PRC Firebase

Canonical docs: docs/plugins/prc-firebase/

Google Firebase integration for the PRC Platform. Initializes the Kreait Firebase PHP SDK on the server, registers the modern @prc/firebase JavaScript script module for blocks, and provides the legacy firebase script handle (compat API) for older interactives.

What it does

• Initializes the Kreait Firebase PHP SDK using a service account JSON from WPCOM_VIP_PRIVATE_DIR (firebase-service-account.json, written at deploy/local-gen time).
• Exposes $this->db (Realtime Database) and $this->auth (Firebase Auth) for server-side use via new \PRC\Platform\Firebase().
• Registers the modern @prc/firebase script module via wp_register_script_module. Client-side credentials are injected via the script_module_data_@prc/firebase filter and read in src/index.js. When the config element is missing or apiKey is empty (common on alpha/staging without Firebase env vars), src/index.js skips initializeApp / getAuth so anonymous page loads do not throw auth/invalid-api-key.
• Registers the legacy firebase script handle (Firebase 10 compat API) consumed by older wp_enqueue_script( 'firebase' ) call sites. Localizes prcFirebaseConfig and prcFirebaseInteractivesConfig onto that handle.

When to use Firebase vs MySQL

Use Firebase for outside user data — quiz state, interactive responses, anonymous session data — anything written simultaneously from multiple clients. Use MySQL for PRC editorial data.

Architecture

PHP (server-side)                   JS (client-side)
─────────────────                   ──────────────────
\PRC\Platform\Firebase              @prc/firebase ES module        [modern, preferred]
  └── $this->db  (Realtime DB)        └── Firebase JS SDK (modular)
  └── $this->auth (Auth)              Credentials injected via
                                      script_module_data filter

                                    `firebase` script handle        [legacy compat]
                                      └── Firebase JS SDK (compat)
                                      Globals: window.firebase,
                                      window.firebaseDb, window.firebaseAuth,
                                      window.interactivesDb
                                      Config localized as
                                      prcFirebaseConfig +
                                      prcFirebaseInteractivesConfig

Required constants

These are defined in vip-config/ and managed as VIP environment variables.

Data-table-builder RTDB

Data-table blocks (prc-block-tables) read Firebase only on the server via PRC_PLATFORM_FIREBASE_DATA_TABLE_BUILDER_DB / __DEV. They do not use the client @prc/firebase module or INTERACTIVES_DB.

Table datasets live under paths relative to the RTDB root (e.g. migrations).

Deploy checklist (data-table-builder RTDB)

Before beta or production data-table Firebase reads work, complete these ops steps (not in git):

1. Create Platform Secrets items titled PRC_PLATFORM_FIREBASE_DATA_TABLE_BUILDER_DB and PRC_PLATFORM_FIREBASE_DATA_TABLE_BUILDER_DB__DEV with the URLs above, tagged for the correct VIP environments (production vs alpha/beta/canary/local).
2. Sync to VIP: bin/setup/sync-vip-env-vars.sh production and bin/setup/sync-vip-env-vars.sh beta (plus alpha/canary if used).
3. Regenerate local vars: npm run gen:vip-env-vars.
4. Confirm service account read access on the new RTDBs:
   • Production SA (prc-app-prod) → prc-app-prod-data-table-builder
   • Staging SA (prc-platform-staging) → prc-platform-staging-data-table-builder

Service account file (VIP private dir)

Do not commit this file. See docs/dependency-auth.md.

Key files

Hooks

Build

From repo root:

npm run build -w @prc/firebase

This runs both:

• build:module — wp-scripts build against webpack.config.js → build/module.min.{js,asset.php}.
• build:compat — wp-scripts build src/compat/index.js --output-path=build/compat → build/compat/index.{js,asset.php}.

Gotchas

• Client init is optional — Blocks that import @prc/firebase must tolerate auth being uninitialized when Firebase constants are undefined. Gate UI on a successful sign-in flow or server-provided feature flags; do not assume getAuth() ran on every page.
• Legacy vs modern — Prefer the @prc/firebase script module for new blocks. The compat firebase handle remains for older interactives that expect window.firebase globals.

Debugging production data locally

Server-side credentials come from private/firebase-service-account.json. To point local at production Firebase Admin, run:

bash ./bin/setup/generate-firebase-service-account.sh --env production

Revert to staging for day-to-day local work:

npm run gen:firebase-sa

Client-side config still follows PRC_PLATFORM_FIREBASE_* vs *__DEV in class-assets.php.