How to Use Lovable: A Step-by-Step Tutorial for Beginners

To use Lovable, create a project from a clear description, review the generated preview, make focused changes, test the main user journey and publish when it works. The most useful habit is to change one meaningful thing at a time rather than treating every prompt as a complete redesign.

Before you start

You need a browser, a Lovable account, and one small idea. Join Lovable if you have not created an account. Bring real text and images you are allowed to use. This tutorial uses a personal portfolio as a practice example; substitute your own content rather than publishing invented credentials.

You will learn how to write the first brief, inspect the preview, request a revision and check the published result.

Step-by-step workflow

1. Write down the visitor's task. For a portfolio, that might be “see three pieces of my work and contact me”. Leave out account systems or payments unless they serve that task.
2. Start a project from the Dashboard. Describe the project in the starting prompt. Keep the audience, pages, content and primary action together so Lovable has a coherent brief.

Create my portfolio website. The audience is potential freelance clients. Include Home, Work and Contact pages. Visitors should see my work and send an enquiry. Ask me for real project descriptions and contact details. Use an accessible, mobile-friendly design. Do not invent testimonials or make an unconnected form look complete.

1. Read the response and open the preview. The desktop editor has a Chat panel and Preview area. Check whether the first result contains the pages you requested. If Lovable asks for missing information, answer before moving on.
2. Give one specific revision. Describe the current problem, the desired result and what must stay unchanged.

On the Work page, the descriptions are difficult to scan. Make each project show its name, a short summary and a clear link. Keep the navigation, colours and Contact page unchanged. Check that the project titles fit on phones.

1. Use Plan for uncertain changes. When you are not sure how a feature should work, ask for a plan before implementation. Use Build when you want agreed changes made. Older material may call Build “Agent mode”.
2. Test a complete journey. Start from Home, open a project, return to the menu and follow Contact. A link or form should have a real destination. Check keyboard access, empty fields and small-screen readability.
3. Publish and open the published address. Review the publishing settings before confirming. Open the deployed site in a separate browser session and repeat the visitor journey. Publish again after any later correction.

A verification prompt

Check the portfolio's main visitor journey: Home to Work to Contact. Identify broken links, missing real content and forms without a working destination. Fix only confirmed problems. Tell me what you tested and what still needs my input.

Treat a generated testing summary as a starting point; verify the result yourself too.

Common errors and fixes

The result is attractive but wrong: restate the visitor's task and the missing requirement. Do not compensate with more adjectives about appearance.

A revision changes unrelated pages: name the exact page and explicitly protect the parts that already work.

The published site looks older: you may be looking at the last published version. Publish the reviewed changes and check the deployed address again.

The same error keeps returning: provide the exact error and reproduction steps, then use Plan to investigate instead of asking for another blind fix.

Frequently asked questions

Should I paste a huge brief at the start?

A coherent brief helps, but divide a large application into small working stages. The first project should have one clear outcome.

Can I use screenshots in my prompts?

Screenshots can communicate layout problems or examples. Remove private information and make clear whether the image is a reference or evidence of a bug.

Do I need a database for a portfolio?

Not necessarily. Static work descriptions and contact links can be enough. Add persistent storage only when the required behaviour needs it.

Official sources

See Lovable's getting started guide, editor guide, prompting guidance, and publishing documentation.