How to add Referrer-Policy on Lovable / static hosting

Last updated November 11, 2026 · Reviewed by a CISSP-certified security practitioner

To add Referrer-Policy on Lovable / static hosting, set the header in src/server.ts (TanStack Start) or your edge proxy with the value strict-origin-when-cross-origin. Limits how much of your URLs leak to other sites. Publish, then curl -I your live domain. Then confirm it with curl -I or a free FixSecurityHeaders scan.

What does Referrer-Policy do?

Referrer-Policy controls what URL information the browser sends to other sites when users click links or load resources.

Risk if missing: Full URLs — including reset tokens, search terms or internal paths — can leak to third parties.

What is the Lovable / static hosting configuration?

Add this to src/server.ts (TanStack Start) or your edge proxy:

src/server.ts (TanStack Start) or your edge proxy

// src/server.ts — wrap the response before returning it
function withSecurityHeaders(res: Response): Response {
  const out = new Response(res.body, res);
  const h = out.headers;
  h.set("Referrer-Policy", "strict-origin-when-cross-origin");
  return out;
}

How do I add it step by step?

Open src/server.ts (TanStack Start) or your edge proxy.
Paste the Referrer-Policy configuration shown below.
Publish, then curl -I your live domain.
Run curl -I https://yourdomain.com and look for the referrer-policy line.
Scan your site on FixSecurityHeaders to confirm the grade improved.

How do I verify it worked?

terminal

curl -sI https://yourdomain.com | grep -i "referrer-policy"
# expected:
# referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin

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What are the common mistakes?

no-referrer is stricter but can break analytics attribution and some payment flows.
Pure static hosts that don't allow custom headers can be fronted by Cloudflare to add them.
Skip frame-blocking headers on preview URLs that are shown inside editors.

Quick reference

Header	`Referrer-Policy`
Recommended value	`strict-origin-when-cross-origin`
Stack	Lovable / static hosting
Where	src/server.ts (TanStack Start) or your edge proxy
Compliance	OWASP ASVS V14.4.6, SOC 2 CC6.7

FAQ

What value should I use for Referrer-Policy?

A safe default is strict-origin-when-cross-origin. no-referrer is stricter but can break analytics attribution and some payment flows.

Why isn't Referrer-Policy showing up on Lovable / static hosting?

Pure static hosts that don't allow custom headers can be fronted by Cloudflare to add them. Also clear any CDN or page cache, and check you edited the config that actually serves your domain.

Does Referrer-Policy affect SEO or performance?

No measurable performance cost — it's a few bytes per response. It doesn't affect rankings directly, but a misconfigured policy can break page resources, so test before enforcing.

Which compliance frameworks reference Referrer-Policy?

OWASP ASVS V14.4.6, SOC 2 CC6.7.