FirebaseDatabase

public classFirebaseDatabase


The entry point for accessing a Firebase Database. You can get an instance by callinggetInstance. To access a location in the database and read or write data, usegetReference.

Summary

Public fields

finalFirebaseApp

Public methods

@NonNullFirebaseApp

Returns the FirebaseApp instance to which this FirebaseDatabase belongs.

static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase

Gets the default FirebaseDatabase instance.

static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase

Gets an instance of FirebaseDatabase for a specific FirebaseApp.

static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase

Gets a FirebaseDatabase instance for the specified URL.

synchronized static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase

Gets a FirebaseDatabase instance for the specified URL, using the specified FirebaseApp.

@NonNullDatabaseReference

Gets a DatabaseReference for the database root node.

@NonNullDatabaseReference

Gets a DatabaseReference for the provided path.

@NonNullDatabaseReference

Gets a DatabaseReference for the provided URL.

static @NonNullString
void

Shuts down our connection to the Firebase Database backend untilgoOnline is called.

void

Resumes our connection to the Firebase Database backend after a previousgoOffline call.

void

The Firebase Database client automatically queues writes and sends them to the server at the earliest opportunity, depending on network connectivity.

synchronized void

By default, this is set toINFO.

synchronized void
setPersistenceCacheSizeBytes(long cacheSizeInBytes)

By default Firebase Database will use up to 10MB of disk space to cache data.

synchronized void
setPersistenceEnabled(boolean isEnabled)

The Firebase Database client will cache synchronized data and keep track of all writes you've initiated while your application is running.

void
useEmulator(@NonNullString host, int port)

Modifies this FirebaseDatabase instance to communicate with the Realtime Database emulator.

Public fields

app

public final FirebaseApp app

Public methods

getApp

public @NonNullFirebaseApp getApp()

Returns the FirebaseApp instance to which this FirebaseDatabase belongs.

Returns
@NonNullFirebaseApp

The FirebaseApp instance to which this FirebaseDatabase belongs.

getInstance

public static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase getInstance()

Gets the default FirebaseDatabase instance.

Returns
@NonNullFirebaseDatabase

A FirebaseDatabase instance.

getInstance

public static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase getInstance(@NonNullFirebaseApp app)

Gets an instance of FirebaseDatabase for a specific FirebaseApp.

Parameters
@NonNullFirebaseApp app

The FirebaseApp to get a FirebaseDatabase for.

Returns
@NonNullFirebaseDatabase

A FirebaseDatabase instance.

getInstance

public static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase getInstance(@NonNullString url)

Gets a FirebaseDatabase instance for the specified URL.

Parameters
@NonNullString url

The URL to the Firebase Database instance you want to access.

Returns
@NonNullFirebaseDatabase

A FirebaseDatabase instance.

getInstance

synchronized public static @NonNullFirebaseDatabase getInstance(@NonNullFirebaseApp app, @NonNullString url)

Gets a FirebaseDatabase instance for the specified URL, using the specified FirebaseApp.

Parameters
@NonNullFirebaseApp app

The FirebaseApp to get a FirebaseDatabase for.

@NonNullString url

The URL to the Firebase Database instance you want to access.

Returns
@NonNullFirebaseDatabase

A FirebaseDatabase instance.

getReference

public @NonNullDatabaseReference getReference()

Gets a DatabaseReference for the database root node.

Returns
@NonNullDatabaseReference

A DatabaseReference pointing to the root node.

getReference

public @NonNullDatabaseReference getReference(@NonNullString path)

Gets a DatabaseReference for the provided path.

Parameters
@NonNullString path

Path to a location in your FirebaseDatabase.

Returns
@NonNullDatabaseReference

A DatabaseReference pointing to the specified path.

getReferenceFromUrl

public @NonNullDatabaseReference getReferenceFromUrl(@NonNullString url)

Gets a DatabaseReference for the provided URL. The URL must be a URL to a path within this FirebaseDatabase. To create a DatabaseReference to a different database, create aFirebaseApp with aFirebaseOptions object configured with the appropriate database URL.

Parameters
@NonNullString url

A URL to a path within your database.

Returns
@NonNullDatabaseReference

A DatabaseReference for the provided URL.

getSdkVersion

public static @NonNullString getSdkVersion()
Returns
@NonNullString

The semver version for this build of the Firebase Database client

goOffline

public void goOffline()

Shuts down our connection to the Firebase Database backend untilgoOnline is called.

goOnline

public void goOnline()

Resumes our connection to the Firebase Database backend after a previousgoOffline call.

purgeOutstandingWrites

public void purgeOutstandingWrites()

The Firebase Database client automatically queues writes and sends them to the server at the earliest opportunity, depending on network connectivity. In some cases (e.g. offline usage) there may be a large number of writes waiting to be sent. Calling this method will purge all outstanding writes so they are abandoned.

All writes will be purged, including transactions andonDisconnect writes. The writes will be rolled back locally, perhaps triggering events for affected event listeners, and the client will not (re-)send them to the Firebase backend.

setLogLevel

synchronized public void setLogLevel(@NonNullLogger.Level logLevel)

By default, this is set toINFO. This includes any internal errors (ERROR) and any security debug messages (INFO) that the client receives. Set toDEBUG to turn on the diagnostic logging, andNONE to disable all logging.

Parameters
@NonNullLogger.Level logLevel

The desired minimum log level

setPersistenceCacheSizeBytes

synchronized public void setPersistenceCacheSizeBytes(long cacheSizeInBytes)

By default Firebase Database will use up to 10MB of disk space to cache data. If the cache grows beyond this size, Firebase Database will start removing data that hasn't been recently used. If you find that your application caches too little or too much data, call this method to change the cache size. This method must be called before creating your first Database reference and only needs to be called once per application.

Note that the specified cache size is only an approximation and the size on disk may temporarily exceed it at times. Cache sizes smaller than 1 MB or greater than 100 MB are not supported.

Parameters
long cacheSizeInBytes

The new size of the cache in bytes.

setPersistenceEnabled

synchronized public void setPersistenceEnabled(boolean isEnabled)

The Firebase Database client will cache synchronized data and keep track of all writes you've initiated while your application is running. It seamlessly handles intermittent network connections and re-sends write operations when the network connection is restored.

However by default your write operations and cached data are only stored in-memory and will be lost when your app restarts. By setting this value to `true`, the data will be persisted to on-device (disk) storage and will thus be available again when the app is restarted (even when there is no network connectivity at that time). Note that this method must be called before creating your first Database reference and only needs to be called once per application.

Parameters
boolean isEnabled

Set to true to enable disk persistence, set to false to disable it.

useEmulator

public void useEmulator(@NonNullString host, int port)

Modifies this FirebaseDatabase instance to communicate with the Realtime Database emulator.

Note: Call this method before using the instance to do any database operations.

Parameters
@NonNullString host

the emulator host (for example, 10.0.2.2)

int port

the emulator port (for example, 9000)

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under theApache 2.0 License. For details, see theGoogle Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2025-07-21 UTC.