Connect Firebase for push notifications

Brudcast sends push notifications through Firebase Cloud Messaging, using your own Firebase project. All it needs from you is a service account key for that project. Your app keeps using the Firebase SDK as it does today. There is no Brudcast SDK to add. By the end of this page you’ll have an active app in Brudcast that can send notifications through your Firebase project, and you’ll have seen one arrive on a device.

Before you start, you need:

A Push subscription. See Plans and subscriptions.
A Firebase project that contains your app, and permission to create service accounts for it in the Google Cloud console.
For the last step, a device token from a test device running your app.

Watch the walkthrough

Which devices Firebase reaches

Platform	Reachable when
Android	Your app receives messages through Firebase Cloud Messaging
iOS	Your app uses the Firebase SDK, and your Firebase project is set up to deliver to Apple devices
Web	Your site uses the Firebase JavaScript SDK

Firebase Cloud Messaging is the only provider you can connect, so an iOS app or a website has to use the Firebase SDK to be reachable.

One Brudcast app per Firebase project

A device token only works with the Firebase project that issued it. Brudcast therefore ties every token to the app it was registered through, and each app in Brudcast is exactly one Firebase project.

If your Android app, iOS app and website share one Firebase project, add one app in Brudcast.
If they use separate projects, for example one for production and one for testing, add one app per project, each with its own key.

Create a service account key

Every Firebase project is also a Google Cloud project with the same project ID, so you create the service account in the Google Cloud console.

Open service accounts

Create the account

Select Create service account and give it a name you’ll recognize later, for example brudcast-push.

Grant the role

Give the account the Firebase Cloud Messaging API Admin role and nothing else. That role lets it send messages through Firebase Cloud Messaging, which is all Brudcast needs.

Download a JSON key

Open the new account, go to Keys, and select Add key > Create new key. Choose JSON and select Create. Your browser downloads the key file.

The Firebase console has a shortcut: Project settings > Service accounts > Generate new private key. That key works too, but it belongs to the Firebase Admin SDK account, which can do far more in your project than send notifications. A dedicated account with only the Firebase Cloud Messaging API Admin role limits the damage if the key ever leaks.

What’s in the key file

The key file is JSON. Brudcast reads three fields from it and ignores the rest. Upload the file exactly as it was downloaded.

{
  "type": "service_account",
  "project_id": "acme-prod-1234",
  "private_key": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n...\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\n",
  "client_email": "brudcast-push@acme-prod-1234.iam.gserviceaccount.com"
}

Field	Used for
`project_id`	The Firebase project. It must match the app’s Firebase project ID in Brudcast
`client_email`	The service account Brudcast signs in as
`private_key`	Signing Brudcast’s requests to Firebase

Add the app in Brudcast

Open the Add App dialog

Go to Channels > Push, open the Apps tab, and select Add App. The first step on the Setup tab, Connect your app for push, opens the same dialog.

Fill in the app details

Field	What to enter
Name	A name you’ll recognize, such as `Acme Android`. Up to 120 characters
Provider	Firebase Cloud Messaging
Service account key	Drop in the `.json` file. Brudcast checks that it’s a service account key and shows the service account’s email address
Firebase project ID	Filled in from the key file. It has to match the `project_id` in the file, or Brudcast refuses the app
Platforms	The platforms this Firebase project serves: Android, iOS, Web. Android and iOS are ticked to start with. Pick at least one. This is for your reference and doesn’t change how notifications are sent
Make this the default app	Optional

Select Add App. Brudcast confirms that the app was added and starts validating its key.

Wait for validation

The app starts as Validating while Brudcast checks the key with Firebase, without sending anything to a device. This usually takes a few seconds. Then it becomes Active, or Credential invalid with Firebase’s reason shown under the status. No review by Brudcast is involved.If the key was rejected, fix the problem in Google Cloud, then open the app’s More actions menu and select Replace credential. To re-run the check on the same key, select Validate again.

Choose a default app (optional)

In the app’s More actions menu, select Set as default. Only an active app can be the default. The app gets a Default badge in the list.

