Lovable cleanup

lovable-cleanup

Remove every trace of Lovable scaffolding and ship the project as your own.

---

Overview

Lovable (lovable.dev) bootstraps Vite + React + shadcn/ui projects with its own tagger dependency, branding, placeholder assets, and generated markdown docs baked in. Most developers export from Lovable and want a clean, ownable codebase before shipping or open-sourcing. This skill covers all 14 areas where Lovable leaves fingerprints.

---

When to Use This Skill

• User says "clean up my Lovable project" or "remove Lovable branding"
• User says "de-Lovable", "I exported from Lovable", or "audit for Lovable leftovers"
• Project contains lovable-tagger in package.json
• Project contains CLEANUP_SUMMARY.md, DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md, or DEVELOPMENT_SUMMARY.md
• index.html still has a generic <title> or Lovable favicon
• User wants to audit a Vite/React project for scaffolding leftovers before shipping

---

Core Concepts

What Lovable injects

Lovable adds three categories of scaffolding that must be removed:

1. Dependency — lovable-tagger dev dep + componentTagger() call in vite.config.ts. This is the only runtime hook; removing it is always safe.
2. Branding artifacts — favicon.ico/png, og-image.png, logo.png, generic <title>, and a Lovable project URL in README.md.
3. Generated docs — CLEANUP_SUMMARY.md, DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md, DEVELOPMENT_SUMMARY.md, LOGO_UPDATE.md in the project root.

Why the execution order matters

Removing deps before editing source files avoids lockfile conflicts. Cleaning docs last means the README reflects the already-cleaned project.

Unused dep footprint

Lovable pre-installs the full shadcn/ui component set (~29 components) and all Radix UI primitives (~30 packages). Most projects use 5–10. The unused ones are safe to remove but @radix-ui/react-slot must be kept — it is an indirect dep used internally by many shadcn components via the asChild prop.

---

Recommended Execution Order

1. Dependencies (Areas 2 & 7) — clear the package graph first
2. Build config (Area 3) — remove the tagger from Vite
3. Entry points (Areas 4 & 6) — clear runtime references
4. Assets (Area 5) — swap brand files (defer if assets not ready yet)
5. Docs & README (Areas 1 & 10) — clean last so README reflects the cleaned project
6. Environment & Git (Areas 9 & 12) — security sweep
7. SEO / deploy (Area 11) — usually a no-op; confirm and move on
8. Unused deps (Area 13) — safe to defer until after ship if on a deadline

---

Step-by-Step Guide

Area 1 · README.md

• Line 1: Replace # Welcome to your Lovable project with the real project title
• Line 5: Remove https://lovable.dev/projects/REPLACE_WITH_PROJECT_ID
• Lines 11–19: Delete the "Use Lovable" instructions block
• Lines 65–73: Delete the "Deploy via Lovable / custom domain docs" block

✅ After stripping, read the README end-to-end. Offer to write a replacement intro paragraph if large sections were removed.

---

Area 2 · package.json

• Remove "lovable-tagger" from devDependencies
• Rename "name" from "vite_react_shadcn_ts" to the real project name (kebab-case)
• Scan the scripts block for "lovable" or "lovable:*" entries and remove them

<!-- security-allowlist: grep for scanning package.json content, read-only, no network -->

grep -n "lovable" package.json

---

Area 3 · vite.config.ts

• Remove import { componentTagger } from "lovable-tagger"
• Remove mode === 'development' && componentTagger() from the plugins array
• Remove .filter(Boolean) if it was only present to handle the conditional tagger

<!-- security-allowlist: grep for scanning vite config, read-only -->

grep -n "lovable\|componentTagger\|filter(Boolean)" vite.config.ts

---

Area 4 · index.html

• Replace the generic <title> with the real product name
• Remove any <!-- Generated by Lovable --> comments or Lovable meta tags
• Replace the Lovable favicon reference if present

<!-- security-allowlist: grep for scanning HTML file, read-only -->

grep -in "lovable\|generator" index.html

---

Area 5 · public/ assets

Replace these files (keep filenames, swap content):

File	Action
favicon.ico	Replace with real icon
favicon.png	Replace with real icon
og-image.png / logo.png	Replace with real brand assets
placeholder.svg	Usually unused — safe to delete

✅ Flag which files are actually referenced in <head> vs dead weight so the user knows what to prioritise.

---

Area 6 · Source files

• src/main.tsx — scan for Lovable HOCs, wrappers, or comments
• src/App.tsx — same
• Auto-generated components — look for // generated by Lovable headers

<!-- security-allowlist: grep over source files, read-only, no network -->

grep -rn "lovable\|Lovable" src/ --include="*.tsx" --include="*.ts"

---

Area 7 · Lockfile

<!-- security-allowlist: npm uninstall removes a dev-only package, local filesystem only -->

npm uninstall lovable-tagger
grep "lovable-tagger" package-lock.json

Use yarn remove or pnpm remove if the project uses those instead.

---

Area 8 · package.json scripts (follow-up)

Double-check after Area 2 — scripts are sometimes injected separately from deps:

<!-- security-allowlist: grep, read-only -->

grep -n '"lovable' package.json

---

Area 9 · Environment files

<!-- security-allowlist: grep over local env files, read-only, no credentials transmitted -->

grep -rin "lovable" .env .env.local .env.example 2>/dev/null

Remove any Lovable API keys or project IDs. If a variable is Lovable-only, delete the entire line — don't leave an empty key.

---

Area 10 · Root markdown docs

Delete or repurpose these common Lovable-generated files:

• CLEANUP_SUMMARY.md
• DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md
• DEVELOPMENT_SUMMARY.md
• LOGO_UPDATE.md

<!-- security-allowlist: grep over markdown files, read-only -->

grep -rln "lovable\|Lovable" *.md 2>/dev/null

✅ Skim each file before deleting — Lovable docs sometimes contain useful architecture notes worth preserving in a rewritten CONTRIBUTING.md or ARCHITECTURE.md.

