Firebase CLI reference

The Firebase CLI (GitHub) provides a variety of tools for managing, viewing, and deploying to Firebase projects.

Before using the Firebase CLI, set up a Firebase project.

Set up or update the CLI

Install the Firebase CLI

You can install the Firebase CLI using a method that matches your operating system, experience level, and/or use case. Regardless of how you install the CLI, you have access to the same functionality and the firebase command.

Windows macOS Linux

Windows

You can install the Firebase CLI for Windows using one of the following options:

macOS or Linux

You can install the Firebase CLI for macOS or Linux using one of the following options:

Log in and test the Firebase CLI

After installing the CLI, you must authenticate. Then you can confirm authentication by listing your Firebase projects.

1. Log into Firebase using your Google account by running the following command:

   firebase login

   This command connects your local machine to Firebase and grants you access to your Firebase projects.

2. Test that the CLI is properly installed and accessing your account by listing your Firebase projects. Run the following command:

   firebase projects:list

   The displayed list should be the same as the Firebase projects listed in the Firebase console.

Update to the latest CLI version

Generally, you want to use the most up-to-date Firebase CLI version.

How you update the CLI version depends on your operating system and how you installed the CLI.

Use the CLI with CI systems

The Firebase CLI requires a browser to complete authentication, but the CLI is fully compatible with CI and other headless environments.

1. On a machine with a browser, install the Firebase CLI.

2. Start the signin process by running the following command:

   firebase login:ci

3. Visit the URL provided, then log in using a Google account.

4. Print a new refresh token. The current CLI session will not be affected.

5. Store the output token in a secure but accessible way in your CI system.

6. Use this token when running firebase commands. You can use either of the following two options:

   • Option 1: Store the token as the environment variable FIREBASE_TOKEN. Your system will automatically use the token.

   • Option 2: Run all firebase commands with the --token TOKEN flag in your CI system.
     This is the order of precedence for token loading: flag, environment variable, desired Firebase project.

Initialize a Firebase project

Many common tasks performed using the CLI, such as deploying to a Firebase project, require a project directory. You establish a project directory using the firebase init command. A project directory is usually the same directory as your source control root, and after running firebase init, the directory contains a firebase.json configuration file.

To initialize a new Firebase project, run the following command from within your app's directory:

firebase init

The firebase init command steps you through setting up your project directory and some Firebase products. During project initialization, the Firebase CLI asks you to complete the following tasks:

• Select desired Firebase products to set up in your Firebase project.

  This step prompts you to set configurations for specific files for the selected products. For more details on these configurations, refer to the specific product's documentation (for example, Hosting). Note that you can always run firebase init later to set up more Firebase products.

• Select a default Firebase project.

  This step associates the current project directory with a Firebase project so that project-specific commands (like firebase deploy) run against the appropriate Firebase project.

  It's also possible to associate multiple Firebase projects (such as a staging project and a production project) with the same project directory.

At the end of initialization, Firebase automatically creates the following two files at the root of your local app directory:

• A firebase.json configuration file that lists your project configuration.

• A .firebaserc file that stores your project aliases.

The firebase.json file

The firebase init command creates a firebase.json configuration file in the root of your project directory.

The firebase.json file is required to deploy assets with the Firebase CLI because it specifies which files and settings from your project directory are deployed to your Firebase project. Since some settings can be defined in either your project directory or the Firebase console, make sure that you resolve any potential deployment conflicts.

You can configure most Firebase Hosting options directly in the firebase.json file. However, for other Firebase services that can be deployed with the Firebase CLI, the firebase init command creates specific files where you can define settings for those services, such as an index.js file for Cloud Functions. You can also set up predeploy or postdeploy hooks in the firebase.json file.

The following is an example firebase.json file with default settings if you select Firebase Hosting, Cloud Firestore, and Cloud Functions for Firebase (with TypeScript source and lint options selected) during initialization.

{
  "hosting": {
    "public": "public",
    "ignore": [
      "firebase.json",
      "**/.*",
      "**/node_modules/**"
    ]
  },
  "firestore": {
      "rules": "firestore.rules",
      "indexes": "firestore.indexes.json"
  },
  "functions": {
    "predeploy": [
      "npm --prefix \"$RESOURCE_DIR\" run lint",
      "npm --prefix \"$RESOURCE_DIR\" run build"
    ]
  }
}

While firebase.json is used by default, you can pass the --config PATH flag to specify an alternate configuration file.

Configuration for multiple Cloud Firestore databases

When you run firebase init, your firebase.json file will contain a single firestore key corresponding to your project's default database, as shown above.

If your project contains multiple Cloud Firestore databases, edit your firebase.json file to associate different Cloud Firestore Security Rules and database index source files with each database. Modify the file with a JSON array, with one entry for each database.

      "firestore": [
        {
          "database": "(default)",
          "rules": "firestore.default.rules",
          "indexes": "firestore.default.indexes.json"
        },
        {
          "database": "ecommerce",
          "rules": "firestore.ecommerce.rules",
          "indexes": "firestore.ecommerce.indexes.json"
        }
      ],

Cloud Functions files to ignore on deploy

At function deployment time, the CLI automatically specifies a list of files in the functions directory to ignore. This prevents deploying to the backend extraneous files that could increase the data size of your deployment.

The list of files ignored by default, shown in JSON format, is:

"ignore": [
  ".git",
  ".runtimeconfig.json",
  "firebase-debug.log",
  "firebase-debug.*.log",
  "node_modules"
]

If you add your own custom values for ignore in firebase.json, make sure that you keep (or add, if it is missing) the list of files shown above.

Manage project aliases

You can associate multiple Firebase projects with the same project directory. For example, you might want to use one Firebase project for staging and another for production. By using different project environments, you can verify changes before deploying to production. The firebase use command allows you to switch between aliases as well as create new aliases.

Add a project alias

When you select a Firebase project during project initialization, the project is automatically assigned the alias of default. However, to allow project-specific commands to run against a different Firebase project but still use the same project directory, run the following command from within your project directory:

firebase use --add

This command prompts you to select another Firebase project and assign the project as alias. Alias assignments are written to a .firebaserc file inside your project directory.

Use project aliases

To use assigned Firebase project aliases, run any of the following commands from within your project directory.

You can override what's being used as the currently active project by passing the --project flag with any CLI command. As an example: You can set your CLI to run against a Firebase project that you've assigned the staging alias. If you want to run a single command against the Firebase project that you've assigned the prod alias, then you can run, for example, firebase deploy --project=prod.

Source control and project aliases

In general, you should check your .firebaserc file into source control to allow your team to share project aliases. However, for open source projects or starter templates, you should generally not check in your .firebaserc file.

If you have a development project that's for your use only, you can either pass the --project flag with each command or run firebase use PROJECT_ID without assigning an alias to the Firebase project.

Serve and test your Firebase project locally

You can view and test your Firebase project on locally hosted URLs before deploying to production. If you only want to test select features, you can use a comma-separated list in a flag on the firebase serve command.

Run the following command from the root of your local project directory if you want to do either of the following tasks:

• View the static content for your Firebase-hosted app.
• Use Cloud Functions to generate dynamic content for Firebase Hosting and you want to use your production (deployed) HTTP functions to emulate Hosting on a local URL.

firebase serve --only hosting

Emulate your project using local HTTP functions

Run any of the following commands from your project directory to emulate your project using local HTTP functions.

• To emulate HTTP functions and hosting for testing on local URLs, use either of the following commands:

  firebase serve

  firebase serve --only functions,hosting // uses a flag

• To emulate HTTP functions only, use the following command:

  firebase serve --only functions

Test from other local devices

By default, firebase serve only responds to requests from localhost. This means that you'll be able to access your hosted content from your computer's web browser but not from other devices on your network. If you'd like to test from other local devices, use the --host flag, like so:

firebase serve --host 0.0.0.0  // accepts requests to any host

Deploy to a Firebase project

The Firebase CLI manages deployment of code and assets to your Firebase project, including:

• New releases of your Firebase Hosting sites
• New, updated, or existing Cloud Functions for Firebase
• New or updated schemas and connectors for Firebase Data Connect
• Rules for Firebase Realtime Database
• Rules for Cloud Storage for Firebase
• Rules for Cloud Firestore
• Indexes for Cloud Firestore

To deploy to a Firebase project, run the following command from your project directory:

firebase deploy

You can optionally add a comment to each of your deployments. This comment will display with the other deployment information on your project's Firebase Hosting page. For example:

firebase deploy -m "Deploying the best new feature ever."

When you use the firebase deploy command, be aware of the following:

• To deploy resources from a project directory, the project directory must have a firebase.json file. This file is automatically created for you by the firebase init command.

• By default, firebase deploy creates a release for all deployable resources in your project directory. To deploy specific Firebase services or features, use partial deployment.

Deployment conflicts for security rules

For Firebase Realtime Database, Cloud Storage for Firebase, and Cloud Firestore, you can define security rules either in your local project directory or in the Firebase console.

Another option to avoid deployment conflicts is to use partial deployment and only define rules in the Firebase console.

Deployment quotas

It's possible (though unlikely) that you might exceed a quota that limits the rate or volume of your Firebase deployment operations. For example, when deploying very large numbers of functions, you might receive an HTTP 429 Quota error message. To solve such issues, try using partial deployment.

Roll back a deployment

You can roll back a Firebase Hosting deployment from your project's Firebase Hosting page by selecting the Rollback action for the desired release.

It's not currently possible to roll back releases of security rules for Firebase Realtime Database, Cloud Storage for Firebase, or Cloud Firestore.

