Automatic Firebase setup

The Auto-Setup Runner is an automatic process that configures all Firebase services when you publish your app. It runs after the Firebase setup and configures everything your active modules need.

What gets configured?

The Auto-Setup Runner automatically performs the following steps:

Firestore rules

Security rules for all active modules are deployed. Each module brings its own rules.

Firestore indexes

All required database indexes are created so queries run fast and efficiently.

Storage rules

Security rules for file storage are configured — with size and type restrictions.

Auth methods

Email/password and anonymous are enabled in Firebase. Social login providers require manual configuration.

Admin account

Your first administrator account is created with owner rights.

Data migration

Content from the developer database is transferred to your customer Firebase.

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How it works

The flow

1. Complete the Firebase setup

   After you’ve set up your project and service account in the Firebase publish setup, the Auto-Setup Runner starts automatically.

2. Progress display

   You see a progress display with all steps. Each step shows its current status:

   Status	Meaning
   Pending	Step has not started yet
   In progress	Step is currently running
   Completed	Step finished successfully
   Failed	An error occurred

3. Automatic execution

   All steps run automatically one after another. You don’t need to do anything — just wait until the runner is finished.

4. Completion

   After successful completion, your Firebase is fully configured and ready for publishing.

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The individual steps in detail

1. Firestore security rules

The runner collects the security rules of all active modules and deploys them together:

• User profiles — read/write permissions for profile data
• Follow relationships — relationships between users
• Feed posts — posts, likes, comments
• Chat messages — private messages
• Forum threads — discussions and replies
• And more — each active module brings its own rules

Module-dependent

Only rules for modules that are actually enabled are deployed. Disabled modules are skipped.

2. Firestore indexes

Database indexes speed up queries considerably. The runner creates all required indexes:

• Profile search by name
• Popular profiles
• Follower lists
• Feed sorting
• And more, depending on the active modules

Index creation takes time

Creating indexes can take a few minutes. The status changes in the background from “Building” to “Enabled”.

3. Storage security rules

Rules for file storage:

• Who can upload files
• Maximum file sizes
• Allowed file types
• Access rights per path

4. Enable auth methods

The following auth methods are enabled automatically:

Method	Automatic	Manual
Email/password	Yes	-
Anonymous	Yes	-
Google	-	Yes (OAuth setup required)
Apple	-	Yes (OAuth setup required)
Facebook	-	Yes (OAuth setup required)
Other social login	-	Yes (OAuth setup required)

Social login

Social login providers require manual configuration, because you need to register with the respective platforms (Google Cloud, Apple Developer, etc.). The OAuth provider wizard guides you through these steps.

5. Create admin account

The runner creates your first admin account using the data you entered on the publish review screen:

• A Firebase Auth account is created
• The owner role is stored in Firestore
• You can log in immediately after publishing

More on this: Admin account

6. Data migration

Content you created in the App Builder is transferred to your customer Firebase:

• News articles
• Wiki entries
• FAQ entries
• Blog posts
• And other admin-created content

Admin content only

Only content created by the admin is migrated (e.g. news, wiki). User-generated content (e.g. feed posts, chat messages) is not migrated, since the customer app starts fresh.

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No manual intervention needed

The entire process runs automatically. You don’t need to:

• Copy and paste any rules
• Create any indexes manually
• Enable any auth providers in the Firebase Console
• Create an admin account manually

Everything is handled by the Auto-Setup Runner.

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Troubleshooting

A step fails

Problem: A step shows the status “Failed”.

Solutions:

• Check the error details (shown below the step)
• Make sure the service account is set up correctly
• Check that all 7 roles were assigned
• Tap “Retry” to repeat the failed step

”Permission denied”

Problem: The runner doesn’t have enough permissions.

Solutions:

• Check the service account’s roles in the Google Cloud Console
• Make sure Firebase Admin and Cloud Datastore User in particular are assigned
• Wait a few minutes — new permissions sometimes take time to take effect

Index creation hangs

Problem: Indexes show the status “Building” for a long time.

Solutions:

• This is normal — indexes can take up to 10 minutes
• The runner does not wait for index creation but continues with the next step
• Check the status later in the Firebase Console under Firestore > Indexes

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Related topics

Firebase during publishing Set up the Firebase project and service account

Publish app The entire publishing process

Set up a service account Detailed guide for the service account