Engineering Analytics
Databases

How to load data from Firebase Realtime Database to Typesense

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your Firebase Realtime Database data into Typesense within minutes.

TL;DR

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps:

  1. set up Firebase Realtime Database as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
  2. set up Typesense as a destination connector
  3. define which data you want to transfer and how frequently

You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

This tutorial’s purpose is to show you how.

What is Firebase Realtime Database

The Firebase Real-time Database allows you to build rich, collaborative applications by allowing secure access to the database directly from client-side code. The Firebase Real-time Database is a NoSQL database from which we can store and sync the data between our users in real-time. Firebase Real-time Database is a solution that stores data in the cloud and offers an easy way to sync your data among various devices, and it is a cloud-hosted database. Data is stored as JSON and synchronized in real-time to every connected client.

What is Typesense

Typesense is an open-source, typo-tolerant search engine optimized for an instant (typically sub-50ms) search-like-up-type experience and developer productivity. If you've heard of Elasticsearch or Algolia, a good way to think about Typesense is that it's an open source alternative to Algolia, with some key issues fixed and an easy-to-use battery-powered alternative to Elasticsearch.It works like a CDN, but for Search. Deploy nodes around the world, closest to your users, to provide them an ultra-fast search experience.

Integrate Firebase Realtime Database with Typesense in minutes

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Prerequisites

  1. A Firebase Realtime Database account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
  2. A Typesense account.
  3. An active Airbyte Cloud account, or you can also choose to use Airbyte Open Source locally. You can follow the instructions to set up Airbyte on your system using docker-compose.

Airbyte is an open-source data integration platform that consolidates and streamlines the process of extracting and loading data from multiple data sources to data warehouses. It offers pre-built connectors, including Firebase Realtime Database and Typesense, for seamless data migration.

When using Airbyte to move data from Firebase Realtime Database to Typesense, it extracts data from Firebase Realtime Database using the source connector, converts it into a format Typesense can ingest using the provided schema, and then loads it into Typesense via the destination connector. This allows businesses to leverage their Firebase Realtime Database data for advanced analytics and insights within Typesense, simplifying the ETL process and saving significant time and resources.

Step 1: Set up Firebase Realtime Database as a source connector

1. First, you need to create a Firebase project and obtain the necessary credentials. You can do this by going to the Firebase console and selecting your project. Then, navigate to the "Settings" tab and select "Service Accounts." From there, click on "Generate new private key" to download a JSON file containing your credentials.  
2. In Airbyte, navigate to the "Sources" tab and select "Add Source." Choose "Firebase" from the list of available sources.  
3. In the Firebase source configuration page, you will need to enter the following information:  - Name: A unique name for your source - Firebase Project ID: The ID of your Firebase project - Firebase Credentials: Copy and paste the contents of the JSON file you downloaded earlier into this field  
4. Once you have entered all the necessary information, click "Test Connection" to ensure that Airbyte can successfully connect to your Firebase source.  
5. If the connection is successful, you can then configure the specific tables or collections you want to replicate in Airbyte. You can do this by selecting the "Schema" tab and choosing the tables or collections you want to replicate. 6. Finally, click "Create Source" to save your configuration and start replicating data from your Firebase source.

Step 2: Set up Typesense as a destination connector

1. First, navigate to the Airbyte website and log in to your account.
2. Once you are logged in, click on the "Destinations" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Scroll down until you find the Typesense destination connector and click on it.
4. You will be prompted to enter your Typesense API key. Enter this information and click "Test Connection" to ensure that the connection is successful.
5. If the connection is successful, click "Save" to save your Typesense destination connector settings.
6. Next, navigate to the "Sources" tab on the left-hand side of the screen and select the source that you want to connect to your Typesense destination.
7. Follow the prompts to enter the necessary information for your source connector, such as the API key or database credentials.
8. Once you have entered all of the necessary information, click "Test Connection" to ensure that the connection is successful.
9. If the connection is successful, click "Save" to save your source connector settings.
10. Finally, click on the "Sync" tab on the left-hand side of the screen and select the source and destination connectors that you want to use for your data sync.
11. Follow the prompts to set up your data sync, such as selecting the tables or data types that you want to sync.
12. Once you have completed all of the necessary steps, click "Start Sync" to begin syncing your data between your source and Typesense destination connectors.

