There’s been a lot of buzz online about how "anyone can build a web app" these days. As someone who has struggled with coding in the past, I’ve always been skeptical about this claim. But with the latest AI-powered tools for creating web apps, it seems like that dream might finally be within reach for anyone with a solid idea and a bit of persistence.

There are quite a few platforms out there that offer AI-driven workflows for people without a development background, like v0, Replit, and Bolt. However, my favorite tool right now is Lovable, which we’ll explore in this tutorial. Why Lovable? It offers an amazing user experience, seamless integration with Supabase for databases, and even automatic error handling. Plus, it generates some of the best-looking interfaces I’ve seen.

In this tutorial, we’ll build a customer feedback tracking system—think of it as the "hello world" for creating full-stack web apps with the help of an AI software engineer.

Here’s the plan for creating a customer feedback-tracking web app:

• Write a prompt to generate the user interface.
• Set up Supabase to handle the database.
• Link Supabase with your user interface.
• Publish and deploy your app.

The tools we’ll use:

• Lovable (Free for testing, $20/month for higher prompt limits)
• Supabase (Free account)

Let’s start building a customer feedback app!

Step 1 - Write a prompt to generate the user interface

Start by writing a prompt to generate the user interface. Describe it concisely. Make it wholesome, covering the main aspects of the app. Here is the prompt to get you started.

Prompt:

Create an app that helps me track customer feedback.

Ensure users can add feedback, including a description, feedback type, and customer name. Then, list all the feedback on the main page.

Make the interface sleek!

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Click that cute arrow button in the lower right corner. It will start doing its magic. 

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After about a minute and a half, it created a simple yet sleek user interface. It isn’t fancy, but you can ask it to add UI items. 

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Click ‘Add Feedback’ to open a form. Type a name and select the feedback type. Write a feedback and click ‘Submit Feedback.’ It will be listed on the main page. 

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To ensure that Loveable follows specific rules and guidelines while creating the app, click the cog icon at the top of the preview window, go to the knowledge management module, and click ‘Manage Knowledge.’

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Add a few guidelines and rules for Loveable to follow as it works on your project. Use the following text as an example of what can be used for guidelines. Click ‘Save’ after you’re done.

Mobile-first design

• Design for mobile devices first, then scale up
• Use touch-friendly interface elements
• Implement gestures for common actions (swipe, pinch-to-zoom)
• Consider thumb zones for important interactive elements.”

The page is very simple. Let’s add a few UI (user interface) elements to jazz it up. In this example, we add a navbar at the top of the page. 

Prompt:

Add a Navbar. The name of the app is feedback.app.

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It created a navbar at the top of the page with the app's name appearing in the Navbar. That’s pretty neat. Check whether the navbar is responsive by clicking the mobile phone icon in the top right corner of the preview panel. 

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You can also revert any changes in the app. For example, I wanted to add a footer to the page. 

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After giving a prompt, I didn’t like its look. 

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So, I clicked the ‘Restore version’ button and deleted the footer. 

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Step 2 - Set up Supabase to handle the database

Right now, the app is unable to commit any changes. If you add feedback and refresh the page, it will not save the data and disappear. This can be solved with Supabase. It’s a backend database that allows your app to save the data and show it to end-users whenever they access the page. So, let’s set up Supabase. If you are accessing Supabase for the first time, go to Supabase and create a free account. 

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In the dashboard, click ‘New Project.’ Fill in your organization details, add the project name, create a database password, and click ‘Create new project.’

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The project will take a few minutes to set up. Once it is created, go to the ‘table editor’ and create a new table. 

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Fill in the name and description for the table and modify the ‘created at’ entry. Name the content and select ‘Text’ for the column type. Click ‘Save.’

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You can add data directly to the table by clicking the ‘Insert’ button (the green button) at the top and populating the data field. 

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Next, create a user in the authentication tab. This user will be used to log in to the feedback app. Click the ‘Authentication’ link in the sidebar and click ‘Add user.’ Enter your email address and password, then click ‘Create User.’

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Step 3 - Link Supabase with your user interface

The next step is to link the Supabase table you created to the feedback app. In the Lovable window, click ‘Supabase’ at the top of the page. Connect your Supabase with Lovable. Once connected, return to the Supabase link, click the project name, and select the project to which you want to connect your app. 

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Confirm the connection by clicking ‘Connect.’

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For user logins, write a prompt directing lovable to add authentication to the app. 

Prompt:

Add authentication. 

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Click ‘Apply changes’ in the prompt window. 

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Use the email address and the password you created in the Supabase. Click ‘Sign In.’

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You can now add feedback; the added items will appear when you refresh the page. 

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Step 4 - Publish and deploy your app

Once you have finished creating the app, you can publish it. Click the ‘Publish’ button in the top right corner of the preview window and click ‘Deploy.’

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It will publish your app in a sub-domain. You can go to settings and choose your own domain for the deployment. 

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You can also change the name of your project to a better-sounding domain name. For example, you want to name it a feedback app instead of a customer-voice-capsule. Go to ‘settings’ at the top of the preview window and locate ‘Rename project.’ Click the button under it and rename your project. Select ‘also rename repository’ and click ‘Rename Project.’ Do not forget to ‘Redeploy your app by clicking the ‘Publish’ button and then clicking ‘Redeploy.’

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The domain name is changed. 

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You can customize your app as much as you want. Lovable will create an aesthetically pleasing app with the desired functionality. As always, experiment and use prompts to tweak the user interface elements. It can create complex applications within hours instead of months. 

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