Directus Firebase API Operation

A Directus operation extension that exposes Firebase APIs inside Directus Flows.

Supported services

• firestore
• messaging
• storage
• remoteConfig

What this extension does

This operation lets you:

1. choose a Firebase service
2. choose a method for that service
3. provide Firebase service account credentials or environment variables
4. optionally provide a resource identifier
5. optionally provide a JSON payload
6. return the Firebase API response back to the flow

The operation is intentionally generic so it stays simple and future-proof.

Installation

Install dependencies and build the extension:

• npm install @timio23/directus-firebase-operation

Then link or load it into Directus using your normal extension workflow.

Credentials

The operation supports two credential sources:

1. Environment variables

If your Directus instance already has Firebase credentials in environment variables, you can leave the Auth JSON field empty.

Supported environment variables:

• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_TYPE
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_PROJECT_ID
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_PRIVATE_KEY_ID
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_PRIVATE_KEY
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_CLIENT_EMAIL
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_CLIENT_ID
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_AUTH_URI
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_TOKEN_URI
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_PROVIDER_X509_CERT_URL
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_CLIENT_X509_CERT_URL
• FIREBASE_SDK_AUTH_UNIVERSAL_DOMAIN

2. Auth JSON field

If env vars are not present, paste the Firebase service account JSON into Auth JSON.

Example:

{
  "type": "service_account",
  "project_id": "my-project",
  "private_key_id": "abc123",
  "private_key": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n...\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\n",
  "client_email": "[email protected]",
  "client_id": "1234567890",
  "auth_uri": "https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth",
  "token_uri": "https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token",
  "provider_x509_cert_url": "https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v1/certs",
  "client_x509_cert_url": "https://www.googleapis.com/robot/v1/metadata/x509/...",
  "universe_domain": "googleapis.com"
}

If both env vars and Auth JSON are supplied, the JSON values override env values.

These credentials are used to mint short-lived Google OAuth access tokens for Firebase and Google APIs.

Operation fields

Service

A dropdown for the Firebase service.

Allowed values:

• firestore
• messaging
• storage
• remoteConfig

Method

A dropdown that changes based on the selected service.

Auth JSON

Optional JSON string containing Firebase service account credentials.

Resource

A generic string input used for the primary identifier required by the selected method.

Examples:

• Firestore document path
• Storage file path

Secondary Resource

Optional second identifier.

Currently used by storage methods as the bucket name.

Example:

• my-project.appspot.com

Payload JSON

Optional JSON string passed to the selected Firebase Admin SDK method.

Supported methods

Firestore

get

Get a Firestore document.

Inputs

• Resource: document path, for example users/123
• Payload JSON: not used

Response

Returns the Firestore REST document mapped into a simpler JSON object with name, timestamps, and converted field values.

create

Create a Firestore document in a collection.

Inputs

• Resource: collection path, for example users
• Secondary Resource: optional document ID
• Payload JSON: object to write

Response

• created document object

set

Set a Firestore document.

Inputs

• Resource: document path
• Payload JSON: object to write

Response

• updated document object

update

Update a Firestore document.

Inputs

• Resource: document path
• Payload JSON: object to update

Response

• updated document object

batchGet

Fetch multiple Firestore documents.

Inputs

• Payload JSON: array of document paths or { "documents": [...] }

Example payload

[
  "users/123",
  "users/456"
]

Response

• raw Firestore batch get response

commit

Execute a Firestore commit request.

Inputs

• Payload JSON: Firestore commit request body

Response

• raw Firestore commit response

runQuery

Run a Firestore structured query.

Inputs

• Payload JSON: Firestore structured query request body

Response

• raw Firestore runQuery response

delete

Delete a Firestore document.

Inputs

• Resource: document path
• Payload JSON: not used

Response

{
  "success": true
}

listCollections

List subcollections for a document.

Inputs

• Resource: document path
• Payload JSON: not used

Response

• Firestore listCollectionIds response object

Messaging

send

Send a single Firebase Cloud Messaging HTTP v1 message.

Inputs

• Resource: not used
• Payload JSON: Firebase Message

Example payload

{
  "token": "device-token",
  "notification": {
    "title": "Hello",
    "body": "World"
  },
  "data": {
    "type": "example"
  }
}

Response

• Firebase HTTP v1 send response object, typically containing name

Tip: set Secondary Resource to validateOnly to validate without sending.

sendValidate

Validate a single Firebase Cloud Messaging message without sending it.

Inputs

• Payload JSON: Firebase Message

Response

• Firebase validation response object

sendEach

Send multiple Firebase Cloud Messaging messages one by one.

Inputs

• Resource: not used
• Payload JSON: array of Firebase Message objects

Response

• object containing successCount and responses

Tip: set Secondary Resource to validateOnly to validate each message without sending.

Storage

list

List files in a bucket.

Inputs

• Secondary Resource: bucket name
• Resource: optional prefix

Response

• storage objects list response

getMetadata

Get metadata for a file.

Inputs

• Resource: file path
• Secondary Resource: bucket name
• Payload JSON: not used

Response

• file metadata object

setMetadata

Set metadata for a file.

Inputs

• Resource: file path
• Secondary Resource: bucket name
• Payload JSON: metadata object

Response

• updated file metadata object

rewrite

Copy or move an object by rewriting it to a new destination.

Inputs

• Resource: source file path
• Secondary Resource: source bucket name
• Payload JSON: { "destination": "new/path/file.ext", "destinationBucket": "optional-bucket" }

Response

• storage rewrite response

delete

Delete a file.

Inputs

• Resource: file path
• Secondary Resource: bucket name
• Payload JSON: not used

Response

{
  "success": true
}

Remote Config

getTemplate

Get the current Remote Config template.

Inputs

• Payload JSON: not used

Response

• object containing etag and template

validateTemplate

Validate a Remote Config template without publishing it.

Inputs

• Payload JSON: Remote Config template object

Response

• object containing etag and validated template

publishTemplate

Publish a Remote Config template.

Inputs

• Payload JSON: Remote Config template object

Response

• object containing etag and published template

rollback

Rollback Remote Config to a specific version.

Inputs

• Resource: version number

Response

• Remote Config rollback response

Error behavior

The operation throws errors when:

• JSON fields are invalid
• required credentials are incomplete
• a required Resource value is missing
• the chosen method does not match the selected service
• a payload shape is invalid for certain methods
• a sandbox-incompatible method is requested

Examples:

• Auth JSON must contain valid JSON
• Payload JSON must contain valid JSON
• Missing Firebase credentials: ...
• UID is required for this Firebase call.

Notes and limitations

• This extension no longer uses firebase-admin.
• It is designed for Directus sandbox mode and uses outbound HTTP requests only.
• The dropdowns are static, not dynamically generated from Firebase APIs.
• The operation only supports the methods currently wired in src/api.ts.
• Some responses are raw Google API responses.
• auth was removed because the old Admin SDK behavior is not equivalent in simple sandbox-safe REST form.
• Storage signed URL generation is not included in sandbox mode.
• Messaging topic subscription methods are not included in sandbox mode.
• Some Firestore methods return raw Google API response shapes.
• Secondary Resource is overloaded for some methods to keep the form simple.