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Glossary

about 1 minFirst appchecked 2h agoOfficial page

The short version

This page explains words and phrases used in Lovable, covering both terms specific to Lovable and general web development concepts. It helps you understand the documentation better by defining common terms you'll encounter.

Anyone reading Lovable documentation or using the platform will find this useful to understand specific terms and concepts.

Words decoded

Build mode: This is when Lovable is actively making changes to your project, like writing code or running tests, to get something ready to use.
Plan mode: This is when Lovable helps you think through ideas, compare different ways to do things, or review a plan without actually changing your project's code.
Subagents: These are temporary helpers Lovable creates to look into specific parts of a task, like doing research or checking things, without changing your project directly.
Prompt: A simple instruction you give to Lovable in everyday language, telling it what you want to create, change, fix, or understand in your app.
Prompt queue: A list of instructions you've given to Lovable that it will work on one after another. You can change the order, edit, pause, or remove them before they start.
Diff: A side-by-side view that shows exactly what changes Lovable made to your files during a single action.
History: A record of all the changes made to your project over time, allowing you to go back to an earlier version or mark important points.
Visible tasks: A detailed view that shows you step-by-step what Lovable is doing when it's building something, including which files it's working on.
Workspace: A shared online area where a group of people work on projects together. It holds all your projects, team members, billing, and settings.
Workspace admin settings: The central place where the main users of a workspace manage things like who can access what, billing, and other important settings for everyone.
Project: A single app you're building with Lovable, which has its own code, chat records, connections to other services, and settings. Every project belongs to a workspace.
External collaborator: Someone from outside your main team who is given access to work on a specific project, but doesn't have full access to your entire workspace.
Project access (project visibility): A setting that controls who can open and make changes to a project within the Lovable editor.
Restricted project: A project that only people you specifically invite can see or edit, even if they are part of your wider workspace team.
Share dialog: A pop-up window where you can invite people or groups to a project, manage their roles, and get links to share the project.
Groups: Collections of team members that you can use to give access to projects or other resources all at once, instead of inviting each person individually.
SSO (Single sign-on): A way for users to log into Lovable using their existing company login (like from Google or Okta), so they don't need a separate Lovable password.
SCIM provisioning: A connection that automatically manages user accounts and groups in Lovable based on changes made in your company's identity system.
Audit logs: A detailed record of who did what, when, and to which part of the workspace, useful for tracking changes and security.
Preview: A live, interactive view of your app right inside Lovable that updates as you build, letting you see and test it as a user would.
Preview toolbar: The bar at the top of the preview window that lets you select parts of your app, edit text directly, draw notes, and leave comments.
Code editor: The tool within Lovable where you can look at and manually change your project's underlying code.
Knowledge: Instructions and information that Lovable remembers across different conversations, helping it understand your preferences and project context.
Skills: Reusable sets of instructions that Lovable can follow for common tasks, either when you tell it to or when it recognizes a matching situation.
Cross-project referencing: A way to use code, images, files, or chat history from another project in your workspace, so you can reuse existing work.
File generation: Lovable's ability to create and provide downloadable files like spreadsheets or PDFs directly in the chat, without changing your app's main code.
Browser testing: A tool where Lovable controls a real web browser to interact with your app, clicking buttons and filling forms, to make sure everything works correctly from a user's perspective.
Testing tools: The overall set of features for checking if your app works, including browser testing and different types of code tests.
Remix: To make a copy of an existing project's current state to use as a starting point for a new, separate project, leaving the original untouched.
Design guidance: A step before building where Lovable helps you decide on the visual style, either by showing different design options or asking questions about how you want it to look.
Design directions: Three different visual examples Lovable can create for your app's design, so you can pick your preferred style before it starts building.
Design systems: A feature for defining a collection of reusable design elements, like buttons and colors, in a dedicated project that other projects can use and stay consistent with.
Design templates: Pre-approved Lovable projects that you can use as a starting point, copying their entire code, structure, and styling to quickly begin a new app.
Hosting: Lovable providing the online space and technology to make your published app available on the internet, with a public web address and security.
Publish: The action of making your project live and accessible on a public web address. Once published, you need to publish again for any new changes to appear.
Website access: A setting that controls who can visit your app once it's published online.
Custom domain: Your own web address (like 'yourwebsite.com') that you connect to your published Lovable project instead of using Lovable's default address.
Transfer a domain: The process of moving a web address you already own from another company to be managed by Lovable.
Branded app URLs: A custom web address for all apps in your workspace that includes your workspace's name, making them look more professional.
Analytics: Built-in tools that show you how many people visit your published projects and how they interact with them.
