Features
MSR Firebase is a production-ready migration framework for Firebase Realtime Database with powerful features for safe, reliable database migrations.
Table of Contents
- Complete Features List
- Firebase-Specific Features
- Migration Execution
- Migration Locking (v0.2.0+)
- Safety & Rollback
- CLI Features
- Library Features
- Data Services
- Configuration & Flexibility
- Developer Experience
- Features by Category
- 🔥 Firebase Native Features
- 🔒 Migration Locking (Production Ready)
- 💾 Backup & Restore
- 🛡️ Type Safety & Developer Experience
- 📦 CLI & Library
- 🔄 Migration Management
- 🔍 Validation & Quality
- 📊 Data Services
- 🚀 Production Features
- 🐳 Platform Support
- Quick Feature Comparison
- What Makes MSR Firebase Different?
- Built for Firebase Realtime Database
- Production-Ready Locking
- Library-First Design
- Type-Safe Migrations
- Getting Started
- Feature Highlights by Version
- v0.2.0 (Current - Unstable)
- v0.1.x (Stable)
Complete Features List
Firebase-Specific Features
Migration Execution
Migration Locking (v0.2.0+)
Safety & Rollback
CLI Features
Library Features
Data Services
Configuration & Flexibility
Developer Experience
Features by Category
🔥 Firebase Native Features
| Feature | Description |
| 🔥 Firebase Realtime Database | Native support for Firebase Admin SDK with full API access |
| 🔒 Single-Node Transactions | Atomic operations via Firebase’s ref.transaction() for safe concurrent updates |
| 🎯 Path Prefixing | Multi-environment support with automatic path shifting (production/, staging/, etc.) |
| 🧪 Emulator Support | Test migrations locally with Firebase Emulator before production deployment |
| 🔑 Flexible Authentication | Service account key file or Application Default Credentials |
| 🌐 Connection Testing | Built-in command to verify database connectivity and credentials |
🔒 Migration Locking (Production Ready)
| Feature | Description |
| 🔐 Database-Level Locking | Prevent concurrent migrations across multiple instances using Firebase atomic operations |
| ☸️ Kubernetes Compatible | Safe migrations in multi-pod deployments with automatic lock management |
| 🐳 Docker Support | Works seamlessly with Docker Swarm and Docker Compose multi-replica setups |
| ⏱️ Automatic Expiration | Configurable lock timeouts (default 10 minutes) with automatic cleanup |
| 🖥️ Lock Management CLI | lock:status and lock:release commands for production troubleshooting |
| 🛡️ Two-Phase Locking | Lock ownership verification prevents race conditions and ensures safety |
💾 Backup & Restore
| Feature | Description |
| 💾 Automatic Backups | Create JSON backups of Firebase database before migrations |
| 📊 Multiple Backup Modes | Choose from full database, incremental, or no backup based on your needs |
| 🔙 Point-in-Time Restore | Restore database from any previous backup with single command |
| 📁 Backup Management | List available backups with timestamps and metadata |
| 🗜️ Compressed Storage | Efficient JSON format with optional compression |
| 🎯 Selective Backup | Backup only affected paths or entire database |
🛡️ Type Safety & Developer Experience
| Feature | Description |
| 📘 TypeScript First | Full TypeScript support with generic type parameters |
| 🎯 Database Type Safety | IFirebaseDB interface provides IDE autocomplete and compile-time checks |
| 🧩 Generic Migrations | Type-safe migration classes with IRunnableScript<IFirebaseDB> |
| 📦 Entity Service | Generic EntityService<T> for type-safe CRUD operations |
| 🔍 IntelliSense Support | Full IDE support with method signatures and parameter hints |
| ✅ Compile-Time Checks | Catch errors before runtime with TypeScript compiler |
📦 CLI & Library
| Feature | Description |
| 🖥️ Complete CLI | msr-firebase command with all migration operations |
| 🔧 Programmatic API | Use as library in Node.js applications with FirebaseRunner |
| ⚙️ Flexible Configuration | Environment variables, config files, or inline CLI flags |
| 📊 Structured Results | Library mode returns result objects instead of process.exit() |
| 🎨 Output Formats | Table, JSON, or silent output for different use cases |
| 🌍 Environment Detection | Automatic detection of .env files and environment variables |
🔄 Migration Management
| Feature | Description |
| 📝 Version-Based Naming | Timestamp-based migration files (e.g., V202501010001_create_users.ts) |
| ⬆️ Up Migrations | Apply migrations to update database schema and data |
| ⬇️ Down Migrations | Reverse migrations with down() methods for rollback |
| 📊 Migration Status | List all migrations with applied/pending status |
| 🎯 Target Version | Migrate to specific version or roll back to earlier state |
| ✅ Checksum Validation | Detect unauthorized changes to executed migrations |
🔍 Validation & Quality
| Feature | Description |
| ✅ Pre-Migration Validation | Validate all migrations before execution to catch issues early |
| 🔎 Duplicate Detection | Prevent timestamp collisions and duplicate migration files |
| 📝 Structure Validation | Ensure migrations follow required naming and structure conventions |
| ⚠️ Connection Validation | Verify Firebase connectivity before attempting migrations |
| 🛡️ Checksum Verification | Detect modifications to previously executed migrations |
