Build Web Apps with Firebase Studio + n8n In 30 Mins (Beginner’s Guide)

Key Concepts

Firebase, SEO Audit Tool, NADN (Naden), Appify, Web Scraping, Webhooks, Vibe Coding, AI Automation, JSON Data, HTTP Request, API, Chat GBT, System Message, User Message, Assistant Message, Data Aggregation, Firebase Errors, Web Application UI, Lead Magnet.

Building an SEO Audit Tool with Firebase, NADN, and Appify

Overview

The video demonstrates how to build a free SEO audit tool using Firebase for the front-end UI, NADN for workflow automation, and Appify for web scraping and SEO auditing. The tool allows users to input a URL, receive a comprehensive SEO audit report, and potentially use it as a lead magnet or part of a service offering.

Firebase Setup and Vibe Coding

1. Firebase: The video starts by setting up a Firebase project, highlighting it as a free alternative to Lovable, although it acknowledges Firebase can be more prone to errors during development.
2. Vibe Coding: The core UI is built using "vibe coding," which involves providing a detailed prompt to Firebase's AI to generate the web application. The prompt includes specifications for:
   • A text box for URL input.
   • Sending the URL to a NADN webhook via a POST request.
   • Receiving JSON data containing SEO audit results.
   • Displaying the data in a tabbed layout.
   • Ensuring the UI is clean, responsive, and mobile-friendly.
3. Avoiding Gemini/Genkit: The video emphasizes the importance of specifying "do not use Gemini/Genkit" in the prompt to prevent conflicts with the NADN backend integration.

NADN Workflow and Appify Integration

1. NADN Workflow: The NADN workflow consists of three main parts:
   • Conducting a full SEO audit using Appify's SEO audit tool.
   • Structuring the data properly.
   • Sending the data back to the Firebase web application.
2. Appify SEO Audit Tool: The video utilizes Appify's SEO audit tool to perform the actual SEO analysis. Appify offers a free tier with monthly credits.
3. HTTP Module for Appify: Since NADN doesn't have a native Appify integration, an HTTP module is used to connect to Appify's API.
4. API Endpoint: The video specifies using the correct API endpoint in Appify to execute the SEO audit. The endpoint URL is obtained from Appify's API documentation.
5. Importing Curl: The video demonstrates how to import a curl command from Appify's API reference into NADN's HTTP request module to simplify the integration process. This involves copying the curl command from Appify's API documentation and pasting it into NADN's "import curl" feature.
6. Authentication: The video mentions the need to configure authentication by providing the API key from Appify.
7. Code Block for Duplicate Removal: A code block is used to remove duplicate pages from the scraped results, particularly those with URL parameters used for split testing.
8. Limiting Pages: A limit is set on the number of pages scraped (e.g., four) to prevent Firebase from timing out due to long scraping times.

Data Structuring with Chat GBT

1. Chat GBT Node: A Chat GBT node is used to structure the data received from Appify into a format suitable for display in the Firebase application.
2. System, User, and Assistant Messages: The Chat GBT node utilizes system, user, and assistant messages to define the context, input, and desired output format, respectively.
   • System Message: Defines the role of the AI (e.g., structuring SEO audit data).
   • User Message: Provides the input data (the SEO audit report).
   • Assistant Message: Gives examples of the desired output format.
3. Data Aggregation: An aggregator module is used to merge the results from multiple scraped pages into a single list, as Firebase expects a single response containing all the data.

Addressing Firebase Errors and Webhook Configuration

1. Firebase Error Handling: The video candidly discusses the common errors encountered when using Firebase and the iterative process of identifying and fixing them through the Firebase console.
2. Webhook Response Configuration: The video highlights the critical step of configuring the webhook response in Firebase to match the exact JSON structure being sent from NADN.
3. Webhook.site for Data Inspection: The video introduces webhook.site as a tool to inspect the actual JSON data being sent from NADN, which may differ from the format displayed in NADN's interface.
4. Updating Firebase with JSON Structure: The JSON structure obtained from webhook.site is then used to update the Firebase webhook configuration, ensuring that Firebase correctly interprets the incoming data.

UI Refinement and Final Touches

1. Iterative UI Improvement: The video demonstrates an iterative process of refining the UI by providing feedback to Firebase's AI and requesting specific changes, such as improved visual presentation and mobile optimization.
2. Prompt Engineering: The video showcases the use of prompts to instruct Firebase to arrange the data in a visually appealing manner, using graphs and charts.

Conclusion

The video provides a detailed walkthrough of building an SEO audit tool using a combination of free and low-cost tools. It emphasizes the importance of clear prompting, iterative development, and understanding the data flow between different platforms. The key takeaway is that while Firebase can be error-prone, it offers a powerful and free platform for building web applications when combined with tools like NADN and Appify. The video also promotes the creator's school community for those interested in further exploring AI automation.

Notable Quotes

• "This is a vibe coding tool which allows you to create beautifully stunning web applications like this in a matter of like 10 20 30 minutes."
• "The downside of using Firebase is well that you just run into a lot of freaking errors when developing this kind of stuff and it just takes longer to do the same thing."
• "A lot of the times I find that with this application you just have to ask the questions like hey what's going on here this is what is supposed to happen but this is what's actually happening Why is this the case and then it'll take that information understand it process it and then fix it."
• "The main point is is that we just need to make sure we can receive data inside NADN in this web hook and then we can send data back to Firebase And then once we have that solved everything else is just a simple prompt away to be to be like created styled or whatever."