Build safely with Test and Live environments (Beta)

Safely separate test and production data for your app’s built-in backend (Cloud). Build in Test, publish intentionally to Live, and prevent accidental changes to production data.

As of March 24, 2026, this feature is no longer available for new projects on the built-in backend (Cloud). Existing projects that already use this feature will continue to have access.

This feature is closed to new projects. As of March 24, 2026, Test and Live environments cannot be enabled on new Cloud projects. This page remains for projects that already use the feature.

Test and Live environments let you separate development from production data while working in projects on the built-in backend (Cloud).

• Test: Your development environment. Lovable always builds in Test when Test and Live environments are enabled.
• Live: Your production environment. This is what real users interact with. Only updated when you explicitly publish.

This gives you a safe way to:

• Experiment with new features and schema changes
• Test integrations, workflows, and edge functions
• Avoid unintended changes to production data

By isolating development work in Test and publishing intentionally, you keep Live stable while continuing to iterate quickly.

Prerequisites

• The project must use the built-in backend (Cloud).
• You must publish at least once to create a Live database before enabling Test.

How it works

When you enable Test and Live environments, Lovable creates a Test database alongside your Live (production) database.

The following is copied from Live to Test only once, on setup:

• Database schema
• Database data
• Cloud configuration

This is the only time data or Cloud configuration is copied between environments.

After that:

• Lovable always builds in Test, never in Live
• While building in Test, Lovable can reference context from Live to help debug issues, but never modifies Live data
• Test and Live environments evolve independently
• Application code and database schema are synced through publishing
• Database data and cloud configuration are never shared, reset, or overwritten
• Publishing syncs structure, not content

Publishing updates how your app works. When you publish, Lovable syncs your application code and database structure from Test to Live (never the other way around) so your production app behaves the same way.

Before each publish, Lovable automatically creates a backup of your Live database. This ensures you can recover production data if something unexpected happens during or after publishing. Contact support if you need help restoring a backup.

Publishing does not change what data exists or how your Cloud instance is configured. Each environment permanently owns its own data and settings.

Application component	Description	Synced on publish and shared between environments?
Application code	Your app’s logic (frontend, backend, edge functions), which defines how your app works. Built in Test	Yes
Database schema	The structure of your database (tables, columns, indexes, migrations). Built in Test	Yes*
Database data	The contents of your database (rows, users, records, uploads). Environment-specific	No
Cloud configuration	Environment settings like auth, secrets, environment variables, integrations, and features. Environment-specific	No

*Safe schema migrations that should not cause data loss (for example, adding tables or columns) are applied to Live automatically on publish.

Data migrations (moving or transforming existing data) are not run automatically. If a change could risk data loss, Lovable:

• Explains the situation
• Provides an SQL query
• Asks you to run it manually in the SQL editor

Enable Test and Live environments

Test and Live environments are closed to new projects. On projects that enabled the feature before March 24, 2026, enablement ran through the Test/Live selector on the Cloud Overview.

Test and Live Cloud view

When you enable Test and Live environments, you can switch between Test and Live in the Cloud view to inspect data and settings. This selector only controls what you’re viewing, not where Lovable builds.

Editing Live data or Live Cloud configuration (auth, secrets, integrations) affects your production app immediately.

Branded and transactional emails aren’t supported on projects using Test and Live environments. To use emails, delete the Test database first.

Remove the Test database

You can delete the Test database from Cloud tab → Overview → Advanced settings → Danger zone.

This action:

• Deletes all Test data
• Disables the Test and Live environments feature
• Does not affect Live data

As of March 24, 2026, Test and Live environments can no longer be re-enabled once removed. This action is permanent.