The Best Prompts for Lovable (Copy & Paste Templates)

Most Lovable prompts fail because they're vague. You ask for a feature, the AI makes something, and it's not what you wanted.

This isn't the AI's fault. The AI is doing exactly what you asked—it's just that you didn't ask very well.

Here's the truth: great prompts follow a pattern. When you know the pattern, you can build anything. And when you find a prompt that works perfectly, you can reuse it forever.

This guide gives you both: the pattern, and 15 templates you can copy-paste today.

Why Most Prompts Fail (And How to Fix It)

Problem 1: Too Vague

Bad prompt: "Make a login form"

The AI will build a login form. It'll probably work. But will it have email validation? Password strength requirements? Error handling? A loading state? You don't know. Neither does the AI.

Problem 2: Too Specific (About the Wrong Things)

Bad prompt: "Create a login form with a light gray background, Arial font, and a green button"

You're micromanaging styling instead of specifying behavior. The AI will build that exact form. It'll look nice. But if the validation logic is missing, you've wasted everyone's time.

Problem 3: Missing Context

Bad prompt: "Fix the login error"

What error? What framework? What database? The AI has to guess. Wrong guesses = wasted regenerations.

The Fix: The Structure That Works

Every great prompt has this structure:

1. Context: What are we building? What framework? What's already in place?
2. Goal: What should this do when it's finished?
3. Constraints: What should we avoid? Any specific requirements?
4. Example: Show, don't just tell. Example inputs, outputs, behavior.

Follow this structure and your success rate jumps from 40% to 90%.

15 Copy-Paste Prompt Templates

Auth & User Management

Template 1: Email/Password Login

Create a login form component using React with the following:
- Input fields: email, password
- Validation: Email must be valid format, password must be at least 8 characters
- On submit: POST to /api/auth/login with { email, password }
- Show loading state (disabled button, spinner) while request is pending
- Show error message if login fails (display error from API)
- On success: redirect to /dashboard
- Include a "Forgot password?" link to /forgot-password
- Add a "Sign up" link to /signup
- Use Tailwind CSS for styling, match the current app theme

Template 2: User Registration Form

Build a signup form with:
- Fields: name, email, password, confirm password
- Validation: 
  * Name is required and at least 3 characters
  * Email is valid format
  * Password is at least 8 chars and includes 1 uppercase, 1 number, 1 special char
  * Confirm password matches password
- Show validation errors below each field (real-time)
- On submit: POST to /api/auth/register
- Show success message and redirect to login after 2 seconds
- Button should be disabled until all fields are valid
- Add a login link at the bottom

Template 3: Password Reset Flow

Create a forgot password form:
- Step 1: User enters email address
- POST to /api/auth/forgot-password with { email }
- Show success message: "Check your email for reset link"
- Step 2: User clicks link and is taken to /reset-password?token=xyz
- Form has new password + confirm password fields
- POST to /api/auth/reset-password with { token, newPassword }
- Show success: redirect to login with message "Password reset successful"
- Handle error cases: invalid token, password doesn't meet requirements

Database Operations

Template 4: Fetch & Display List

Create component to fetch and display all user posts:
- Fetch from GET /api/posts on component mount
- Show loading skeleton while fetching
- Display posts in a list with: title, excerpt, author, date, view count
- Each post should be clickable to open /posts/[id]
- Handle errors: show error message if fetch fails
- Add empty state: "No posts yet" if list is empty
- Use React hooks (useEffect, useState)
- Add refresh button to reload posts

Template 5: Create & Store Data

Build a form to create a new task:
- Fields: title, description, dueDate, priority (low/medium/high)
- Validation: title required (min 5 chars), dueDate must be in future
- On submit: POST to /api/tasks with form data
- Show loading state while creating
- On success: add task to list, clear form, show toast "Task created!"
- On error: show error message
- Button text changes based on state (Create → Creating → Create)
- Prevent double-submit (disable button while loading)

Template 6: Update & Delete Operations

Create component for task management:
- Show each task with: title, description, status, edit + delete buttons
- Edit: Open modal with prefilled form, PATCH to /api/tasks/[id]
- Delete: Show confirmation "Are you sure?", DELETE to /api/tasks/[id]
- After delete: remove from list and show success message
- Handle optimistic updates: update UI immediately, rollback on error
- Show loading states for each operation
- Keep track of which task is being edited/deleted

UI Components

Template 7: Dynamic Form Validation

Build a contact form with real-time validation:
- Fields: name, email, subject, message
- Show validation error below field immediately if invalid
- Show success checkmark when field is valid
- Only enable submit button when ALL fields are valid
- On submit: POST to /api/contact
- Show loading spinner while submitting
- Clear form on success and show "Message sent!" toast
- Use React Hook Form or similar library

