TypeScript: getReactNativePersistence not exported from firebase/auth

[yakupafsin]

Operating System

Development OS: macOS 15.6.1 (Sequoia) Target Platforms: iOS and Android

Environment (if applicable)

React Native

Firebase SDK Version

12.4.0

Firebase SDK Product(s)

Auth

Project Tooling

Expo SDK 53.0.23 (React Native 0.79.6)

Detailed Problem Description

Problem Description

What I was trying to achieve

I'm trying to initialize Firebase Auth in my React Native (Expo) app with React Native persistence using AsyncStorage, following the Firebase documentation for React Native setup.

What actually happened

TypeScript throws a compilation error when attempting to import getReactNativePersistence from firebase/auth:

Module '"firebase/auth"' has no exported member 'getReactNativePersistence'.ts(2305)

Code that's failing

import { Auth, connectAuthEmulator, initializeAuth, getReactNativePersistence } from 'firebase/auth';

Error message

Module '"firebase/auth"' has no exported member 'getReactNativePersistence'.ts(2305)

Expected behavior

According to Firebase documentation, getReactNativePersistence should be importable from firebase/auth (or firebase/auth/react-native) to enable persistent authentication in React Native apps.

Additional context

• The TypeScript compiler cannot find this export in the type definitions
• This blocks the ability to properly configure Firebase Auth persistence in React Native
• No runtime errors occur if I ignore the TypeScript error, suggesting the function exists at runtime but is missing from type definitions

Steps and code to reproduce issue

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a new Expo project with TypeScript:

   npx create-expo-app@latest my-app --template blank-typescript
   cd my-app

2. Install Firebase and AsyncStorage:

   npm install firebase @react-native-async-storage/async-storage

3. Create a Firebase config file (firebase.config.ts):

   import { initializeApp } from 'firebase/app';
   import { initializeAuth, getReactNativePersistence } from 'firebase/auth';
   import AsyncStorage from '@react-native-async-storage/async-storage';
   
   const firebaseConfig = {
     apiKey: "your-api-key",
     authDomain: "your-auth-domain",
     projectId: "your-project-id",
     // ... other config
   };
   
   const app = initializeApp(firebaseConfig);
   
   // This line triggers the TypeScript error
   const auth = initializeAuth(app, {
     persistence: getReactNativePersistence(AsyncStorage)
   });
   
   export { auth };

4. Run TypeScript check:

   npx tsc --noEmit

5. Observe the error:

   Module '"firebase/auth"' has no exported member 'getReactNativePersistence'.ts(2305)
   

Minimal Code Snippet

import { initializeAuth, getReactNativePersistence } from 'firebase/auth';
import AsyncStorage from '@react-native-async-storage/async-storage';

// TypeScript error occurs on this import ↑
// TS2305: Module '"firebase/auth"' has no exported member 'getReactNativePersistence'

Package Versions (from package.json)

{
  "firebase": "^12.4.0",
  "react-native": "0.79.6",
  "expo": "~53.0.23",
}

[google-oss-bot]

I couldn't figure out how to label this issue, so I've labeled it for a human to triage. Hang tight.

[dlarocque]

@yakupafsin You need to make the bundler resolve firebase/auth to the react-native bundle instead of the browser or node bundle that exists in @firebase/auth.

The resolution path should be something like node_modules/firebase/auth/dist/es/index.esm.js -> node_modules/@firebase/auth/rn/index.js.

Since our team is not very familiar with Expo/Metro, we don't have any examples on how to do this.

Related:

• Auth not persisting in React Native #8798 (comment)
• Require cycle: ../../node_modules/@grpc/grpc-js/build/src/channel.js #8231 (comment)
• Auth not persisting in React Native #8798
• Firebase Auth - GetAuth / InitialiseAuth... Import only crashes the native environment. #9157
• undici dependency breaks bundling with React Native (Expo) due to use of stream module #7849 (comment)