Windows

Firenook runs natively on Windows x64, with no WSL and no Java. This page covers what is different on Windows: installing, quoting commands, stopping the emulators, and what is not supported.

Install

You need Node 22, 24 or 26 for x64. Install Firenook in your project from PowerShell or cmd, as on any other system:

npm install --save-dev firenook

npm picks the Windows engine, @firenook/cli-win32-x64, from Firenook’s optional dependencies. It is one firenook.exe built with the C runtime inside it, so no Visual C++ redistributable is needed. Keep optional dependencies enabled.

Start the emulators with npx:

npx firenook emulators:start

If PowerShell refuses to run npx because running scripts is disabled on your system, that is PowerShell’s execution policy and the npx.ps1 file that comes with Node, not Firenook. Run npx.cmd firenook emulators:start instead, or use cmd.

What each release checks on Windows

Every release builds and installs the packed packages on a Windows x64 machine with npm and with Bun, in a folder whose name has spaces and Chinese characters. It then runs the whole suite there: Firestore writes and reads, an HTTP function, Auth, Storage rules, uploads and downloads, Pub/Sub, the console, an export at shutdown, a re-import, and the terminal screen. The results are published with each release as win32-x64-suite-smoke.json.

Quote commands for emulators:exec

emulators:exec takes the test command in one of two forms.

A script in double quotes runs through the system shell, as the official CLI does. On Windows that shell is cmd.exe. Double quotes group the words in both PowerShell and cmd, so this line works in either:

npx firenook emulators:exec "npm test"

Inside the script, cmd.exe rules apply: npm run build && npm test works, and FOO=1 npm test does not.

A program after -- is started directly, with no shell:

npx firenook emulators:exec -- node ./integration-test.mjs

Use this form for programs that are .exe files, such as node. npm, npx and many other tools are .cmd scripts on Windows, which cannot be started without a shell. Give those the quoted form, or name the shell:

npx firenook emulators:exec -- cmd.exe /c npm test

In package.json, write the quotes as \", never single quotes. cmd.exe does not treat single quotes as quotes, so 'npm test' reaches Firenook as two words and is refused. This script works on Windows, macOS and Linux:

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "test:integration": "firenook emulators:exec \"npm test\""
  }
}

Set an environment variable

Some switches are environment variables, such as FIRENOOK_PLAIN=1 for the plain log, or FIREBASE_TOKEN for a first Extensions fetch. Set them for the current shell:

PowerShell

$env:FIRENOOK_PLAIN = "1"
npx firenook emulators:start

cmd

set FIRENOOK_PLAIN=1
npx firenook emulators:start

Stop the emulators

Press q or Ctrl-C. Windows has no Unix signals, so the launcher asks the engine to stop over a private pipe, and the engine saves your data before it exits. Wait for the stopped line.

Do not end firenook.exe in Task Manager or with taskkill /F: the engine then stops before it closes the data, and the next start checks it first. See recovery after a crash.

When a port is taken, the terminal names the program holding it and gives the command to stop it, taskkill /PID <pid>, along with a free port for firebase.json. See troubleshooting.

The terminal screen

The full screen, with its symbols and links, is drawn inside Windows Terminal. In other consoles, such as the older Windows console host, it uses plain characters instead. FIRENOOK_ASCII=1 asks for plain characters anywhere, and --plain prints the plain log instead of the screen.

Paths and files

• Project folders with spaces or non-English characters work; the release check runs in one.
• In firebase.json, write paths relative to the file, with forward slashes: "rules": "firestore.rules", "source": "functions".
• Rules files and .env files with Windows line endings (CRLF) load as they are.
• Firenook keeps each run’s data in .firenook\ in your project. Add .firenook/ to .gitignore.
• Commands such as emulators:export find the running emulators through a file in your temporary folder (%TEMP%), as the official CLI does.

Extensions and the Firebase login

An Extension from the registry is fetched once, with the Firebase CLI’s login or a FIREBASE_TOKEN. Firenook reads the stored login where the Firebase CLI writes it on Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.config\configstore, or under %XDG_CONFIG_HOME% when that is set. A HOME that Git Bash or another shell sets does not move it. So after firebase login, the first fetch works with no more set-up. Then run npx firenook ext:vendor and commit extensions/.sources, and no login is needed after that. See without a Google login.

The firewall

By default the emulators listen on the loopback address, 127.0.0.1, which only your own machine can reach. If you start Firenook with --host 0.0.0.0 or another network address, Windows may ask whether to let firenook.exe through the firewall. Allow it only on networks you trust: the emulators have no authentication, and anyone who can reach them can read your data and run your functions.

What is not supported

• Windows on Arm. There is no Arm64 engine. With an Arm64 build of Node, Firenook stops with:

  Firenook: Unsupported platform win32-arm64. Supported: darwin-arm64, darwin-x64, linux-x64, linux-arm64, win32-x64 (Linux with glibc 2.28 or newer). No automatic build/download fallback.

  An x64 Node running under emulation on Arm has not been tested.

• 32-bit Windows. Not supported.

• Network drives and power loss. Keeping data on a network drive, and recovery after a power cut on Windows, have not been tested. The Windows checks cover writes to a local disk, reopening, export and import.

Under WSL, install and run Firenook inside the Linux distribution, where npm picks the Linux engine. That engine needs glibc 2.28 or newer, which Ubuntu 20.04 and every later release have.

Next

Troubleshooting lists the messages Firenook prints and how to fix each one.