firebase-cli — Firebase Command Line Interface

Keyword

:

firebase

·

firebase deploy

·

firebase init

·

firebase emulators

The Firebase CLI (

firebase-tools

) manages your Firebase project from the terminal:

deploy, emulate, import/export data, manage users, configure services, and automate CI/CD.

When to use this skill

Deploy Firebase Hosting, Cloud Functions, Firestore rules/indexes, Realtime Database rules, Cloud Storage rules, Remote Config, or Extensions

Set up a new Firebase project with

firebase init

Run the Firebase Emulator Suite locally for development and testing

Manage preview/staging channels for Hosting

Import or export Firebase Authentication users in bulk

Distribute app builds to testers via App Distribution

Manage Firebase Extensions (install, configure, update, uninstall)

Deploy Next.js / Angular apps via Firebase App Hosting

Use Firebase CLI in CI/CD pipelines with service account credentials

Instructions

Install the Firebase CLI:

npm install -g firebase-tools

Authenticate:

firebase login

(browser OAuth) or

GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS

for CI

Initialize project:

firebase init

(creates

firebase.json

and

.firebaserc

)

Deploy:

firebase deploy

or

firebase deploy --only hosting,functions

Run emulators:

firebase emulators:start

For detailed command reference, see

references/commands.md

For installation and setup scripts, see

scripts/install.sh

CI/CD

Use GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/service-account.json firebase deploy instead of the deprecated --token / FIREBASE_TOKEN method. Examples Deploy everything firebase deploy Deploy only Hosting and Functions firebase deploy --only hosting,functions Run all emulators with data persistence firebase emulators:start --import ./emulator-data --export-on-exit Create a preview channel and deploy firebase hosting:channel:create staging --expires 7d firebase hosting:channel:deploy staging Import users from JSON firebase auth:import users.json --hash-algo = BCRYPT Distribute Android build to testers firebase appdistribution:distribute app-release.apk \ --app "1:1234567890:android:abcd1234" \ --release-notes "Sprint 42 build" \ --groups "qa-team" Quick Start

Install

npm install -g firebase-tools

Authenticate

firebase login

Initialize project (interactive)

firebase init

Deploy

firebase deploy

Run emulators

firebase emulators:start Installation npm (recommended — all platforms) npm install -g firebase-tools firebase --version Standalone binary (macOS/Linux — no Node.js required) curl -sL firebase.tools | bash CI/CD — service account authentication (recommended)

Set environment variable pointing to service account JSON key

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS = "/path/to/service-account-key.json" firebase deploy --non-interactive Via skill script bash scripts/install.sh Core Usage Authentication firebase login

OAuth browser login

firebase login --no-localhost

Copy-paste code flow

firebase login:ci

Generate CI token (deprecated — use service account)

firebase login:list

List all authorized accounts

firebase login:use user@example.com

Set default account

firebase logout

Sign out

Project Management firebase init

Set up Firebase features in current directory

firebase use < project_id

Set active project

firebase use --add

Add a project alias

firebase projects:list

List all Firebase projects

firebase open hosting:site

Open Firebase console in browser

Deployment

Deploy everything

firebase deploy

Deploy specific targets

firebase deploy --only hosting firebase deploy --only functions firebase deploy --only firestore firebase deploy --only hosting,functions

Deploy sub-targets

firebase deploy --only functions:myFunction firebase deploy --only hosting:my-site firebase deploy --only firestore:rules firebase deploy --only firestore:indexes

Exclude targets

firebase deploy --except functions

With message

firebase deploy --message "v2.3.1 release" Firebase Emulator Suite

Start all configured emulators

firebase emulators:start

Start specific emulators

firebase emulators:start --only auth,firestore,functions

With data import/export

firebase emulators:start --import ./emulator-data --export-on-exit

Run tests against emulators then shut down

firebase emulators:exec "npm test" --only firestore,auth

Enable Functions debugger (Node.js inspector on port 9229)

firebase emulators:start --inspect-functions Local Development Server firebase serve

Hosting + HTTPS Functions

firebase serve --only hosting firebase serve --port 5000 Hosting Commands

Preview channels

firebase hosting:channel:create staging --expires 7d firebase hosting:channel:deploy staging firebase hosting:channel:list firebase hosting:channel:open staging firebase hosting:channel:delete staging --force firebase hosting:clone my-app:live my-app-staging:staging

Multi-site management

firebase hosting:sites:list firebase hosting:sites:create new-site-id firebase hosting:disable --site my-old-site Cloud Functions Commands firebase functions:list

