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Set Up The Project On The Firebase Website

Next, we want to set up Firebase for our project.

Setup

Firebase is a platform developed by Google for creating mobile and web applications. Here, we will leverage firebase as a platform for hosting our web-based behavioral experiment, and firestore for hosting associated experimental data.

To serve a website via Firebase and use the Firestore Database, it is necessary to set up a Firebase project. Follow the steps below to get started:

Google Account

You'll need a Google account to use Firebase.

Firebase Project

  • While logged in into your Google account, head over to the Firebase website. Then, create a new project:

  • Click on Get started.

  • Click on the plus sign with Create a project.
  • Name your project (e.g., closed-loop-study) and click on Continue.
  • As we don't need Google Analytics, we can leave it disabled (you can leave it enabled if you want to use it in the future).
  • Click Create project.

Adding a Web App to Your Project

  • Now, we add a web app to the project, which will correspond to our web experiment. Navigate to the project and follow these steps:
  • Click on <\>. webapp.png
  • Name the app (can be the same as your project) and check the box Also set up Firebase Hosting. Click on Register app.
  • Select Use npm. We will use the configuration details later, but for now, click on Next.
  • We will install firebase tools later, for now, click on Next.
  • We will log in and deploy our website later, for now, click on Continue to console.

Adding Firestore To Your Project

For our closed-loop study, we will use a Firestore Database to communicate between the AutoRA workflow and the website conducting the experiment. We will upload experiment conditions to the database and also store experiment data in the database. - To build a Firestore Database, follow these steps: 1. In the left-hand menu of your project console, click on Build and select Firestore Database. build_database.png 2. Click on Create database. 3. Select a location for the server hosting the database. Click on Next. Note that your institution may have restrictions on the location of the server. Click Next 4. Select Start in production mode selected and click Create.

You have now configured Firebase for your project. Next, we will connect your local project to Firebase and deploy your web-based experiment.

Next Steps

Next: Connect your local project with Firebase.