This Firebase Storage error occurs when the checksum calculated from the uploaded file on the client side does not match the checksum calculated on the server. This indicates data corruption during transmission, typically caused by network interruptions, memory buffer issues, or file modifications during upload.
The "storage/invalid-checksum" error in Firebase Storage is a data integrity validation failure that occurs during file upload. Firebase Storage uses checksums (cryptographic hash values) to verify that the file received on the server exactly matches the file sent from the client. When you upload a file to Firebase Storage, the client SDK calculates a checksum of the file content before transmission. After the file is received, the Firebase Storage server recalculates the checksum and compares it with the client-provided value. If these values don't match, it means the file was corrupted or modified during transmission, and Firebase rejects the upload to prevent storing corrupted data. This error is Firebase's protective mechanism to ensure data integrity. It prevents situations where partially uploaded or corrupted files would be silently stored, which could cause application failures when attempting to download or use those files later.
Add automatic retry for failed uploads since checksum errors are often transient network issues:
// Web SDK example with retry logic
import { ref, uploadBytes } from 'firebase/storage';
async function uploadWithRetry(storage, filePath, file, maxRetries = 3) {
let lastError;
for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
try {
const storageRef = ref(storage, filePath);
const result = await uploadBytes(storageRef, file);
console.log('Upload successful on attempt', attempt);
return result;
} catch (error) {
lastError = error;
if (error.code === 'storage/invalid-checksum') {
console.log(`Checksum error on attempt ${attempt}/${maxRetries}`);
if (attempt < maxRetries) {
// Exponential backoff: 1s, 2s, 4s
const delay = Math.pow(2, attempt - 1) * 1000;
console.log(`Retrying in ${delay}ms...`);
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
}
} else {
// Non-checksum error, don't retry
throw error;
}
}
}
throw lastError;
}
// Usage
try {
await uploadWithRetry(storage, 'uploads/myfile.pdf', fileBlob);
} catch (error) {
console.error('Upload failed after all retries:', error);
}This handles transient network issues that cause most checksum errors.
Switch to resumable upload API for files over 5MB to handle interruptions gracefully:
// Web SDK - Resumable upload with pause/resume capability
import { ref, uploadBytesResumable } from 'firebase/storage';
function uploadLargeFile(storage, filePath, file) {
const storageRef = ref(storage, filePath);
const uploadTask = uploadBytesResumable(storageRef, file);
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
uploadTask.on('state_changed',
// Progress observer
(snapshot) => {
const progress = (snapshot.bytesTransferred / snapshot.totalBytes) * 100;
console.log('Upload is ' + progress + '% done');
// Check state
switch (snapshot.state) {
case 'paused':
console.log('Upload is paused');
break;
case 'running':
console.log('Upload is running');
break;
}
},
// Error observer
(error) => {
if (error.code === 'storage/invalid-checksum') {
console.error('Checksum mismatch - retrying upload');
// Can retry from here
}
reject(error);
},
// Success observer
() => {
console.log('Upload completed successfully');
resolve(uploadTask.snapshot);
}
);
});
}
// Usage
try {
await uploadLargeFile(storage, 'uploads/large-file.mp4', videoFile);
} catch (error) {
console.error('Upload failed:', error);
}Resumable uploads handle network interruptions better than simple uploads.
Verify the file remains unchanged while uploading:
// Create immutable copy of file before upload
async function uploadImmutableFile(storage, filePath, file) {
// For File objects (from input), create a Blob copy
const immutableBlob = file.slice(0, file.size, file.type);
// Store original file size for verification
const originalSize = file.size;
console.log('Uploading file:', {
name: file.name,
size: originalSize,
type: file.type
});
const storageRef = ref(storage, filePath);
try {
const result = await uploadBytes(storageRef, immutableBlob);
return result;
} catch (error) {
if (error.code === 'storage/invalid-checksum') {
console.error('Checksum error - file may have been modified');
console.error('Original size:', originalSize);
console.error('Current size:', file.size);
}
throw error;
}
}
// For Node.js environment - read file once into buffer
const fs = require('fs');
const { getStorage, ref, uploadBytes } = require('firebase-admin/storage');
async function uploadFileFromDisk(filePath, storagePath) {
// Read entire file into memory at once
const fileBuffer = fs.readFileSync(filePath);
const storage = getStorage();
const storageRef = ref(storage, storagePath);
// Upload from buffer (immutable)
await uploadBytes(storageRef, fileBuffer);
}Using immutable copies prevents checksum mismatches from concurrent modifications.
