Enabling Authentication

You can sign in a user either

anonymously,
by email and password,
by email link,
by phone verification,
using a custom token,
using Facebook,
using Google.

Each of these login mechanisms need to be enabled in your Firebase console at the 'Login & Auth' tab.

What's returned when logged in?

All login functions below, as well as getCurrentUser return a 'User' object with these properties:

param	optional	description
`uid`	no	The Firebase User ID
`anonymous`	no	Whether or not the user logged in anonymously
`emailVerified`	no	You can send an email with a verification link which this refers to
`providers`	no	An array of {id: value} objects, where value can be 'facebook.com', etc
`email`	yes	Not all providers require an email address
`name`	yes	The name stored at the provider
`profileImageURL`	yes	A string containing a link to a user image on the web
`phoneNumber`	yes	The user's phone number
`refreshToken`	yes	iOS only

Functions

You can either use the Native API, or the Web API. It's just a matter of personal background or preference. Under the hood the implementations are identical.

You can also mix and match the API calls.

The relevant imports would be:

const firebase = require("nativescript-plugin-firebase");
const firebaseWebApi = require("nativescript-plugin-firebase/app");

Listening to auth state changes

As stated here:

The recommended way to get the current user is by setting a listener on the Auth object

To listen to auth state changes you can register a listener during init:

  firebase.init({
    onAuthStateChanged: function(data) { // optional but useful to immediately re-logon the user when he re-visits your app
      console.log(data.loggedIn ? "Logged in to firebase" : "Logged out from firebase");
      if (data.loggedIn) {
        console.log("user's email address: " + (data.user.email ? data.user.email : "N/A"));
      }
    }
  });

If - for some reason - you want more control over the listener you can use these methods after you ran init:

  // configure a listener:
  var listener = {
    onAuthStateChanged: function(data) {
      console.log(data.loggedIn ? "Logged in to firebase" : "Logged out from firebase");
      if (data.loggedIn) {
        console.log("User info", data.user);
      }
    },
    thisArg: this
  };

  // add the listener:
  firebase.addAuthStateListener(listener);
  
  // stop listening to auth state changes:
  firebase.removeAuthStateListener(listener);
  
  // check if already listening to auth state changes
  firebase.hasAuthStateListener(listener);

Get Current User

Once the user is logged in you can retrieve the currently logged in user:

Native API

  firebase.getCurrentUser()
      .then(user => console.log("User uid: " + user.uid))
      .catch(error => console.log("Trouble in paradise: " + error));

Web API

  const user = firebaseWebApi.auth().currentUser;

Fetch providers for email

Want to know which auth providers are associated with an emailaddress?

Native API

  const emailAddress = "someone@domain.com";
  firebase.fetchProvidersForEmail(emailAddress).then((providers: Array<string>) => {
    console.log(`Providers for ${emailAddress}: ${JSON.stringify(providers)}`);
  });

Web API

  const user = firebaseWebApi.auth().currentUser;
  if (!user || !user.email) {
    console.log("Can't fetch providers; no user with an emailaddress logged in.");
    return;
  }

  firebaseWebApi.auth().fetchProvidersForEmail(user.email)
      .then(result => console.log(`Providers for ${user.email}: ${JSON.stringify(result)}`))
      .catch(error => console.log("Fetch Providers for Email error: " + error));

Fetch sign-in methods for email

Both email-password login and email-link login are password providers, so by just using fetchProvidersForEmail you won't be able to differentiate between those login methods. That's where fetchSignInMethodsForEmail comes in.

Native API

  const emailAddress = "someone@domain.com";
  firebase.fetchSignInMethodsForEmail(emailAddress).then((methods: Array<string>) => {
    console.log(`Sign-in methods for ${emailAddress}: ${JSON.stringify(methods)}`);
  });

Web API

  const user = firebaseWebApi.auth().currentUser;
  if (!user || !user.email) {
    console.log("Can't fetch sign-in methods; no user with an emailaddress logged in.");
    return;
  }

  firebaseWebApi.auth().fetchSignInMethodsForEmail(user.email)
      .then(result => console.log(`Sign-in methods for ${user.email}: ${JSON.stringify(result)}`))
      .catch(error => console.log("Fetch Sign-in methods for Email error: " + error));

Updating a profile

Pass in at least one of displayName and photoURL. The logged in user will be updated, but for getCurrentUser to reflect the change you'll need to do a logout-login.

  firebase.updateProfile({
    displayName: 'Eddy Verbruggen',
    photoURL: 'http://provider.com/profiles/eddyverbruggen.png'
  }).then(
      function () {
        // called when update profile was successful
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log(errorMessage);
      }
  );

Anonymous login

Don't forget to enable anonymous login in your firebase instance.

