Lovable.dev Cheat Sheet

Overview

Lovable.dev is an AI-powered full-stack development platform that enables users to create production-ready web applications through natural language conversations. The platform generates complete applications with React frontends, Node.js backends, database integration, and deployment configurations, claiming 20x faster development than traditional coding methods.

⚠️ Note: Free tier includes 5 credits per day, Pro plan $25/month with 100 daily credits

Getting Started

Account Setup

# Visit https://lovable.dev
# Sign up with:
# - Email and password
# - Google account
# - GitHub account

# Complete onboarding tutorial
# Choose development preferences
# Set up billing (optional for free tier)

First Project Creation

# Click "Create New Project"
# Choose from templates:
# - Blank project
# - E-commerce store
# - Blog/CMS
# - Dashboard/Admin
# - Landing page
# - Social app

# Or start with custom description
"Create a task management app with user authentication"

Core Features

Natural Language Development

# Describe your application
"Build a recipe sharing platform where users can upload recipes, rate them, and create collections"

# Add specific features
"Add user profiles with bio, profile picture, and favorite recipes list"

# Modify existing features
"Change the rating system from stars to thumbs up/down"

# Fix issues
"The login form is not working properly, users can't sign in"

Iterative Development

# Request changes
"Make the header sticky and add a search bar"

# Add new pages
"Create an admin dashboard to manage users and reported content"

# Modify styling
"Use a dark theme with purple accents instead of the current blue theme"

# Add functionality
"Integrate payment processing for premium recipe collections"

Project Management

Project Structure

# Lovable generates:
# - Frontend (React + TypeScript)
# - Backend API (Node.js + Express)
# - Database schema (Supabase)
# - Styling (Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui)
# - Authentication (Supabase Auth)
# - Deployment configuration

File Organization

# Frontend structure:
src/
├── components/     # Reusable UI components
├── pages/         # Application pages/routes
├── hooks/         # Custom React hooks
├── lib/           # Utility functions
├── types/         # TypeScript type definitions
└── styles/        # Global styles and themes

# Backend structure:
server/
├── routes/        # API endpoints
├── middleware/    # Express middleware
├── models/        # Database models
├── utils/         # Helper functions
└── config/        # Configuration files

Version Control

# Automatic Git integration
# Each change creates a commit
# View commit history in project panel
# Revert to previous versions
# Export to GitHub repository

# Manual Git operations
git clone <lovable-project-url>
git pull origin main
git push origin feature-branch

Development Workflow

Feature Development

# 1. Describe the feature
"Add a comment system to recipe posts where users can leave reviews and reply to other comments"

# 2. Lovable analyzes requirements
# 3. Generates implementation plan
# 4. Creates necessary components
# 5. Updates database schema
# 6. Implements API endpoints
# 7. Tests functionality

# 8. Review and iterate
"The comments should be threaded, not flat. Allow up to 3 levels of replies"

Bug Fixing

# Report issues
"The recipe upload form crashes when I try to add ingredients"

# Lovable will:
# 1. Analyze the error
# 2. Identify root cause
# 3. Implement fix
# 4. Test the solution
# 5. Deploy the update

# Provide context for better fixes
"Users are getting a 500 error when uploading images larger than 5MB"

UI/UX Improvements

# Visual changes
"Make the recipe cards more visually appealing with better typography and spacing"

# Responsive design
"Ensure the app works well on mobile devices, especially the recipe browsing page"

# Accessibility improvements
"Add proper ARIA labels and keyboard navigation support"

# Performance optimization
"The recipe list page loads slowly, optimize it for better performance"

Advanced Features

Database Integration

# Supabase integration included
# - PostgreSQL database
# - Real-time subscriptions
# - Row Level Security (RLS)
# - Edge functions
# - File storage

# Custom database requests
"Add a favorites system where users can bookmark recipes"
"Create a rating aggregation system that updates recipe scores in real-time"
"Implement full-text search across recipe titles and ingredients"

Authentication & Security

# Built-in authentication
# - Email/password signup
# - Social login (Google, GitHub)
# - Password reset
# - Email verification
# - Session management

# Custom auth features
"Add role-based permissions where admins can moderate content"
"Implement two-factor authentication for user accounts"
"Add OAuth integration with Facebook and Twitter"

API Development

# RESTful API generation
# - CRUD operations
# - Data validation
# - Error handling
# - Rate limiting
# - API documentation

# Custom API endpoints
"Create an API endpoint that returns trending recipes based on recent activity"
"Add webhook support for third-party integrations"
"Implement GraphQL API alongside REST endpoints"

Deployment & Hosting

# Automatic deployment
# - Production-ready builds
# - Environment configuration
# - SSL certificates
# - CDN integration
# - Monitoring setup

# Custom deployment
"Deploy to AWS with custom domain and CloudFront CDN"
"Set up staging environment for testing before production"
"Configure automated backups and disaster recovery"

Customization Options

Styling and Theming

# Built-in design system
# - Tailwind CSS
# - shadcn/ui components
# - Responsive design
# - Dark/light themes
# - Custom color schemes

# Custom styling requests
"Use a modern glassmorphism design style"
"Implement a retro 80s theme with neon colors"
"Create a minimalist design inspired by Apple's interface"
"Add smooth animations and micro-interactions"

Component Library

# Pre-built components
# - Forms and inputs
# - Navigation menus
# - Data tables
# - Charts and graphs
# - Modal dialogs
# - Loading states

