What is Lovable Cloud?

Lovable Cloud is a Supabase backend (Postgres database, authentication, storage, edge functions) that Lovable provisions and manages for your project automatically, with no separate account or dashboard needed.

When should I use Lovable Cloud?

Use Lovable Cloud for most new projects needing a backend — it's the fastest path with no separate account; connect your own Supabase project instead if you already have one, need direct dashboard access, or must integrate with existing Supabase infrastructure.

How do I connect Supabase to Lovable?

In your Lovable project, open the Supabase integration and authorise Lovable to connect to an existing Supabase project (or create a new one), then Lovable can read and write to it the same way it does with Lovable Cloud.

How do I create a database in Lovable?

Ask Lovable to set up Lovable Cloud (or connect your own Supabase project) and describe the tables you need — Lovable provisions the Postgres database and creates the tables from your description.

How do I create database tables?

Describe the table's purpose and fields in plain language to Lovable — including which fields are required, their types, and any relationships to other tables — and Lovable generates the table with appropriate row-level security policies.

How do I view my database data?

Open the Cloud tab (or ask Lovable) to browse tables, edit rows and run SQL directly inside your project — no separate Supabase login needed.

Why isn't Lovable saving data?

Most commonly this is a missing or misconfigured RLS policy blocking the insert/update, an unconnected database, or a form that never calls the backend at all.

Why is Supabase returning a 403 error?

A 403 means Row Level Security blocked the request — the current user's role doesn't match any policy allowing that read or write on that table.

What is Row Level Security (RLS)?

RLS is a Postgres feature that restricts which rows a query can see or change, enforced per-row on the database itself rather than trusted to your app's code.

Do I need RLS on my Lovable app?

Yes, for almost any app with user data, private content or logged-in users — without RLS, anyone can read or write any row via the database's public API.

How do I fix RLS errors?

Identify which operation and role is being blocked, then ask Lovable to add or correct the specific policy for that table rather than disabling RLS.

Why can users see other users' data?

Almost always a missing or too-permissive RLS policy — either RLS isn't enabled on the table, or a policy allows reading rows regardless of who owns them.

When should I use an Edge Function?

Use one whenever your app needs a secret key, must call a third-party service, or needs logic that shouldn't be trusted to run in the user's browser.

How do I upload and store files?

Ask Lovable to add file uploads and it will wire up storage in Lovable Cloud (or your connected Supabase project), including an upload UI and access policies for the files.

How do I back up my Lovable database?

Lovable Cloud stores backups you can restore from directly in the Database screen; for extra safety, also ask Lovable to export your data periodically.

How do I migrate a database?

Describe the schema change you want in chat and let Lovable write and apply the migration — it handles new tables, columns and RLS policy updates together.

Can I move from Lovable Cloud to Supabase?

Yes — Lovable Cloud is a Supabase backend under the hood, and Lovable supports connecting your own Supabase project instead, though moving existing data across takes an export/import step.

How do I use environment variables?

Last checked 31 Aug 2026

Short answer

Use `VITE_`-prefixed variables only for non-sensitive, public values baked into the front-end build; use Secrets for anything sensitive that a server/edge function needs.

Two different mechanisms, easy to confuse

Lovable projects distinguish between:

VITE_ environment variables — bundled directly into the front-end code at build time. Visible to anyone who opens dev tools. Fine for public values like a feature flag or a public API base URL.
Secrets — encrypted, stored in your backend (Lovable Cloud/Supabase), and only accessible from server/edge functions. Used for API keys, tokens, and anything that shouldn't be public.

When to use which

Use case	Use
Public config value (e.g. a public Mapbox style URL)	`VITE_` variable
Third-party API key	Secret
Feature flag shown in the UI	`VITE_` variable
Database credentials, service-role keys	Secret
Anything with billing implications	Secret

How to set them up

For a VITE_ variable, ask Lovable to add it and reference it in the relevant component — it'll be included at build time.
For a secret, ask Lovable to add the integration or secret directly; it's stored server-side and used inside an edge function, not the client.

Add a VITE_SITE_NAME variable for the site's display name, and separately store our Mailgun API key as a secret used only inside an edge function.

What usually goes wrong

Putting a sensitive key in a VITE_ variable because it "looks like" the right place — the VITE_ prefix is precisely what makes Vite expose it to the browser.
Forgetting that changing a VITE_ variable requires a rebuild/redeploy to take effect, unlike some secrets which can be read live by an edge function.
Expecting environment variables to differ automatically between test and live without checking your project's environment setup.

Related: /questions/how-do-i-safely-store-api-keys, /questions/what-are-supabase-edge-functions.

Sources

Secrets

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