Get real-time updates

You can listen to a document with the onSnapshot() method. An initial call using the callback you provide creates a document snapshot immediately with the current contents of the single document. Then, each time the contents change, another call updates the document snapshot.

Web version 9

import { doc, onSnapshot } from "firebase/firestore";

const unsub = onSnapshot(doc(db, "cities", "SF"), (doc) => {
    console.log("Current data: ", doc.data());
});  listen_document.js

Web version 8

db.collection("cities").doc("SF")
    .onSnapshot((doc) => {
        console.log("Current data: ", doc.data());
    });  test.firestore.js

Swift

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

db.collection("cities").document("SF")
  .addSnapshotListener { documentSnapshot, error in
    guard let document = documentSnapshot else {
      print("Error fetching document: \(error!)")
      return
    }
    guard let data = document.data() else {
      print("Document data was empty.")
      return
    }
    print("Current data: \(data)")
  }  ViewController.swift

Objective-C

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

[[[self.db collectionWithPath:@"cities"] documentWithPath:@"SF"]
    addSnapshotListener:^(FIRDocumentSnapshot *snapshot, NSError *error) {
      if (snapshot == nil) {
        NSLog(@"Error fetching document: %@", error);
        return;
      }
      NSLog(@"Current data: %@", snapshot.data);
    }];  ViewController.m

Kotlin+KTX
Android

val docRef = db.collection("cities").document("SF")
docRef.addSnapshotListener { snapshot, e ->
    if (e != null) {
        Log.w(TAG, "Listen failed.", e)
        return@addSnapshotListener
    }

    if (snapshot != null && snapshot.exists()) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Current data: ${snapshot.data}")
    } else {
        Log.d(TAG, "Current data: null")
    }
}  DocSnippets.kt

Java
Android

final DocumentReference docRef = db.collection("cities").document("SF");
docRef.addSnapshotListener(new EventListener<DocumentSnapshot>() {
    @Override
    public void onEvent(@Nullable DocumentSnapshot snapshot,
                        @Nullable FirebaseFirestoreException e) {
        if (e != null) {
            Log.w(TAG, "Listen failed.", e);
            return;
        }

        if (snapshot != null && snapshot.exists()) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Current data: " + snapshot.getData());
        } else {
            Log.d(TAG, "Current data: null");
        }
    }
});  DocSnippets.java

Dart

final docRef = db.collection("cities").doc("SF");
docRef.snapshots().listen(
      (event) => print("current data: ${event.data()}"),
      onError: (error) => print("Listen failed: $error"),
    );  firestore.dart

Often, you want your UI to react to changes in the contents of a Firestore document or collection. You can do so with a StreamBuilder widget that consumes the Firestore snapshot stream:

class UserInformation extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _UserInformationState createState() => _UserInformationState();
}

class _UserInformationState extends State<UserInformation> {
  final Stream<QuerySnapshot> _usersStream =
      FirebaseFirestore.instance.collection('users').snapshots();

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return StreamBuilder<QuerySnapshot>(
      stream: _usersStream,
      builder: (BuildContext context, AsyncSnapshot<QuerySnapshot> snapshot) {
        if (snapshot.hasError) {
          return const Text('Something went wrong');
        }

        if (snapshot.connectionState == ConnectionState.waiting) {
          return const Text("Loading");
        }

        return ListView(
          children: snapshot.data!.docs
              .map((DocumentSnapshot document) {
                Map<String, dynamic> data =
                    document.data()! as Map<String, dynamic>;
                return ListTile(
                  title: Text(data['full_name']),
                  subtitle: Text(data['company']),
                );
              })
              .toList()
              .cast(),
        );
      },
    );
  }
}  user_info_streambuilder.dart

Java

 DocumentReference docRef = db.collection("cities").document("SF");
docRef.addSnapshotListener(
    new EventListener<DocumentSnapshot>() {
      @Override
      public void onEvent(@Nullable DocumentSnapshot snapshot, @Nullable FirestoreException e) {
        if (e != null) {
          System.err.println("Listen failed: " + e);
          return;
        }

        if (snapshot != null && snapshot.exists()) {
          System.out.println("Current data: " + snapshot.getData());
        } else {
          System.out.print("Current data: null");
        }
      }
    });  ListenDataSnippets.java

Python

 # Create an Event for notifying main thread.
callback_done = threading.Event()

# Create a callback on_snapshot function to capture changes
def on_snapshot(doc_snapshot, changes, read_time):
    for doc in doc_snapshot:
        print(f"Received document snapshot: {doc.id}")
    callback_done.set()

doc_ref = db.collection("cities").document("SF")