📊 Data Services
| Feature | Description |
| 🗃️ EntityService | Type-safe CRUD operations: create, read, update, delete, list with generic types |
| 📄 FirebaseDataService | Low-level Firebase operations with transaction support |
| 🔄 Atomic Operations | Use Firebase transactions for safe concurrent updates |
| 📦 Batch Operations | Efficient multi-entity updates with single database call |
| 📖 Pagination | Built-in limit and offset support for large collections |
| 🔍 Query Support | Firebase query operations with orderBy, limitToFirst, startAt |
🚀 Production Features
| Feature | Description |
| 🔒 Distributed Locking | Safe concurrent migration prevention across all instances |
| 💾 Automatic Backups | Database backups before every migration run |
| 📈 Progress Tracking | Real-time progress for long-running migrations |
| 🎯 Zero Downtime | Non-blocking migrations with proper transaction handling |
| 📊 Execution History | Complete audit trail of all migrations with timestamps |
| 🛡️ Error Recovery | Automatic rollback on failure with backup restore |
| Feature | Description |
| ☸️ Kubernetes | ConfigMaps and Secrets integration, safe multi-pod deployments |
| 🐳 Docker | Environment variable configuration, Docker Swarm/Compose support |
| ⚙️ CI/CD Integration | GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins - works in all pipelines |
| 🖥️ Cross-Platform | Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows |
| 📦 npm Package | Easy installation: npm install @migration-script-runner/firebase |
| 🌐 Serverless Ready | Use in Cloud Functions, Lambda with proper initialization |
Quick Feature Comparison
Compare MSR Firebase features across different use cases:
| Use Case | Key Features |
| Development | Fast iteration, down() methods, Firebase Emulator, TypeScript support, local testing |
| CI/CD | Automated validation, checksum verification, environment variables, structured output |
| Production | Migration locking, automatic backups, error recovery, audit trails, lock management CLI |
| Kubernetes | Database-level locking, ConfigMap integration, multi-pod safety, automatic lock cleanup |
| Docker | Environment variables, Swarm support, replica safety, container-ready configuration |
| Serverless | Structured results, programmatic API, no process.exit(), quick initialization |
What Makes MSR Firebase Different?
Built for Firebase Realtime Database
Unlike generic migration tools, MSR Firebase is built specifically for Firebase:
- Native Firebase SDK integration - Full access to Firebase Admin SDK features
- Understands Firebase limitations - Clear documentation of single-node transaction constraints
- Firebase-specific helpers - EntityService, FirebaseDataService for common patterns
- Emulator support - Test migrations locally before production
- Path prefixing - Built-in multi-environment support
Production-Ready Locking
First Firebase migration tool with proper distributed locking:
- Database-level locks - Uses Firebase atomic operations, not file locks
- Kubernetes-tested - Safe for multi-pod deployments
- Automatic expiration - Configurable timeouts prevent stuck locks
- CLI management - Force-release locks when needed
- Two-phase verification - Ownership checks prevent race conditions
Library-First Design
Unlike most migration tools, MSR Firebase returns structured results:
- Safe to use in web servers (Express, Fastify, NestJS)
- Works in serverless functions (Cloud Functions, Lambda)
- No unexpected
process.exit() calls - Full error details in return values
- Perfect for application integration
Type-Safe Migrations
Full TypeScript support throughout:
- Generic type parameters for database operations
- IDE autocomplete for all methods
- Compile-time error detection
- Type-safe EntityService with generics
- No casting or type assertions needed
Getting Started
Ready to use these features? Start here:
Feature Highlights by Version
v0.2.0 (Current - Unstable)
⚠️ Unstable Version: v0.2.0 is currently under active development and not recommended for production use.
- 🔒 Migration Locking - Database-level locking for distributed environments (Kubernetes, Docker, multi-instance)
- ⬆️ MSR Core v0.8.1 - Latest core with bug fixes, handler access API, and improved locking lifecycle
- 🔧 Type-Safe API - Full TypeScript support with generic type parameters throughout
- 🖥️ Lock Management CLI -
lock:status and lock:release commands for production lock management - 📚 Comprehensive Documentation - Complete restructure with CLI/Library/Writing Migrations sections
- 🎨 Professional Site - Favicon, Key Features cards, improved navigation
v0.1.x (Stable)
- ✨ Core Migration Engine - Basic up/down migration execution
- 🔥 Firebase Integration - Firebase Admin SDK integration with service account authentication
- 💾 Backup & Restore - Automatic JSON backups with restore capability
- 📦 EntityService - Type-safe CRUD operations helper
- 🖥️ Complete CLI -
msr-firebase command with all standard operations - 📘 TypeScript Support - Full type safety with interfaces and generics
- 🧪 Emulator Support - Firebase Emulator testing workflow
- ✅ Checksum Validation - Detect modified migrations
- 🎯 Path Prefixing - Multi-environment database support with shift configuration
