Firebase

Set up Firebase for your project, including the project ID and Web API Key for client-side SDKs, plus guidance on service account setup for server-side usage.

⏱ 5 minutes database backend auth console.firebase.google.com

getapi firebase

Prerequisites

A Google account

Credentials

Variable	Description	Sensitive
`FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID`	Firebase project ID	Public
`FIREBASE_WEB_API_KEY`	Web API Key for client-side Firebase SDKs	Public

Setup Steps

1 Info

We'll get your Firebase project ID and Web API Key. If you need server-side Admin SDK access, we'll also guide you through downloading a service account key.
2 Open URL

Opening the Firebase console. Sign in with your Google account if prompted.
https://console.firebase.google.com
3 Choice
Do you have a Firebase project already?
- Yes, use an existing project
  
  → Jumps to select_project
- No, I need to create one
  
  → Jumps to create_project
4 Info

Click 'Create a project' (or 'Add project'). Give it a name, optionally enable Google Analytics, and wait for provisioning to complete.
5 Confirm

Project created?

Checkpoint — confirm before continuing
6 Info

Click on your project to open it, then click the gear icon next to 'Project Overview' and select 'Project settings'.
7 Input

Under the 'General' tab, find the 'Project ID' and paste it here:

→ FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID

4–28+ characters
8 Info

Scroll down to 'Your apps'. If you don't see a web app (</> icon), click 'Add app' and select the web platform (</>) to register one.
9 Input

In your web app's Firebase config snippet, find the 'apiKey' value and paste it here:

→ FIREBASE_WEB_API_KEY

Starts with AIza. 35 characters
10 Choice
Do you need a service account key for server-side Admin SDK usage?
- Yes, guide me through it
  
  → Jumps to service_account_guide
- No, I only need client-side access
  
  → Jumps to done
11 Info

In Project Settings, click the 'Service accounts' tab, then click 'Generate new private key'. This downloads a JSON file. Save it as 'service-account.json' in your project root and add it to your .gitignore immediately — this file must NEVER be committed to git.
12 Confirm

Service account key downloaded and added to .gitignore?

Checkpoint — confirm before continuing
13 Info

Setup complete. The Web API Key and Project ID are not secret — they identify your project but don't grant access without proper Firebase Security Rules.

Things to Know

The Web API Key is NOT secret. It's meant to be included in client-side code. Access is controlled by Firebase Security Rules and App Check.
Service account JSON files grant full admin access. NEVER commit them to git. Add 'service-account.json' to .gitignore.
The free Spark plan has generous limits: 1 GiB Firestore storage, 10 GiB/month bandwidth, 50K daily reads.
Firebase project IDs are globally unique and cannot be changed after creation.
Enable App Check in production to prevent unauthorized access to your backend resources.