Migrating Lovable to Domo

Converting Generated Apps (Lovable/v0) to Domo

Many developers use AI tools like Lovable, v0, or similar LLM-based generators to create app prototypes. However, these tools typically generate apps with server-side rendering (SSR) that are incompatible with Domo's client-side-only architecture.

The Conversion Challenge

Generated apps often include:

• Server-side rendering (Next.js, Remix, SvelteKit, Nuxt)
• API routes (pages/api/ or app/api/ directories)
• Server-side data fetching (getServerSideProps, loaders, etc.)
• Framework-specific routing (Next.js App Router, Remix routes)

Domo apps must be:

• Pure client-side React - No server rendering
• Static file-based - Domo serves static files only
• Domo API integration - Use domo.get(), Query, AppDBClient, etc. instead of backend endpoints

Recommended Conversion Pattern

DA CLI is NOT a conversion tool - it doesn't automatically convert apps. However, you can use it as a reference structure and starting point.

Step 1: Generate Reference Structure

# Create a fresh Domo app to use as reference
da new my-converted-app
cd my-converted-app

# This gives you the correct structure to compare against

Step 2: Detect and Remove SSR Code

Check for SSR indicators:

• getServerSideProps, getStaticProps (Next.js)
• loader, action functions (Remix)
• +page.server.js, +server.js (SvelteKit)
• pages/api/ or app/api/ directories
• Server-side process.env usage
• Database connections in components

Action: Remove all server-side code. Domo apps run entirely in the browser.

Step 3: Replace Data Fetching

Before (Next.js example):

// ❌ Server-side data fetching
export async function getServerSideProps() {
  const res = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
  const data = await res.json();
  return { props: { data } };
}

// ❌ API route
// pages/api/users.ts
export default async function handler(req, res) {
  const users = await db.users.findMany();
  res.json(users);
}

After (Domo):

// ✅ Client-side with Domo APIs
import domo from 'ryuu.js';
import Query from '@domoinc/query';
import { AppDBClient } from '@domoinc/toolkit';

// Fetch from Domo dataset
const data = await domo.get('/data/v1/sales');

// Or use Query API for filtered/aggregated data
const summary = await new Query()
  .select(['region', 'sales'])
  .groupBy('region', { sales: 'sum' })
  .fetch('sales-dataset');

// Or use AppDB for document storage
const tasksClient = new AppDBClient.DocumentsClient('Tasks');
const tasks = await tasksClient.get();

Step 4: Update Routing

Before (Next.js):

// ❌ Next.js routing
import Link from 'next/link';
<Link href="/dashboard">Dashboard</Link>

After (Domo):

// ✅ HashRouter for client-side routing
import { HashRouter, Routes, Route } from 'react-router-dom';
import domo from 'ryuu.js';

// Use HashRouter (works without server rewrites)
<HashRouter>
  <Routes>
    <Route path="/" element={<Home />} />
    <Route path="/dashboard" element={<Dashboard />} />
  </Routes>
</HashRouter>

// For Domo navigation, use domo.navigate()
domo.navigate('/page/123456789');

Step 5: Fix Build Configuration

Before (Next.js):

// next.config.js
module.exports = {
  // Next.js config
}

After (Domo - Vite):

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';

export default defineConfig({
  base: './',  // CRITICAL: Relative paths for Domo
  plugins: [react()],
});

Remove Lovable-specific Vite plugins like lovable-tagger:

// ❌ Remove this
import { componentTagger } from "lovable-tagger";
plugins: [react(), mode === "development" && componentTagger()].filter(Boolean),

// ✅ Replace with
plugins: [react()],

Step 6: Remove Lovable-Specific Dependencies

Lovable/v0 apps include tooling that must be removed:

Dependencies to remove:

• next-themes — SSR theme provider; replace useTheme() with a hardcoded theme string (e.g. "light")
• lovable-tagger — Lovable's dev-only component tagger

Files to delete:

• playwright.config.ts — Uses lovable-agent-playwright-config
• playwright-fixture.ts — Re-exports Lovable test fixtures
• bun.lock / bun.lockb — Lovable uses Bun; standardize on npm
• App.css — Often unused in generated apps (verify first)

Fix next-themes usage in Sonner toaster:

// ❌ Before (depends on next-themes)
import { useTheme } from "next-themes";
const { theme = "system" } = useTheme();
<Sonner theme={theme as ToasterProps["theme"]} />

// ✅ After (hardcoded, no SSR dependency)
<Sonner theme="light" />

Step 7: Create Domo Manifest

Domo requires a manifest.json in the publish directory:

{
  "name": "My App Name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "size": {
    "width": 10,
    "height": 10
  },
  "mapping": [],
  "fileName": "index.html",
  "id": "",
  "proxyId": ""
}

• name — Display name in Domo
• size — Card dimensions (columns x rows on the Domo dashboard grid)
• mapping — Dataset mappings (empty array if using mock data or AppDB)
• fileName — Entry HTML file (always index.html)
• id — Leave empty; domo publish fills this on first publish

Step 8: Create Thumbnail

REQUIRED — domo publish will fail without this.

