Firestore Trigger

Overview

This node triggers workflows based on changes occurring in a Firestore collection. It listens to real-time events such as documents being added, modified, or removed within a specified collection path. The node supports dynamic path parameters, allowing it to respond to changes in collections with variable segments (e.g., users/:userId/orders). It can also apply query filters to narrow down the documents that trigger events.

Common scenarios:

• Monitoring user activity logs stored in Firestore collections.
• Triggering workflows when new orders are placed or updated in an e-commerce app.
• Reacting to chat messages added or changed in a messaging app.
• Dynamically listening to subcollections for any user or entity by using path parameters.

Practical example:

• Listen to the collection path users/:userId/orders for any new order added (added event) or modified (modified event). When such an event occurs, the workflow is triggered with details about the changed document.

Properties

Output

The node outputs JSON objects representing Firestore document changes matching the configured criteria. Each output item contains:

• id: The document ID.
• data: The document's data fields as key-value pairs.
• changeType: The type of change event (added, modified, or removed).
• path: The full Firestore document path.
• metadata: An object containing:
  • hasPendingWrites: Boolean indicating if there are local writes not yet committed.
  • fromCache: Boolean indicating if the data was fetched from cache.
• timestamp: The timestamp (in milliseconds) when the event was processed.

If metadata changes are included, these flags reflect those updates accordingly.

The node does not output binary data.

Dependencies

• Requires a valid Firebase Admin API credential configured in n8n to authenticate with Firestore.
• Uses the official Firebase Admin SDK for Firestore access.
• The Firestore database must be accessible with the provided credentials.
• No additional environment variables are required beyond the API credential.

Troubleshooting

• Empty Collection Path: If the collection path is empty or contains invalid segments, the node throws an error. Ensure the path is correctly specified and trimmed.
• Invalid Document ID: For operations listening to a single document, the document ID must be provided and non-empty.
• Credential Validation Failure: If the Firebase credentials are invalid or misconfigured, the node will fail during initialization with an authentication error. Verify the API key and project settings.
• Listener Setup Errors: Errors during listener setup (e.g., invalid path, permission issues) will cause the node to throw errors. Check Firestore rules and path correctness.
• Dynamic Path Parameters: If dynamic path parameters are used incorrectly or parent paths cannot be resolved, the node will report errors. Follow the path format guide carefully.
• Firestore Listener Errors: Runtime errors from Firestore listeners are logged; ensure network connectivity and Firestore service availability.
• Metadata Changes: Enabling metadata changes may increase event frequency; disable if not needed to reduce noise.

Links and References

• Firestore Documentation - Listening to Document and Collection Changes
• Firebase Admin SDK for Node.js
• n8n Documentation - Creating Custom Nodes
• Firestore Query Operators