Connect to Firebase
Learn how to connect Firebase to Retool.
You can use the Firebase integration to create a resource and make it available in Retool. Once complete, your users can write queries that interact with Firebase data.
Requirements
The Firebase integration requirements depend on whether you have a cloud-hosted or self-hosted Retool organization. You may also need to make Firebase configuration changes before creating the resource.
- Cloud-hosted organizations
- Self-hosted organizations
Sufficient user permissions to create resources
All users for Retool organizations on Free or Team plans have global Edit permissions and can add, edit, and remove resources. If your organization manages user permissions for resources, you must be a member of a group with Edit all permissions.
Allow Retool to access the data source
If the data source is behind a firewall or restricts access based on IP address, then you must ensure that your Retool organization can access it. If necessary, configure your data source to allow access from Retool's IP addresses.
3.77.79.248/30
35.90.103.132/30
44.208.168.68/30
3.77.79.249
3.77.79.250
35.90.103.132
35.90.103.133
35.90.103.134
35.90.103.135
44.208.168.68
44.208.168.69
44.208.168.70
44.208.168.71
Retool is building support for querying firewalled resources without allowlisting Retool’s IP address. To learn more or be considered for early access, contact cloud-connect@retool.com.
Firebase settings and authentication
You must have sufficient access and familiarity with your Firebase data source so you can provide:
- Required connection settings (e.g., URL and server variables).
- Authentication credentials (e.g., API keys).
In some cases, you may need to make changes to your Firebase configuration, such as generating authentication credentials or allowing access through a firewall. Refer to the configuration and authentication sections to learn more.
Sufficient user permissions to create resources
All users for Retool organizations on Free or Team plans have global Edit permissions and can add, edit, and remove resources. If your organization manages user permissions for resources, you must be a member of a group with Edit all permissions.
Allow your deployment to access the data source
Your self-hosted deployment must have access to the data source. Ensure that any potential firewall rules for either the data source or your deployment instance are updated to allow them to communicate.
Firebase settings and authentication
You must have sufficient access and familiarity with your Firebase data source so you can provide:
- Required connection settings (e.g., URL and server variables).
- Authentication credentials (e.g., API keys).
In some cases, you may need to make changes to your Firebase configuration, such as generating authentication credentials or allowing access through a firewall. Refer to the configuration and authentication sections to learn more.
Google service account
Authenticate with a service account tied to a Google Cloud project. This method allows users to give Retool access to certain APIs or data with the service account's email address.
Retool recommends using service account authentication when you need to share credentials across users but limit Retool's access to a subset of data. This authentication flow restricts Retool's access to APIs or data shared with the service account email address only.
Refer to Google's service account documentation to learn more.
1. Configure the resource
Sign in to your Retool organization and navigate to the Resources tab. Click Create new > Resource, then select Firebase.
Configuration
Specify the name, location, and description to use for your Firebase resource. Retool displays the resource name and type in query editors to help users identify them.
Provide the following configuration settings to create the resource. Depending on how your data source is configured, you may also need to provide optional settings for Retool to connect.
- Cloud-hosted organizations
- Self-hosted organizations
Name
The name to use for the resource.
Description
A description of the resource.
Override default outbound Retool region
Retool connects to your data source from the us-west-2 region. Choosing a different outbound region can improve performance through geographic proximity.
| Region | Location |
|---|---|
| us-west-2 | US West (Oregon) |
| eu-central-1 | (Frankfurt, Germany) |
Firebase database URL
The Firebase database URL. This is only required if you plan on querying Firebase Realtime Database. Refer to the Firebase documentation to learn more and obtain this URL.
Name
The name to use for the resource.
Description
A description of the resource.
Firebase database URL
The Firebase database URL. This is only required if you plan on querying Firebase Realtime Database. Refer to the Firebase documentation to learn more and obtain this URL.
Authentication
The Firebase integration supports the following authentication methods. Depending on which authentication method you use, you may need to make changes to your Firebase configuration.
- Cloud-hosted organizations
- Self-hosted organizations
Google service account
Authenticate with a service account tied to a Google Cloud project. This method allows users to give Retool access to certain APIs or data with the service account's email address.
Retool recommends using service account authentication when you need to share credentials across users but limit Retool's access to a subset of data. This authentication flow restricts Retool's access to APIs or data shared with the service account email address only.
Refer to Google's service account documentation to learn more.
Google service account
Authenticate with a service account tied to a Google Cloud project. This method allows users to give Retool access to certain APIs or data with the service account's email address.
Retool recommends using service account authentication when you need to share credentials across users but limit Retool's access to a subset of data. This authentication flow restricts Retool's access to APIs or data shared with the service account email address only.
Refer to Google's service account documentation to learn more.
3. Test the connection
Click Test Connection to verify that Retool can successfully connect to the data source. If the test fails, check the resource settings and try again.
Testing a connection only checks whether Retool can successfully connect to the resource. It cannot check whether the provided credentials have sufficient privileges or can perform every supported action.
4. Save the resource
Click Create resource to complete the setup. You can then click either Create app to immediately start building a Retool app or Back to resources to return to the list of resources.
Wrap up
Your Firebase resource is now ready to use. To start querying data:
- Add a Resource query to an app or workflow.
- Select the Firebase resource from the resources dropdown.
- Write and run a query.