour type, which classes may wear them, binding, stats, armour, weapon damage and speed, sockets and socket bonus, durability, and price. Set bonuses come from your client's own item sets, with their in-game text. A live tooltip preview shows the result as you go.
The Fill in option is the cleverest bit, per the README: it uses WotLK's own stat budget rules for the item level and slot, split the way real WotLK items of the same role split them, with armour, damage, and durability as real WotLK items have them. If you would rather not trust a generated budget, you can instead copy any real WotLK item's numbers wholesale. Either way, the numbers come from the era, not invented.
How Install works, and how you back out
Per the README, the install pass runs in ordered steps: downloads of the conversion kit and Equip Plus tools on first use, then a batch conversion that only processes what changed since the last build, then the Stats application, then the patch into the client's Data folder plus the new rows into the server's DBCs. Progress is ticked off step by step, and a step that fails stops the run before anything is installed. The log says why. If Install stopped, the README states, nothing was installed by that run.
Undo is a first-class button, not a hope. Undo last install puts back everything that install replaced and removes what it added. Everything replaced is backed up first, so the failure mode here is reversible by design. That is more careful than many mod tools half the age of this twelve year old client.
Two operational cautions come straight from the README. Close World of Warcraft before installing, because the running game holds the files Install replaces. And Catalyst-generated ported files trigger Windows Defender false positives, so a quarantined file must be restored and the app updated before Install works again.
What it needs and where files live
The requirements are modest and entirely local, per the README. It runs on Windows, needs an internet connection because retail items and models come from wago.tools, and expects a legally obtained stock 3.3.5a client. Optionally it can target an AzerothCore server whose dbc folder you point it at, and optionally the client can carry the Equip Plus extra 3D pieces for modern armour components such as skirts, collars, boot shells, belt buckles, and 3D capes. Nothing is bundled: the conversion kit and its tools are downloaded from their authors' pages on first use.
| Requirement | Status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 or 11 | Required | The app window is Microsoft Edge's app mode; Edge ships with Windows |
| Internet connection | Required | Retail items, models and textures come from wago.tools |
| Stock 3.3.5a client | Required | Shows ported armour on the body for every slot, plus weapons and shields |
| AzerothCore server | Optional | Points at the server's dbc folder so new items exist server side |
| Equip Plus | Optional | Extra 3D pieces for modern armour; Install adds them when the client has it |
| WebGL 2 | Required for preview | The 3D viewport will not render without it |
Everything the app keeps lives in your user folder, per the README: settings in %USERPROFILE%\.retroport\workbench.json, and the cache, basket, conversion project, and workbench.log under %USERPROFILE%\.retroport\workbench\. Everything it downloads is kept, so things you already looked at still open when wago.tools is down. There is also a fallback data source: Settings can switch the item source from wago.tools to your own retail install, which is faster and works while the site is down.
Live physics, still experimental
One feature you would not expect from a tool targeting a 2008 client: plumes, ribbons, and chains swing the way they do in retail. Per the README, the kit ports retail's own Domino physics engine, and Equip Plus 1.3.0 runs it in the client, labelled experimental and off by default. Install writes each piece's physics data with Equip Plus 1.3.0's tools, and the switch sits in Settings, saved in the client's WXLExtendedEquipment.ini, next to a better-fit option. The client needs Equip Plus 1.3.0 or newer.
This is cosmetic, but it signals where the mod scene for this client is heading. Sixteen year old servers are now receiving feature ports from an engine that renders cloth simulation, and the pipeline is a one-button install rather than hand edited model files.
Building from source
Per the README, building targets Python 3.11 or newer (tested on 3.14), installs with pip install -e ".[dev]", and tests with pytest. The workbench can run in a console that opens in your browser. A release bundles Python's official embeddable package, the dependencies, and the code, and checks that it starts before it is zipped. Pushing a version tag such as v0.2.0 builds the zip on GitHub and attaches it to that release.
The internal split, per the README: the Workbench code lives in retroport/workbench/, the game file readers are wotlkconv/, an unchanged copy of the Converter, and the rest of retroport/ is shared code and older command line tools. Releases ship as Retroport-Workbench-<version>-win64.zip. The code is not signed, so Windows shows an unknown publisher warning on first run. The license is MIT.
Scope: your client, your server, no Blizzard data
The distribution posture, per the README, is worth reading closely. The project ships no Blizzard art, models, or game data: everything is read at run time from wago.tools or from your own installs, for your own use. Requirement one is your own legally obtained 3.3.5a client. There are no client downloads in the repository and none here. It is a fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment, and World of Warcraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment.
The credits list shows how much of this is assembly of other people's work, per the README. The front end stands on the wow-retail-backport conversion kit by Kirazul, Equip Plus by TheDaveCalaz for the 3D armour pieces and DBC merging, the WarcraftXL client framework, and the wotlkconv Converter game file readers, with data from wago.tools, format documentation from wowdev, and shader tables from WoW Blender Studio. The full list, including every bundled library and its license, is in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md. The kit and Equip Plus are downloaded from their authors on first use and never bundled.
FAQ
Where does the item data come from?
Per the README, retail items, models, and textures come from wago.tools, and the conversion tools are downloaded from their authors' pages on first use. Nothing is bundled. Settings can switch the source to your own retail install, which also works when the site is down.
Do I need a private server to use it?
No. The client side works with just your own 3.3.5a client. An AzerothCore server is optional, and you point the app at its dbc folder so new items also exist on the server. Item stats still apply through SQL you run on the world database yourself.
Why are my ported items level 1 with no stats?
Per the README, the conversion makes cosmetic copies, and stats arrive only through the Stats step. Use Fill in, which follows WotLK's own stat budget rules for the item level and slot, or copy any real WotLK item's numbers, then Install again.
Can I undo an install?
Yes. Undo last install restores everything the install replaced and removes what it added, because those files were backed up before install. A failed install step also stops before anything gets installed at all.
Why does Windows flag the app?
The release zip is not code signed, so Windows shows an unknown publisher warning for the exe. Separately, the README notes that Catalyst generated ported files can trigger Windows Defender false positives, and a quarantined file must be restored and the app updated before Install works.
Is this legal to use?
Using a modified client on a private server exists outside Blizzard's terms of service. The tool itself is under the MIT license and ships no Blizzard art, models, or game data, per the README; everything is read at run time from public data sources or your own installs.
Bottom Line
Retroport Workbench turns retail's whole item and transmog catalogue into a browsable, previewable, one-click source for a 3.3.5a private server, and the engineering around it is the story: pre-install 3D previews on any race, stat budgets computed from WotLK's own rules, backups of every replaced file, a working Undo, and a conversion that fails safely before it writes anything. Points against: Windows only, no code signature plus Defender false positives on the ported files, stats via manual SQL against the world database, and the whole activity sitting outside Blizzard's terms of service. For a private server operator who already accepts that, the tool chain described per the README is a straight upgrade from hand editing DBC files.