How to setup your own public API using a free cloud service

Photo by Nathan McBride on Unsplash

As a mobile developer (like me), if you have ever started a personal project to study something or build a professional showcase, it’s common to look for a public API. This simple and tedious task of googling “public API” makes us spend a lot of time choosing a good enough one. At the same time, you may have the desire to own the API, to release your creativity and produce a personalized response.

I’m here to help you with a free solution. No more public movies API! 😂

TL;DR

This article will cover how to setup a static resource provider service using the free tier of Firebase Storage.

Requisites

• Provide static content
• Public API

Static content is any file that is stored in a server and is the same every time it is delivered to users. Text files and images are examples of this kind of content.

I’ll use a JSON text file and some images as an example for this guide.

Google Firebase

My choice is the Cloud Storage service of Firebase because of a few and relevant reasons:

• Backup by one of the biggest cloud players: Google!
• Has a free tier "Spark" with generous limits
• The possibility to upgrade to a paid plan if necessary
• Hard limit for billing. You will not be charged by exceeding the free plan limits

Setup Project

1. Go to the Firebase site and click "Get Started"
2. Create a new Project. Click the super large "+ add Project" button
3. Choose a meaningful name that relates to your project
4. The next screen has an option for analytics. I set to disabled because it won't be necessary
5. Then the project will be created. It may take a while to complete

Setup bucket

After the project creation, it redirects you to the main Firebase Console page.

1. Click "Storage" on the left menu panel
2. Then, hit "Get started"

3. The first screen, give you awareness of the read/write permission rule. The default rule requires an authentication token.

4. Set Cloud Storage Location. I don't think it will be necessary to change but you may read the "Learn More"

Upload files

Now upload a few files for testing. Clicking on an item, a side panel will open with the details. The name link will open the item in a new tab.

You'll notice the URL pattern. This is the carrot_cake.jpg URL:
https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/mediumarticle-f6290.appspot.com/o/carrot_cake.jpg?alt=media&token=775b1585-ae47-447e-a3c7-c3cbdc31ce74

Note that we have two undesirable query parameters. We could remove token by making the storage public but alt=media would be still required.

Accessing it using Google Cloud Platform

There isn't a Firebase setting to change the requirement of alt=media but we may use Google Cloud Platform interface to access our firebase storage.

1. Open your GCP project Console
2. Go to "Cloud Storage" on the left menu
3. Click on the bucket (same name from Firebase)
4. Go to "Permissions" tab and then "ADD" button. The "Add Members" dialog box will appear.

5. In the "New members" field, enter allUsers.

6. In the "Select a role" drop-down, select the "Cloud Storage" sub-menu and click the "Storage Object Viewer" option.

7. Click "Save".

We're done! Now all objects are Public to internet and we can use the GCP domain. Check the URL:

https://storage.googleapis.com/mediumarticle-f6290.appspot.com/carrot_cake.jpg

Notes

• If you want to publish an app, I recommend buying a domain and consider using a CDN for static resources
• I have also tried Amazon S3. It's interesting but it is only free for 1 year and we can't set billing limits.

That’s it! Ready to use!