Firebase Java Admin SDK does not support GraalVM Native Image

[bhargavs153]

Description

We are trying to build a GraalVM native image for a Java application that uses the Firebase Java Admin SDK, but native-image compilation fails due to missing configuration and unsupported runtime features.

This limitation makes it difficult to use Firebase Admin SDK in serverless / containerized environments (e.g., Cloud Run, AWS Lambda, KnIs your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
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on of what you want to happen.

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ative) where fast startup time and low memory usage are critical.

Environment

Java version: 17 (also reproducible with 11)

GraalVM: 22.x / 23.x

Native-image: enabled

Framework: Quarkus / Micronaut / plain Java (issue is framework-independent)

Firebase Admin SDK version: latest (reproducible across multiple versions)

Problem Details

During native-image build or runtime, the following issues occur:

Heavy use of reflection without proper reflect-config.json

Dynamic class loading not compatible with GraalVM native image

Security providers / SSL initialization failing at build or runtime

JSON parsing / protobuf initialization failing due to missing metadata

Firebase internally relies on libraries that are not GraalVM-friendly by default

As a result:

Native image build fails OR

Application builds but crashes at runtime

Expected Behavior

The Firebase Java Admin SDK should:

Either officially support GraalVM native image

Or provide official documentation/configuration:

Reflection configuration

Resource configuration

JNI configuration (if required)

Or clearly state that GraalVM native image is not supported

Why This Matters

Java developers increasingly rely on GraalVM native images for:

Faster cold starts

Lower memory usage

Cost-efficient serverless workloads

Competing ecosystems (Go, Node.js) already perform well in these environments

Lack of GraalVM support makes Firebase Admin SDK hard to use in modern cloud-native Java stacks

Possible Improvements / Suggestions

Provide official GraalVM metadata (META-INF/native-image)

Publish a compatibility guide for GraalVM

Test Firebase Admin SDK with Quarkus / Micronaut native builds

Clearly document unsupported features if full support is not feasible