Can't get currentUser on load

Solution 1:

This is a commonly asked question. https://firebase.google.com/docs/auth/web/manage-users You need to add an observer to onAuthStateChanged to detect the initial state and all subsequent state changes,

firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged(function(user) {
  if (user) {
    // User is signed in.
  } else {
    // No user is signed in.
  }
});

Solution 2:

The best way to always have access to currentUser is to use vuex and vuex-persistedstate

//Configure firebase
firebase.initializeApp(firebaseConfig);
//When ever the user authentication state changes write the user to vuex.
firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged((user) =>{
    if(user){
        store.dispatch('setUser', user);
    }else{
        store.dispatch('setUser', null);
    }
});

The only issue above is that if the user presses refresh on the browser the vuex state will be thrown away and you have to wait for onAuthStateChange to fire again, hence why you get null when you try to access currentUser.

The secret to the above code working all the time is to use vuex-persisted state.

In your store.js file

import Vue from 'vue'
import Vuex from 'vuex'
import firebase from 'firebase/app'
Vue.use(Vuex)
import createPersistedState from "vuex-persistedstate";
export default new Vuex.Store({
    plugins: [createPersistedState()],
  state: {
    user: null
  },
    getters:{
      getUser: state => {
          return state.user;
      }
    },
  mutations: {
    setUser(state, user){
      state.user = user;
    }
  },
  actions: {
    setUser(context, user){
        context.commit('setUser', user);
    },
    signIn(){
        let provider = new firebase.auth.GoogleAuthProvider();
        firebase.auth().signInWithPopup(provider).then(function (result) {
      })
    },
    signOut(){
        firebase.auth().signOut();
    }
  }
})

You can now protect routes in your router as in the code example below.

import Vue from 'vue'
import Router from 'vue-router'
import Home from '@/components/Home'
import Search from '@/components/Search/Search'
import CreateFishingSite from '@/components/FishingSites/CreateFishingSite'
Vue.use(Router);
import store from './store'
import firebase from 'firebase'

let router = new Router({
  routes: [
    {
      path: '/',
      name: 'home',
      component: Home
    },
      {
          path: '/search/:type',
          name: 'Search',
          component: Search
      },
      {
          path: '/fishingsite/create',
          name: 'CreateFishingSite',
          component: CreateFishingSite,
          meta: {
              requiresAuth: true
          }
      }

  ]
})

router.beforeEach(async (to, from, next)=>{
    let currentUser = store.state.user;
    console.log(currentUser);
    let requriesAuth = to.matched.some(record => record.meta.requiresAuth);
    if(requriesAuth && !currentUser){
        await store.dispatch('signIn');
        next('/')
    }else{
        next()
    }
})

Solution 3:

A simple way is to add a pending state.

Here is a react example using hooks:

// useAuth.ts

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react'
import { auth } from 'firebase'

export function useAuth() {
  const [authState, setAuthState] = useState({
    isSignedIn: false,
    pending: true,
    user: null,
  })

  useEffect(() => {
    const unregisterAuthObserver = auth().onAuthStateChanged(user =>
      setAuthState({ user, pending: false, isSignedIn: !!user })
    )
    return () => unregisterAuthObserver()
  }, [])

  return { auth, ...authState }
}

// SignIn.tsx

import React from 'react'
import { StyledFirebaseAuth } from 'react-firebaseui'
import { useAuth } from '../hooks'

export default function SignIn() {
  const { pending, isSignedIn, user, auth } = useAuth()

  const uiConfig = {
    signInFlow: 'popup',
    signInOptions: [
      auth.GoogleAuthProvider.PROVIDER_ID,
      auth.FacebookAuthProvider.PROVIDER_ID,
    ],
  }

  if (pending) {
    return <h1>waiting...</h1>
  }

  if (!isSignedIn) {
    return (
      <div>
        <h1>My App</h1>
        <p>Please sign-in:</p>
        <StyledFirebaseAuth uiConfig={uiConfig} firebaseAuth={auth()} />
      </div>
    )
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>My App</h1>
      <p>Welcome {user.displayName}! You are now signed-in!</p>
      <a onClick={() => auth().signOut()}>Sign-out</a>
    </div>
  )
}

Solution 4:

If you are looking for a copy and paste Auth route for react with firebase:

const AuthRoute = ({ component: Component, ...rest }) => {
      const [authenticated, setAuthenticated] = useState(false)
      const [loadingAuth, setLoadingAuth] = useState(true)

      useEffect(() => {
        firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged((user) => {
          if (user) {
            setAuthenticated(true)
          } else {
            setAuthenticated(false)
          }
          setLoadingAuth(false)
        })
      }, [])
      return loadingAuth ? 'loading...' : (
        <Route
          {...rest}
          render={props =>
            authenticated ? (
              <Component {...props} />
            ) : (
              <Redirect to={{ pathname: '/user/login' }} />
            )}
        />

      )
    }