Template 8: Searchable Data Table

Create a data table component:
- Fetch all items from GET /api/items
- Display in table format: columns for id, name, email, status, created date
- Add search/filter at top: filter by name or email (real-time)
- Add sort: clicking column header sorts ascending/descending
- Add pagination: show 10 items per page
- Each row has edit + delete actions
- Show loading skeleton while fetching
- Handle empty state gracefully

Template 9: Modal/Dialog Component

Create a reusable modal component:
- Receives: title, body content, onConfirm, onCancel callbacks
- Show semi-transparent backdrop that closes on click
- Display buttons: Cancel (gray), Confirm (primary color)
- Disable confirm button if loading (show spinner)
- Close on Escape key press
- Prevent body scroll when modal is open
- Animate: fade in, slide up (use Framer Motion)
- Handle accessibility: focus trap, ARIA labels

API Integration

Template 10: Fetch with Error Handling

Create an API client function:
- Function: fetchUser(userId)
- Handle success: return user data
- Handle errors: 
  * 404: show "User not found"
  * 403: show "You don't have access"
  * 500+: show "Server error, try again later"
- Add timeout (5 seconds max)
- Show loading indicator while fetching
- Add retry logic: automatically retry failed requests 2x
- Log errors to console for debugging

Template 11: Authentication Headers

Create API utility with auth:
- Get JWT token from localStorage
- Add to every request: Authorization: Bearer [token]
- If response is 401 (unauthorized): 
  * Clear token from localStorage
  * Redirect to /login
- If response is 403 (forbidden):
  * Show "You don't have permission" error
- Handle token refresh if available
- Add request/response logging for debugging

Template 12: File Upload

Build a file upload component:
- Show file input (accept: images only)
- Display preview of selected image
- Show upload progress bar while uploading
- POST to /api/upload with FormData
- Handle errors: file too large, invalid type
- On success: return file URL
- Add drag-and-drop support
- Show checkmark when complete

Bug Fixes & Debugging

Template 13: Infinite Loop Fix

Fix infinite re-render loop:
- Problem: Component re-renders infinitely, browser slows down
- Code causing it: [insert your code]
- Root cause is likely: effect without dependency array, or setter in render
- Solution:
  * Add dependency array to useEffect: []
  * Move object/function definitions outside component
  * Memoize dependencies with useMemo/useCallback
- Test: component should render once on mount, not repeatedly

Template 14: State Management Issue

Fix state not updating correctly:
- Show current code: [insert your code]
- Problem: onClick handler calls setState but UI doesn't update
- Check for:
  * Mutating state directly (instead of creating new object)
  * Missing setState call
  * setState callback not running
- Fix with: create new object spread { ...state, updated: value }
- Verify: add console.log to see state changes

Template 15: API Request Errors

Debug API request failing:
- API endpoint: POST /api/users
- Request body: [show what you're sending]
- Error message: [show the error]
- Check for:
  * CORS error: add proper headers to API
  * Invalid JSON: validate request body
  * Auth header missing: include token
  * Content-Type header: should be application/json
- Solution: [specific fix based on error]
- Test with: curl or Postman first to isolate issue

Advanced Prompt Techniques

Chain of Thought Prompting

Instead of asking for the whole thing at once, break it into steps:

Bad: "Create a shopping cart"

Good:

• "First, create a Cart component that shows items with quantity"
• "Then, add increment/decrement buttons for each item"
• "Then, calculate and show total price"
• "Finally, add remove item buttons"

Ask one step at a time. AI gets better results when it focuses on one piece.

Few-Shot Examples

Show the AI an example of what you want:

"Create a component that formats dates. Here's an example: input '2024-01-18' should output 'Jan 18, 2024'"

Concrete examples are worth a thousand abstract requirements.

Iterative Refinement

Don't try to build the whole thing perfect. Build it, check it, refine it:

1. First prompt: Build basic structure
2. Second prompt: Add styling
3. Third prompt: Add validation/error handling
4. Fourth prompt: Optimize performance

This approach costs less and gets better results than trying to be perfect on attempt one.

When Prompts Aren't Enough

Even with perfect prompts, some things are beyond AI:

• Complex business logic: The AI can't understand your specific requirements
• Performance optimization: "Make it faster" requires understanding your actual bottleneck
• Security concerns: The AI will build something that works but isn't secure
• Integration with existing code: AI struggles with large codebases

In these cases, a human developer can help in 5 minutes what would take hours to debug.

That's what we do. 🐾

Your Next Step

Pick one of these templates. Copy it. Paste it into Lovable. See what happens.

The first time you use a good prompt structure, you'll see the difference immediately. The AI will understand you better. It'll generate better code. You'll ship faster.

Save the prompts that work. Build your library. The next time you need that feature, just grab the template instead of starting from scratch.

That's prompt mastery. And you're already on your way.