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your Firebase Realtime Database data to Typesense

Once you've successfully connected Firebase Realtime Database as a data source and Typesense as a destination in Airbyte, you can set up a data pipeline between them with the following steps:

  1. Create a new connection: On the Airbyte dashboard, navigate to the 'Connections' tab and click the '+ New Connection' button.
  2. Choose your source: Select Firebase Realtime Database from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
  3. Select your destination: Choose Typesense from the dropdown list of your configured destinations.
  4. Configure your sync: Define the frequency of your data syncs based on your business needs. Airbyte allows both manual and automatic scheduling for your data refreshes.
  5. Select the data to sync: Choose the specific Firebase Realtime Database objects you want to import data from towards Typesense. You can sync all data or select specific tables and fields.
  6. Select the sync mode for your streams: Choose between full refreshes or incremental syncs (with deduplication if you want), and this for all streams or at the stream level. Incremental is only available for streams that have a primary cursor.
  7. Test your connection: Click the 'Test Connection' button to make sure that your setup works. If the connection test is successful, save your configuration.
  8. Start the sync: If the test passes, click 'Set Up Connection'. Airbyte will start moving data from Firebase Realtime Database to Typesense according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your Typesense data warehouse is always up-to-date with your Firebase Realtime Database data.

Use Cases to transfer your Firebase Realtime Database data to Typesense

Integrating data from Firebase Realtime Database to Typesense provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

  1. Advanced Analytics: Typesense’s powerful data processing capabilities enable you to perform complex queries and data analysis on your Firebase Realtime Database data, extracting insights that wouldn't be possible within Firebase Realtime Database alone.
  2. Data Consolidation: If you're using multiple other sources along with Firebase Realtime Database, syncing to Typesense allows you to centralize your data for a holistic view of your operations, and to set up a change data capture process so you never have any discrepancies in your data again.
  3. Historical Data Analysis: Firebase Realtime Database has limits on historical data. Syncing data to Typesense allows for long-term data retention and analysis of historical trends over time.
  4. Data Security and Compliance: Typesense provides robust data security features. Syncing Firebase Realtime Database data to Typesense ensures your data is secured and allows for advanced data governance and compliance management.
  5. Scalability: Typesense can handle large volumes of data without affecting performance, providing an ideal solution for growing businesses with expanding Firebase Realtime Database data.
  6. Data Science and Machine Learning: By having Firebase Realtime Database data in Typesense, you can apply machine learning models to your data for predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and more.
  7. Reporting and Visualization: While Firebase Realtime Database provides reporting tools, data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Looker (Google Data Studio) can connect to Typesense, providing more advanced business intelligence options. If you have a Firebase Realtime Database table that needs to be converted to a Typesense table, Airbyte can do that automatically.

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

  1. Configure a Firebase Realtime Database account as an Airbyte data source connector.
  2. Configure Typesense as a data destination connector.
  3. Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from Firebase Realtime Database to Typesense after you set a schedule

With Airbyte, creating data pipelines take minutes, and the data integration possibilities are endless. Airbyte supports the largest catalog of API tools, databases, and files, among other sources. Airbyte's connectors are open-source, so you can add any custom objects to the connector, or even build a new connector from scratch without any local dev environment or any data engineer within 10 minutes with the no-code connector builder.

We look forward to seeing you make use of it! We invite you to join the conversation on our community Slack Channel, or sign up for our newsletter. You should also check out other Airbyte tutorials, and Airbyte’s content hub!

What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

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What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

flag icon
Easily address your data movement needs with Airbyte Cloud
Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
Get started with Airbyte for free
high five icon
Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
Talk to sales
stars sparkling
Improve your data infrastructure knowledge
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get the community’s new enlightening content along with Airbyte’s progress in their mission to solve data integration once and for all.
Subscribe to newsletter

Frequently Asked Questions

What data can you extract from Firebase Realtime Database?

Firebase's API gives access to a wide range of data types, including:  

1. Real-time database: This includes data that is stored in real-time and can be accessed and updated in real-time.  
2. Cloud Firestore: This is a NoSQL document database that stores data in documents and collections.  
3. Authentication: This includes user data such as email, password, and authentication tokens.  
4. Cloud Storage: This includes data such as images, videos, and other files that are stored in the cloud.  
5. Cloud Functions: This includes data that is processed by serverless functions in the cloud.  
6. Cloud Messaging: This includes data related to push notifications and messaging.  
7. Analytics: This includes data related to user behavior and app usage.  
8. Performance Monitoring: This includes data related to app performance and user experience.  
9. Remote Config: This includes data related to app configuration and feature flags.  

Overall, Firebase's API provides access to a wide range of data types that are essential for building modern web and mobile applications.

What data can you transfer to Typesense?

You can transfer a wide variety of data to Typesense. This usually includes structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data like transaction records, log files, JSON data, CSV files, and more, allowing robust, scalable data integration and analysis.

What are top ETL tools to transfer data from Firebase Realtime Database to Typesense?

The most prominent ETL tools to transfer data from Firebase Realtime Database to Typesense include:

  • Airbyte
  • Fivetran
  • Stitch
  • Matillion
  • Talend Data Integration

These tools help in extracting data from Firebase Realtime Database and various sources (APIs, databases, and more), transforming it efficiently, and loading it into Typesense and other databases, data warehouses and data lakes, enhancing data management capabilities.