Firebase App Distribution Action

A GitHub Action to distribute your Android and iOS apps to testers using Firebase App Distribution. Supports wildcard file patterns for easy distribution of multiple builds (e.g., APK splits).

Note: This action bundles Firebase CLI automatically - no manual installation required!
For versioning and release information, see RELEASE.md.

Features

• 📦 Distribute Android (APK, AAB) and iOS (IPA) apps to Firebase App Distribution
• 🎯 Support for wildcard patterns to upload multiple files (perfect for APK splits)
• 🔐 Service account authentication (file or content)
• 📝 Automatic release notes from git history or custom notes
• 👥 Target specific tester groups or individual testers
• 📊 Get distribution URLs as action outputs

Prerequisites

• Firebase project set up
• Firebase App Distribution enabled for your app
• Service account credentials configured

Authentication

This action uses Firebase service account authentication for secure, long-term access.

Setting up Service Account

1. Go to the Firebase Console
2. Select your project
3. Go to Project Settings > Service Accounts
4. Click "Generate New Private Key"
5. Download the JSON key file
6. Add the content as a GitHub secret

Usage

Basic Usage

- name: Distribute to Firebase App Distribution
  uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
  with:
    serviceCredentialsFileContent: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
    file: app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk
    appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
    groups: testers

Upload Multiple Files with Wildcards

Perfect for distributing APK splits or multiple variants. See the Wildcard Pattern Guide for more pattern examples.

- name: Distribute APK Splits
  uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
  with:
    serviceCredentialsFileContent: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
    file: 'app/build/outputs/apk/release/*.apk'
    appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
    groups: internal-testers
    releaseNotes: 'New build with split APKs for different architectures'
    # Each file will have its name appended to release notes by default
    # Set to 'false' to disable: includeFileNameInReleaseNotes: false

Complete Example with Custom Release Notes

name: Distribute App

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  distribute:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5

      - name: Build APK
        run: ./gradlew assembleRelease

      - name: Distribute to Firebase
        uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
        with:
          serviceCredentialsFileContent: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
          file: 'app/build/outputs/apk/**/*.apk'
          appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
          groups: 'qa-team, beta-testers'
          releaseNotes: |
            🚀 New features:
            - Feature A
            - Feature B

            🐛 Bug fixes:
            - Fixed issue X

Using Release Notes from File

- name: Distribute with Release Notes File
  uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
  with:
    serviceCredentialsFileContent: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
    file: app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk
    appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
    testers: 'tester1@example.com, tester2@example.com'
    releaseNotesFile: RELEASE_NOTES.txt

Using Service Account File Path

- name: Distribute with Service Account File
  uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
  with:
    serviceCredentialsFile: ./firebase-service-account.json
    file: '**/*.apk'
    appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
    groups: testers

Multi-Repository Workflow

When you have multiple repositories checked out in your workflow:

- name: Checkout main app
  uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    path: main-app

- name: Checkout library
  uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    repository: org/library
    path: library

- name: Build main app
  run: ./gradlew assembleRelease
  working-directory: main-app

- name: Distribute from main-app directory
  uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
  with:
    workingDirectory: main-app
    serviceCredentialsFileContent: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
    file: 'app/build/outputs/apk/release/*.apk'
    appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
    groups: testers

Inputs

Name	Description	Required	Default
file	Path to binary file(s) to upload. Supports wildcards (e.g., *.apk, **/*.aab)	Yes
workingDirectory	Working directory to run the action in (for multi-repo workflows)	No	.
appId	Firebase App ID (found in Firebase console)	Yes
serviceCredentialsFile	Path to service account JSON file	No*
serviceCredentialsFileContent	Content of service account JSON file	No*
groups	Comma-separated list of tester group names	No
testers	Comma-separated list of tester email addresses	No
releaseNotes	Release notes text	No	Latest git commit
releaseNotesFile	Path to file containing release notes	No
includeFileNameInReleaseNotes	Include filename in release notes when distributing multiple files	No	true
debug	Enable debug mode for detailed logging	No	false

*Either serviceCredentialsFile or serviceCredentialsFileContent must be provided

Outputs

Name	Description
firebase-console-uri	URL to view the release in Firebase Console
testing-uri	URL to share with testers for downloading the app
binary-download-uri	Direct download URL for the binary

Using Outputs

- name: Distribute to Firebase
  id: firebase
  uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
  with:
    serviceCredentialsFileContent: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
    file: app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk
    appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
    groups: testers

- name: Send notification
  run: |
    echo "Console: ${{ steps.firebase.outputs.firebase-console-uri }}"
    echo "Testing: ${{ steps.firebase.outputs.testing-uri }}"
    echo "Download: ${{ steps.firebase.outputs.binary-download-uri }}"

Wildcard Patterns

The action uses glob patterns. Here are some examples:

• *.apk - All APK files in current directory
• **/*.apk - All APK files in current directory and subdirectories
• app/build/outputs/apk/**/*.apk - All APKs in specific path
• *.{apk,aab} - All APK and AAB files
• app-*-release.apk - Files matching the pattern

See WILDCARD_GUIDE.md for comprehensive pattern examples.

Setting up Secrets

Required Secrets

Add these secrets to your GitHub repository (Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions):

1. FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT - Your service account JSON content
2. FIREBASE_APP_ID - Your Firebase App ID (e.g., 1:1234567890:android:abcdef)

Finding Your Firebase App ID

1. Go to Firebase Console
2. Select your project
3. Go to Project Settings
4. Scroll to "Your apps" section
5. Copy the App ID

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. No files found matching pattern

   • Check that your build artifacts exist before running this action
   • Verify the file path is correct
   • Use ls or find commands to debug file locations

2. Authentication failed

   • Ensure your service account has the "Firebase App Distribution Admin" role
   • Verify the JSON content is properly formatted
   • Check that the service account JSON is for the correct Firebase project

3. App ID not found

   • Verify the App ID format (should be like 1:1234567890:android:abcdef)
   • Ensure App Distribution is enabled for your app in Firebase Console

4. No testers or groups specified

   • At least one of groups or testers should be specified
   • Group names are case-sensitive

Debug Mode

Enable debug mode for detailed logging:

- uses: logickoder/firebase-distribution@v1
  with:
    serviceCredentialsFileContent: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
    file: app.apk
    appId: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_APP_ID }}
    groups: testers
    debug: true

Versioning

This action follows semantic versioning. You can reference it in three ways:

• @v1 (Recommended) - Automatically uses the latest v1.x.x release
• @v1.2.3 (Stable) - Pins to an exact version for maximum stability
• @main (Not recommended) - Uses the latest commit (may be unstable)

For most use cases, using @v1 is recommended as it provides automatic updates while maintaining compatibility.

📖 For maintainers: See RELEASE.md for detailed information about the release process, creating new versions, and how the distribution system works.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Related Actions

• Firebase App Distribution Official
• Android Build Actions

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.