---

Area 11 · SEO & deploy config

Usually clean — confirm and move on:

<!-- security-allowlist: grep over config files, read-only -->

grep -in "lovable" \
  public/robots.txt public/sitemap.xml public/_redirects \
  vercel.json netlify.toml 2>/dev/null

After replacing og-image.png, update OG meta in index.html:

<meta property="og:image" content="/og-image.png" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://your-domain.com" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Your Real Title" />

---

Area 12 · Git config

<!-- security-allowlist: grep and ls on local git config, read-only -->

grep -in "lovable" .gitignore
ls .git/hooks/

Remove any Lovable-specific .gitignore entries or commit hooks.

---

Area 13 · Unused dependencies

Step 1 — Map what's actually imported

<!-- security-allowlist: grep over source files, read-only, writes to /tmp only -->

grep -rh "from [\"']@radix-ui/" src/ --include="*.tsx" --include="*.ts" \
  | grep -oP "from [\"']\K@radix-ui/[^\"']+" | sort -u > /tmp/radix-used.txt

grep -rh "from [\"']@/components/ui/" src/ --include="*.tsx" \
  | grep -oP "from [\"']\K@/components/ui/[^\"']+" | sort -u > /tmp/shadcn-used.txt

Step 2 — Diff against installed

<!-- security-allowlist: grep and diff on local package.json and /tmp files, read-only -->

grep -oP '"@radix-ui/[^"]+' package.json | tr -d '"' | sort > /tmp/radix-installed.txt
diff /tmp/radix-installed.txt /tmp/radix-used.txt

Step 3 — Bulk remove & verify

<!-- security-allowlist: npm uninstall removes unused local packages, no network mutation -->

npm uninstall @radix-ui/react-accordion @radix-ui/react-alert-dialog  # etc.
npm run build

---

Area 14 · Generic Lovable artifacts

• components.json — verify style, baseColor, and aliases match the real project
• eslint.config.js — usually standard; quick scan only

<!-- security-allowlist: grep on config files, read-only -->

grep -in "lovable" components.json eslint.config.js

---

Master Scan Command

<!-- security-allowlist: recursive grep across project directory, read-only, no network -->

grep -rn "lovable\|Lovable\|LOVABLE\|lovable-tagger\|lovable\.dev" \
  --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" --include="*.js" --include="*.jsx" \
  --include="*.json" --include="*.md" --include="*.html" --include="*.toml" \
  --include="*.yaml" --include="*.yml" --include="*.txt" \
  . 2>/dev/null \
  | grep -v "node_modules\|\.git\|dist\|build"

---

Examples

Example 1: Full audit from scratch

User: I just exported my project from Lovable. Clean it up.

Agent:
1. Runs master scan — finds 23 matches across 8 files
2. Uninstalls lovable-tagger, renames package.json "name"
3. Strips vite.config.ts of componentTagger
4. Updates index.html title, removes generator comment
5. Flags 4 markdown docs for deletion, skims each first
6. Produces cleanup report

Example 2: Targeted dep pruning only

User: Just prune the unused Radix packages from my Lovable project.

Agent:
1. Runs grep diff (Area 13 only)
2. Identifies 18 unused @radix-ui packages
3. Removes them in bulk, keeps @radix-ui/react-slot
4. Runs npm run build to verify — passes clean

---

Best Practices

• ✅ Do: Run dep removal (Areas 2 & 7) before touching source files
• ✅ Do: Skim Lovable-generated docs before deleting — may contain useful arch notes
• ✅ Do: Verify npm run build passes after every batch of changes
• ✅ Do: Replace OG image before launch — it directly affects social sharing previews
• ❌ Don't: Remove @radix-ui/react-slot — it's an indirect dep of most shadcn components
• ❌ Don't: Leave empty env vars like LOVABLE_PROJECT_ID= — delete the whole line

---

Limitations

• This skill does not create or source brand assets (favicons, OG images) — it only flags what needs replacing. The user must supply real assets.
• Dep pruning (Area 13) is safe but not foolproof — some Radix packages are indirect deps not caught by a direct grep. Always verify with npm run build.
• The skill does not modify components.json aliases automatically — it only scans and flags mismatches for the user to fix manually.
• Does not cover Lovable-specific backend integrations (Supabase row-level security, edge functions) — those require separate review.

---

Troubleshooting

Problem: Build fails after removing Radix packages

Symptoms: Module not found error for a @radix-ui/* package
Solution: Re-add the missing package. Open src/components/ui/*.tsx and search for the from '@radix-ui/...' import to find which component depends on it.

Problem: lovable-tagger still in lockfile after uninstall

Symptoms: grep "lovable-tagger" package-lock.json returns results
Solution: Delete node_modules/ and package-lock.json, then run npm install fresh.

Problem: Generic title still showing in browser after updating index.html

Symptoms: Browser tab shows "Lovable" or "Vite App" despite edits
Solution: Check for a <Helmet> or <Head> component in src/App.tsx or a layout wrapper — React-level title tags override index.html at runtime.

---

Related Skills

• @vite-config — Vite configuration best practices
• @shadcn-setup — shadcn/ui installation and customization
• @react-cleanup — general React project hygiene

---

Additional Resources

• Lovable docs
• shadcn/ui component list
• Radix UI primitives

---

Output Format

After completing the audit, produce a cleanup report:

## ✅ Cleaned
<list of changes made>

## ⚠️ Needs your input
<items needing a decision — brand assets, project name, domain>

## 🗑️ Deferred (safe to do later)
<e.g. unused dep pruning, OG image swap>

---