# Watch the document
doc_watch = doc_ref.on_snapshot(on_snapshot)  snippets.py

C++

DocumentReference doc_ref = db->Collection("cities").Document("SF");
doc_ref.AddSnapshotListener(
    [](const DocumentSnapshot& snapshot, Error error, const std::string& errorMsg) {
      if (error == Error::kErrorOk) {
        if (snapshot.exists()) {
          std::cout << "Current data: " << snapshot << std::endl;
        } else {
          std::cout << "Current data: null" << std::endl;
        }
      } else {
        std::cout << "Listen failed: " << error << std::endl;
      }
    });  snippets.cpp

Node.js

 const doc = db.collection('cities').doc('SF');

const observer = doc.onSnapshot(docSnapshot => {
  console.log(`Received doc snapshot: ${docSnapshot}`);
  // ...
}, err => {
  console.log(`Encountered error: ${err}`);
});  index.js

Go

 import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/firestore"
	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
)

// listenDocument listens to a single document.
func listenDocument(ctx context.Context, w io.Writer, projectID, collection string) error {
	// projectID := "project-id"
	// Сontext with timeout stops listening to changes.
	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 30*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	client, err := firestore.NewClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("firestore.NewClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	it := client.Collection(collection).Doc("SF").Snapshots(ctx)
	for {
		snap, err := it.Next()
		// DeadlineExceeded will be returned when ctx is cancelled.
		if status.Code(err) == codes.DeadlineExceeded {
			return nil
		}
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("Snapshots.Next: %w", err)
		}
		if !snap.Exists() {
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Document no longer exists\n")
			return nil
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "Received document snapshot: %v\n", snap.Data())
	}
}  listen_document.go

PHP

// Not supported in the PHP client library

Unity

DocumentReference docRef = db.Collection("cities").Document("SF");
docRef.Listen(snapshot => {
    Debug.Log("Callback received document snapshot.");
    Debug.Log(String.Format("Document data for {0} document:", snapshot.Id));
    Dictionary<string, object> city = snapshot.ToDictionary();
    foreach (KeyValuePair<string, object> pair in city) {
        Debug.Log(String.Format("{0}: {1}", pair.Key, pair.Value));
    }
});

C#

 DocumentReference docRef = db.Collection("cities").Document("SF");
FirestoreChangeListener listener = docRef.Listen(snapshot =>
{
    Console.WriteLine("Callback received document snapshot.");
    Console.WriteLine("Document exists? {0}", snapshot.Exists);
    if (snapshot.Exists)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Document data for {0} document:", snapshot.Id);
        Dictionary<string, object> city = snapshot.ToDictionary();
        foreach (KeyValuePair<string, object> pair in city)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", pair.Key, pair.Value);
        }
    }
});  Program.cs

Ruby

 doc_ref = firestore.col(collection_path).doc document_path
snapshots = []

# Watch the document.
listener = doc_ref.listen do |snapshot|
  puts "Received document snapshot: #{snapshot.document_id}"
  snapshots << snapshot
end  query_watch.rb

Events for local changes

Local writes in your app will invoke snapshot listeners immediately. This is because of an important feature called "latency compensation." When you perform a write, your listeners will be notified with the new data before the data is sent to the backend.

Retrieved documents have a metadata.hasPendingWrites property that indicates whether the document has local changes that haven't been written to the backend yet. You can use this property to determine the source of events received by your snapshot listener:

Web version 9

import { doc, onSnapshot } from "firebase/firestore";

const unsub = onSnapshot(doc(db, "cities", "SF"), (doc) => {
  const source = doc.metadata.hasPendingWrites ? "Local" : "Server";
  console.log(source, " data: ", doc.data());
});  listen_document_local.js

Web version 8

db.collection("cities").doc("SF")
    .onSnapshot((doc) => {
        var source = doc.metadata.hasPendingWrites ? "Local" : "Server";
        console.log(source, " data: ", doc.data());
    });  test.firestore.js

Swift

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

db.collection("cities").document("SF")
  .addSnapshotListener { documentSnapshot, error in
    guard let document = documentSnapshot else {
      print("Error fetching document: \(error!)")
      return
    }
    let source = document.metadata.hasPendingWrites ? "Local" : "Server"
    print("\(source) data: \(document.data() ?? [:])")
  }  ViewController.swift