List deployed functions

firebase functions:log

View logs

firebase functions:log --only myFunction

Filter by function name

firebase functions:delete myFunction

Delete a function

firebase functions:shell

Local interactive shell

Secrets (2nd gen — replaces functions:config)

firebase functions:secrets:set MY_SECRET firebase functions:secrets:get MY_SECRET firebase functions:secrets:prune

Config (1st gen only)

firebase functions:config:set api.key = "VALUE" firebase functions:config:get Firestore Commands firebase firestore:delete /collection/doc --recursive firebase firestore:indexes firebase firestore:rules:get Realtime Database Commands firebase database:get /path --pretty firebase database:set /path data.json firebase database:push /messages --data '{"text":"Hello"}' firebase database:update /users/uid --data '{"name":"New Name"}' firebase database:remove /path --confirm firebase database:profile --duration 30 Auth Import / Export

Export all users

firebase auth:export users.json

Import users (BCRYPT hashes)

firebase auth:import users.json --hash-algo

BCRYPT

Import users (SCRYPT hashes — Firebase default)

firebase auth:import users.json \ --hash-algo = SCRYPT \ --hash-key = < base64-key

\ --salt-separator = < base64-separator

\ --rounds = 8 \ --mem-cost = 8 Remote Config firebase remoteconfig:get firebase remoteconfig:get --output config.json firebase remoteconfig:versions:list --limit 20 firebase remoteconfig:rollback --version-number 5 App Distribution

Distribute Android APK

firebase appdistribution:distribute app.apk \ --app APP_ID \ --release-notes "Bug fixes and improvements" \ --testers "qa@example.com" \ --groups "qa-team,beta-users"

Manage testers

firebase appdistribution:testers:add alice@example.com --group-alias qa-team firebase appdistribution:testers:remove alice@example.com firebase appdistribution:groups:list Extensions firebase ext:list firebase ext:info firebase/delete-user-data firebase ext:install firebase/delete-user-data firebase ext:configure delete-user-data firebase ext:update delete-user-data firebase ext:uninstall delete-user-data firebase ext:export App Hosting (Next.js / Angular) firebase init apphosting firebase apphosting:backends:create --location us-central1 firebase apphosting:backends:list firebase deploy --only apphosting firebase apphosting:rollouts:create BACKEND_ID --git-branch main Deploy Targets (multi-site / multi-instance)

Apply target name to a resource

firebase target:apply hosting prod-site my-app-prod firebase target:apply storage prod-bucket my-app-bucket firebase target:apply database default my-app-db

Use target in deploy

firebase deploy --only hosting:prod-site

Clear targets

firebase target:clear hosting prod-site

Best practices

Use service accounts for CI/CD

Set

GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS

instead of

--token

(deprecated).

Use

--only

in deploy

Never deploy everything blindly in production — always scope with

--only

.

Emulators for development

Always run

emulators:start

locally before deploying; use

--import

/

--export-on-exit

for persistence.

Preview channels before production

Use

hosting:channel:deploy

for staging reviews before

firebase deploy --only hosting

.

Secrets over functions:config

For Cloud Functions 2nd gen, use

functions:secrets:set

(Secret Manager) instead of deprecated

functions:config:set

.

--non-interactive

in scripts

Always add

--non-interactive

in automated scripts to avoid hanging on prompts.

.firebaserc

in VCS

Commit

.firebaserc

(project aliases) but add secrets and service account keys to

.gitignore

.

--debug

for troubleshooting

Run any failing command with --debug for verbose output. Troubleshooting Issue Solution command not found: firebase Run npm install -g firebase-tools ; check npm bin -g is in PATH Authentication error in CI Set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to service account JSON path FIREBASE_TOKEN warning Migrate from token-based auth to service accounts Deploy fails with permission error Verify service account has required IAM roles (Firebase Admin, Cloud Functions Admin, etc.) Emulators not starting Check ports 4000/5000/5001/8080/9000/9099/9199 are available; run lsof -i : Functions deploy timeout Use --only functions:specificFunction to deploy one at a time Hosting deploy not reflecting changes Check firebase.json public directory and ignore patterns ext:install fails Check extension ID format: publisher/extension-id ; try --debug Database permission denied Verify database rules and that CLI auth account has access References Firebase CLI Reference — official full command reference Full Command Reference — complete options and flags for all commands Install Scripts — install.sh (setup) · deploy.sh (deployment helper) · emulators.sh (emulator management) firebase-tools GitHub — source code and changelog Firebase CLI Release Notes — version history Auth Import/Export Reference — hash algorithm details Hosting Preview Channels — staging workflow Emulator Suite Configuration — emulator setup