This guide helps all users—new or experienced—get up to speed quickly and avoid common pitfalls when building on Lovable.

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1. Set Your Foundation: Use the Knowledge File

Why it matters: The Knowledge file is your project’s brain. It gets sent with every prompt and helps the AI understand the full context.

What to include:

  • Your product vision (think of it like a PRD)
  • User journeys and personas
  • Key features and functionality
  • Design systems and UI guidance
  • Role-specific behavior (e.g. Admin, User, Investor)

You can auto-generate a Knowledge file via chat mode:

Generate knowledge for my project at T=0 based on the features I’ve already implemented.

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2. Prompting Best Practices

Clear, verbose prompts = better output. Think of the AI like your engineering partner—it only knows what you tell it.

Prompting tips:

  • Be specific: Mention the exact page (e.g. /dashboard) and expected behavior.

  • Use natural language

    I want users with the role Investor to access this component, but not Admins.

  • Add screenshots: Especially useful for describing bugs or UX issues.

  • Add guardrails: Tell the AI what not to touch. E.g.

    Do not edit /shared/Layout.tsx.

  • Repeat important instructions across prompts. The AI’s memory can be limiting.

  • Avoid trying to implement 5 things at once. Break work into smaller, testable chunks. Use Chat Mode between each block to validate before moving on.

    **Feature Breakdown Template:**
Create the new page
Add UI layout
Connect the data
Add logic + edge cases
Test per role

  • If your app has multiple roles (e.g. Admin, Investor, Startup), always define which role the prompt applies to. This helps avoid bugs caused by shared logic/components.

    As an Investor, I want to view the company dashboard, but I shouldn’t be able to edit it. Please isolate this feature to the Investor role only.

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3. Use Chat Mode Early and Often

Chat mode** = your AI co-pilot.** It helps you debug, brainstorm, and plan implementations—without editing your code until you’re ready.

When to switch to Chat Mode:

  • After 2–3 failed “Try to Fix” attempts

  • When debugging complex logic or database issues

  • When planning new features

    Suggest 3 ways to implement X

Workflow tip:

Some users like to use Chat Mode for 60–70% of your time. Only click “Implement the plan” when you’re fully satisfied.

If you forget using the chat mode, this format improves output consistency and prevents collateral edits.

On page /settings, implement [feature]. The expected behavior is [XYZ]. Please don’t touch component A, layout B, or shared logic unless necessary. Follow best practices from Tailwind / Supabase / X.

To avoid unwanted code execution:

Investigate but don’t write code yet.

Suggest 3 ways to solve this without changing anything.

This keeps control in your hands.

When AI enters a “loop,” use this sequence to avoid endless cycles of patching broken code:

  1. Switch to chat mode

  2. Paste the error screenshot

  3. Say:

    Please investigate this without breaking other features. If needed, revert to the last working version and fix from there.

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4. Avoid Common Pitfalls with Supabase

Heads-up: Supabase does not revert cleanly. If you revert a version, your database schema may break.

Best practices:

  • Connect Supabase after front-end is stable

  • If you must revert, prompt the AI:

    Please validate the SQL schema at T=0 and ensure no breaking changes have occurred.

  • Always test database-linked features before publishing

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5. Use Visual Edit for Quick UI Fixes

The Visual Edit tool is free and fast. Use it instead of prompts for:

  • Changing text, colors, fonts, layout tweaks
  • Editing multiple small elements at once
  • Safe, credit-free commits (with undo available)

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6. Use GitHub + Version Control Wisely

  • Every edit is a commit. Use pinning to mark stable versions. After every working feature: Pin it

  • After every bug: Compare versions visually. You can prompt with:

    Compare version at T–1 to T–0. What changed? What might be breaking?

  • Come back to a stable version if you feel the AI has broken too much things.

  • Use GitHub branching at your own risk. Avoid deleting branches before switching back to main in Lovable to prevent project sync issues.

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7. When All Else Fails, Remix

Many users realize: doing it all over takes less time the second time.

  • Remix creates a clean copy of your project at T=0.
  • Rebuild with better prompting + clearer knowledge
  • Use your old project as reference only

Use cases:

  • You’re stuck in a buggy loop
  • You want to restart clean with preserved history
  • You need to disconnect Superbase and try a new path

Remixing requires disconnecting Superbase first.

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8. Stay Patient, Stay Calm

You’re not alone. AI can be magical one moment and frustrating the next. The final 5% of any build is often the slowest—but the most important.

Golden rule:

Take your time with prompts. Re-check everything. Break work into small, testable blocks. The more precise your inputs, the better your outputs.

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9. Use the Docs & Ask for Help

  • Documentation contains walkthroughs, templates, SEO tips, integrations, and more. You can ask questions directly in the doc AI assistant.
  • Join the Discord community for peer support.
  • When ready, submit your project to Lovable Launch.

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10. Bonus Tips

  • Add a voice note prompt using dictation (e.g. On Mac, use the mic to dictate long prompts) for long prompts. You’ll craft better input faster—especially useful when frustrated or tired.

  • Use the “I am frustrated…” prompt pattern to nudge better AI focus

  • After a major edit, always recheck multiple roles and their behavior (especially with conditional logic)

  • Store stable versions as fallbacks for quick debugging

  • If you’re seeing unexpected side effects, this helps avoid bugs caused by overly generic logic.

    Create a component specifically for [role X] and do not reuse shared components unless clearly scoped.

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