Objective-C

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

[[[self.db collectionWithPath:@"cities"] documentWithPath:@"SF"]
    addSnapshotListener:^(FIRDocumentSnapshot *snapshot, NSError *error) {
      if (snapshot == nil) {
        NSLog(@"Error fetching document: %@", error);
        return;
      }
      NSString *source = snapshot.metadata.hasPendingWrites ? @"Local" : @"Server";
      NSLog(@"%@ data: %@", source, snapshot.data);
    }];  ViewController.m

Kotlin+KTX
Android

val docRef = db.collection("cities").document("SF")
docRef.addSnapshotListener { snapshot, e ->
    if (e != null) {
        Log.w(TAG, "Listen failed.", e)
        return@addSnapshotListener
    }

    val source = if (snapshot != null && snapshot.metadata.hasPendingWrites()) {
        "Local"
    } else {
        "Server"
    }

    if (snapshot != null && snapshot.exists()) {
        Log.d(TAG, "$source data: ${snapshot.data}")
    } else {
        Log.d(TAG, "$source data: null")
    }
}  DocSnippets.kt

Java
Android

final DocumentReference docRef = db.collection("cities").document("SF");
docRef.addSnapshotListener(new EventListener<DocumentSnapshot>() {
    @Override
    public void onEvent(@Nullable DocumentSnapshot snapshot,
                        @Nullable FirebaseFirestoreException e) {
        if (e != null) {
            Log.w(TAG, "Listen failed.", e);
            return;
        }

        String source = snapshot != null && snapshot.getMetadata().hasPendingWrites()
                ? "Local" : "Server";

        if (snapshot != null && snapshot.exists()) {
            Log.d(TAG, source + " data: " + snapshot.getData());
        } else {
            Log.d(TAG, source + " data: null");
        }
    }
});  DocSnippets.java

Dart

final docRef = db.collection("cities").doc("SF");
docRef.snapshots().listen(
  (event) {
    final source = (event.metadata.hasPendingWrites) ? "Local" : "Server";
    print("$source data: ${event.data()}");
  },
  onError: (error) => print("Listen failed: $error"),
);  firestore.dart

Java

# Not yet supported in the Java client library

Python

// Not yet supported in Python client library

C++

DocumentReference doc_ref = db->Collection("cities").Document("SF");
doc_ref.AddSnapshotListener([](const DocumentSnapshot& snapshot,
                               Error error, const std::string& errorMsg) {
  if (error == Error::kErrorOk) {
    const char* source =
        snapshot.metadata().has_pending_writes() ? "Local" : "Server";
    if (snapshot.exists()) {
      std::cout << source << " data: " << snapshot.Get("name").string_value()
                << std::endl;
    } else {
      std::cout << source << " data: null" << std::endl;
    }
  } else {
    std::cout << "Listen failed: " << error << std::endl;
  }
});  snippets.cpp

Node.js

// Not yet supported in the Node.js client library

Go

// Not yet supported in the Go client library

PHP

// Not supported in the PHP client library

Unity

DocumentReference docRef = db.Collection("cities").Document("SF");
docRef.Listen(
  snapshot =>
  {
      string source = (snapshot != null && snapshot.Metadata.HasPendingWrites) ? "Local" : "Server";
      string snapshotData = "null";
      if (snapshot != null && snapshot.Exists)
      {
          System.Text.StringBuilder builder = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
          IDictionary<string, object> dict = snapshot.ToDictionary();
          foreach (var KVPair in dict)
          {
              builder.Append($"{KVPair.Key}: {KVPair.Value}\n");
          }
          snapshotData = builder.ToString();
      }
      Debug.Log($"{source} data: ${snapshotData}");
  });

C#

// Not yet supported in the C# client library

Ruby

// Not yet supported in the Ruby client library

Events for metadata changes

When listening for changes to a document, collection, or query, you can pass options to control the granularity of events that your listener will receive.

By default, listeners are not notified of changes that only affect metadata. Consider what happens when your app writes a new document:

A change event is immediately fired with the new data. The document has not yet been written to the backend so the "pending writes" flag is true .
The document is written to the backend.
The backend notifies the client of the successful write. There is no change to the document data, but there is a metadata change because the "pending writes" flag is now false .

If you want to receive snapshot events when the document or query metadata changes, pass a listen options object when attaching your listener.

