`firebase_tools.firestore .delete` requires a token, but where does that token come from?

Question

I have a Firebase cloud (callable) function which deletes a firestore document and all child entities, including sub-collections. I'm doing this by slightly modifying the function provided my firebase in their docs: https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/solutions/delete-collections

The important bit is here:

...
return firebase_tools.firestore
      .delete(path, {
        project: process.env.GCLOUD_PROJECT,
        recursive: true,
        yes: true,
        token: functions.config().fb.token
      })
...

When I call this function from my webpage (after a user has anthenticated), the web client throws an error that the remote function caused an error. In the firebase console, I find this error:

Unhandled error TypeError: Cannot read property 'token' of undefined

This is pointing to the line in the above code snippet: token: functions.config().fb.token. So .fb is null.

What is going on here?

Searching the web tells me something about login:ci at the command line, but although I'm developing this on my laptop, when the app is deployed, there will be no command line. The website will be on firebase hosting. It makes a call to a firebase cloud function. I'm using firebase auth for user authentication (email/password) and storing data in firestore.

Further, I'm already enabled on my command line, since I can do firebase deploy --only functions just fine. How do I make sure functions.config().fb doesn't return a null??

Answer 1

If you want, you can just paste the token string directly into the code, replacing functions.config().fb.token. The authors of that page probably figured you didn't want to do that, so they suggested you should create a configuration item for it instead.

If you don't want to paste it in, and you actually want to configure the function to get that value from configuration, you will have to set the config on the command line using functions:config:set like this:

firebase functions:config:set fb.token=<YOUR-TOKEN>

The deploy your function again so it can use that value.

If you found the documentation confusing, I suggest using the "send feedback" link at the top right of the page.