Place a 300x300 PNG named thumbnail.png in the project root. This is used in the Domo Appstore and mobile app.

# Generate a simple thumbnail programmatically (Python + Pillow)
python3 -c "
from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
img = Image.new('RGB', (300, 300), color=(15, 23, 42))
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(img)
draw.rectangle([0, 0, 300, 6], fill=(99, 102, 241))
try:
    font = ImageFont.truetype('/System/Library/Fonts/Helvetica.ttc', 72)
except: font = ImageFont.load_default()
bbox = draw.textbbox((0, 0), 'EF', font=font)
draw.text(((300-(bbox[2]-bbox[0]))/2, 110), 'EF', fill='white', font=font)
img.save('thumbnail.png')
"

Or use any 300x300 PNG image.

Step 9: Publish from dist/ Directory

CRITICAL — Running domo publish from the project root causes a 400: Unable to parse form content error because the CLI tries to upload node_modules, source files, and config files, creating an oversized payload.

Solution: Copy manifest.json and thumbnail.png into dist/, then publish from there:

# Manual publish
npm run build
cp manifest.json thumbnail.png dist/
cd dist && domo publish

Automate it by updating package.json scripts:

{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "vite build && cp manifest.json thumbnail.png dist/",
    "publish": "npm run build && cd dist && domo publish"
  }
}

This ensures only built assets, the manifest, and thumbnail are uploaded.

Step 10: Port Components

Use DA CLI to generate new components with correct structure, then port logic:

# Generate component structure
da generate component SalesChart

# Copy component logic from generated app
# Replace data fetching with Domo APIs
# Update imports and dependencies

What DA CLI Helps With

✅ Reference structure - Shows correct Domo app organization
✅ Component generation - Creates properly structured components
✅ Pattern examples - Demonstrates Domo conventions
✅ Starting fresh - If conversion is too complex, start new and port logic

What DA CLI Doesn't Do

❌ No automatic conversion - Doesn't transform SSR to client-side
❌ No migration wizard - No step-by-step conversion tool
❌ No code transformation - Doesn't rewrite framework-specific code
❌ No API migration - Doesn't replace backend calls automatically

Complete Conversion Checklist

• Detect and remove all SSR code
• Remove API routes (pages/api/, app/api/)
• Replace fetch() calls to backend with Domo APIs
• Update routing from BrowserRouter to HashRouter
• Configure Vite with base: './'
• Remove Lovable-specific plugins (lovable-tagger) from Vite config
• Remove next-themes and replace useTheme() with hardcoded theme
• Delete Lovable files (playwright.config.ts, playwright-fixture.ts, bun.lock*)
• Add ryuu.js dependency for Domo API integration
• Replace environment variables (use Domo APIs instead)
• Update imports (remove Next.js/Remix/Lovable specific)
• Create manifest.json with app name, version, and size
• Create thumbnail.png (300x300 PNG) in project root
• Update build script to copy manifest.json + thumbnail.png into dist/
• Test all data fetching works with Domo APIs
• Verify app builds and runs locally (npm run build)
• Publish from dist/ directory (cd dist && domo publish)

Example: Converting a Simple Dashboard

Original (Lovable/Next.js):

// pages/dashboard.tsx
export async function getServerSideProps() {
  const sales = await fetch('http://api.company.com/sales').then(r => r.json());
  return { props: { sales } };
}

export default function Dashboard({ sales }) {
  return <div>{/* Render sales data */}</div>;
}

Converted (Domo):

// src/components/Dashboard/Dashboard.tsx
import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import domo from 'ryuu.js';

export default function Dashboard() {
  const [sales, setSales] = useState([]);

  useEffect(() => {
    // Fetch from Domo dataset instead of backend
    domo.get('/data/v1/sales').then(setSales);
  }, []);

  return <div>{/* Render sales data */}</div>;
}