Firebase Admin SDK - Error: Credential implementation provided to initializeApp() ... failed to fetch a valid Google OAuth2 access token

Question

I initialized the SDK Admin in my code, but when I call an admin function it complains about credentials and tokens. Any idea what this could be caused by?

var serviceAccount = require('../../../path to the actual json file);
admin.initializeApp({
  credential: admin.credential.cert(serviceAccount),
  databaseURL: 'https://<name of my database>.firebaseio.com'
});

Output

Error fetching user data: Error: Credential implementation provided to initializeApp() via the "credential" property failed to fetch a valid Google OAuth2 access token with the following error: "Error fetching access token: Error while making request: incorrect header check. Error code: Z_DATA_ERROR".
        at FirebaseAppError.FirebaseError [as constructor] (error.js?8304:42)
        at FirebaseAppError.PrefixedFirebaseError [as constructor] (error.js?8304:88)
        at new FirebaseAppError (error.js?8304:122)
        at eval (firebase-app.js?0db4:121)

Answer 1

The Z_DATA_ERROR suggests that gzip is at fault. Make sure the Firebase Admin SDK has been updated to the latest version.

Also ensure that your computer clock is synchronized.

• How to Synchronize the Clock in Windows 10 with Internet or Atomic Time
• How to Synchronize Time with NTP in Linux

And finally, check that the Firebase service account and the database URL are for the same project.