Trim your JavaScript bundles with Firestore Lite

Firestore Lite is a lightweight, REST-only alternative to the full Firestore Web SDK that substantially reduces JavaScript bundle size by omitting capabilities such as real-time listeners. While using one-time reads with the standard SDK provides little size reduction because its synchronization engine remains integrated, switching imports to `firebase/firestore/lite` can reduce a demonstrated bundle from roughly 196 KB to 54 KB, cutting initial load times considerably on slow networks. Applications that need both fast initial content and later real-time updates can use Firestore Lite for initial `getDoc()` requests, then load the full SDK through separate bundles or dynamic imports for `onSnapshot()` subscriptions. Because directly dynamic-importing the full Firestore module can prevent effective tree shaking and produce an unnecessarily large chunk, an intermediate file that re-exports only required functions enables bundlers such as Webpack to reduce the delayed full-SDK bundle. This approach can make essential data visible sooner while postponing the cost of real-time functionality, though implementation choices should reflect each application’s feature and performance needs.

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