Firebase Command Line Interface (CLI)

The following content describes how to install and use the Firebase Command Line Interface (CLI) to manage, test, and deploy your Firebase projects—using the command line. You can use the Firebase CLI to accomplish any of the following tasks:

• To deploy code and assets to your Firebase projects
• To run a local web server for your Firebase Hosting site
• To interact with data in your Firebase database
• To import/Export users into/from Firebase Auth

To get started with the Firebase CLI, you can read the full list of commands below or at hosting-specific CLI documentation.

Installation

Before you can install the CLI, you need to install npm first, which typically comes with Node.js.

After npm is installed on your local machine, you can now get the Firebase CLI by following these steps:

1. Open terminal shell and run the following npm command:

   npm install -g firebase-tools

   Note: This will provide you with the globally accessible firebase command.

2. Verify that the Firebase CLI has been installed correctly on your local machine by running the following command:

   firebase --version

   Make sure that the version of the Firebase CLI is v4.1.0 or later.

3. After installing the CLI, you must authenticate. you can sign 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.

Commands

The command firebase --help lists the available commands and firebase <command> --help shows more details for an individual command.

If a command is project-specific, you must either be inside a project directory with an active project alias or specify the Firebase project id with the -P <project_id> flag.

Below is a brief list of the available commands and their function:

Administrative Commands

Command	Description
login	Authenticate to your Firebase account. Requires access to a web browser.
logout	Sign out of the Firebase CLI.
login:ci	Generate an authentication token for use in non-interactive environments.
projects:list	Print a list of all of your Firebase projects.
setup:web	Print out SDK setup information for the Firebase JS SDK.
use	Set active Firebase project, manage project aliases.
open	Quickly open a browser to relevant project resources.
init	Setup a new Firebase project in the current directory. This command will create a firebase.json configuration file in your current directory.
help	Display help information about the CLI or specific commands.

Append --no-localhost to login (i.e., firebase login --no-localhost) to copy and paste code instead of starting a local server for authentication. A use case might be if you SSH into an instance somewhere and you need to authenticate to Firebase on that machine.

Deployment and Local Development

These commands let you deploy and interact with your Firebase services.

Command	Description
deploy	Deploys your Firebase project. Relies on firebase.json configuration and your local project folder.
serve	Start a local server with your Firebase Hosting configuration and HTTPS-triggered Cloud Functions. Relies on firebase.json.

Auth Commands

Command	Description
auth:import	Batch importing accounts into Firebase from data file.
auth:export	Batch exporting accounts from Firebase into data file.

Detailed doc is here.

Database Commands

Command	Description
database:get	Fetch data from the current project's database and display it as JSON. Supports querying on indexed data.
database:set	Replace all data at a specified location in the current project's database. Takes input from file, STDIN, or command-line argument.
database:push	Push new data to a list at a specified location in the current project's database. Takes input from file, STDIN, or command-line argument.
database:remove	Delete all data at a specified location in the current project's database.
database:update	Perform a partial update at a specified location in the current project's database. Takes input from file, STDIN, or command-line argument.
database:profile	Profile database usage and generate a report.

Cloud Firestore Commands

Command	Description
firestore:delete	Delete documents or collections from the current project's database. Supports recursive deletion of subcollections.
firestore:indexes	List all deployed indexes from the current project.

Cloud Functions Commands

Command	Description
functions:log	Read logs from deployed Cloud Functions.
functions:config:set	Store runtime configuration values for the current project's Cloud Functions.
functions:config:get	Retrieve existing configuration values for the current project's Cloud Functions.
functions:config:unset	Remove values from the current project's runtime configuration.
functions:config:clone	Copy runtime configuration from one project environment to another.
functions:delete	Delete one or more Cloud Functions by name or group name.
functions:shell	Locally emulate functions and start Node.js shell where these local functions can be invoked with test data.

Hosting Commands

Command	Description
hosting:disable	Stop serving Firebase Hosting traffic for the active project. A "Site Not Found" message will be displayed at your project's Hosting URL after running this command.

Using with CI Systems

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

1. On a machine with a browser, install the Firebase CLI.
2. Run firebase login:ci to log in and print out a new refresh token (the current CLI session will not be affected).
3. Store the output token in a secure but accessible way in your CI system.

There are two ways to use this token when running Firebase commands:

1. Store the token as the environment variable FIREBASE_TOKEN and it will automatically be utilized.
2. Run all commands with the --token <token> flag in your CI system.

The order of precedence for token loading is flag, environment variable, active project.

On any machine with the Firebase CLI, running firebase logout --token <token> will immediately revoke access for the specified token.

Using as a Module

The Firebase CLI can also be used programmatically as a standard Node module. Each command is exposed as a function that takes an options object and returns a Promise. For example:

var client = require('firebase-tools');
client.list().then(function(data) {
  console.log(data);
}).catch(function(err) {
  // handle error
});

client.deploy({
  project: 'myfirebase',
  token: process.env.FIREBASE_TOKEN,
  force: true,
  cwd: '/path/to/project/folder'
}).then(function() {
  console.log('Rules have been deployed!')
}).catch(function(err) {
  // handle error
});

License

MIT License