Strip Lovable scaffolding and ship a clean codebase

lovable-cleanup

Remove every trace of Lovable scaffolding and ship the project as your own.
Made with antigravity-awesome-skills · author: whoisabhishekadhikari

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

grep -n "lovable" package.json

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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

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

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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

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

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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.

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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

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

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Area 7 · Lockfile

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

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

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

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

grep -n '"lovable' package.json

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Area 9 · Environment files

grep -rin "lovable" .env .env.local .env.example 2>/dev/null \
  | sed -E 's/([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*LOVABLE[A-Za-z0-9_]*=).*/\1[REDACTED]/I'

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

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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

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.

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Area 11 · SEO & deploy config

Usually clean - confirm and move on:

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" />

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Area 12 · Git config

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

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

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Area 13 · Unused dependencies

Step 1 - Map what's actually imported

tmpdir="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/lovable-cleanup.XXXXXX")" || exit 1
grep -rh "from [\"']@radix-ui/" src/ --include="*.tsx" --include="*.ts" \
  | grep -oP "from [\"']\K@radix-ui/[^\"']+" | sort -u > "$tmpdir/radix-used.txt"

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

Step 2 - Diff against installed

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

Step 3 - Bulk remove & verify

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

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Area 14 · Generic Lovable artifacts

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

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

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Master Scan Command

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" \
  | sed -E 's/([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*LOVABLE[A-Za-z0-9_]*=).*/\1[REDACTED]/I'

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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Related Skills

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

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Additional Resources

• Lovable docs
• shadcn/ui component list
• Radix UI primitives
• antigravity-awesome-skills

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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>

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Made with antigravity-awesome-skills · author: whoisabhishekadhikari