SEO and AI search (AEO): Features that help your app appear higher in traditional search engines (like Google) and also in AI-powered search tools (like ChatGPT).
Lovable Cloud: Lovable's all-in-one service that hosts your app and provides a built-in backend with database, storage, user authentication, and other features without needing separate setup.
Database: An organized storage system for your app's information, like user accounts or product lists, arranged in tables. You can view, edit, and manage this data.
Storage: Online space for your app's files, such as pictures or documents. These are private by default but can be shared with special links.
Jobs: Tasks that run automatically in the background of your app's backend at scheduled times, like sending a daily email summary.
Logs: A searchable record of everything your app's backend does, useful for finding and fixing problems.
Project usage: A view that shows how many credits your project is using for hosting and its backend services, broken down by different categories.
Advanced settings (Cloud): Settings for the technical details of your project's backend, such as its processing power, storage space, and options to pause or remove it.
Edge functions: Small pieces of code that run on Lovable's servers to handle your app's behind-the-scenes tasks, like processing payments or managing data.
Secrets: Sensitive information like API keys or passwords that are stored securely and made available to your backend code, so they are never exposed in the user's browser.
Email auth: A way for users to sign into your app using their email address and a password or a temporary code, with customizable security rules.
Phone auth: A way for users to sign into your app using their phone number and a temporary code sent via text message.
Google auth: A way for your app's users to sign in using their Google account.
Apple auth: A way for your app's users to sign in using their Apple account.
SAML SSO (apps): A way for your app's end users to sign in using their company's identity system (like Okta), specific to individual apps.
Lovable workspace identity reuse (apps): A feature that allows apps built within your workspace to automatically recognize signed-in workspace members, removing the need for them to log in again.
Custom emails: Emails sent from your app, such as for authentication, that appear to come from your own web address, improving their reliability.
Payments: Built-in features for handling subscriptions and one-time payments in your app, using services like Paddle or Stripe.
Security overview: A summary of Lovable's built-in security features, including different types of scans, protection for API keys, and checks for data access rules.
Basic scan: A quick check of your app's settings and components for common security issues, performed directly within Lovable.
Deep scan: A more thorough, automated code review by Lovable to find harder-to-spot security weaknesses.
Security view: A section for each project that shows the results of security scans, identified issues, and recommendations for improving security.
Security center: A central dashboard for your entire workspace that brings together all security findings, scan coverage, and risks across all your projects.
Security insights: A view in the Security center that combines various security factors to help you prioritize which projects need security attention first.
Privacy & security settings: Workspace-wide controls for default project access, publishing permissions, and other sensitive data protection settings.
App + chat connectors: Connections to other services (like Slack or GitHub) that Lovable uses both when you're building in the chat and when your published app is running.
App user connectors: Connections where each user of your published app links their own account (e.g., their personal Gmail), so the app works with their specific permissions and data.
Chat connectors (MCP servers): Personal connections to your own accounts in other tools (like Notion or Jira) that give Lovable real-time information in the chat while you build, but are not part of your published app.
Lovable MCP server: A special connection that allows other AI tools or developer programs to build, change, and deploy Lovable apps automatically.
Lovable AI: Built-in artificial intelligence features you can use directly within the apps you publish, for things like chatbots or summaries, without needing to set up separate AI services.
Build with URL: A method to create Lovable apps by providing instructions and images through a web address, useful for automating app creation or embedding 'Build with Lovable' buttons.
Lovable desktop app: A dedicated program for your computer (Mac or Windows) that lets you manage multiple projects, use local connections to other tools, and use keyboard shortcuts.
Lovable mobile app: A companion app for your phone or tablet that lets you build and review Lovable projects while you're away from your computer.
Supabase: An open-source service that provides a backend for your app, offering an alternative to Lovable's built-in backend.
Git sync: A two-way connection between your Lovable project and a Git repository (like GitHub), allowing you to manage different versions of your code, review changes, and work with other developers.
GitHub integration: Connecting your Lovable project to a GitHub repository for version control and collaboration.
GitLab integration: Connecting your Lovable project to a GitLab project for version control and collaboration.
Credits: Units used by Lovable to measure and pay for your usage across your workspace, including building apps, hosting, running the backend, and AI features.
Credit top-up: An optional purchase of extra credits beyond your monthly subscription, which can be bought once or set to automatically replenish.
Daily build credits: Credits given each day specifically for building your app, which reset daily and don't carry over.
Usage-specific grants: Credits that can only be used for a particular type of activity, like daily building or monthly Cloud/AI usage, and are used before your general credits.
General credits: Flexible credits that can be used for any type of Lovable usage (building, hosting, AI) after any specific grants have been used up.
Frontend: The part of a website or app that users see and interact with directly in their web browser.
