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Firebase javascript auth user displaying null even though user is signed in

I followed the Firebase docs for web development and I used the user.updateProfile method to add a display name to the user's profile. After signing in, I used console.log(user) and it worked but when I call updateProfile(), the value of user is null. Any solutions?
Here is the relevant code:
var button = document.getElementById("profile-button");
var username = document.getElementById("username-Box").value;
var user = firebase.auth().currentUser;
auth.onAuthStateChanged(user =>{
console.log(user);
})
function updateProfile(){
if (user != null){
user.updateProfile({
displayName : username
}).then(user => {
console.log("Updated Successfully");
window.location.href="chatpage.html";
}).catch(err =>{
console.log(err);
window.alert(err);
});
}else if(user == null){
console.log("No user signed in");
}
}

You need to wait for onAuthStateChanged to fire before assigning the user variable, otherwise the Auth object may be in an intermediate state. This is documented:
By using an observer, you ensure that the Auth object isn't in an intermediate state—such as initialization—when you get the current user. When you use signInWithRedirect, the onAuthStateChanged observer waits until getRedirectResult resolves before triggering.
You can also get the currently signed-in user by using the currentUser property. If a user isn't signed in, currentUser is null:
It's worth explicitly pointing out that the user variable you console.log in onAuthStateChanged is not the same user variable that's used in your updateProfile method. While the user maybe "logged in" when onAuthStateChanged fires, they are likely not logged in when you set your outer user variable. Therein lies your problem.
It's not clear from your code where updateProfile is called, but Peter Haddad's answer is likely the solution I would implement. However, note that with the code snippet supplied in that answer you'll also need to change your updateProfile method to accept a user parameter. Another approach would be to assign the user variable inside of onAuthStateChanged.
let user;
auth.onAuthStateChanged(u => user = u);
With that approach your updateProfile method should work as is. Just keep in mind that you may have a race condition depending on when you call updateProfile.

Since console.log(user) is returning the correct user, then inside the authstatechanged call the updateProfile:
auth.onAuthStateChanged(user =>{
console.log(user);
updateProfile(user);
})

Based on your snippet, I am assuming that updateProfile() is your onClick/onSubmit event handler for clicking your "update profile" button.
Because of this, your user is likely to have logged in by the time they press the button and therefore it is safe to use firebase.auth().currentUser in your event handler rather than maintain a user object in the global scope.
var eleButton = document.getElementById("profile-button");
var eleUsername = document.getElementById("username-Box");
function updateProfile() {
let user = firebase.auth().currentUser;
if (!user) {
alert('Please log in before clicking update profile!')
return;
}
// get current value of '#username-Box'
let username = eleUsername.value.trim();
if (!username) {
alert('Please enter a valid username!')
return;
}
user.updateProfile({
displayName : username
}).then(user => {
console.log("Updated Successfully");
window.location.href="chatpage.html";
}).catch(err =>{
console.log(err);
window.alert(err);
});
}
In your original code, you had the following:
var user = firebase.auth().currentUser; // <-- global-scope variable
auth.onAuthStateChanged(user =>{ // <-- function-scope variable
console.log(user);
})
When onAuthStateChanged fires, it does log the value of user, but it sets and logs it's own version of user, not the user variable in the global-scope.
If you wanted to update the global-scope version, you need to rename the variable used in your onAuthStateChanged handler so that it doesn't shadow the user global-scope variable.
var user = firebase.auth().currentUser; // <-- global-scope variable
auth.onAuthStateChanged(_user =>{ // <-- function-scope variable
user = _user;
console.log(user);
})

Wait for firebase.auth initialization before reading another function

I am very new with firebase and javascript.
My project: Build a private messaging app. To do that, I want to define a sub collection in firestore for private messaging using the current user id and the destination user id.
Here is the function that allows this:
// generate the right SubCollection depending on current User and the User he tries to reach
function dmCollection(toUid) {
if (toUid === null) {
// If no destination user is definer, we set it to the below value
toUid = 'fixed_value';
};
const idPair = [firebase.auth().currentUser.uid, toUid].join('_').sort();
return firebase.firestore().collection('dms').doc(idPair).collection('messages');
};
My problem: I want to use the firebase.auth().currentUser.uid attribute, but it looks like the function is not waiting for firebase.auth initialization. How can I fix this problem?
Additional information:
I have two functions that are calling the first one (dmCollection):
// retrieve DMs
function messagesWith(uid) {
return dmCollection(uid).orderBy('sent', 'desc').get();
};
// send a DM
function sendDM(toUid, messageText) {
return dmCollection(toUid).add({
from: firebase.auth().currentUser.uid,
text: messageText,
sent: firebase.firestore.FieldValue.serverTimestamp(),
});
};

