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Firestore Browser

Browse, pin, create, and delete Firestore collections with a fast sidebar and document table.

Overview

The Collection Browser is the primary entry point for working with Firestore data in Stackpane. It displays all top-level collections in a sidebar and renders documents in a sortable, searchable table.

Prerequisites

Stackpane uses the Cloud Firestore API to power this feature. It must be enabled in your Google Cloud project.

gcloud services enable firestore.googleapis.com --project YOUR_PROJECT_ID
  • Required IAM roles: Cloud Datastore Viewer (roles/datastore.viewer) for read access, or Cloud Datastore User (roles/datastore.user) for read/write access
  • Cost notes: The Spark (free) plan includes 1 GiB storage, 50K reads/day, 20K writes/day, and 20K deletes/day. Usage beyond these limits requires the Blaze (pay-as-you-go) plan. Browsing documents in Stackpane counts toward read quotas.

Common Errors

“Permission denied” on Firestore: Your account lacks the IAM roles needed for Firestore access. Assign at least Cloud Datastore Viewer for read access or Cloud Datastore User for read/write. Alternatively, the Firebase Editor role (roles/firebase.editor) includes Firestore permissions. Wait 1—2 minutes after granting a role for it to propagate, then retry.

Browsing Collections

When you select a project connection, Stackpane automatically loads all top-level Firestore collections in the sidebar. Click any collection name to load its documents into the main table.

  • Collections are listed alphabetically by default
  • Pinned collections appear at the top of the list for quick access
  • Subcollections are accessible from within the document inspector

Pinning Favorites

For collections you access frequently, pin them to the top of the sidebar:

  1. Right-click a collection name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Pin to Favorites.
  3. The collection moves to a “Favorites” section at the top.

To unpin, right-click the pinned collection and select Unpin. Pinned collections are stored per-connection, so your favorites stay organized across sessions.

Creating Collections

To create a new collection:

  1. Click the + button at the top of the collection sidebar.
  2. Enter the collection name.
  3. Optionally create an initial document with fields.
  4. Click Create.

The new collection appears in the sidebar immediately.

Deleting Collections

To delete a collection and all its documents:

  1. Right-click the collection name.
  2. Select Delete Collection….
  3. Confirm the deletion in the dialog.

Stackpane uses batch deletion to efficiently remove all documents. A progress indicator shows the deletion status for large collections.

Document Table

The document table displays documents from the selected collection with auto-generated columns based on document fields.

Pagination

Documents load in pages based on your configured page size (default: 25). Click Load More at the bottom to fetch the next page. The total document count is displayed when available.

Sorting

Click any column header to sort by that field. Click again to reverse the sort direction. An arrow indicator shows the current sort column and direction.

Searching

Use the search field above the table to filter documents by text content. Search works across all visible fields in real time.

Column Customization

Click the column configuration button in the toolbar to show or hide specific columns. This is useful for collections with many fields where you only need to see a subset.

Collection Statistics

Click the info icon next to a collection name to view a popover with collection statistics, including document count and estimated size.

Configuration

  • Default page size: 25, 50, 100, 250, or 500 documents per page (Settings > Data)
  • Row density: Compact, Regular, or Comfortable (Settings > Appearance)