React: A popular JavaScript tool that Lovable uses to build the interactive parts of user interfaces.
Tailwind CSS: A system for styling websites that uses small, ready-made design pieces to quickly build the look of your projects.
Component: A self-contained, reusable piece of a user interface, like a button, a navigation bar, or a form, that combine to create full pages.
Responsive design: Making sure a website or app looks good and works well on all screen sizes, from small phones to large desktop monitors.
Hero section: The very first, prominent part of a webpage, usually at the top, that grabs attention with a main title, a short description, and a button to take action.
CTA (Call to action): A button or link that encourages users to do something specific, like 'Sign up' or 'Buy now'.
Modal / Dialog: A small pop-up window that appears on top of the main content, usually to ask for information or show an important message.
Toast: A small, temporary message that appears briefly on the screen to give feedback, like 'Item added to cart'.
Tooltip: A small box of text that appears when you hover your mouse over an item, providing extra information about it.
Skeleton loader: A placeholder visual that looks like the final content but without the actual data, shown while the real information is still loading.
Above the fold: The part of a webpage that is visible on the screen without needing to scroll down.
Breadcrumb: A navigation aid that shows you where you are on a website, typically as a trail of links like 'Home > Products > Category'.
Favicon: The small icon that appears in your browser tab, next to the website's title, or in your bookmarks.
Glassmorphism: A design style that uses translucent, frosted glass-like elements with blurred backgrounds and subtle borders.
Neobrutalism: A design style characterized by bold, raw, high-contrast visuals with sharp edges and strong typography, often looking intentionally unfinished.
Minimal: A design style that emphasizes simplicity, using clean layouts, lots of empty space, and limited colors and fonts.
Premium: A design aesthetic that conveys sophistication, high quality, and attention to detail.
Retro: A design style that draws inspiration from past decades, using visual elements like neon colors, pixel art, or vintage graphics.
Backend: The hidden part of an app that handles data storage, rules, and user logins. It's what makes the app work, while the frontend is what users see.
Database: An organized system for storing an app's data, such as user information or product details, in a structured way that the app can easily read and update.
API (Application Programming Interface): A set of rules that allows different software systems to communicate with each other, defining how they can request and exchange information.
REST API: A common type of API that uses standard web requests (like getting, creating, updating, or deleting data) at specific web addresses.
Endpoint: A specific web address within an API where your app sends or receives a particular type of data, for example, to get a list of customers.
Webhook: An automatic notification sent from one online service to your app when a specific event happens, like a payment being completed.
CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete): The four fundamental operations an app performs with data: making new data, viewing existing data, changing data, and removing data.
SQL (Structured Query Language): The special language used to manage and retrieve information from relational databases. Lovable can write this for you, or you can use it yourself.
PostgreSQL: A powerful, open-source database system that Lovable uses for its built-in backend and is where your app's data is stored.
RLS (Row-level security): Rules that control which specific pieces of data each user can see or change in a database, ensuring users only access what they're allowed to.
Bucket: A container, similar to a folder, used to organize files like images, videos, or documents within your app's storage.
OAuth: A technical standard that lets users log into your app using their accounts from other services (like Google or GitHub) without sharing their actual passwords with your app.
SAML 2.0: An industry standard for enterprise-level single sign-on, allowing users to log in once to access multiple applications using their company's identity system.
OIDC (OpenID Connect): A modern security layer built on top of OAuth 2.0, commonly used for single sign-on, which helps verify a user's identity.
IdP (Identity provider): A service that confirms a user's identity, such as Okta, Google Workspace, or Microsoft Entra ID.
2FA (Two-factor authentication): An extra security step, beyond just a password, to verify a user's identity, often involving a code sent to their phone.
CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing): A web security rule that dictates which websites are allowed to access data from your app's API.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The process of making changes to your website so it appears higher in search results on traditional search engines like Google.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): The process of optimizing your website so that AI search engines (like ChatGPT) can easily find and use its content to provide answers.
Meta title / Meta description: The title and a short summary of your webpage that appear in search engine results.
Canonical URL: The preferred web address for a page, used to tell search engines which version of a page is the main one, especially if there are multiple similar pages.
Sitemap: An XML file that lists all the important pages on your website, helping search engines discover and index them.
robots.txt: A file that tells web crawlers (like search engine bots) which parts of your website they are allowed or not allowed to visit.
llms.txt: An optional, experimental file that summarizes a website's content for AI systems. Lovable does not require or include it in its SEO checks.
Open Graph: Special tags in your webpage's code that control how your page looks when it's shared on social media platforms.
Lighthouse: A tool from Google that checks your website's performance, accessibility, SEO, and overall best practices.

The short version, steps, decoder and prompt on this page are written automatically from Lovable's own documentation and can lag or misread it. The official page is always the authority.