Firebase Cpp Formatter

Code Formatting for Firebase C++ SDK

This skill provides instructions on how to properly format C++ and Objective-C

code before creating a pull request or committing changes in the

firebase-cpp-sdk repository. The primary tool is scripts/format_code.py.

Prerequisites

Before running the formatting script, ensure that your Python environment is set up with all required dependencies:

• Python Dependencies: Run pip install -r scripts/gha/python_requirements.txt to install the required libraries (such as attrs, absl-py, etc.).

Workflows

1. Formatting Specific Changed Files (Git Diff)

If you have made code changes locally in a git branch, the easiest way to ensure

all your changes are formatted properly is to use the -git_diff argument. This

automatically detects which files have changed compared to main and formats

them.

python3 scripts/format_code.py -git_diff

_Tip:_ You can also append -verbose for extensive logging about formatting

changes.

2. Formatting a Specific Directory

If you are working on a feature within a particular Firebase SDK (e.g.,

database), you can recursively format that entire directory:

python3 scripts/format_code.py -d database -r

To target multiple directories (e.g., both database and app):

python3 scripts/format_code.py -d database -d app -r

3. Formatting Specific Files

If you are pressed for time and only want to format specific files rather than

analyzing whole directories, use the -f flag:

python3 scripts/format_code.py -f path/to/file1.cc -f path/to/file2.h

4. Dry Run (Check without Formatting)

If you only want to detect the number of files that _need_ formatting without

actually modifying them, append the --noformat_file flag:

python3 scripts/format_code.py -git_diff --noformat_file