Upgrade to the latest Firebase SDK to get bug fixes for checksum calculation issues:
# For web projects
npm update firebase
# Check current version
npm list firebase
# Or update to specific latest version
npm install firebase@latest
# For React Native
npm update @react-native-firebase/storage
# For Flutter
flutter pub upgrade firebase_storageAfter updating, verify the SDK version in your code:
// Check Firebase SDK version
import { SDK_VERSION } from 'firebase/app';
console.log('Firebase SDK version:', SDK_VERSION);
// For Admin SDK
const admin = require('firebase-admin');
console.log('Admin SDK version:', admin.SDK_VERSION);Known issues fixed in recent versions:
- Buffer size handling for files over 1GB (v9.x+)
- Checksum calculation for chunked uploads (v10.x+)
- Platform-specific buffer issues (Android SDK v20.3.1+, iOS SDK v10.18.0+)
Adjust buffer configuration for better handling of large files:
// For Node.js Admin SDK - configure request options
const admin = require('firebase-admin');
admin.initializeApp({
credential: admin.credential.applicationDefault(),
storageBucket: 'your-project.appspot.com'
});
// When uploading, configure timeout and size limits
const bucket = admin.storage().bucket();
const file = bucket.file('uploads/large-file.mp4');
const options = {
// Increase timeout for large files
timeout: 300000, // 5 minutes
// Configure resumable upload threshold
resumable: true,
// Metadata
metadata: {
contentType: 'video/mp4',
cacheControl: 'public, max-age=31536000',
}
};
await bucket.upload('/path/to/local/file.mp4', options);
// For ESP32 or embedded systems
// Adjust buffer size in config (C++ example)
/*
config.fcs.upload_buffer_size = 2048; // Smaller chunks for limited memory
config.timeout.serverResponse = 60 * 1000; // 60 second timeout
*/For very large files, consider splitting into chunks:
// Manual chunking for files > 2GB
async function uploadInChunks(storage, filePath, file, chunkSize = 50 * 1024 * 1024) {
if (file.size <= chunkSize) {
// Upload normally for small files
return await uploadBytes(ref(storage, filePath), file);
}
console.log(`File size: ${file.size} bytes, splitting into chunks`);
// For files > 2GB, use multipart upload
// Note: Firebase Storage has 5TB max file size
const storageRef = ref(storage, filePath);
const uploadTask = uploadBytesResumable(storageRef, file);
return uploadTask;
}Check network conditions and implement connection monitoring:
// Monitor network status during upload
function monitorNetworkDuringUpload(uploadTask) {
// Check if online
if (!navigator.onLine) {
console.warn('Browser is offline');
uploadTask.pause();
return;
}
// Listen for network changes
window.addEventListener('online', () => {
console.log('Connection restored, resuming upload');
uploadTask.resume();
});
window.addEventListener('offline', () => {
console.log('Connection lost, pausing upload');
uploadTask.pause();
});
// Monitor connection quality (if available)
if ('connection' in navigator) {
const connection = navigator.connection;
console.log('Connection type:', connection.effectiveType);
console.log('Downlink speed:', connection.downlink, 'Mbps');
connection.addEventListener('change', () => {
console.log('Connection changed to:', connection.effectiveType);
// Pause uploads on slow connections
if (connection.effectiveType === 'slow-2g' || connection.effectiveType === '2g') {
console.warn('Slow connection detected');
uploadTask.pause();
}
});
}
}
// Usage with resumable upload
const uploadTask = uploadBytesResumable(storageRef, file);
monitorNetworkDuringUpload(uploadTask);Test upload stability:
# Check network stability (Linux/Mac)
ping -c 10 firebasestorage.googleapis.com
# Check for packet loss
# Look for "packet loss" percentage in output
# Test bandwidth
curl -w "@curl-format.txt" -o /dev/null -s https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com### Platform-Specific Considerations
