update

Push an OTA Update

Pull the latest Lovable changes and push them to installed apps via Capgo — no App Store submission needed for JS/CSS/asset changes.

When OTA Updates Work (and When They Don't)

OTA updates work for:

• Any change made in Lovable (UI, logic, copy, styling)
• Bug fixes that don't require new native APIs
• New screens, features built with existing web technologies

OTA updates DO NOT work for:

• Adding new Capacitor native plugins
• Changes to iOS/Android native code
• App icon or splash screen changes
• Changing the bundle ID or app name

If the user asks to add a new native feature, redirect to the add-native skill instead.

Workflow

Step 1: Load app memory

# Find the app in memory by name or bundle ID
ls ~/Documents/Claude/lovable-to-app-store/memory/apps/

If the user says "update Acme Tracker", search memory files for app_name matching "Acme Tracker". Load the memory file.

Required from memory:

• github_repo
• capgo.api_key
• capgo.app_id
• capgo.channel

If memory file not found, ask: "Which app do you want to update? (Provide the GitHub URL or app name)"

Step 2: Pull latest code

# Check if repo is already cloned
if [ -d "/tmp/lovable-to-app-store/{repo-name}" ]; then
  cd /tmp/lovable-to-app-store/{repo-name}
  git pull origin main
else
  git clone {github_repo} /tmp/lovable-to-app-store/{repo-name} --depth=1
  cd /tmp/lovable-to-app-store/{repo-name}
fi

Step 2.5: Check for Supabase Edge Function changes

cd /tmp/lovable-to-app-store/{repo-name}
git diff HEAD~1..HEAD --name-only | grep '^supabase/functions/' || echo "no edge function changes"

If there are changes under supabase/functions/: Lovable does not auto-deploy edge functions when you push to GitHub or pull changes into Lovable. You must explicitly tell Lovable: "Please deploy the edge functions". Until that happens, the live app will continue running the old function code (or 404 if the function is brand new).

For each changed function, verify deployment after Lovable confirms:

curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' -X POST \
  'https://{supabase_ref}.supabase.co/functions/v1/{function_name}'
# Expect 400 (bad request — no body) NOT 404 (function not deployed)

A 404 means the function wasn't deployed — ask Lovable again. Common cases this matters for: google-native-signin, apple-native-signin (Step 6/Step 9 of refs 07/08 in the ship skill).

OTA updates pushed via Capgo only update the WebView bundle — they cannot deploy edge functions.

Step 3: Install dependencies and build

cd /tmp/lovable-to-app-store/{repo-name}
npm install
npm run build
npx cap sync

Step 4: Push update via Capgo

# Install Capgo CLI if not present
npm install -g @capgo/cli

# Deploy update to the production channel
npx @capgo/cli bundle upload \
  --apikey {capgo.api_key} \
  --bundle-id {bundle_id} \
  --channel {capgo.channel}

Step 5: Confirm and summarize

After successful push:

✅ OTA update pushed for {AppName}

Installed apps will receive the update within a few minutes.
Users don't need to do anything — it happens automatically.

Channel: {capgo.channel}
Bundle: {version from package.json}

Update build.last_build_date in the memory file.

If the Build Fails

Read the error and attempt to fix it. Common issues:

• TypeScript errors after Lovable changes: fix types and retry
• Missing dependencies: run npm install and retry
• Build script changed: check package.json scripts

If still failing after 2 attempts, report the error to the user and suggest they check the Lovable build logs first.

Major Version Updates (New App Store Build Required)

If the user says "I added a new feature that needs a camera" or similar native capability, tell them:

• OTA updates can't add new native plugins
• Use the add-native skill to add the capability and rebuild
• A new TestFlight/Play Store submission will be required