If I correctly understand your problem ("it looks like the function is not waiting for firebase.auth initialization"), you have two possible solutions:
Solution 1: Set an observer on the Auth object
As explained in the documentation, you can set an observer on the Auth object with the onAuthStateChanged() method:
By using an observer, you ensure that the Auth object isn't in an
intermediate state—such as initialization—when you get the current
user.
So you would modify your code as follows:
// retrieve DMs
function messagesWith(uid) {
return dmCollection(uid).orderBy('sent', 'desc').get();
};
// send a DM
function sendDM(toUid, messageText) {
return dmCollection(toUid).add({
from: firebase.auth().currentUser.uid,
text: messageText,
sent: firebase.firestore.FieldValue.serverTimestamp(),
});
};
// generate the right SubCollection depending on current User and the User he tries to reach
function dmCollection(toUid) {
if (toUid === null) {
// If no destination user is definer, we set it to the below value
toUid = 'fixed_value';
};
const idPair = [firebase.auth().currentUser.uid, toUid].join('_').sort();
return firebase.firestore().collection('dms').doc(idPair).collection('messages');
};
firebase.auth().onAuthStateChanged(function(user) {
if (user) {
var messageText = '....';
sendDM(user.uid, messageText)
} else {
// No user is signed in.
}
});
Solution 2: Use the currentUser property
You could also "get the currently signed-in user by using the currentUser property" as explained in the same doc. "If a user isn't signed in, currentUser is null".
In this case you would do:
var user = firebase.auth().currentUser;
if (user) {
var messageText = '....';
sendDM(user.uid, messageText);
} else {
// No user is signed in.
// Ask the user to sign in, e.g. redirect to a sign in page
}
Which solution to choose?
It depends how you want to call the function(s) based on the user uid.
If you want to call the function(s) immediately after the user is signed in, use Solution 1.
If you want to call the function(s) at another specific moment (e.g. following a user action), use Solution 2.

Firebase equalto is returning null

I'm trying to check if a value named 'status' is equal to 'verkoper'.
But in this case it stills returns null, or what i wrote in my code "it does not works , even when it says 'verkoper' in the database.
Picture of the database structure
While the database rules are set like this
In my sign up, I push the name of the ref key equal as the uid like this, so I can easily check every user:
const uid = firebase.auth().currentUser.uid;
firebase.database().ref().child('accounts').child(uid).set({
So after that done, I try to check if the currentuser's status is equal to "verkoper"
let user_id = firebase.auth().currentUser.uid;
console.log(user_id);
const ref = firebase.database().ref(`accounts/${user_id}`);
ref.orderByChild('status').equalTo('verkoper').once('value').then((userSnapshot) => {
if (userSnapshot.exists()) {
//allow user perform action
console.log('it works');
}else {
console.log('it does not work');
// do not allow
}
}).catch((error) => {
console.error(error);
});
I hope this was enough information to figure out what the problem might be

