Bolt.new Security Best Practices

Bolt.new is an AI-powered platform that generates complete web applications in minutes. You describe what you want, and it creates a working app with frontend, backend, and database. It's remarkably powerful for rapid prototyping and launching MVPs.

The speed is impressive, but it comes with tradeoffs. Bolt optimizes for getting something working quickly, not for production security. This guide covers what you need to check and fix before taking your Bolt app live.

The #1 Security Issue: Missing RLS

Most Bolt.new applications use Supabase for their database. Supabase is excellent, but it requires you to set up Row Level Security (RLS) policies to control who can access what data.

How to Check if RLS is Enabled

1. Go to your Supabase dashboard (app.supabase.com)
2. Open your project
3. Go to Table Editor
4. Look at each table's settings
5. RLS should show as "Enabled" with policies defined

How to Enable RLS

-- Enable RLS on the table
ALTER TABLE your_table_name ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;

-- Create a policy allowing users to see only their own data
CREATE POLICY "Users can view own data" ON your_table_name
  FOR SELECT
  USING (auth.uid() = user_id);

-- Create a policy allowing users to insert their own data
CREATE POLICY "Users can insert own data" ON your_table_name
  FOR INSERT
  WITH CHECK (auth.uid() = user_id);

Common Security Issues in Bolt Apps

Securing Authentication

Bolt typically sets up Supabase Authentication, which is solid when configured correctly. Here's what to verify:

Check Your Auth Configuration

1. Email confirmation: Go to Supabase → Authentication → Providers → Email. Enable "Confirm email" for production.
2. Password requirements: Set minimum password length (at least 8 characters).
3. Rate limiting: Supabase includes rate limiting by default. Verify it's enabled.

Check Frontend Auth Guards

Make sure protected routes actually check for authentication:

// Check that protected pages verify the user is logged in
const { data: { user } } = await supabase.auth.getUser();

if (!user) {
  // Redirect to login
  redirect('/login');
}

Don't just hide elements from logged-out users. Actually prevent them from accessing protected functionality.

Environment Variables

Bolt apps need proper environment variable handling:

What's Safe in the Frontend

• Supabase URL: Safe (public by design)
• Supabase Anon Key: Safe (designed for frontend use with RLS)

What Must Stay Server-Side

• Supabase Service Role Key: Never expose this. It bypasses RLS.
• External API keys: OpenAI, Stripe secret keys, etc.
• Database connection strings: Keep on server only.

Deployment Security

Bolt can deploy to various platforms. Check these settings:

Environment Variables in Production

Add your Supabase credentials and other secrets as environment variables in your hosting platform, not in code:

• Vercel: Settings → Environment Variables
• Netlify: Site Settings → Environment Variables

Security Headers

Add security headers to your deployment configuration. For Vercel, add to vercel.json:

{
  "headers": [
    {
      "source": "/(.*)",
      "headers": [
        { "key": "X-Frame-Options", "value": "DENY" },
        { "key": "X-Content-Type-Options", "value": "nosniff" },
        { "key": "Referrer-Policy", "value": "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Pre-Launch Checklist for Bolt Apps

• Enable RLS on all Supabase tables with user data
• Test RLS by trying to access other users' data
• Verify service role key is not in frontend code
• Enable email confirmation for new signups
• Add auth guards to all protected routes
• Move environment variables to hosting platform
• Add security headers
• Run an automated security scan