Android:
- Out of memory errors with firebase_storage versions above 11.3.1 when uploading files around 1GB
- Buffer size issues with chunked uploads at multiples of 256KB (512KB, 1536KB)
- Corrupted images with specific sizes suggest buffer alignment problems
- Solution: Downgrade to firebase_storage 11.3.1 and firebase_core 2.19.0, or upgrade to latest patched version
iOS:
- Firebase Storage doesn't always enforce retry on connection loss
- Upload tasks may not resume properly after app backgrounding
- Solution: Manually implement state restoration and retry logic
ESP32/Embedded:
- Limited RAM requires smaller upload buffer sizes (upload_buffer_size = 2048)
- SD card file uploads may fail due to SdFat vs standard SPI library differences
- Solution: Use git version of Firebase-ESP-Client with buffer fixes
Node.js:
- V8 engine buffer size limits: ~1GB for 32-bit, ~2GB for 64-bit systems
- Cannot upload files larger than 2GB using uploadBytes()
- Solution: Use streaming APIs or split into multipart uploads
### Checksum Algorithm Details
Firebase Storage uses MD5 checksums for upload validation:
- Client calculates MD5 hash of file content
- Hash sent in Content-MD5 header (base64-encoded)
- Server recalculates MD5 and compares
- Mismatch triggers storage/invalid-checksum error
You can manually verify checksums:
// Calculate MD5 hash (Node.js)
const crypto = require('crypto');
const fs = require('fs');
function calculateMD5(filePath) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
const hash = crypto.createHash('md5');
const stream = fs.createReadStream(filePath);
stream.on('data', data => hash.update(data));
stream.on('end', () => resolve(hash.digest('base64')));
stream.on('error', reject);
});
}
// Compare local vs uploaded file
const localHash = await calculateMD5('/path/to/file.pdf');
console.log('Local MD5:', localHash);
// Download and verify
const downloadRef = ref(storage, 'uploads/file.pdf');
const downloadURL = await getDownloadURL(downloadRef);
// Compare hashes...### Debugging Upload Failures
Enable detailed logging:
// Web SDK - monitor all state changes
uploadTask.on('state_changed',
(snapshot) => {
console.log({
state: snapshot.state,
bytesTransferred: snapshot.bytesTransferred,
totalBytes: snapshot.totalBytes,
metadata: snapshot.metadata
});
},
(error) => {
console.error('Upload error:', {
code: error.code,
message: error.message,
serverResponse: error.serverResponse
});
}
);
// Admin SDK - enable debug mode
process.env.FIREBASE_STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST = 'localhost:9199'; // If testing locally
process.env.DEBUG = 'firebase-admin:*';### Workarounds for Persistent Issues
If checksum errors persist after all fixes:
1. Use smaller file chunks: Break files into 50MB segments and upload separately
2. Client-side compression: Compress before upload to reduce size and transmission time
3. Alternative upload method: Upload to Cloud Functions endpoint, then transfer to Storage server-side
4. Storage emulator testing: Test with Firebase Storage emulator to isolate network issues
// Cloud Function workaround for problematic uploads
exports.uploadFile = functions.https.onRequest(async (req, res) => {
const busboy = require('busboy');
const bb = busboy({ headers: req.headers });
bb.on('file', (name, file, info) => {
const { filename, encoding, mimeType } = info;
const bucket = admin.storage().bucket();
const fileUpload = bucket.file(`uploads/${filename}`);
// Stream directly to Storage (server-side, no checksum issues)
file.pipe(fileUpload.createWriteStream({
metadata: { contentType: mimeType }
}))
.on('error', err => res.status(500).send(err))
.on('finish', () => res.status(200).send('Upload complete'));
});
bb.end(req.rawBody);
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