hosting-basics
This skill provides instructions and references for working with Firebase Hosting, a fast and secure hosting service for your web app, static and dynamic content, and microservices.
Overview
Firebase Hosting provides production-grade web content hosting for developers. With a single command, you can deploy web apps and serve both static and dynamic content to a global CDN (content delivery network).
Key Features:
- Fast Content Delivery: Files are cached on SSDs at CDN edges around the world.
- Secure by Default: Zero-configuration SSL is built-in.
- Preview Channels: View and test changes on temporary preview URLs before deploying live.
- GitHub Integration: Automate previews and deploys with GitHub Actions.
- Dynamic Content: Serve dynamic content and microservices using Cloud Functions or Cloud Run.
Hosting vs App Hosting
Choose Firebase Hosting if:
- You are deploying a static site (HTML/CSS/JS).
- You are deploying a simple SPA (React, Vue, etc. without SSR).
- You want full control over the build and deploy process via CLI.
Choose Firebase App Hosting if:
- You are using a supported full-stack framework like Next.js or Angular.
- You need Server-Side Rendering (SSR) or ISR.
- You want an automated "git push to deploy" workflow with zero configuration.
Instructions
1. Configuration (firebase.json)
For details on configuring Hosting behavior, including public directories, redirects, rewrites, and headers, see [configuration.md](references/configuration.md).
2. Deploying
For instructions on deploying your site, using preview channels, and managing releases, see [deploying.md](references/deploying.md).
3. Emulation
To test your app locally:
npx -y firebase-tools@latest emulators:start --only hosting
This serves your app at http://localhost:5000 by default.