QAlaunch

Lovable custom domain not working: statuses, causes and fixes

Most broken Lovable domains come down to DNS: the A record does not point at the IP Lovable shows in Project > Settings > Domains, old A, AAAA or CNAME records from a previous host are still there, or Cloudflare is proxying the record. SSL that stalls is usually a CAA record that blocks Lovable's certificate authorities. Match the records exactly, delete the leftovers, set Cloudflare to DNS only, then wait and click Retry rather than changing records again.

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What you'll see

Your domain shows the old website, a registrar parking page, a "Your connection is not private" warning, or a Cloudflare error 1001 or 1003. Sometimes the root works and www does not. Inside Lovable the domain sits at Verifying, Unable to verify, Setting up, Stalled, Failed or Offline instead of Live.

Why it happens

1. Records that do not match what Lovable asks for

For a domain bought elsewhere, Lovable's docs (as of October 2026) ask for an A record at the root pointing to 185.158.133.1 and a TXT record at _lovable whose value starts with lovable_verify=. A typo, a record on the wrong host, or an extra A record splitting traffic keeps verification from finishing.

2. Leftovers from the previous host

An AAAA (IPv6) record or an old CNAME on the same name sends some visitors to the previous site. This is why one person sees the new site and another, on a different network, sees the old one.

3. Cloudflare proxy turned on

Errors 1001 and 1003 come from Cloudflare's proxy, not from Lovable. With the orange cloud on, Lovable cannot see its own IP behind the record and verification hangs.

4. A CAA record blocks the certificate

If your domain, or its parent domain, has CAA records that do not allow pki.goog, letsencrypt.org or ssl.com, Lovable cannot issue the certificate and the status moves to Stalled or Failed.

How to fix it

  1. Open Project > Settings > Domains in Lovable and note the status and the exact records shown for your domain. Copy values from that screen, because the IP and verification string are the source of truth, not a blog post.
  2. At the company that runs your nameservers (Cloudflare, if your nameservers point there, not the registrar), create the A record at @ and the TXT record at _lovable exactly as shown. Delete every other A, AAAA or CNAME record on the root and on www.
  3. If you use Cloudflare, click the orange cloud on each Lovable record so it turns grey (DNS only) and leave it that way until the domain is Live. Lovable also documents a "Uses Cloudflare or similar proxy" option that swaps the A record for a CNAME if you need the proxy permanently.
  4. If the status is Stalled or Failed, look up CAA records on the domain and its parent. Either remove them or add 0 issue "pki.goog", 0 issue "letsencrypt.org" and 0 issue "ssl.com", then click Retry.
  5. Leave "Redirect www.yourdomain.com → yourdomain.com" switched on when you connect the root, so www is added as its own domain and redirects. Check that both names appear in the Domains list.
  6. Stop editing records once they are right. Lovable says DNS changes can take up to 72 hours; flipping records back and forth restarts the wait. If the status reads Offline later, click Recover after checking that nothing changed at your DNS provider.

Prompt to paste into Lovable

Tell me the current state of my custom domain in Project > Settings > Domains, list the exact DNS records it expects, and tell me which existing records at my DNS provider I should delete. Do not change any code.

How to check it's fixed

  • Look up A, AAAA and CAA records for both yourdomain.com and www.yourdomain.com on a public DNS checker such as dnschecker.org. You should see only Lovable's A record and no AAAA records.
  • Open https://yourdomain.com and https://www.yourdomain.com in a private window, on a laptop and on a phone using mobile data. Neither should show a certificate warning, and both should end on the same primary address.
  • Confirm the domain status in Lovable reads Live and that a fresh publish appears on the custom domain.

What a QAlaunch scan shows for this

  • The page failing to load, or a browser certificate error, when the scan opens your domain over HTTPS.
  • An unexpected page such as a parked domain or the previous site, visible in the desktop and phone screenshots.
  • Run one scan on the root and one on www to compare them: if one loads and the other fails, the www record is the problem. The scan cannot read your DNS records directly.

See exactly what a full report contains in the sample report.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my Lovable domain work for me but show the old site to others?

Usually an AAAA record or a cached DNS answer. Devices that prefer IPv6 follow the AAAA record to your old host. Delete it, then test from mobile data rather than your office Wi-Fi, which may still hold the old answer.

Can I keep Cloudflare in front of a Lovable site?

Yes, but connect it with the records set to DNS only first. Once you need the proxy, use the documented "Uses Cloudflare or similar proxy" option, which gives you a CNAME instead of the A record.

Do I need a paid Lovable plan for a custom domain?

Yes, connecting a custom domain needs a paid plan. If you downgrade to Free later, domains that are already connected keep working, but you cannot add new ones.

What does Unable to verify mean?

Lovable could not see the verification records within an hour. Check that the TXT record is on _lovable (or _lovable.yourprefix for a subdomain), not on the root, then use Complete setup or remove and re-add the domain.

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Related fixes

More for Lovable: all Lovable fixes · Lovable testing · 9 bugs every AI-built site ships with

Written by Waqas Ahmad, QA engineer with 10 years of professional testing experience. Last checked October 26, 2026.

Sources: Lovable docs: custom domains · Let's Encrypt community: www not working using Lovable · DEV Community: custom domains in Lovable and TXT records