Input Value doesn't save, when pushing onto array gives undefined value

I am trying to update the user account details in firebase but I have noticed that the input value for one of my fields keeps coming up as undefined even when I console.log it. I am working in two files one is a loginjs file in which I am defining the user input.
signUpForm.addEventListener('click', function (e) {
e.preventDefault();
isSigningUp = true;
var email = signUpEmailInput.value;
var password = signUpPasswordInput.value;
var displayNameUser = displayNameInput.value;
var userPrivateKey = signUpPrivateKey.value;
var user = firebase.auth().currentUser;
var photoURL = "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/" + md5(email);
if (signUpPasswordInput.value !== signUpPasswordConfirmInput.value) {
setSignUpError('Passwords do not match!');
} else if (!displayNameUser) {
setSignUpError("Display Name is required!");
} else if (!userPrivateKey) {
setSignUpError('You need to set a Private Key!');
} else {
auth.createUserWithEmailAndPassword(email, password)
.then(function (user) {
user.updateProfile({
displayName: displayNameUser,
photoURL: photoURL,
privateKey: userPrivateKey
}).then(function () {
// Update successful.
window.location.href = 'chat.html';
}).catch(function (error) {
// An error happened.
window.alert("Some unexpected error happened!");
});
user.sendEmailVerification().then(function () {
// Email sent.
}).catch(function (error) {
// An error happened.
window.alert("Email was not able to send!");
});
})
.catch(function (error) {
// Display error messages
setSignUpError(error.message);
});
}});
The weird thing is that the user input for my displayname and photoURL are working just fine, but when it comes to my private key user input it registers the input when it goes to the chat page and I do a console.log(user.privatekey) It says it is undefined.
In my chatjs file, thats when I am pushing the all the user profile information. The chatjs file basically allows a user to send a message, the message and all the user profile information gets stored onto the firebase database.
messages.push({
displayName: displayName,
userId: userId,
pic: userPic,
text: myString.toString(),
privatekey: user.privatekey,
timestamp: new Date().getTime() // unix timestamp in milliseconds
})
.then(function () {
messageStuff.value = "";
})
.catch(function (error) {
windows.alert("Your message was not sent!");
messageStuff;
});
The thing again is that the privatekey does not get stored at all, which is what I am not understanding, since it is registering user input in the loginjs file but when I go to the chatjs file it keeps saying the value is undefiend. I have googled everywhere and I still haven't found a solution to it. Any help would be greatly appricated!

It's because the Firebase user object you receive from Firebase is not customizable. When you call the createUserWithEmailAndPassword(email, password) method, it returns a specifically defined user object back to you - check out the docs for the properties of this object.
The properties displayName and photoURL both work because they are already properties of the user returned. privateKey is not an existing property of the Firebase user object, and Firebase doesn't know how to handle an update call for a property that isn't defined. Check out this question & answer where Frank explains that Users in Firebase aren't customizable - you need to store any extra info separately.

Firebase Auth: Edit UID

Is it possible to to change a user's UID in Firebase programmatically? There can't seem to be a way to do so manually within Firebase's console.

TL;DR: If you need to specify the UID, you'll need to create a new user with that UID.
You can't directly change the UID, but I was able to hack something together using the firebase admin API (docs)
My use case was that I needed to change a user's email address. I tried update email with "Update a User", but this actually ended up changing the UID under the hood. In my app, the UID is tied to so much stuff, that I'd have to do a huge architecture change, so this wasn't an option.
The general way I did this with the API was:
Pull Down a user using admin.auth().getUserByEmail
Delete the user with admin.auth().deleteUser
Create a new user with admin.auth().createUser, using relevant data from the getUserByEmail call above, replacing the email address with the new email.
"reset password" in the firebase admin console (I think there's a way to do this programmatically too)
User gets an email to reset their password and they have a new account with their old UID.
Unlike admin.auth().updateUser, createUser actually lets you specify a UID.

