Set up Firebase App DistributionAndroid

Connect your Android app to Firebase App Distribution so the framework can upload builds and notify testers. This page follows Google's guide Distribute Android apps to testers using fastlaneopen_in_new.

Step 1: Register the app in Firebase

1. 1

   Open the Firebase console

   Go to console.firebase.google.comopen_in_new and select (or create) your project.
2. 2

   Add an Android app

   Click Add app → Android and enter the package name. It must match applicationId in android/app/build.gradle exactly, including any flavor suffix such as .staging (Add Firebase to Androidopen_in_new).
3. 3

   Copy the App ID

   Open Project settings → General → Your apps, copy the App ID (1:1234567890:android:abc123…) and put it in FIREBASE_ANDROID_<ENV>_APP_ID.

Step 2: Create a tester group

In App Distribution → Testers & Groups, create a group (e.g. qa-team) and add people. Then put the group alias (not the display name) in FIREBASE_ANDROID_<ENV>_GROUPS. See Manage testers and groupsopen_in_new.

Step 3: Authenticate

Option A: User token (recommended)

npm install -g firebase-tools

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Required for AI tests. Install the Firebase CLIopen_in_new, then sign in with the account that opted in to App Testing:

~/my-app $ npm install -g firebase-toolscontent_copy
~/my-app $ firebase login:cicontent_copy
Visit this URL on this device to log in:
https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?client_id=563584335869-...
Waiting for authentication...
✔  Success! Use this token to login on a CI server:
 
1//0gXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Example: firebase deploy --token "$FIREBASE_TOKEN"

Option B: Service account

Upload and distribution only (no AI tests). In Google Cloud → IAM & Admin → Service accounts, create e.g. fastlane-distribution (Create service accountsopen_in_new) with these roles:

Create a JSON key (Create service account keysopen_in_new), save it as fastlane/firebase-service-account-<name>.json (git-ignored) and point FIREBASE_SERVICE_CREDENTIALS_FILE at it.

Step 4: Enable the APIs

In Google Cloud → APIs & Services → Library, enable the following for the Firebase project (Enable an APIopen_in_new):

• Firebase App Distribution API
• Cloud Testing API
• Cloud Tool Results API
• Gemini for Google Cloud API

Step 5: Verify

~/my-app $ bundle exec fastlane android doctor environment:stagingcontent_copy
[09:31:20]: --- Android Distribution Doctor ---
[09:31:34]: Flavor mode: disabled
[09:31:34]: Firebase App Testing Agent: ENABLED (1 test case ID(s) configured)
[09:31:34]: Android staging configuration is valid.

Next steps