Native API

  firebase.login(
      {
        type: firebase.LoginType.ANONYMOUS
      })
      .then(user => console.log("User uid: " + user.uid))
      .catch(error => console.log("Trouble in paradise: " + error));

Web API

  firebaseWebApi.auth().signInAnonymously()
      .then(() => console.log("User logged in"))
      .catch(err => console.log("Login error: " + JSON.stringify(err)));

Email-Password login

Don't forget to enable email-password login in your firebase instance.

Native API

  firebase.login(
      {
        type: firebase.LoginType.PASSWORD,
        passwordOptions: {
          email: 'useraccount@provider.com',
          password: 'theirpassword'
        }
      })
      .then(result => JSON.stringify(result))
      .catch(error => console.log(error));

Web API

  firebaseWebApi.auth().signInWithEmailAndPassword('eddy@x-services.nl', 'firebase')
      .then(() => console.log("User logged in"))
      .catch(err => console.log("Login error: " + JSON.stringify(err)));

Email-Link login

Enable email-password login in your firebase instance, and flip the "E-mail link" switch.

This login type allows your users to login without providing a password. They can simply click a link and get redirected to the app. The app may even run on a different device.

Enable dynamic links, as described in the Dynamic Links readme, because the user that receives the link will need to be redirected to your app.

iOS configuration

Specify the bundle id of your app in the Firebase console.

Android configuration

Specify the package name of your app in the Firebase console.
Upload the SHA-1 and SHA-256 of the (debug) signing certificates to the Firebase console, as described in the Dynamic Links readme.
Also add an android:host for the emailLinkOptions.url to your app/App_Resources/Android/AndroidManifest.xml file as described in that readme.

Native API

  firebase.login(
      {
        type: firebase.LoginType.EMAIL_LINK,
        emailLinkOptions: {
          email: "eddy@x-services.nl",
          url: "https://domain.com?foo=bar",
          // the stuff below is optional, if not set the plugin will infer this for you (bundle/package is taken from currently used platform)
          iOS: {
            bundleId: "my.bundle.id"
          },
          android: {
            packageName: "my.package.name"
          }
        }
      })
      .then(result => JSON.stringify(result))
      .catch(error => console.log(error));

Web API

  firebaseWebApi.auth().sendSignInLinkToEmail(
      "eddy@x-services.nl",
       {
         url: "https://domain.com?foo=bar",
         // the stuff below is optional, if not set the plugin will infer this for you (bundle/package is taken from currently used platform)
         iOS: {
           bundleId: "my.bundle.id"
         },
         android: {
           packageName: "my.package.name"
         }
       })
      .then(() => console.log("Email link sent"))
      .catch(err => console.log("Login error: " + JSON.stringify(err)));

Managing email-password accounts

Creating a Password account

This may not work on an (Android) simulator. See #463.

Native API

  firebase.createUser({
    email: 'eddyverbruggen@gmail.com',
    password: 'firebase'
  }).then(
      function (result) {
        dialogs.alert({
          title: "User created",
          message: "userid: " + result.key,
          okButtonText: "Nice!"
        })
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        dialogs.alert({
          title: "No user created",
          message: errorMessage,
          okButtonText: "OK, got it"
        })
      }
  );

Web API

  firebaseWebApi.auth().signOut()
      .then(() => console.log("Logout OK"))
      .catch(error => "Logout error: " + JSON.stringify(error));

Resetting a password

  firebase.resetPassword({
    email: 'useraccount@provider.com'
  }).then(
      function () {
        // called when password reset was successful,
        // you could now prompt the user to check his email
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log(errorMessage);
      }
  );