Send a test

On the app’s row, select Send a test (the paper-plane icon). It’s only there while the app is active.Paste a Device token from your test device, keep or change the Title and Body, and select Send Test. The token isn’t saved to any contact. The test is sent in the background, and the result appears in the dialog once Firebase has answered.Accepted by the provider means Firebase took the notification for delivery. Firebase doesn’t confirm that it reached the device, so check the device itself. Test failed shows the reason.

What happens next

Register the device tokens your app collects on your contacts. See Register device tokens.
Add Push to a campaign. See Write the notification.
If Firebase later rejects the key, including partway through a campaign, the app becomes Credential invalid and stops sending. Brudcast tells you with a notification in the dashboard and an email.

Keep the key safe

Anyone holding the key file can send notifications to your users.

Upload it to Brudcast, then delete your downloaded copy or move it into your secrets manager.
Brudcast stores the key securely and never shows it again, in the dashboard or through the API. The Apps table shows the Firebase project ID instead.
To rotate it, create a new key on the same service account, select Replace credential on the app in Brudcast, then delete the old key in Google Cloud.
If you delete a key that Brudcast is still using, the app turns Credential invalid the next time Brudcast uses it.

Manage an app

Action	Where	What it does
Send a test	The paper-plane icon	Sends one notification to a device token you enter. Only for Active apps
Edit	The pencil icon	Change the name or the platforms. The key can’t be changed here
Replace credential	More actions menu	Upload a new key. The app goes back to Validating and doesn’t send until Firebase accepts the new key
Validate again	More actions menu	Check the current key with Firebase again, for example after you fix the service account’s role
Set as default	More actions menu	Make this the default app. Only for Active apps
Disable	More actions menu	Stop the app and delete its key. Its devices can’t be reached, and campaigns that name it fail the send checks

Troubleshooting

This file is not valid JSON. Download the service account key again from the Firebase console.

Why: the file isn’t the JSON key Google Cloud generated, or it was changed after download.Fix: create a new key for the service account and upload the new file without opening or editing it.

This file is not a Firebase service account key.

Why: the file is valid JSON but not a service account key. A common mix-up is uploading the app’s Firebase config file instead.Fix: use the service account key file. It contains project_id, client_email and private_key.

This must match the project_id in the service account file

Why: the Firebase project ID field doesn’t match the key file you uploaded.Fix: clear the field and upload the key again so it fills in, or upload the key for the project you meant.

The app shows Credential invalid

Why: Firebase rejected the key. The reason from Firebase is shown under the status. The usual causes are a service account without the Firebase Cloud Messaging API Admin role, a key that was deleted in Google Cloud, or the Firebase Cloud Messaging API being turned off for the project.Fix: check the role, and check that the Firebase Cloud Messaging API is enabled under APIs & Services in the Google Cloud console. Then select Validate again, or use Replace credential with a new key. More fixes in Push troubleshooting.

Register device tokens

Store tokens on contacts through the API.

Push overview

How apps, devices and campaigns fit together.

Push troubleshooting

Credentials, devices and tokens.

Get started

Migrate to Brudcast

Channels

Audience

Campaigns

Deliverability

Mailboxes

Billing

Organization and account

Connect Firebase for push notifications

Which devices Firebase reaches

One Brudcast app per Firebase project

Create a service account key

What’s in the key file

Add the app in Brudcast

What happens next

Keep the key safe

Manage an app

Troubleshooting

Register device tokens

Push overview

Push troubleshooting

​Which devices Firebase reaches

​One Brudcast app per Firebase project

​Create a service account key

​What’s in the key file

​Add the app in Brudcast

​What happens next

​Keep the key safe

​Manage an app

​Troubleshooting

​Related

Register device tokens

Push overview

Push troubleshooting

Which devices Firebase reaches

One Brudcast app per Firebase project

Create a service account key

What’s in the key file

Add the app in Brudcast

What happens next

Keep the key safe

Manage an app

Troubleshooting

Related