How to fix storage/bucket-not-found in Firebase

Visit [Firebase Console](https://console.firebase.google.com/) and select your project. Look for Storage in the left navigation menu. If you do not see it or see a "Get Started" button, Cloud Storage has not been enabled.

Click Get Started to begin the setup process:

1. Choose your security rules:
- Test mode: Allows all reads and writes (suitable for development only)
- Production mode: Denies all reads and writes until rules are configured

2. Select your storage location (cannot be changed later):
- us-central1 (Iowa) - Standard choice for US-based projects
- europe-west1 (Belgium) - For GDPR compliance and EU data residency
- asia-northeast1 (Tokyo) - For Asian region latency

3. Click Done and wait for Firebase to provision your bucket (typically 10-30 seconds).

Once Storage is enabled, navigate to the Storage section in Firebase Console. Your bucket name appears at the top of the Files tab.

Important: Bucket naming changed in October 2024:
- New projects (Oct 2024+): Format is your-project-id.firebasestorage.app
- Older projects: Format is your-project-id.appspot.com

Copy your exact bucket name from the console. The name will NOT include the gs:// protocol prefix. You can verify the bucket name in multiple places:
- Storage page in Firebase Console
- Project Settings → Storage location and bucket name
- Google Cloud Console → Cloud Storage buckets

Update your code to use the exact bucket name from the Firebase Console. Do NOT include gs:// or any extra characters:

// Web SDK (Modular v9+)
import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app";
import { getStorage } from "firebase/storage";

const firebaseConfig = {
  apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
  authDomain: "your-project.firebaseapp.com",
  projectId: "your-project",
  storageBucket: "your-project.firebasestorage.app", // Exact bucket name, no gs://
  messagingSenderId: "123456789",
  appId: "YOUR_APP_ID"
};

const app = initializeApp(firebaseConfig);
const storage = getStorage(app);

// Admin SDK (Node.js/TypeScript)
import * as admin from "firebase-admin";

admin.initializeApp({
  credential: admin.credential.applicationDefault(),
  storageBucket: "your-project.firebasestorage.app" // No gs:// prefix
});

const bucket = admin.storage().bucket();

Critical: Ensure:
- No spaces before or after the bucket name
- No extra quotes or escaped characters
- No gs:// protocol prefix in initialization (only use full URL if using refFromURL())

If you are uncertain about your bucket name or configuration, download a fresh config from Firebase Console:

1. Go to Project Settings (gear icon) → General
2. Scroll to Your apps section
3. Find your web or mobile app, or click Add app if none exists
4. Copy the firebaseConfig object from the code snippet (Web SDK)
5. Replace your entire configuration object with the downloaded one

For environment variables, store the bucket name separately:

# .env.local
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=your-project.firebasestorage.app

// firebase-config.js
const firebaseConfig = {
  apiKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_API_KEY,
  authDomain: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN,
  projectId: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID,
  storageBucket: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET,
  messagingSenderId: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID,
  appId: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_APP_ID
};

After updating environment variables, restart your development server or redeploy your application.

Verify that your bucket is now accessible with a simple test function:

import { getStorage, ref, listAll } from "firebase/storage";

async function testStorageConnection() {
  try {
    const storage = getStorage();
    const listRef = ref(storage, "/");
    const result = await listAll(listRef);
    console.log("✓ Storage bucket found and accessible!");
    console.log("Bucket name:", storage.app.options.storageBucket);
    console.log("Folders:", result.prefixes.length);
    console.log("Files:", result.items.length);
    return true;
  } catch (error) {
    if (error.code === "storage/bucket-not-found") {
      console.error("✗ Bucket not found. Verify bucket name and permissions.");
    } else {
      console.error("Error:", error.code, error.message);
    }
    return false;
  }
}

// Run test on app load
testStorageConnection();

If successful, you should see confirmation in the console that the bucket is accessible. This confirms your configuration is correct.