How can I automate enabling Firebase App Distribution for a new Firebase app?

Below is some information and steps to address this issue.

What’s Happening

The error message indicates that the Firebase App Distribution Tester API is still disabled for your project. In order to use App Distribution (and its CLI tools) you must have the API enabled. The message specifically tells you to click the "Get started" button on the Firebase App Distribution page of the Firebase console, which initializes (or "onboards") your app for App Distribution.

Why It’s Required

Even when automating your environments, Firebase requires that each project have the App Distribution Tester API enabled before you can upload builds. This onboarding step is currently a manual requirement via the Firebase console and there isn’t an API call available that mimics the effect of clicking "Get started".

Recommended Steps

1. Manually Enable the API Once:

   • Open the Firebase App Distribution page in your Firebase console.
   • For your project, click on the "Get started" button. This action will enable the App Distribution Tester API and allow subsequent automated deployments.

2. Wait for Propagation:

   • After enabling, it might take a few minutes for the changes to propagate through the App Distribution systems.

3. Proceed with Automation:

   • Once the API is active, your existing GitHub workflow script should work as expected when running:

     YAMLCopied
     - name: Deploy App to Firebase App Distribution
       working-directory: ./myapp
       run: |
         firebase appdistribution:distribute "myapp.apk" \
           --app ${{ inputs.firebase_app_id }} \
           --groups ${{ inputs.distribution_group }} \
           --project=${{ inputs.target_project_id }}

Why No Automated API Call?

At this time, there is no API endpoint available that programmatically enables App Distribution for a project. The onboarding action (i.e., clicking the "Get started" button) is required to enable the Firebase App Distribution Tester API. This manual step is a one-time setup per project.

Summary

Unfortunately, there isn’t a programmatic API call to bypass the "Get started" manual step. You must enable the API manually through the Firebase console. After that, the automated deployment process should work seamlessly within your CI/CD pipeline.