Node.js Firestore authentication issues (while javascript works)

Question

I am looking to anonymously connect to a Firestore and grab some data from a collection. This works perfectly fine under javascript, while it fails ("FirebaseError: Missing or insufficient permissions") under node.js. Any pointers will be appreciated.

This is the code that works without a hitch under javascript (I have omited the 'script' includes) and it returns data as expected:

var config = {
  apiKey: "xxx",
  authDomain: "xxx.firebaseio.com",
  projectId: "xxx",
  storageBucket: "xxx.appspot.com",
};
firebase.initializeApp(config);

firebase.auth().signInAnonymously().catch(function(error) {
  var errorCode = error.code;
  var errorMessage = error.message;
  console.log(error.message);
});

foo();
async function foo() {
  var db=firebase.firestore();
  var query = await db.collection("collection").limit(5).get();
  query.forEach(function(doc) {
    console.log(doc.data());
  });
}

This is the code that does not work under node.js. The config/authdata is exactly the same as in the js example above. (It uses the firebase (client) library. My understanding is that the firebase-admin library does not allow anonymous signin.)

const firebase=require('firebase');

  var config = {
  apiKey: "xxx",
  authDomain: "xxx.firebaseio.com",
  projectId: "xxx",
  storageBucket: "xxx.appspot.com",
  };

firebase.initializeApp(config);

firebase.auth().signInAnonymously().catch(function(error) {
    var errorCode = error.code;
    var errorMessage = error.message;
    console.log(error.message);
  });

let db = firebase.firestore();

db.collection('collection').get()
  .then((snapshot) => {
    snapshot.forEach((doc) => {
      console.log(doc.id, '=>', doc.data());
    });
  })
  .catch((err) => {
    console.log('Error getting documents', err);
  });

The following error is triggered when db.collection('collection').get() is called. (earlier anonymous signing goes through)

Error getting documents { FirebaseError: Missing or insufficient permissions.
    at new FirestoreError (/root/node_modules/@firebase/firestore/dist/index.node.cjs.js:1201:28)
    at JsonProtoSerializer.fromRpcStatus (/root/node_modules/@firebase/firestore/dist/index.node.cjs.js:19708:16)
    at JsonProtoSerializer.fromWatchChange (/root/node_modules/@firebase/firestore/dist/index.node.cjs.js:19955:44)
    at PersistentListenStream.onMessage (/root/node_modules/@firebase/firestore/dist/index.node.cjs.js:16828:43)
    at /root/node_modules/@firebase/firestore/dist/index.node.cjs.js:16757:30
    at /root/node_modules/@firebase/firestore/dist/index.node.cjs.js:16797:28
    at /root/node_modules/@firebase/firestore/dist/index.node.cjs.js:17844:20
    at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:68:7)
  code: 'permission-denied',
  name: 'FirebaseError',
  toString: [Function] }

Thanks again for any pointers!

Unfortunately, I don't have the rules for this one, as I am working with a 3rd party firebase account. Whatever the rules are, they should apply to both versions of the library in the same way. Why the inconsistency? There appears to be a fundamental difference in the way the library works on JS and Node. — frus555
– frus555, Commented May 7, 2020 at 5:24

Renaud Tarnec · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-07 08:16:41Z

1

One possibility is that you are actually not signed-in when you fetch Firestore. As a matter of fact the signInAnonymously() method is asynchronous and you don't wait that the Promise returned by this method resolves before fetching Firestore.

So, the following may solve your problem:

firebase.initializeApp(config);
let db = firebase.firestore();

firebase.auth().signInAnonymously()
.then(cred => {
    return db.collection('collection').get()
})
.then((snapshot) => {
    snapshot.forEach((doc) => {
      console.log(doc.id, '=>', doc.data());
    });
})
.catch((err) => {
    console.log(err);
});

Note that you should do the same in the JavaScript SDK version:

firebase.auth().signInAnonymously()
.then(cred => {
  foo();
}}
.catch(function(error) {
  var errorCode = error.code;
  var errorMessage = error.message;
  console.log(error.message);
});

edited May 7, 2020 at 8:16

answered May 7, 2020 at 7:20

Renaud Tarnec

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2 Comments

frus555 Over a year ago

Very interesting point. It could be that internally js and node handle some asynchronous calls differently and you only get a promis in node, while js returns an object. Let me check and come back in a bit.

frus555 Over a year ago

Thanks Renaud. So it wasn't a firebase library issue, just specific to the way node async stuff works.

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