Getting Started with Lovable
Building your first app with Lovable takes about 10 minutes from sign-up to live URL. This guide walks through the process with practical tips for getting good results.
Step 1: Start With a Clear Vision Prompt
Your first prompt sets the foundation for the entire app. Be specific about:
- What the app does (core functionality)
- Who uses it (user roles, if any)
- What data it stores
- Key pages or sections
Vague (poor results)
"Build me a project management tool"
Specific (good results)
"Build a project management tool where users can sign up, create projects, add tasks with due dates and priorities, assign tasks to team members, and mark tasks as done. Show a Kanban board and a list view."
Step 2: Review the Initial Build
Lovable generates the app and opens a live preview. Review it for:
- Does the overall structure match your vision?
- Are the key pages and navigation present?
- Does authentication work (if requested)?
Do not start refining visual details yet - get the structure right first.
Step 3: Iterate on Functionality
Use follow-up prompts to add or fix features. Effective iteration prompts are specific:
Good iteration prompts:
- • "Add a search bar to the task list that filters by task name"
- • "When I click a project card, show the project detail page with all its tasks"
- • "The date picker is not working on the task creation form - fix it"
One feature or fix per prompt produces more reliable results than multiple changes in a single prompt.
Step 4: Connect Supabase
If your app has user accounts or persistent data, Lovable will prompt you to connect a Supabase project. You can use a free Supabase project:
- Create a free Supabase project at supabase.com
- Copy the Project URL and anon key from Supabase Settings → API
- Paste them into the Lovable Supabase connection dialog
- Lovable creates the required tables automatically
Step 5: Deploy
Every Lovable app gets a free subdomain at *.lovable.app immediately. For custom domains, upgrade to the Launch plan and add your domain in project settings.
Visual Element Editing
In the live preview, click any element to select it. Then prompt: "Change this button to green" or "Make this heading larger". The selector tells Lovable exactly which element you mean - much more precise than describing it in text.
GitHub Sync
Connect your GitHub account in settings to push the generated code to a repository. This enables:
- Working on the code locally in your IDE
- Adding custom integrations Lovable does not support natively
- Deploying to your own hosting (Vercel, Netlify, AWS) instead of Lovable
- Version history beyond Lovable's own history
Common Pitfalls
- • Making too many changes at once - Lovable can lose track; do one thing per prompt
- • Not setting up Supabase early - adding auth later is messier; set it up in the first few prompts
- • Forgetting to test auth flows - sign up, log out, log back in before assuming auth works
- • Over-specifying visual details in the first prompt - get functionality working first, style later