Firebase Auth + Firestore + Hosting
A managed backend workflow for client apps with document data, authentication, and live updates; security rules and query costs are part of the design.
Sources verified Sep 2026
When to use it
- The data fits documents and known query patterns
- A client app needs authentication and live document subscriptions
- The team accepts managed services and plans read, write, and storage budgets
How the pieces fit
Firebase Authentication identifies users; Firestore stores documents and provides subscriptions; Hosting serves the frontend. Design queries and indexes together with security rules. Rules must authorize every client operation; privileged server SDKs require their own authorization. Test denied reads and writes in emulators, limit listeners and pagination, and add server functions for trusted operations. Hosting a static frontend does not provide server rendering automatically.
Tools and responsibilities
Architectural examples
Each example links to a public source — no claims about private internals.
FriendlyChat web codelab
The official teaching project demonstrates a Firebase-backed web chat. Learning example; inspect its current code and configuration before reuse.
sourceFirebase JavaScript quickstarts
Official web samples illustrate individual Firebase services. These are separate examples, not a single production architecture.
sourceSkip if
Skip if relational joins and reporting drive the data model, strict self-hosting is required, or a document-query cost model is unsuitable.