How to create and manage Firebase Firestore indexes?

Discover the secrets to effortlessly creating and managing Firebase Firestore indexes. Dive into step-by-step instructions paired with top-tier best practices to ensure everything runs smoothly.

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Overview

Optimizing Firebase Firestore performance involves creating and managing indexes. Although Firestore generates single-field indexes on its own, composite indexes are necessary for complex queries with multiple fields. You can create these using the Firestore console or Firebase CLI. As your application's data model changes, keep indexes updated or remove outdated ones to maintain swift access and peak performance. Knowing these practices helps significantly in making your Firestore database efficient and scalable.

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How to create and manage Firebase Firestore indexes?

Step 1: Navigate to Firestore Database in Firebase Console

Fire up your web browser and head over to the Firebase Console.
Pick your Firebase project from the list.
On the left-hand menu, click on “Firestore Database”.

Step 2: Access Indexes Tab

Once you're in the Firestore section, find the “Indexes” tab in the top menu and click on it.

Step 3: Create a New Composite Index

In the “Indexes” tab, look for the “Composite Indexes” section.
Hit the “Add Index” button.

Step 4: Configure Composite Index

Pick the collection you want to create the index for.
Add the fields you want to index and set the sorting order for each field (ascending or descending).
Click “Save” to create the index.

Step 5: Manage Indexes

You'll see a list of existing indexes under the “Indexes” tab.
To delete an index, click the trash icon next to the one you want to remove.
Confirm the deletion when asked.

Step 6: Automatic Indexing

Firestore automatically creates single-field indexes for each field in your documents.
To turn off automatic indexing for a specific field, use the @exclude annotation in your document model with the Firestore SDKs.

Step 7: Use Indexes in Queries

Make sure your queries match the structure of your indexes.
If your query needs a composite index, Firestore will give you an “Index Not Found” error along with a link to create the required index.

Step 8: Monitor Indexing Status

Index creation might take a while depending on your dataset size.
Check the status of your indexes under the “Indexes” tab (e.g., "Building" or "Enabled").
Refresh the page to see the latest indexing status updates.

Step 9: Optimize Indexes

Regularly review the indexes you've created to make sure they're still needed.
Remove any unused indexes to optimize performance and cost.
Use Firestore's index usage logs (found under “Usage” and “Index usage”) to see which indexes are being used.

Step 10: Exporting and Importing Index Configuration

You can define indexes in the firestore.indexes.json file.
Use Firebase CLI to deploy these indexes with the command firebase deploy --only firestore:indexes.
To export your current index configuration, run firebase firestore:indexes > firestore.indexes.json.

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