Securing a Lovable app before you publish: scans, Secrets and RLS

Shipping a Lovable app is fast, and the security tooling that comes with it is genuinely useful, but it only helps if you run it and read what it finds. This walkthrough covers the six things worth doing before real users sign up: both scans, secrets, database rules, leaked-password protection, sign-in methods and a focused review. Every step points to the Lovable doc it comes from, so you can check the current wording yourself.

AI disclosure: This article was written with AI. An AI agent adapted it from our original guide, and every claim links to the official source it came from. Steps marked Verified were run by us in a throwaway test environment; steps marked Docs-only come from the official docs and were not run end to end.

Label for every step in this guide: Docs-only. We wrote it from Lovable's public docs (last reviewed October 21, 2026) and did not run these steps end to end. Source overview: Lovable docs: Security overview.

Lovable's own docs say its tools "do not replace a thorough security review" and that you are responsible for your app's security. Here's how to use them well.

Copy this fix

Run both security scans first, then paste this prompt into the project chat. Treat the answer as a to-do list to check, not a guarantee.

Review the authentication flow and every server-side function in my app. For each one,
tell me who can call it, what data it can read or change, and whether it checks the
caller's identity and role.

1. Run both scans

Docs-only

• Quick scan runs automatically when you open the publish dialog. It checks database access rules (for example, tables without row-level security, or rules that let everyone through), dependency vulnerabilities, and MCP servers exposed without authentication.
• Deep scan doesn't run automatically. Run it from the project's Security view before you publish. It reviews your app code for access-control gaps, unauthenticated endpoints, injection, leaked secrets, payment/billing logic and auth weaknesses.
• Fix every Critical finding. Read each Warning and decide on purpose. Don't just ignore it.

A scan is a starting point, not a sign-off.

2. Keep API keys in Secrets, and call APIs from server-side code

Docs-only

Lovable's frontend runs in the browser, so secrets can't be stored safely there. Its docs recommend storing keys in Secrets and making third-party API calls from server-side functions, which your frontend then calls.

• Manage secrets in More → Settings → Secrets (Lovable docs: Secrets).
• Your server-side functions are listed in More → Database → Manage → Edge functions (Lovable docs: Edge functions).
• If you pasted a key into chat, move it to Secrets and rotate it at the provider.

More on this: Check what your build actually ships: secret keys in frontend env vars.

3. Review your RLS policies yourself

Docs-only

Lovable's docs call misconfigured RLS "a common cause of data leaks". To review every policy, go to More → Database, select Manage, then Policies. Each row shows the policy name, the command it covers (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE), who it applies to (such as signed-in authenticated or anon users), and whether it has a condition. Expand a row to read its SQL condition.

The view is read-only, so to change a policy, ask Lovable in the project chat, then check the result in the view (Lovable docs: Control who can access your app's data). Then read our Supabase RLS guide and test with two accounts.

On the built-in backend you can also ask Lovable to rotate the database password, for example:

Rotate my database password.

Lovable asks you to confirm, doesn't show the new password, and your app keeps working. Any BI tool or script that someone connected with the old password stops working until it's updated. This applies only to the built-in backend, not to a connected Supabase project (same Lovable page).

Check: in More → Database → Manage → Policies, each policy's Applies to and condition match who should see or change those rows.

4. Turn on leaked-password protection

Docs-only

If your app uses email and password sign-in, turn on Password HIBP check in More → Users → Settings → Email. It rejects passwords found in the Have I Been Pwned database of leaked passwords (Lovable docs: Email authentication). If you connected Supabase directly, use the Supabase equivalent.

5. Review your sign-in methods

Docs-only

Unless you name the methods you want, Lovable's login pages for apps on the built-in backend (Cloud) include email and password, Google, and Sign in with Lovable (Lovable changelog, Oct 15, 2026). With Sign in with Lovable, "Any Lovable account can sign in," and your app receives the person's name, email address and profile picture (Lovable docs: Sign in with Lovable).

1. Open More → Users → Settings. The Sign in methods list shows each method as Enabled or Disabled.
2. Turn off any method you don't mean to offer.
3. Use Disable sign-up if new people shouldn't be able to join (Lovable docs: Users and authentication).
4. Keep at least one method enabled so existing users can get back in.

OpenID Connect (OIDC) sign-in lets your users sign in with your own identity provider, such as Auth0, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID or Keycloak. Your provider then decides who can sign in and applies its own password and MFA rules (Lovable docs: OIDC sign-in). Steps and limits, all from that page:

• What it needs: a project on the built-in backend (Cloud) with authentication on, edit access, and admin access to your OIDC provider. It's available on all plans. On Business and Enterprise workspaces, SAML SSO must be allowed under App login methods, because that one setting covers OIDC too. It isn't available for self-hosted backends.
• Set it up: go to More → Users → Settings → OIDC, enable OIDC sign-in and copy the Redirect URI. Register a web application with your provider and add that redirect URI. Then enter the Issuer URL (must start with https://), Client ID and Client secret in the form and save. Lovable runs a build that adds the sign-in button, and that build uses credits.
• Keep the client secret out of chat: enter it in the OIDC form, not in the project chat. Lovable keeps it masked. To rotate it, enter the new secret and save.
• Test it: open your sign-in page in a private window, use the new button, and confirm you come back signed in.
• Know the limits: one OIDC provider per project, and the scopes are fixed to openid, profile and email.

If an app or website you didn't build on Lovable signs people in through Lovable, it uses an OAuth client that a workspace admin registers under Workspace settings → API keys & OAuth → OAuth clients. A Web server client's secret is shown only once. Lovable says: "Do not put it in browser code, a public repository, or a prompt." Scopes that read or change projects and workspaces need a Business or Enterprise plan and verification by Lovable (Lovable docs: OAuth clients).

Check: your login page offers only the sign-in methods you chose, and every other method shows Disabled in More → Users → Settings.

6. Ask for a focused review, then verify

Docs-only

Use the prompt from Copy this fix above. Conversational reviews use credits (per Lovable's docs). Treat the answer as a to-do list to check, not a guarantee.

For apps handling sensitive data or payments, Lovable's docs suggest an additional professional security review. We agree.

Related

• Check what your build actually ships: secret keys in frontend env vars
• new row violates row-level security policy (Supabase)
• Supabase row-level security, explained for builders

This guide is educational and based on the vendor's public docs as of the review date. Platforms change: check the linked sources. Not a security audit. Disclaimer.