How to Publish
Publishing & Deployment · 6 articles
Does publishing expose my project and code?
No. Publishing only makes your website public at a URL. Your Lovable project remains private—only invited collaborators can access it. Your code is protected unless you explicitly sync to GitHub or download it. API keys and secrets are never included in exports. Keep sensitive keys in Cloud → Secrets or Supabase Edge Function secrets.
Does publishing my project give everyone access to my project and code?
Publishing your app does NOT give access to your Lovable project or code. It only publishes the live website. Your Lovable project remains private—only invited collaborators can edit it. Your code is also protected unless you explicitly sync it to GitHub or export it. Published URLs are public, but the codebase stays in Lovable.
Example: Manual Docker deployment
Export code from GitHub, create a Dockerfile (multi-stage: build React app, serve with lightweight server). Build the image locally with `docker build`, test with `docker run`, then push to Docker Hub or a private registry. Deploy to your server (VPS, Kubernetes, etc.) by pulling and running the image. This gives you full control over the runtime environment.
Example: Manual VM or static server deployment
Export code from GitHub, run `npm run build` to generate static files. SSH into your server and copy the `/dist` folder to your web server's document root (e.g., /var/www/html). Configure your web server (nginx, Apache) to serve the files and handle routing properly. This simple approach works well for apps without complex server-side logic.
How do I publish my project?
Click 'Publish' at the top of the editor. Choose between a Lovable subdomain (yourapp.lovable.app) or custom domain. To update a published site, click Publish → Update. Your changes go live immediately.
How to publish a Lovable app to the App Store
Lovable publishes to the web (via Lovable subdomains or custom domains), not natively to the App Store. To get your Lovable app on the App Store, export the code and wrap it with a tool like Median.co or Capacitor to turn it into a native iOS app, then submit to the App Store following Apple's guidelines.