# Custom components
"Create a recipe card component with image carousel"
"Build a custom rating widget with animated stars"
"Design a ingredient selector with autocomplete"
"Implement a drag-and-drop recipe organizer"

Integration Capabilities

# Third-party integrations
"Integrate with Stripe for payment processing"
"Add SendGrid for email notifications"
"Connect to Google Analytics for tracking"
"Implement Cloudinary for image optimization"

# API integrations
"Connect to Spoonacular API for recipe data"
"Integrate with nutrition APIs for dietary information"
"Add social media sharing capabilities"
"Connect to inventory management systems"

Collaboration Features

Team Development

# Multi-user projects
# - Invite team members
# - Role-based permissions
# - Collaborative editing
# - Change tracking
# - Comment system

# Team workflow
"Add John as a developer with full access"
"Create a design review process for UI changes"
"Set up approval workflow for database changes"
"Enable real-time collaboration on components"

# Share projects
# - Public project URLs
# - Embed in websites
# - Export to GitHub
# - Download source code
# - Create project templates

# Sharing options
"Make this project public for portfolio showcase"
"Export to GitHub with proper documentation"
"Create a template for similar e-commerce projects"
"Generate shareable demo link for client presentation"

Performance Optimization

Code Quality

# Automatic optimizations
# - Code splitting
# - Tree shaking
# - Image optimization
# - Lazy loading
# - Caching strategies

# Performance requests
"Optimize the app for Core Web Vitals"
"Implement service worker for offline functionality"
"Add progressive loading for large datasets"
"Optimize database queries for better performance"

Monitoring and Analytics

# Built-in monitoring
# - Error tracking
# - Performance metrics
# - User analytics
# - API monitoring
# - Database performance

# Custom monitoring
"Add custom event tracking for user interactions"
"Implement A/B testing for different UI variations"
"Set up alerts for critical errors and downtime"
"Create dashboard for business metrics"

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

# Build failures
"The app won't deploy, showing TypeScript errors"
# Lovable will analyze and fix type issues

# Runtime errors
"Users are seeing blank pages on mobile devices"
# Lovable will debug responsive design issues

# Performance problems
"The app is slow when loading large recipe lists"
# Lovable will implement pagination and optimization

# Integration issues
"The payment system isn't working in production"
# Lovable will debug API configurations and environment variables

Debug Mode

# Enable detailed logging
"Show me the console errors when the upload fails"

# Step-by-step debugging
"Walk me through what happens when a user clicks the submit button"

# Performance analysis
"Analyze why the recipe search is taking so long"

# Database debugging
"Check if the user authentication queries are optimized"

Error Resolution

# Automatic error detection
# Lovable monitors for:
# - JavaScript errors
# - API failures
# - Database connection issues
# - Authentication problems
# - Deployment failures

# Error reporting
"The contact form is returning a 500 error"
"Users can't upload images, getting CORS errors"
"The search functionality stopped working after the last update"

Pricing and Plans

Free Tier

# Limitations:
# - 5 credits per day
# - Basic features only
# - Lovable branding
# - Community support
# - Public projects only

# Best for:
# - Learning and experimentation
# - Small personal projects
# - Proof of concepts
# - Portfolio pieces

Pro Plan ($25/month)

# Features:
# - 100 credits per day
# - Advanced features
# - Remove Lovable branding
# - Priority support
# - Private projects
# - Custom domains
# - Team collaboration
# - Export to GitHub

# Best for:
# - Professional development
# - Client projects
# - Team collaboration
# - Production applications

Enterprise Plans

# Custom pricing for:
# - Unlimited credits
# - Dedicated support
# - Custom integrations
# - On-premise deployment
# - Advanced security
# - SLA guarantees
# - Training and onboarding

Best Practices

Effective Prompting

# ❌ Vague requests
"Make it better"

# ✅ Specific requirements
"Improve the recipe card design with better typography, consistent spacing, and a more prominent rating display"

# ❌ Too many changes at once
"Add user profiles, payment system, admin panel, and mobile app"

# ✅ Incremental development
"Add basic user profiles with name, bio, and profile picture"

Project Planning

# Start with core features
# 1. User authentication
# 2. Basic CRUD operations
# 3. Core user interface
# 4. Essential integrations

# Then add enhancements
# 1. Advanced features
# 2. Performance optimizations
# 3. Additional integrations
# 4. Polish and refinements

Quality Assurance

# Regular testing requests
"Test the app on different screen sizes"
"Check if all forms validate properly"
"Verify that user permissions work correctly"
"Test the payment flow end-to-end"

# Performance monitoring
"Check the app's loading speed"
"Analyze database query performance"
"Monitor API response times"
"Review error logs for issues"

Integration Examples

E-commerce Integration

# Payment processing
"Integrate Stripe for handling payments and subscriptions"

# Inventory management
"Connect to inventory API to track product availability"

# Shipping integration
"Add shipping calculator with multiple carrier options"

# Analytics
"Implement conversion tracking and sales analytics"

Content Management

# CMS integration
"Add a content management system for blog posts"

# Media management
"Implement image and video upload with optimization"

# SEO optimization
"Add meta tags, sitemaps, and structured data"

# Multi-language support
"Implement internationalization with language switching"

# User interactions
"Add following/followers system between users"

# Content sharing
"Implement social media sharing for recipes"

# Community features
"Create discussion forums for recipe categories"

# Notifications
"Add real-time notifications for user interactions"