firebase-app-platform

Firebase App Platform

Ship mobile and web backends with Firebase managed services.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Building mobile or web apps with real-time data sync
• Need authentication with minimal backend code
• Prototyping quickly with managed infrastructure
• Building serverless APIs with Cloud Functions
• Hosting static sites or SPAs with CDN

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Firebase CLI (npm install -g firebase-tools)
• Google Cloud account (Firebase is part of GCP)
• A Firebase project (create at console.firebase.google.com)

Quick Start

# Install and authenticate
npm install -g firebase-tools
firebase login

# Initialize in your project directory
firebase init
# Select: Firestore, Functions, Hosting, Emulators

# Start local emulators
firebase emulators:start

# Deploy everything
firebase deploy

# Deploy specific services
firebase deploy --only functions
firebase deploy --only hosting
firebase deploy --only firestore:rules

Firestore Database

Security Rules

// firestore.rules
rules_version = '2';
service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    // Users can only read/write their own data
    match /users/{userId} {
      allow read, write: if request.auth != null && request.auth.uid == userId;
    }

    // Messages: authenticated users can read, only owner can write
    match /channels/{channelId}/messages/{messageId} {
      allow read: if request.auth != null;
      allow create: if request.auth != null
        && request.resource.data.userId == request.auth.uid
        && request.resource.data.body is string
        && request.resource.data.body.size() <= 5000;
      allow update, delete: if request.auth != null
        && resource.data.userId == request.auth.uid;
    }

    // Admin-only collection
    match /admin/{document=**} {
      allow read, write: if request.auth != null
        && get(/databases/$(database)/documents/users/$(request.auth.uid)).data.role == 'admin';
    }

    // Default: deny everything
    match /{document=**} {
      allow read, write: if false;
    }
  }
}