How to Use Firebase CLI for Deployment

Install the Firebase CLI globally using npm. This gives you the firebase command in your terminal. After installation, verify it works by checking the version. The CLI is regularly updated with new features and bug fixes, so keep it current. If you previously installed an older version, the same command upgrades it.

1# Install or update the Firebase CLI
2npm install -g firebase-tools
3
4# Verify installation
5firebase --version
6
7# Expected output: 13.x.x or later

Run firebase login to authenticate with your Google account. This opens a browser window where you sign in and authorize the CLI to access your Firebase projects. The CLI stores the auth token locally so you only need to log in once per machine. For CI/CD environments where no browser is available, use firebase login:ci to generate a token that can be used with the FIREBASE_TOKEN environment variable.

1# Interactive login (opens browser)
2firebase login
3
4# Verify you're logged in and see available projects
5firebase projects:list
6
7# For CI/CD: generate a CI token
8firebase login:ci
9# Then use: FIREBASE_TOKEN=your-token firebase deploy

Navigate to your project directory and run firebase init. The CLI walks you through selecting which Firebase features to configure: Hosting, Functions, Firestore Rules, Realtime Database Rules, Storage Rules, and Emulators. For each feature, it creates the necessary configuration files. Choose an existing Firebase project or create a new one. The command creates firebase.json (deployment config) and .firebaserc (project aliases).

1# Navigate to your project directory
2cd your-project
3
4# Initialize Firebase (interactive wizard)
5firebase init
6
7# Or initialize specific features only
8firebase init hosting
9firebase init functions
10firebase init firestore
11firebase init emulators

The firebase.json file controls what gets deployed and how. For Hosting, it specifies the public directory (where your build output goes), rewrites for SPAs, custom headers, and redirects. For Functions, it points to the functions directory. For Firestore and RTDB, it specifies the rules files. Review and customize this file to match your project structure.

1{
2  "hosting": {
3    "public": "dist",
4    "ignore": ["firebase.json", "**/.*", "**/node_modules/**"],
5    "rewrites": [
6      { "source": "**", "destination": "/index.html" }
7    ],
8    "headers": [
9      {
10        "source": "**/*.@(js|css)",
11        "headers": [
12          { "key": "Cache-Control", "value": "max-age=31536000" }
13        ]
14      }
15    ]
16  },
17  "functions": {
18    "source": "functions",
19    "runtime": "nodejs20"
20  },
21  "firestore": {
22    "rules": "firestore.rules",
23    "indexes": "firestore.indexes.json"
24  },
25  "database": {
26    "rules": "database.rules.json"
27  },
28  "storage": {
29    "rules": "storage.rules"
30  }
31}

Run firebase deploy to deploy all configured services at once, or use the --only flag to deploy specific services. Selective deployment is faster and safer because it only changes what you intend to update. You can deploy multiple specific targets by separating them with commas. Always build your frontend project before deploying Hosting.

1# Deploy everything
2firebase deploy
3
4# Deploy only hosting
5npm run build && firebase deploy --only hosting
6
7# Deploy only Cloud Functions
8firebase deploy --only functions
9
10# Deploy a specific function
11firebase deploy --only functions:myFunction
12
13# Deploy only Firestore rules and indexes
14firebase deploy --only firestore
15
16# Deploy multiple targets
17firebase deploy --only hosting,functions
18
19# Deploy with a message for version tracking
20firebase deploy --only hosting -m "v2.1.0 - Added user profiles"

Firebase Hosting preview channels let you deploy to temporary URLs for testing before going to production. Each channel gets a unique URL that expires after 7 days by default. Share these URLs with your team for review. When ready, deploy to production with the standard deploy command.

1# Deploy to a preview channel
2firebase hosting:channel:deploy staging
3
4# Deploy with a custom expiration (30 days)
5firebase hosting:channel:deploy staging --expires 30d
6
7# List all active channels
8firebase hosting:channel:list
9
10# Delete a preview channel
11firebase hosting:channel:delete staging

Use .firebaserc to define aliases for different Firebase projects, such as development, staging, and production. Switch between environments with firebase use and deploy to the correct project each time. This prevents accidental deployments to production. Each alias maps to a different Firebase project ID.

1// .firebaserc
2{
3  "projects": {
4    "default": "my-app-dev",
5    "staging": "my-app-staging",
6    "production": "my-app-prod"
7  }
8}
9
10// Switch between environments
11// firebase use staging
12// firebase deploy --only hosting
13
14// Or deploy to a specific alias without switching
15// firebase deploy --only hosting --project production