Building on the answer by RoccoB, the below is a complete set of instructions for changing a user's UID:
Create a new folder, and run npm init with default values.
Run npm install firebase-admin.
Create a NodeJS script file (eg. UpdateUserUID.js), with this code:
let admin = require("firebase-admin");
// config
let email = "XXX";
let serviceAccountData = require("XXX.json");
let adminConfig = {
credential: admin.credential.cert(serviceAccountData),
databaseURL: "https://XXX.firebaseio.com",
};
let newUserOverrides = {
uid: "XXX",
};
Start();
async function Start() {
console.log("Initializing firebase. databaseURL:", adminConfig.databaseURL);
admin.initializeApp(adminConfig);
console.log("Starting update for user with email:", email);
let oldUser = await admin.auth().getUserByEmail(email);
console.log("Old user found:", oldUser);
await admin.auth().deleteUser(oldUser.uid);
console.log("Old user deleted.");
let dataToTransfer_keys = ["disabled", "displayName", "email", "emailVerified", "phoneNumber", "photoURL", "uid"];
let newUserData = {};
for (let key of dataToTransfer_keys) {
newUserData[key] = oldUser[key];
}
Object.assign(newUserData, newUserOverrides);
console.log("New user data ready: ", newUserData);
let newUser = await admin.auth().createUser(newUserData);
console.log("New user created: ", newUser);
}
Replace email and adminConfig.databaseURL with the correct values.
Replace newUserOverrides.uid with the desired new uid. (you can change some other fields too)
Generate/download a private key for your project's Firebase Admin service account: https://firebase.google.com/docs/admin/setup (can skip to the "Initialize the SDK" section)
Update the serviceAccountData variable's import to point to the key json-file from the previous step.
Run node ./UpdateUserUID.js.
If applicable (I didn't seem to need it), use the "reset password" option in the Firebase Admin Console, to have a password-reset email sent to the user, apparently completing the account update. (Perhaps I didn't need this step since I don't use the accounts/authentications for anything besides sign-in on my website...)

The UID of a user is controlled by the identity provider that creates that user. This means that you can't change the UID for any of the built-in providers.
But you can control the UID if you create a custom identity provider. Note that this is quite a bit more involved than changing something in the Firebase console. It requires you to write code that runs in a secure/trusted environment, such as a server you control, or Cloud Functions.

You can't, since is the main tree node of possibles more entries inside it, you can get it, modify and then put it inside the same UID (or create a new one) but you can have things inside, for example take this.
You create your main UID which will hold user data (name, phone, email etc) lets say the structure is this:
-9GJ02kdj2GKS55kg
-Name:
-Phone:
-Email:
so, you can get the main user UID 9GJ02kdj2GKS55kg with mAuth.getCurrentUser().getUid(); and then change it and set a new value inside 9GJ02kdj2GKS55kg, this new value should be the same UID you got but changed, and then inside your main UID you can still have the same structure
-9GJ02kdj2GKS55kg
-6GL02kZj2GKS55kN (this is your changed UID)
-Name:
-Phone:
-Email:
or you can get that changed UID and make a new child, and that will be your parent node with custom UID for the data.

Piggybacking on #Vinrynx's post.
I recently created a migration tool where I am migrating collections from 1 Firebase Project to another and it required that after I insert users to "users" collection I also create an authentication record with the same doc.id
Variables in the functions below:
outCollData : Data that I am inserting for the user (contains the email inside it)
sourceDBApp : output of the admin.initializeApp({/*service-account.json file location for source firebase project */});
destDBApp : output of the admin.initializeApp({/*service-account.json file location for destination firebase project */});
async function updateUsersUID(
outCollData: any,
sourceDBApp: admin.app.App | undefined,
destDBApp: admin.app.App | undefined
) {
if (destDBApp === undefined) return;
const admin = destDBApp;
const email = outCollData.personali.email ? outCollData.personali.email : "";
console.log("Email is ", email);
if (email === "" || email === undefined) return;
console.log("Inside updateUsersUID");
let newUserOverrides = {
uid: outCollData._id,
};
let oldUser: any;
try {
console.log("Starting update for user with email:", email);
oldUser = await admin.auth().getUserByEmail(email!);
//console.log("Old user found:", oldUser);
if (oldUser.uid === outCollData._id) {
console.log(
"User " +
email +
" already exists in the destination DB with UID " +
outCollData._id
);
return;
}
await admin.auth().deleteUser(oldUser.uid);
console.log("Old user deleted.");
} catch (e) {
console.log("User not found in destination DB ", email);
console.log("Copying the user data from source DB");
oldUser = await sourceDBApp?.auth().getUserByEmail(email);
}
let dataToTransfer_keys = [
"disabled",
"displayName",
"email",
"emailVerified",
"phoneNumber",
"photoURL",
"uid",
"providerData",
];
let newUserData: any = {};
for (let key of dataToTransfer_keys) {
newUserData[key] = oldUser[key];
}
Object.assign(newUserData, newUserOverrides);
//console.log("New user data ready: ", newUserData);
let newUser = await admin.auth().createUser(newUserData);
console.log("New user created ");
}