Documentation
How it works
The CapWrapp loop: connect GitHub, wrap a website into a phone app, set up the stores, then ship a commit.
Think of CapWrapp as a control plane. Your GitHub repo, GitHub Actions, App Store Connect, and Play Console are the engines. CapWrapp never copies your whole project onto its own servers to compile iOS. iPhone builds run on GitHub’s Mac machines (your Actions minutes). Android builds run on GitHub’s Linux machines.
The loop
- Sign in with GitHub or Google. That login is only your CapWrapp identity.
- Install the CapWrapp GitHub App on the repositories you want to ship. This is a second, separate permission — it is how CapWrapp can read commits and open pull requests. See How GitHub access works.
- Connect a repo. CapWrapp checks whether Capacitor is already in the project (the library that wraps a website in a real iOS / Android shell).
- If it is still a website, tap Add Capacitor. CapWrapp commits Capacitor files to the default branch. Paste a short prompt into Lovable (or Cursor) so the AI finishes native setup. Details: What CapWrapp adds to the repo.
- Create the app records on Apple and Google (CapWrapp cannot create those yet), then paste API keys in Settings. Step-by-step: Apple and Google.
- Turn on shipping — CapWrapp installs a GitHub Actions pipeline. Pipelines.
- On Overview, pick a commit and tap Upload for testing. CapWrapp starts the pipeline for that exact snapshot of the code (a SHA). Send a build.
- When testers are happy, open Releases and send that version to App Review, or promote it to production on Google Play. Send it to the stores.
Website vs phone app
A Lovable project is a website. A store app is a native container (Capacitor) plus that website packed inside.
| Layer | Who builds it | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Your screens, auth, payments UI | You / Lovable | Inside the app’s web view |
| iOS and Android projects | Capacitor (CapWrapp adds them) | On the phone, as a real app |
| Signing, TestFlight, Play upload | CapWrapp + GitHub Actions | Apple and Google servers |
Camera, push notifications, and in-app purchases need native plugins. A QR preview in CapWrapp does not run those plugins — it is a hosted website of that commit. See Preview a commit.
What CapWrapp ships
CapWrapp ships a signed store build of the commit you pick: TestFlight and Play Internal. From Releases, you then send a tested version to App Review or to production on Google Play. A website-only change goes out the same way, as a new build. You always confirm before anything ships.