Google unveils Firebase Studio for AI app development

Google is previewing Firebase Studio, a cloud-based agentic development environment designed to build, test, deploy, and run AI applications.

Introduced April 9, Firebase Studio fuses tools such as the Project IDX cloud IDE, the Genkit framework for AI applications, and Gemini in Firebase, an AI-powered collaborative assistant, into a unified, agentic experience, Google said. The platform offers prototyping capabilities, coding workspaces, and flexible deployment options, allowing developers to move faster and build the next generation of innovative applications quicker, the company said.

Developers can use an app prototyping agent to generate functional web app prototypes, starting with Next.js, using natural language prompts, images, or drawings. Firebase Studio wires up Genkit and provides a Gemini API key to enable AI features to work out-of-the-box.

Developers also can iterate quickly with Firebase Studio, Google said. Apps can be edited through chat with Gemini. For example, developers could ask Gemini to add user authentication, change the layout, or refine the UI. Gemini understands a developer’s code base, according to Google. Additionally, developers can leverage a coding workspace in a familiar CodeOSS-based IDE, backed with Gemini code assistance for code completion, debugging, terminal access, and integrations with Firebase services.

To see how a prototype looks on a device, developers can generate a public URL for a web preview or a QR code to load a preview of the app on a phone. When developers are pleased with a prototype and ready to test, they can click Publish. Firebase Studio uses Firebase App Hosting for one-click deployment. Developers then can open an app inside a Firebase Studio coding space, refine the architecture, and expand features to prepare for production deployment. An entire workspace can be shared with a URL. Users can collaborate in real time within the same Firebase Studio environment and then push updates.

Developers can sign up for early access to Gemini Code Assist agents within Firebase Studio for tasks such as code migration, AI model testing, and code documentation.