Changing a password

  firebase.changePassword({
    email: 'useraccount@provider.com',
    oldPassword: 'myOldPassword',
    newPassword: 'myNewPassword'
  }).then(
      function () {
        // called when password change was successful
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log(errorMessage);
      }
  );

Phone Verification

Don't forget to enable Phone login in your firebase instance.
You can only test this on a real device (not on an emulator/simulator).
Use the phone number of the device you're testing on.
ANDROID: Make sure you've uploaded your SHA1 fingerprint(s) to the Firebase console, then download the latest google-services.json file and add it to app/App_Resources/Android.
iOS: Make sure you have messaging enabled as well, as this uses push notifications on iOS.

  firebase.login({
    type: firebase.LoginType.PHONE,
    phoneOptions: {
      phoneNumber: '+12345678900',
      verificationPrompt: "The received verification code" // default "Verification code"
    }
  }).then(
      function (result) {
        JSON.stringify(result);
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log(errorMessage);
      }
  );

Custom login

Use this login type to authenticate against firebase using a token generated by your own backend server. See these instructions on how to generate the authentication token.

  var token = "myBackendToken";

  firebase.login({
    type: firebase.LoginType.CUSTOM,
    customOptions: {
      token: token
    }
  }).then(
      function (result) {
        JSON.stringify(result);
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log(errorMessage);
      }
  );

Facebook login

First, enable Facebook login in your Firebase instance and add the App-ID and App-Secret.

Then add the following lines to your code and check for setup instructions for your platform below.

  firebase.login({
    type: firebase.LoginType.FACEBOOK,
    // Optional
    facebookOptions: {
      // defaults to ['public_profile', 'email']
      scope: ['public_profile', 'email']
    }
  }).then(
      function (result) {
        JSON.stringify(result);
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log(errorMessage);
      }
  );

For a complete list of the available scope permissions, visit Facebook's documentation: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/permissions.

Post-login Graph API querying

Upon successful authentication, Facebook creates an access token that can be obtained from the login method's result object. This access token can then be used for querying the Facebook Graph API, by feeding it to either Facebook's Javascript SDK or their iOS/Android native SDKs:

"providers": [
         {
             "id": "facebook.com",
             "token": "<FB token>"
         }
     ]

iOS

If you didn't choose this feature during installation you can open the Podfile in the plugin's platforms/ios folder and uncomment the Facebook line.
Add a bit of config to app\App_Resources\iOS\Info.plist as instructed in Step 4 here. Facebook login works perfectly on the demo app, so if you can't get it working, make sure to check out the demo app's config.

Android

If you didn't choose this feature during installation you can uncomment the facebook SDK in node_modules\nativescript-plugin-firebase\platforms\android\include.gradle

Add <meta-data android:name="com.facebook.sdk.ApplicationId" android:value="@string/facebook_app_id"/> to the manifest/application tag in app\App_Resources\Android\AndroidManifest.xml, so it becomes similar to this:

	<application
		android:name="com.tns.NativeScriptApplication"
		..>
		
		<meta-data android:name="com.facebook.sdk.ApplicationId" android:value="@string/facebook_app_id"/>

		<activity
			android:name="com.tns.NativeScriptActivity"
			..>

Create a file app\App_Resources\Android\values\facebooklogin.xml and add this (replace the id):

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<resources>
     <string name="facebook_app_id">126035687816994</string>
</resources>

In your Facebook dev console, go to the Basic settings and add the Android platform if you haven't already. Then set the 'Google Play Packagename' to your applicationId (see your package.json) and set 'Classname' to com.tns.NativeScriptActivity.
Set the Key-Hash as well. If you don't know it you can try Facebook login in your app and observe the adb logcat output for something like Key hash <......> does not match any stored key hashes.

Google Sign-In

First, enable Google Sign-In in your firebase instance and add the Web SDK configuration.

Then add the following lines to your code and check for setup instructions for your platform below.

  firebase.login({
    type: firebase.LoginType.GOOGLE,
    // Optional 
    googleOptions: {
      hostedDomain: "mygsuitedomain.com"
    }
  }).then(
      function (result) {
        JSON.stringify(result);
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log(errorMessage);
      }
  );

iOS

If you didn't choose this feature during installation you can open the Podfile in the plugin's platforms/ios folder and uncomment the GoogleSignIn line.

