> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lovable.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Publish your Lovable project > Deploy your project to a live URL, control who can access the published app, configure site metadata, and update or unpublish at any time. Publishing turns your Lovable project into a live web app by deploying a snapshot to a URL you can share. Only the current version is deployed, and depending on your plan, you can control who can access the published app. **Project access vs published website access (important difference)** Lovable uses two independent access settings: * **Project access (editor access)** controls who can view and edit your project in the editor, including your source code, chat history, work-in-progress, and any changes that have not been published yet. * **Website access (published URL access)** controls who can visit the published app at its live URL. These settings are independent. Publishing does not change who can access your project in the editor, and changing project access does not affect who can visit the published app. ## **Who can publish projects?** By default, **editors and above** can publish projects on all plans. On **Enterprise plans**, admins and owners can restrict who is allowed to publish externally to the web. Go to **Workspace settings → Privacy & security → Who can publish externally** and select: * Admins & owners * Owners only ## Internal and external publishing and website access control Publishing options and website access control depend on your plan. ### Free and Pro plans **Anyone with the link** can visit your published app. This means you publish externally to the web. **Website access** cannot be restricted on these plans, so make sure you’re ready to share before publishing. ### Business and Enterprise plans You can choose who can access your published app: * **Workspace**: Only authenticated workspace members can visit the published app, meaning you publish internally to the workspace. When selected, the publish button label changes to **Publish to workspace**. * **Anyone**: Anyone with the link can visit your published app, meaning you publish **externally to the web**. This allows you to: * Build and share internal apps that stay private to your workspace * Prevent accidental external publishing * Support governance and compliance for sensitive data Workspace admins and owners can also set a **default website access** policy for all published projects in **Workspace settings → Privacy & security → Default website access**. You can override the workspace default for individual projects in the **Publish modal** by choosing **who can see the website**. If unchanged, the project inherits the workspace default. ## How to publish your project To publish, follow the steps below: In your project, click the **Publish** icon in the top-right corner. Review and configure the publish settings as explained below. * Enter your preferred website URL or leave the input field empty for Lovable to auto-generate a URL. By default, your app is published to `[published-url].lovable.app` On Business and Enterprise plans, you can publish apps under a workspace-branded URL pattern, such as `app-name.workspace-subdomain.lovable.app`. Branded app URLs create a consistent workspace-level URL structure across all published apps and are configured in **Workspace settings → Branded app URLs**. See [Publish apps with branded URLs](/features/branded-workspace-urls) to set this up. * When published, you can add a [custom domain](/features/custom-domain) (available on paid plans). Depending on your plan, you can control **who can see the website**: * **Public**: anyone with the URL can visit the published app (public website access) * **Workspace** (Business and Enterprise plans): only authenticated workspace members can visit the published app URL (private website access). You can choose to grant access to the whole workspace or specific people and [groups](/features/groups). Lovable provides **site metadata**, but you can customize how your site appears in browser tabs, search results, and link previews. Add the following info to help people find your site: * **Icon & title**: the site icon (**favicon**) and **site title** shown in browser tabs, search results, and link previews. * Click on the icon to upload a new one. * Click on the title text to update it. * **Description**: the **meta description** used in search results and link previews. * Click on the text to update it, or leave empty and Lovable will auto-generate a description. * **Social image**: the social sharing image (**OG image**) shown when your website link is shared, for example, on social media and messaging apps. * Click to upload an image or choose to generate one (title and description need to be filled out to generate). See [Optimize your app for SEO and AI search](/features/seo-aeo) for more information on optimizing your Lovable apps for search engines, social media previews, and AI systems. Review all info and optionally run an [SEO review](/features/seo-aeo). Click on any of the fields to update the settings. * URL * Published website visibility * Website info (icon & title, description, social image) Click **Run security check** to check for vulnerabilities. Always perform a security review before publishing to prevent: * Data leaks * Unauthorized access * Sensitive information exposure See [Security overview](/features/security) and [Project security view](/features/security-view) for more information. When ready, click **Publish**. When the deployment is complete, you'll receive a pop-up with the published link. After publishing your project, you can continue to iterate on it. To push updates later, click **Publish → Update**. When published, you can update your live app at any time, change