Keyboard shortcuts

jk
move through the list
↵
open the selected item
a
ask a question
nucw
tabs: new, unanswered, active, top
⌘↵
post the answer you are writing
/or⌘K
search
t
switch theme
?
this list
AskVibe
AskSign in
…
Sign in
Question

My app works on localhost, how do I actually put it on the internet?

Solved · 2606 viewsasked by gabriel_ss
lovabledeploymentsupabase

Sorry if this is a dumb question. I built a React app with Lovable, exported it, and now I run it with npm run dev and it works on localhost:5173. My friend wants to try it from her phone. I don't understand what "deploy" means in practice. Do I need a server? Do I pay for something?

What I’ve tried

Sent my friend the localhost link, which obviously didn't work. Read the Vite docs page about deploying but it assumes I know what a static host is.

Comment
Bookmarking this to send to people. The 'localhost means this computer' line is the best explanation I've seen. postgres_pete

3 answers

Marked as helpful by the asker
wes_codes

Not dumb at all. localhost means "this computer", so only you can open it.

Your app is a static site: npm run build turns it into plain HTML/JS/CSS files in a dist folder. Hosting means putting those files on a computer that's always online. Your data lives in Supabase, which is already online.

Easiest path, free:

  1. Put the code on GitHub.
  2. Sign up at Vercel or Netlify with your GitHub account, click "Import project", pick the repo.
  3. It detects Vite automatically. Click Deploy.
  4. You get a URL like your-app.vercel.app. Send that to your friend.

After that, every push to GitHub updates the site automatically. You only pay later if you get a lot of traffic or want team features.

Comment
It's live!! My friend is using it on her phone right now. I can't believe it was 4 steps. gabriel_ss
One thing: login redirects to localhost after she signs in? gabriel_ss
Supabase → Authentication → URL Configuration: set Site URL to your vercel.app URL and add it to Redirect URLs. Supabase still thinks your app lives on localhost. mira_dev
postgres_pete

One addition: your Supabase anon key is now visible to anyone who opens the site (that's normal and by design). What protects your data is Row Level Security. Before sharing the link more widely, check that every table has RLS enabled with policies, the Supabase dashboard warns you about tables without it.

Comment
Checked, two tables had RLS off. Fixed before sharing further. Thanks! gabriel_ss
sam_builds

Late to this, but I was in the exact same spot. One more thing that tripped me: environment variables. If your app uses a .env file locally, add the same variables in Vercel's project settings, the .env file isn't uploaded (and shouldn't be).

Comment
Mine didn't have any but good to know, thanks gabriel_ss

Related

Cloned my Lovable project from GitHub, npm run dev shows a white pagesolved
Launch day and new signups get 'email rate limit exceeded'solved
Moving off Lovable to Cursor: can I keep using the same Supabase project?solved
Supabase free project paused and my users couldn't log in all weekend3 ans.
Moving my Lovable app to my own Vercel account, what do I need to change?solved

Your answer

Sign in to write an answer