# Lovable Vibe Code Audit > Checklist and workflow for spotting the visual/copy/structural tells that a Lovable-built site still looks "vibe-coded" — generic, unpolished, and obviously AI-generated — rather than like custom-built client work. Use before showing a Lovable project to a client, before a real launch/publish, or whenever asked to review a site for polish/professionalism. - Skill: `gidila91/lovable-vibe-code-audit` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add gidila91/lovable-vibe-code-audit` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/gidila91/lovable-vibe-code-audit/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Security - Author: gidila91 (https://skillmd.com/u/gidila91) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/gidila91/lovable-vibe-code-audit --- # Lovable Vibe-Code Audit Lovable (and similar AI builders) all draw from the same starter patterns, component defaults, and default brand colors. A project that skips a deliberate polish pass reads as obviously AI-generated to anyone who's seen a few of these sites — which undermines client trust even when the underlying functionality is solid. This skill is the checklist for catching those tells before a client or the public sees them. Every item below should be treated as **found → flag it → tell the user it should be removed/fixed**, not silently noted. The goal of the audit is a punch list, not a vibe check you keep to yourself. ## How to run the audit 1. **Fetch the live page**, not just the Lovable preview iframe — view-source or fetch the actual rendered HTML for ``, favicon, and meta tags. 2. **Capture screenshots at three widths** — desktop (~1440px), tablet (~768px), mobile (~375px). Most responsiveness breaks only show up at the actual breakpoint, not a resized desktop browser window. 3. **Click every footer link** — Terms, Privacy, credits/attribution — confirm each lands on a real page with real content, not `#`, a 404, or a copy of the homepage. 4. **Read the hero and section copy out loud** — AI-formula phrasing is easier to hear than to spot by eye. 5. **Report findings grouped by category** (below), each with: what you saw, where (page/section), and what to change it to. ## Checklist ### Browser chrome / site identity - Default favicon (Vite/React/Lovable placeholder icon) instead of a custom one - Generic `<title>` left as something like "vite-react-app" or "lovable-project", or no OG image set - Leftover "Edit with Lovable" badge/watermark still visible on the published site - Site still lives on a `*.lovable.app` preview subdomain instead of the client's custom domain ### Copywriting tells - **Heavy use of dashes — hyphens or em-dashes — as a sentence-break/aside punctuation habit.** This is one of the single biggest "written by AI" tells, arguably bigger than any individual word choice. Flag any copy that leans on " - " or " — " repeatedly to link clauses instead of a period, comma, or restructured sentence. Note: this is about the *punctuation habit*, not about dashes existing at all — one dash in a whole page is normal writing, a dash in every other sentence is the tell. - Em-dash-heavy AI writing rhythm; "not just X, it's Y" / "isn't about X, it's about Y" sentence formulas - Generic template headlines that could sell any product — "The all-in-one platform for X", "Build X without Y", "Save time and grow your business" - Unverifiable placeholder trust stats ("100+ happy clients", "Trusted by teams everywhere") with no real source behind them - Placeholder contact details (`you@example.com`, `(555) 555-5555`) left in from scaffolding ### Footer / trust signals - No credits, and no Terms/Privacy links at all - Terms/Privacy links present but dead — `href="#"`, 404, or a stub page with no real content - CTAs that go nowhere — "Book a call" that doesn't open a real scheduler, buttons with no handler ### Visual design / branding - Lovable's own blue↔purple gradient reused verbatim in the site's own branding — signals the palette was never customized away from the builder's default - Soft decorative blur/glow orbs behind headlines — a stock Lovable/shadcn hero pattern - Heavy glassmorphism (frosted-glass cards, backdrop-blur) used as the site's only visual identity, with nothing else distinguishing it - Uniform "pill everything" border-radius on every button/card/image with no hierarchy - The eyebrow dot-badge pattern — "🟢 Label · Label · Label" — used as decorative furniture above a headline; extremely common shadcn/Lovable starter output - The same accent-color glow/shadow reused on every element regardless of purpose, rather than used deliberately - **Not a tell:** an underline used to emphasize a specific word or phrase within body/headline text is a legitimate, common typographic technique — don't flag it on sight. Only raise it if the underlined phrase is arbitrary/meaningless (emphasis with no real reason) rather than genuinely calling out the key word. ### Layout / structure - Templated 3-column icon-in-circle grid repeated identically across unrelated sections (features, services, testimonials all clearly the same component reskinned) - Identical fade/slide-up scroll animation applied to every section — no purposeful motion design, just the framer-motion default everywhere - Elements not aligned to a consistent spacing/grid rhythm, especially visible at odd viewport widths ### Responsiveness - Actually broken layout at real mobile/tablet breakpoints (checked per step 2 above, not just a resized desktop window) — overlapping text, overflow, unreadable line lengths, nav that doesn't collapse ### Imagery - Stock or AI-generated headshots/illustrations that don't match the brand's actual style, or that are visibly inconsistent with each other (mismatched lighting, rendering style, aspect ratios) - Default lucide-react icons at stock size/stroke, never restyled or replaced to fit the brand ## When to reach for this skill Before a Lovable project goes in front of a client for the first time, before a real production launch, or any time the user asks whether a site "looks vibe-coded," looks unpolished, or looks AI-generated. Pair with [[lovable-seo-aeo]] for the metadata/SEO half of pre-launch polish, and [[lovable-rigor]] once you're actually directing Lovable's agent to fix what this audit finds.