Lovable and eBay API integration: Step-by-Step Guide 2025

Configuring Dependencies in Your Lovable Project

Since Lovable does not have a terminal, you need to manually add the necessary dependency into your project’s configuration file. Locate your project's package configuration (often a file named package.json) and add the following dependency inside the "dependencies" section to include Axios for HTTP requests.

{
  "dependencies": {
    "axios": "^0.27.2"
    // ...other dependencies
  }
}

Creating the eBay API Integration File

Create a new file named eBayAPI.ts in your project’s source folder (for example, under src/). This file will contain the TypeScript code for interacting with the eBay API. Paste the following code into that file.

import axios from 'axios';

// eBay API endpoint for the Finding Service
const EBAYAPIENDPOINT = 'https://svcs.ebay.com/services/search/FindingService/v1';

// Replace 'YOUREBAYAPP_ID' with your actual eBay Application ID (API key)
const APPID = 'YOUREBAYAPPID';

export interface SearchResult {
  title: string;
  viewItemURL: string;
  // Add any additional fields you need from the API response
}

export async function searchEbayItems(query: string): Promise {
  try {
    const params = {
      'OPERATION-NAME': 'findItemsByKeywords',
      'SERVICE-VERSION': '1.0.0',
      'SECURITY-APPNAME': APP_ID,
      'RESPONSE-DATA-FORMAT': 'JSON',
      'keywords': query,
      'paginationInput.entriesPerPage': 10
    };

    const response = await axios.get(EBAYAPIENDPOINT, { params });
    // Access the items based on eBay API response structure. Adjust path if needed.
    const items = response.data.findItemsByKeywordsResponse[0].searchResult[0].item || [];
    return items.map((item: any) => ({
      title: item.title[0],
      viewItemURL: item.viewItemURL[0]
    }));
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching items from eBay:', error);
    return [];
  }
}

Setting Up API Credentials

For better management of your eBay API credentials, create or update your project's configuration file (for example, config.ts). If Lovable supports environment configuration, you can store your eBay App ID there. Otherwise, simply copy your actual App ID into the following file.

export const EBAYAPPID = 'YOUREBAYAPP_ID'; // Replace with your actual eBay App ID

Then, update your eBayAPI.ts to import this value. Replace the constant declaration with:

import { EBAYAPPID } from './config';
const APPID = EBAYAPP_ID;

Integrating eBay API Calls in Your Application Code

Decide where in your project you want to trigger an eBay search—for example, in your search handler file (e.g., Search.ts). Insert the following snippet where it fits within your code logic. This snippet imports the function from eBayAPI.ts and calls it, then logs the results to the console. You can later extend it to update your project’s UI.

import { searchEbayItems } from './eBayAPI';

async function performSearch() {
  const query = 'laptop'; // Replace with dynamic user input if needed
  const results = await searchEbayItems(query);

  console.log('Search Results:', results);
  // Add your logic here to display the results in your project UI
}

performSearch();

Testing Your eBay API Integration

Once you have inserted the code:

Final Adjustments and Customizations

After confirming that the basic integration works, you can: