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Skills/firebase
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firebase

Expert guidance for Firebase, Google's platform for building and scaling web and mobile applications. Helps developers set up authentication, Firestore/Realtime Database, Cloud Functions, hosting, storage, and analytics using Firebase's SDK and CLI.

#baas#google#realtime-database#auth#hosting
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Source

Usage

$
✓ Installed firebase v1.0.0

Getting Started

  1. Install the skill using the command above
  2. Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
  3. Reference the skill in your prompt
  4. The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically

Example Prompts

  • "Review the open pull requests and summarize what needs attention"
  • "Generate a changelog from the last 20 commits on the main branch"

Documentation

Overview

Firebase, Google's platform for building and scaling web and mobile applications. Helps developers set up authentication, Firestore/Realtime Database, Cloud Functions, hosting, storage, and analytics using Firebase's SDK and CLI.

Instructions

Project Setup

bash
# Install Firebase CLI
npm install -g firebase-tools

# Login and initialize
firebase login
firebase init
# Select: Firestore, Functions, Hosting, Storage, Emulators

# Start local development with emulators
firebase emulators:start

Authentication

typescript
// src/lib/auth.ts — Firebase Authentication
import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app";
import {
  getAuth, signInWithPopup, GoogleAuthProvider, signInWithEmailAndPassword,
  createUserWithEmailAndPassword, onAuthStateChanged, signOut, User
} from "firebase/auth";

const app = initializeApp({
  apiKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_API_KEY,
  authDomain: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN,
  projectId: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID,
});

const auth = getAuth(app);

// Google sign-in
export async function signInWithGoogle() {
  const provider = new GoogleAuthProvider();
  provider.addScope("email");
  const result = await signInWithPopup(auth, provider);
  return result.user;
}

// Email/password sign-up
export async function signUp(email: string, password: string) {
  const result = await createUserWithEmailAndPassword(auth, email, password);
  return result.user;
}

// Email/password sign-in
export async function signIn(email: string, password: string) {
  const result = await signInWithEmailAndPassword(auth, email, password);
  return result.user;
}

// Auth state listener
export function onAuth(callback: (user: User | null) => void) {
  return onAuthStateChanged(auth, callback);
}

export async function logout() {
  await signOut(auth);
}

Firestore (Document Database)

typescript
// src/lib/firestore.ts — Firestore CRUD operations
import {
  getFirestore, collection, doc, addDoc, getDoc, getDocs,
  updateDoc, deleteDoc, query, where, orderBy, limit,
  onSnapshot, serverTimestamp, writeBatch, Timestamp
} from "firebase/firestore";

const db = getFirestore();

// Create a document
async function createPost(userId: string, data: { title: string; content: string }) {
  const ref = await addDoc(collection(db, "posts"), {
    ...data,
    authorId: userId,
    createdAt: serverTimestamp(),
    likes: 0,
    published: false,
  });
  return ref.id;
}

// Read a document
async function getPost(postId: string) {
  const snap = await getDoc(doc(db, "posts", postId));
  if (!snap.exists()) throw new Error("Post not found");
  return { id: snap.id, ...snap.data() };
}

// Query documents
async function getPublishedPosts(limitCount = 20) {
  const q = query(
    collection(db, "posts"),
    where("published", "==", true),
    orderBy("createdAt", "desc"),
    limit(limitCount)
  );
  const snap = await getDocs(q);
  return snap.docs.map(d => ({ id: d.id, ...d.data() }));
}

// Real-time listener
function onPostsChange(callback: (posts: any[]) => void) {
  const q = query(collection(db, "posts"), where("published", "==", true), orderBy("createdAt", "desc"));
  return onSnapshot(q, (snapshot) => {
    const posts = snapshot.docs.map(d => ({ id: d.id, ...d.data() }));
    callback(posts);
  });
}

// Batch writes (atomic)
async function publishMultiplePosts(postIds: string[]) {
  const batch = writeBatch(db);
  for (const id of postIds) {
    batch.update(doc(db, "posts", id), {
      published: true,
      publishedAt: serverTimestamp(),
    });
  }
  await batch.commit();
}

Security Rules

javascript
// firestore.rules — Firestore security rules
rules_version = '2';
service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    // Users can read/write their own profile
    match /users/{userId} {
      allow read: if request.auth != null;
      allow write: if request.auth.uid == userId;
    }

    // Posts: anyone can read published, only author can write
    match /posts/{postId} {
      allow read: if resource.data.published == true
                  || request.auth.uid == resource.data.authorId;
      allow create: if request.auth != null
                    && request.resource.data.authorId == request.auth.uid;
      allow update: if request.auth.uid == resource.data.authorId;
      allow delete: if request.auth.uid == resource.data.authorId;
    }
  }
}

Cloud Functions

typescript
// functions/src/index.ts — Serverless backend logic
import { onDocumentCreated } from "firebase-functions/v2/firestore";
import { onCall, HttpsError } from "firebase-functions/v2/https";
import { onSchedule } from "firebase-functions/v2/scheduler";
import { getFirestore } from "firebase-admin/firestore";
import { initializeApp } from "firebase-admin/app";

initializeApp();
const db = getFirestore();

// Trigger on new post creation
export const onPostCreated = onDocumentCreated("posts/{postId}", async (event) => {
  const post = event.data?.data();
  if (!post) return;

  // Update user's post count
  await db.doc(`users/${post.authorId}`).update({
    postCount: FieldValue.increment(1),
  });

  // Send notification
  await sendNotification(post.authorId, `Your post "${post.title}" was created!`);
});

// Callable function (client calls directly)
export const likePost = onCall(async (request) => {
  if (!request.auth) throw new HttpsError("unauthenticated", "Must be logged in");

  const { postId } = request.data;
  const postRef = db.doc(`posts/${postId}`);

  await db.runTransaction(async (tx) => {
    const post = await tx.get(postRef);
    if (!post.exists) throw new HttpsError("not-found", "Post not found");

    tx.update(postRef, { likes: (post.data()!.likes || 0) + 1 });
    tx.set(db.doc(`posts/${postId}/likes/${request.auth!.uid}`), {
      createdAt: new Date(),
    });
  });

  return { success: true };
});

// Scheduled function (cron)
export const dailyCleanup = onSchedule("every day 03:00", async () => {
  const cutoff = new Date(Date.now() - 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
  const oldDrafts = await db.collection("posts")
    .where("published", "==", false)
    .where("createdAt", "<", cutoff)
    .get();

  const batch = db.batch();
  oldDrafts.docs.forEach(doc => batch.delete(doc.ref));
  await batch.commit();

  console.log(`Deleted ${oldDrafts.size} old drafts`);
});

Storage

typescript
// Upload and manage files
import { getStorage, ref, uploadBytes, getDownloadURL, deleteObject } from "firebase/storage";

const storage = getStorage();

async function uploadImage(file: File, path: string): Promise<string> {
  const storageRef = ref(storage, `images/${path}/${file.name}`);
  const snapshot = await uploadBytes(storageRef, file, {
    contentType: file.type,
    customMetadata: { uploadedBy: "user-123" },
  });
  return getDownloadURL(snapshot.ref);
}

Installation

bash
npm install firebase              # Client SDK
npm install firebase-admin         # Server/Cloud Functions SDK
npm install -g firebase-tools      # CLI

Examples

Example 1: Setting up Firebase with a custom configuration

User request:

I just installed Firebase. Help me configure it for my TypeScript + React workflow with my preferred keybindings.

The agent creates the configuration file with TypeScript-aware settings, configures relevant plugins/extensions for React development, sets up keyboard shortcuts matching the user's preferences, and verifies the setup works correctly.

Example 2: Extending Firebase with custom functionality

User request:

I want to add a custom authentication to Firebase. How do I build one?

The agent scaffolds the extension/plugin project, implements the core functionality following Firebase's API patterns, adds configuration options, and provides testing instructions to verify it works end-to-end.

Guidelines

  1. Security rules first — Write rules before deploying; default is deny-all, which is correct
  2. Use emulators in developmentfirebase emulators:start runs everything locally; never test against production
  3. Composite indexes — Firestore requires indexes for compound queries; the emulator/CLI suggests them automatically
  4. Batch writes for atomicity — Use writeBatch() when updating multiple documents that should succeed or fail together
  5. Real-time listeners — Use onSnapshot for live updates instead of polling; Firestore pushes changes to clients
  6. Cloud Functions v2 — Use v2 functions (firebase-functions/v2); better performance and more configuration options
  7. Structure data for queries — Firestore is not SQL; denormalize data and duplicate fields you need to filter/sort by
  8. Monitor usage — Firestore charges per read/write; use the Firebase console to track and optimize usage

Information

Version
1.0.0
Author
terminal-skills
Category
Development
License
Apache-2.0