Deploy specific Firebase services

If you only want to deploy specific Firebase services or features, you can use a comma-separated list in a flag on the firebase deploy command. For example, the following command deploys Firebase Hosting content and Cloud Storage security rules.

firebase deploy --only hosting,storage

The following table lists the services and features available for partial deployment. The names in the flags correspond to the keys in your firebase.json configuration file.

Deploy specific functions

When deploying functions, you can target specific functions. For example:

firebase deploy --only functions:function1

firebase deploy --only functions:function1,functions:function2

Another option is to group functions into export groups in your /functions/index.js file. Grouping functions allows you to deploy multiple functions using a single command.

For example, you can write the following functions to define a groupA and a groupB:

var functions = require('firebase-functions/v1');

exports.groupA = {
  function1: functions.https.onRequest(...),
  function2: functions.database.ref('\path').onWrite(...)
}
exports.groupB = require('./groupB');

In this example, a separate functions/groupB.js file contains additional functions that specifically define the functions in groupB. For example:

var functions = require('firebase-functions/v1');

exports.function3 = functions.storage.object().onChange(...);
exports.function4 = functions.analytics.event('in_app_purchase').onLog(...);

In this example, you can deploy all the groupA functions by running the following command from your project directory:

firebase deploy --only functions:groupA

Or you can target a specific function within a group by running the following command:

firebase deploy --only functions:groupA.function1,groupB.function4

Delete functions

The Firebase CLI supports the following commands and options for deleting previously deployed functions:

• Deletes all functions that match the specified name in all regions:

  firebase functions:delete FUNCTION-1_NAME

• Deletes a specified function running in a non-default region:

  firebase functions:delete FUNCTION-1_NAME --region REGION_NAME

• Deletes more than one function:

  firebase functions:delete FUNCTION-1_NAME FUNCTION-2_NAME

• Deletes a specified functions group:

  firebase functions:delete GROUP_NAME

• Bypasses the confirmation prompt:

  firebase functions:delete FUNCTION-1_NAME --force

Set up predeploy and postdeploy scripted tasks

You can connect shell scripts to the firebase deploy command to perform predeploy or postdeploy tasks. For example, a predeploy script could transpile TypeScript code into JavaScript, and a postdeploy hook could notify administrators of new site content deploys to Firebase Hosting.

To set up predeploy or postdeploy hooks, add bash scripts to your firebase.json configuration file. You can define brief scripts directly in the firebase.json file, or you can reference other files that are in your project directory.

For example, the following script is the firebase.json expression for a postdeploy task that sends a Slack message upon successful deployment to Firebase Hosting.

"hosting": {
  // ...

  "postdeploy": "./messageSlack.sh 'Just deployed to Firebase Hosting'",
  "public": "public"
}

The messageSlack.sh script file resides in the project directory and looks like this:

curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' --data '{"text":"$1"}'
     \https://SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL

You can set up predeploy and postdeploy hooks for any of the assets that you can deploy. Note that running firebase deploy triggers all the predeploy and postdeploy tasks defined in your firebase.json file. To run only those tasks associated with a specific Firebase service, use partial deployment commands.

Both predeploy and postdeploy hooks print the standard output and error streams of the scripts to the terminal. For failure cases, note the following:

• If a predeploy hook fails to complete as expected, deployment is canceled.
• If deployment fails for any reason, postdeploy hooks are not triggered.

Environment variables

Within scripts running in the predeploy and postdeploy hooks, the following environment variables are available:

• $GCLOUD_PROJECT: The active project's project ID
• $PROJECT_DIR: The root directory containing the firebase.json file
• $RESOURCE_DIR: (For hosting and functions scripts only) The location of the directory that contains the Hosting or Cloud Functions resources to be deployed

Manage multiple Realtime Database instances

A Firebase project can have multiple Firebase Realtime Database instances. By default, CLI commands interact with your default database instance.

However, you can interact with a non-default database instance by using the --instance DATABASE_NAME flag. The following commands support the --instance flag:

• firebase database:get
• firebase database:profile
• firebase database:push
• firebase database:remove
• firebase database:set
• firebase database:update

Command reference

CLI administrative commands

Project management commands

Deployment and local development

These commands let you deploy and interact with your Firebase Hosting site.

App Distribution commands

App Hosting commands

Authentication (user management) commands

Cloud Firestore commands

Cloud Functions for Firebase commands

For more information, refer to the environment configuration documentation.

Crashlytics commands

Data Connect commands

These commands and their use cases are covered in more detail in the Data Connect CLI reference guide.

Extensions commands

Extensions publisher commands

Hosting commands

Realtime Database commands

Note that you can create your initial, default Realtime Database instance in the Firebase console or by using the general firebase init workflow or the specific firebase init database flow.

Once instances are created, you can manage them as discussed in Manage multiple Realtime Database instances.

Remote Config commands