the website address (published URL), or connect a [custom domain](/features/custom-domain) for a polished, on-brand experience. After publishing publicly, rerun your [SEO review](/features/seo-aeo) to unlock live checks for indexing, performance, accessibility, AI-search readiness, and Google Search Console setup. If you connect a custom domain, rerun the review again so Lovable can help verify your domain in Google Search Console and submit your sitemap. ## How publishing works in Lovable Each time you publish, Lovable deploys a snapshot of your project to a live URL. Only the current version is deployed, and future changes are not automatically published. * Changes are not automatically published and pushed live. * To deploy new changes, click **Publish → Update**. If you don’t see recent changes on your live site, you need to republish. ## How to unpublish your project You can unpublish and remove your live app in two ways: * Go to **Project settings → Unpublish project → Unpublish** * Click **Publish → Edit settings → Unpublish** (top-right corner) Once unpublished: * The live URL becomes inaccessible * Your project remains in the editor ## FAQ No. Publishing only makes the app available at the published URL. It does not grant anyone access to your project in the editor or your project code, and it does not make your project automatically remixable. Access to the editor, source code, chat history, and unpublished changes is always controlled by [project access](/features/project-visibility). Project access and website access are **independent settings**. You can combine them in different ways depending on your needs. * **Project access** controls who can access the **project in the editor**, including source code, chat history, work in progress, and changes that have not yet been published. * **Website access** controls who can visit the **published app** at its live URL. Below are common configurations: 1. **Internal team app** * Project access: `Workspace` * Website access: `Workspace` **Result:** Only workspace members can view and edit the project in the editor and visit the published app. 2. **Private work-in-progress, public app** * Project access: `Restricted` * Website access: `Anyone` **Result:** Only you can view and edit the project in the editor, but anyone with the published URL link can visit the published app. Keep in mind that workspace owners have full access to **all** projects in the workspace and can view and edit them. 3. **Team-built, publicly shared app** * Project access: `Workspace` * Website access: `Anyone` **Result:** Only workspace members can view and edit the project in the editor, but anyone with the published URL link can visit the published app. 5. **Private prototype shared internally** * Project access: `Restricted` * Website access: `Workspace` **Result:** Only you can view and edit the project in the editor, and only workspace members can visit the published app. Keep in mind that workspace owners have full access to **all** projects in the workspace and can view and edit them. **Key reminder:** Publishing does not change who can access your project in the editor, and project access does not affect who can visit the published app. Yes, on Business and Enterprise plans you can restrict who can access your published app. You can choose to grant access to the whole workspace or specific people and [groups](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/groups). This means you publish internally so **only authenticated workspace members** can visit the published app. Publishing deploys a snapshot. Changes aren’t automatically pushed to your live app. To publish updates, click **Publish** and then **Update**. You can customize how your site appears in browser tabs, search results, and link previews. By default, Lovable generates site metadata, adds a Lovable logo as the favicon, and a screenshot of your app as the Open Graph (OG) image. To change this, click **Publish** and review and configure the **website info**, and optionally run an [SEO review](/features/seo-aeo): * **Icon & title**: the site icon (favicon) and page title shown in browser tabs, search results, and link previews. Click on the icon to upload a new one. Click on the page title text to update it. * **Description**: the meta description used in search results and link previews. Click on the text to update it. * **Share image**: the social sharing image (OG image) shown when your website link is shared, for example, on social media and messaging apps. Click to upload an image. See [Optimize your app for SEO and AI search](/features/seo-aeo) for more information on optimizing your Lovable apps for search engines, social media previews, and AI systems. You can change your project **URL subdomain**, which forms your [lovable.app](http://lovable.app) website address in two ways: 1. Click **Publish → Edit settings → URL**, edit your subdomain, save the change, and click **Done**. 2. Go to **Project settings → URL subdomain**, change the subdomain, and click **Update URL subdomain**. Note that renaming the project does not change the project URL, it only changes the project display name. On paid plans, you can also add a [custom domain](/features/custom-domain). Publishing errors are usually caused by build issues in the current version. Ask the Lovable Agent to investigate and help resolve the problem. Yes, especially if your site is public. Some SEO checks only run against the live published site, including indexing, performance, accessibility, AI-search readiness, and Google Search Console setup. After publishing, run an [SEO review](/features/seo-aeo) to check your live site. If you connect a custom domain later, run the review again so Lovable can re-check the new host, verify Google Search Console, and submit your sitemap.