Does accessing Firebase Database via Firebase Console adds to Usage? - firebase-security

Question

I was wondering if accessing data, For example view any item, modify any item in Db/Firestore directly via Firebase console adds to usage (data download/ FireStore Read etc.)
I googled it to find an answer but I didn't find any. So raising my query here.
Also wanted to know if there is a way to provide write access to a particular child to 3-4 specific emails (google authentication). I understand we can allow writing to users who created it using the below rules. But in my case, I want others (few) also to be able to write to the child but not all( so cannot use ".write": "auth != null" )
{
"rules": {
"users": {
"$uid": {
".write": "$uid === auth.uid"
}
}
}
}
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Yes, it does charge you. The documentation says,
Firebase console data: Although this isn't usually a significant portion of Realtime Database costs, Firebase charges for data that you read and write from the Firebase console.
Similarly you are charged for any reads and writes from the Firestore console. Also you need to be the project owner (or have editor/viewer role) to access the console. You'll be charged the amount of data loaded or written. For example, if the console loads 500 documents then you'll be charged 500 reads.
For the data retrieved from client side, "Firebase charges for the downloaded data. Typically, this makes up the bulk of your bandwidth costs, but it isn't the only factor in your bill." Make sure you check all the factors in the documentation above.
To allow specific users to read or write to your database, you can try using custom claims. You can refer to this answer for a detailed explanation on security rules with custom claims.