Notes

Since the main version of this repo is not maintained, this is a version with a few fixes that is released on npm with the id of node-firestore-import-export-fix

Also, I don't have any intention of maintaining this one. But if you have pull requests, send them my way and I'll try to release the changes to npm as well.

node-firestore-import-export

Firestore data importing, exporting, and data clearing tool.

Export a Firestore database, including collections and documents, while keeping the structure intact.

Table of Contents

• Data format
• Installation
• Retrieving credentials
• Usage
  • Command line
    • Export
    • Import
    • Clear
  • Using Firebase Firestore Emulator
  • Library
    • Export
    • Import
    • Clear
• Contributions

Data Format

Exports a json file with the following format:

{
  "__collections__": {
    "companies": {
      "docA": {
        "name": "Big Co",
        "employee_count": 2012,
        "created": {
          "__datatype__": "timestamp",
          "value": {
            "_seconds": 12343456,
            "_nanoseconds": 7890
          }
        },
        "location": {
          "__datatype__": "geopoint",
          "value": {
            "_latitude": -123.456789,
            "_longitude": 34.5678
          }
        },
        "AdministratorRef": {
          "__datatype__": "documentReference",
          "value": "path/to/the/document"
        },
        "__collections__": {
          "employees": ...,
          "products": ...
        }
      },
      "docB": ...,
      "docC": ...
    },
    "administrators": {
      "docA": ...,
      "docB": ...
    }
  }
}

where __collections__ holds the collections for a given document (or the root of the database).

Imports need to be from a file with the same structure (e.g. from an exported file).

Be careful! This can easily overwrite or mess up your data if you import to the wrong location.

Special Datatypes

Three types of data are serialized in the export:

• Timestamps
• Geopoints
• DocumentReferences

They each are serialized in the following format:

{
  "__datatype__": "timestamp|geopoint|documentReference",
  "value": "The serialized value"
}

Installation

npm install node-firestore-import-export-fix

Retrieving Google Cloud Account Credentials

1. Visit the Firebase Console
2. Select your project
3. Navigate to Project Settings (at the time of writing the gear icon button at the top left of the page).
4. Navigate to Service Accounts
5. Click Generate New Private Key

This downloaded json file contains the proper credentials needed for node-firestore-import-export to authenticate.

Usage

Command Line

The path to the account credentials can be placed in the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable. For example:

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/my/credentials.json
firestore-export -p

Export

• -b, --backupFile <path>- Filename to store backup. (e.g. backups/full-backup.json). Defaults to firestore-export.json if missing.
• -n, --nodePath <path>- Path to database node to start (e.g. collectionA/docB/collectionC). Backs up full database if empty or missing.
• -p, --prettyPrint - JSON backups done with pretty-printing.

Examples

Export full database

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/my/credentials.json
firestore-export --backupFile /backups/myDatabase.json

Export with pretty printing

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/my/credentials.json
firestore-export --backupFile /backups/myDatabase.json --prettyPrint

Export from a specific path (and all its children/collections)

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/my/credentials.json
firestore-export --backupFile /backups/myDatabase.json --nodePath collectionA/document1/collectionCC

Import

• -b, --backupFile <path>- Filename with backup data. (e.g. backups/full-backup.json).
• -n, --nodePath <path>- Path to database node to start (e.g. collectionA/docB/collectionC).
• -y, --yes - Unattended import without confirmation (like hitting "y" from the command line).

Examples

Import full database

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/my/credentials.json
firestore-import --backupFile /backups/myDatabase.json

Import to a specific path

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/my/credentials.json
firestore-import --backupFile /backups/myDatabase.json --nodePath collectionA/document1/collectionCC

Clear

• -n, --nodePath <path>- Path to database node to start (e.g. collectionA/docB/collectionC).
• -y, --yes - Unattended clear without confirmation (like hitting "y" from the command line). Command will wait 5 seconds so you can Ctrl-C to stop.
• -w, --noWait - Combine this with the --yes confirmation to not wait 5 seconds

Example

Clear everything under a specific node

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=path/to/my/credentials.json
firestore-clear --yes

Using Firebase Firestore Emulator

If using Firebase Emulators, set the FIRESTORE_EMULATOR_HOST and GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT environment variables instead of GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS.

For example:

export FIRESTORE_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:8089
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=demo-
firestore-export -p

Library

The underlying library can be used in a node or web application for importing and exporting data in a similar fashion

Exporting

import {firestoreExport} from 'node-firestore-import-export';
import * as firebase from 'firebase-admin';

firebase.initializeApp({
  apiKey: 'AIza....',
  authDomain: 'YOUR_APP.firebaseapp.com',
  databaseURL: 'https://YOUR_APP.firebaseio.com',
  storageBucket: 'YOUR_APP.appspot.com',
  messagingSenderId: '123456789',
});

const collectionRef = firebase
  .firestore()
  .collection('collectionA/docB/collectionC');

firestoreExport(collectionRef).then(data => console.log(data));

Importing

import {firestoreImport} from 'node-firestore-import-export';
import * as firebase from 'firebase-admin';

firebase.initializeApp({
  apiKey: 'AIza....',
  authDomain: 'YOUR_APP.firebaseapp.com',
  databaseURL: 'https://YOUR_APP.firebaseio.com',
  storageBucket: 'YOUR_APP.appspot.com',
  messagingSenderId: '123456789',
});

const data = {
  docA: {
    name: 'bob',
    __collections__: {},
  },
  docB: {
    name: 'jill',
    __collections__: {},
  },
};

const collectionRef = firebase
  .firestore()
  .collection('collectionA/docB/collectionC');

firestoreImport(data, collectionRef).then(() =>
  console.log('Data was imported.')
);

Clearing

import {firestoreClear} from 'node-firestore-import-export';
import * as firebase from 'firebase-admin';

firebase.initializeApp({
  apiKey: 'AIza....',
  authDomain: 'YOUR_APP.firebaseapp.com',
  databaseURL: 'https://YOUR_APP.firebaseio.com',
  storageBucket: 'YOUR_APP.appspot.com',
  messagingSenderId: '123456789',
});

const collectionRef = firebase
  .firestore()
  .collection('collectionA/docB/collectionC');

firestoreClear(collectionRef).then(() =>
  console.log('Everything under collectionA/docB/collectionC was removed.')
);

Inspiration

The command line was inspired heavily by SteadyEquipment's node-firestore-backup