Web version 9

import { doc, onSnapshot } from "firebase/firestore";

const unsub = onSnapshot(
  doc(db, "cities", "SF"), 
  { includeMetadataChanges: true }, 
  (doc) => {
    // ...
  });  listen_with_metadata.js

Web version 8

db.collection("cities").doc("SF")
    .onSnapshot({
        // Listen for document metadata changes
        includeMetadataChanges: true
    }, (doc) => {
        // ...
    });  test.firestore.js

Swift

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

// Listen to document metadata.
db.collection("cities").document("SF")
  .addSnapshotListener(includeMetadataChanges: true) { documentSnapshot, error in
    // ...
  }  ViewController.swift

Objective-C

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

// Listen for metadata changes.
[[[self.db collectionWithPath:@"cities"] documentWithPath:@"SF"]
    addSnapshotListenerWithIncludeMetadataChanges:YES
                                         listener:^(FIRDocumentSnapshot *snapshot, NSError *error) {
   // ...
}];  ViewController.m

Kotlin+KTX
Android

// Listen for metadata changes to the document.
val docRef = db.collection("cities").document("SF")
docRef.addSnapshotListener(MetadataChanges.INCLUDE) { snapshot, e ->
    // ...
}  DocSnippets.kt

Java
Android

// Listen for metadata changes to the document.
DocumentReference docRef = db.collection("cities").document("SF");
docRef.addSnapshotListener(MetadataChanges.INCLUDE, new EventListener<DocumentSnapshot>() {
    @Override
    public void onEvent(@Nullable DocumentSnapshot snapshot,
                        @Nullable FirebaseFirestoreException e) {
        // ...
    }
});  DocSnippets.java

Dart

final docRef = db.collection("cities").doc("SF");
docRef.snapshots(includeMetadataChanges: true).listen((event) {
  // ...
});  firestore.dart

Java

// Not yet supported in the Java client library

Python

// Not yet supported in Python client library

C++

DocumentReference doc_ref = db->Collection("cities").Document("SF");
doc_ref.AddSnapshotListener(
    MetadataChanges::kInclude,
    [](const DocumentSnapshot& snapshot, Error error, const std::string& errorMsg) { /* ... */ });  snippets.cpp

Node.js

// Not yet supported the Node.js client library

Go

// Not yet supported in the Go client library

PHP

// Not supported in the PHP client library

Unity

DocumentReference docRef = db.Collection("cities").Document("SF");
docRef.Listen(MetadataChanges.Include, snapshot =>
{
    // ...
});

C#

// Not yet supported in the C# client library

Ruby

// Not yet supported in the Ruby client library

Configure listeners for local changes only

Firestore snapshot listeners take an initial snapshot from the local cache and concurrently fetch corresponding data from the server.

In some cases, you may not want follow-up fetches from the server. Client SDKs allow you to configure listeners to fire only with respect to data in the local cache. This helps you avoid unnecessary server calls and their costs, and leverage the client-side cache, which reflects local data and mutations.

Here, snapshot options are set in client code to allow listening for local changes only.

Web version 9

const unsubscribe = onSnapshot(
   doc(db, "cities", "SF"),
    { 
      includeMetadataChanges: true,
      source:'cache'
     },
    (documentSnapshot) => {//…}
  );

Web version 8

// Not yet supported in the Web namespaced API

Swift

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

// Set up listener options
let options = SnapshotListenOptions()
    .withSource(ListenSource.cache)
    .withIncludeMetadataChanges(true)
db.collection("cities").document("SF")
  .addSnapshotListener(options: options) { documentSnapshot, error in
    // ...
  }

Get real-time updates

Web version 9

Web version 8

Swift

Objective-C

Kotlin+KTX Android

Java Android

Dart

Java

Python

C++

Node.js

Go

PHP

Unity

C#

Ruby

Events for local changes

Web version 9

Web version 8

Swift

Objective-C

Kotlin+KTX Android

Java Android

Dart

Java

Python

C++

Node.js

Go

PHP

Unity

C#

Ruby

Events for metadata changes

Web version 9

Web version 8

Swift

Objective-C

Kotlin+KTX Android

Java Android

Dart

Java

Python

C++

Node.js

Go

PHP

Unity

C#

Ruby

Configure listeners for local changes only

Web version 9

Web version 8

Swift

Objective-C

Kotlin+KTX Android

Java Android

Dart

Java

Python

C++

Node.js

Go

PHP

Unity

C#

Ruby

Listen to multiple documents in a collection

Web version 9

Web version 8

Swift

Objective-C

Kotlin+KTX Android

Java Android

Dart

Java

Python

C++

Node.js

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android

Kotlin+KTX
Android

Java
Android