Make sure the URL Scheme for REVERSED_CLIENT_ID is in app/App_Resources/iOS/Info.plist:

   <key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
   <array>
   	<dict>
   		<key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
   		<string>Editor</string>
   		<key>CFBundleURLName</key>
   		<string>REVERSED_CLIENT_ID</string>
   		<key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
   		<array>
   			<string>com.googleusercontent.apps.1052836194035-l81fsjai1u40ocnqjcpnoebnnsltt03b</string>
   		</array>
   	</dict>
   </array>

Android

If you didn't choose this feature during installation you can uncomment google-services-auth in node_modules\nativescript-plugin-firebase\platforms\android\include.gradle
Google Sign-In requires an SHA1 fingerprint: see Authenticating Your Client for details. If you don't do this you will see the account selection popup, but you won't be able to actually sign in.
Those fingerprints need to be added to your Firebase console. Go to 'project overview', 'project settings', then scroll down a bit.

getAuthToken

If you want to authenticate your user from your backend server you can obtain a Firebase auth token for the currently logged in user.

  firebase.getAuthToken({
    // default false, not recommended to set to true by Firebase but exposed for {N} devs nonetheless :)
    forceRefresh: false
  }).then(
      function (token) {
        console.log("Auth token retrieved: " + token);
      },
      function (errorMessage) {
        console.log("Auth token retrieval error: " + errorMessage);
      }
  );

logout

Shouldn't be more complicated than:

Native API

  firebase.logout();

Web API

  firebaseWebApi.auth().signOut()
      .then(() => console.log("Logout OK"))
      .catch(error => console.log("Logout error: " + JSON.stringify(error)));

reauthenticate

Some security-sensitive actions (deleting an account, changing a password) require that the user has recently signed in. If you perform one of these actions, and the user signed in too long ago, the action fails. When this happens (or to prevent it from happening), re-authenticate the user.

  firebase.reauthenticate({
    type: firebase.LoginType.PASSWORD, // or GOOGLE / FACEBOOK
    // this is only required in type == PASSWORD
    passwordOptions: {
      email: 'user@domain.com',
      password: 'thePassword'
    }
  }).then(
      function () {
        // you can now safely delete the account / change the password
        dialogs.alert({
          title: "Re-authenticated user",
          okButtonText: "OK"
        });
      },
      function (error) {
        dialogs.alert({
          title: "Re-authenticate error",
          message: error,
          okButtonText: "OK"
        });
      }
  );

sendEmailVerification

Sending an "email confirmation" email can be done after the user logged in:

  firebase.sendEmailVerification().then(
      function () {
        console.log("Email verification sent");
      },
      function (error) {
        console.log("Error sending email verification: " + error);
      }
  );

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AUTHENTICATION.md

AUTHENTICATION.md

Enabling Authentication

What's returned when logged in?

Functions

Listening to auth state changes

Get Current User

Fetch providers for email

Fetch sign-in methods for email

Updating a profile

Anonymous login

Email-Password login

Email-Link login

iOS configuration

Android configuration

Managing email-password accounts

Creating a Password account

Resetting a password

Changing a password

Phone Verification

Custom login

Facebook login

Post-login Graph API querying

iOS

Android

Google Sign-In

iOS

Android

getAuthToken

logout

reauthenticate

sendEmailVerification

Files

AUTHENTICATION.md

Latest commit

History

AUTHENTICATION.md

File metadata and controls

Enabling Authentication

What's returned when logged in?

Functions

Listening to auth state changes

Get Current User

Fetch providers for email

Fetch sign-in methods for email

Updating a profile

Anonymous login

Email-Password login

Email-Link login

iOS configuration

Android configuration

Managing email-password accounts

Creating a Password account

Resetting a password

Changing a password

Phone Verification

Custom login

Facebook login

Post-login Graph API querying

iOS

Android

Google Sign-In

iOS

Android

getAuthToken

logout

reauthenticate

sendEmailVerification