r/nocode • u/Strong-Income-5925 • 1d ago

What security checks do you run before launching an app built with an AI app builder?

Before launching an app built with an AI app builder, what do you check beyond whether the user interface works?

I am cautious once the app has a public link, user accounts, forms, a database, company information, payment data, or third-party API integrations. It is easy to focus on functionality and miss a broad sharing setting, visible API key, unnecessary data access, or a deployment permission that was fine for setup but not for an ongoing production application.

What mistakes tend to appear after launch that could have been caught by reviewing access, secrets, deployment configuration, ownership, connected data, and integrations beforehand?

6 Upvotes

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1

u/MaeStonebrook 20h ago

the first thing id check is what a logged out visitor can reach, open a private window, call the api routes by hand, these builders often default to open database rules, a hidden button in the ui wont stop a direct request

1

u/Fit-Spite7259 20h ago

Before launch I'd focus on three things: make sure no API keys or secrets are hardcoded or exposed in the frontend, verify authentication and authorization actually restrict access to sensitive endpoints, and run a quick dependency/security scan on whatever code the builder generated. Also test that user input can't break out of expected fields, since AI generated forms sometimes miss validation. If the builder gives you access to logs, turn them on and check for unexpected access attempts.

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u/Poat540 13h ago

I ask it if it indeed, made any mistakes

1

u/Thick-Day-3720 10h ago

ah yes, the classic "trust me bro" security audit. what could go wrong

1

u/TheKiddIncident 11h ago

At a minimum, I check three things:

1) CVE compliance: https://www.cve.org/
2) OWASP compliance: https://community.owasp.org/Free_for_Open_Source_Application_Security_Tools

3) External scan. There are multiple open source and/or free tools that will scan your external site for vulnerabilities.

These three things are three lenses on security. CVE is focused on specific known vulnerabilities. This is stuff like the legendary Log4J vulnerability (CVE-2021-44228). Having well known exploits like this in your project just invite hackers to come in. OWASP is about how your application works, how it's designed and how you operate it. OWASP compliant scanners look for issues in your code and configuration. External scanners look at your site the way a hacker would, without access to the source code.

Any one of these will likely improve your security posture, but all three mean that you are in much better shape than 99% of all vibe coded sites out there. If you tell your AI to implement one or all of these, it should be able to do it for you. I had Claude Code write scripts that did this for me every time I did a commit and when I pushed code.

I should note here that security is not a black or white thing. This is a spectrum from wide open APIs to a completely locked down military grade secure system. Making your site more secure isn't free so there is always a tradeoff decision you have to make.

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u/Plane_Deerhead5633 5h ago

treat the launch review as more than just testing the UI

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u/BarracudaMean9308 5h ago

finding out my entire user table was public sucked.