What a Lovable prompt has to contain
Lovable does not leave gaps open: when a decision is missing it makes one and keeps building on top of it. So your prompt is not a nice description, it is a list of decisions. Five blocks cover almost everything:
- Who uses it and why. "Salon clients booking from a phone" sets the tone, the interface language and the layout.
- Screens in priority order. Without an order, the model builds in its own order, which is rarely the one you need to demo tomorrow.
- Data and permissions. Lovable ships with Supabase: which tables exist, which fields they hold and who can read or write each one. This is the most expensive part to change later.
- Acceptance criteria. What "done" means to you: booking without an account, today's orders on the dashboard, works on mobile.
- Out of scope. Writing "no payments and no notifications in this version" saves more messages than any wording trick.
Why the first message decides the project
Building with Lovable is iterating, but every iteration starts from the structure that already exists. If your first message created five tables where two were needed, the next twenty messages are spent undoing and redoing. A structured prompt means the first generation already has the right shape, and iterations polish rather than rebuild.
There is a practical side too: every generation and every fix burns credits. A complete first message is literally the cheapest way to use the tool.
Mistakes you see in almost every Lovable project
| What people type | What happens next |
|---|---|
| "Build me an app for my business" | Lovable invents the industry, the flow and even the name. The whole context has to be rewritten. |
| "Make it beautiful and modern" | Every visual fix costs a generation. Name the reference, or attach a screenshot instead. |
| Not stating the interface language | Half the copy comes back in the wrong language and has to be fixed one label at a time. |
| No permission rules | Every user can see everyone's data. That is a data model redesign, not a tweak. |
| Three requests in one message | Mixed changes and diffs you have to undo to isolate the bug. |
How to use this page
- Write your idea in one sentence, even a rough one: "an app where my clients book and pay a deposit".
- Hit "Generate my prompt for free". In 5-15 seconds you get the full prompt: role, context, screens, data model, criteria and out-of-scope items.
- Copy it and paste it as the very first message in Lovable. After that, one message per change.
If you also want the decisions that come before building — validation, MVP scope, stack and build order — the Inputo wizard walks through them in seven steps, and step one is free.
After you build
Lovable publishes your app on its own subdomain; the usual next step is a custom domain and, if real traffic shows up, deciding where the data and the hosting live. The step-by-step with real prices is in publishing your app.
Keep going with the generator
Frequently asked questions
What should my first prompt to Lovable say?
Who the app is for, which screens exist in priority order, what data is stored and who can access it, and what is out of scope. Lovable decides the architecture in that first message, so it is the cheapest moment to be specific.
How much detail does Lovable need?
More than you think. A 250-400 word prompt typically saves 5-10 iterations. Anything you do not specify gets decided for you, and undoing it costs credits.
Can I tell Lovable how to use Supabase?
Yes, and you should. List the tables, the fields and who can read or write each one. Supabase is Lovable's default backend, so data model and permissions are exactly what is most expensive to fix later.
Why does Lovable keep changing things that already worked?
Almost always an ambiguous request: ask for a global improvement and the model edits files it did not need to touch. One change per message, naming the screen, current behaviour and expected behaviour.
Can I reuse the same prompt in Bolt.new or Cursor?
Yes. A structured prompt describes your product, not a tool, so you can paste it into Lovable, Bolt or Cursor and compare results. The tool changes the workflow, not the clarity of what you want.
Is this prompt generator free?
Yes — free, no signup, up to 8 prompts per hour. The full seven-step wizard with validation, MVP scope and launch checklist also starts free.