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

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

bash

firebase deploy

Deploy only Hosting and Functions

bash

firebase deploy --only hosting,functions

Run all emulators with data persistence

bash

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

Create a preview channel and deploy

bash

firebase hosting:channel:create staging --expires 7d
firebase hosting:channel:deploy staging

Import users from JSON

bash

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

Distribute Android build to testers

bash

firebase appdistribution:distribute app-release.apk \
  --app "1:1234567890:android:abcd1234" \
  --release-notes "Sprint 42 build" \
  --groups "qa-team"

Quick Start

bash

# 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)

bash

npm install -g firebase-tools
firebase --version

Standalone binary (macOS/Linux — no Node.js required)

bash

curl -sL firebase.tools | bash

CI/CD — service account authentication (recommended)

bash

# 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

bash scripts/install.sh

Core Usage

Authentication

bash

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

bash

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

bash

# 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

bash

# 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

bash

firebase serve                        # Hosting + HTTPS Functions
firebase serve --only hosting
firebase serve --port 5000

Hosting Commands

bash

# 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

bash

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

bash

firebase firestore:delete /collection/doc --recursive
firebase firestore:indexes
firebase firestore:rules:get

Realtime Database Commands

bash

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

bash

# 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

bash

firebase remoteconfig:get
firebase remoteconfig:get --output config.json
firebase remoteconfig:versions:list --limit 20
firebase remoteconfig:rollback --version-number 5

App Distribution

bash

# 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

bash

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)

bash

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)

bash

# 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 :<port>`
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

firebase-cli

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

firebase-cli — Firebase Command Line Interface

When to use this skill

Instructions

Examples

Deploy everything

Deploy only Hosting and Functions

Run all emulators with data persistence

Create a preview channel and deploy

Import users from JSON

Distribute Android build to testers

Quick Start

Installation

npm (recommended — all platforms)

Standalone binary (macOS/Linux — no Node.js required)

CI/CD — service account authentication (recommended)

Via skill script

Core Usage

Authentication

Project Management

Deployment

Firebase Emulator Suite

Local Development Server

Hosting Commands

Cloud Functions Commands

Firestore Commands

Realtime Database Commands

Auth Import / Export

Remote Config

App Distribution

Extensions

App Hosting (Next.js / Angular)

Deploy Targets (multi-site / multi-instance)

Best practices

Troubleshooting

References