Firefly III on Google Cloud Run

Firefly III is a free, open-source, AGPL-licensed self-hosted personal-finance manager. It tracks accounts, transactions, budgets, bills, categories, and recurring transactions, and exposes a full REST API. This module deploys Firefly III on Cloud Run v2 on top of the App_CloudRun foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services Firefly III uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics common to every Cloud Run application — service identity, ingress and load balancing, scaling and concurrency, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_CloudRun foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

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1. Overview

Firefly III runs as a Laravel/PHP container (Apache) on Cloud Run v2. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	Cloud Run v2	PHP/Apache service, 1 vCPU / 2 GiB by default, serverless autoscaling; scale-to-zero supported
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Fixed engine — DB_CONNECTION = pgsql; MySQL is not used
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A dedicated fireflyiii-uploads bucket provisioned automatically
Persistent files	Filestore (NFS, optional)	Attachments and runtime data mounted at /var/lib/fireflyiii
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated Laravel APP_KEY and STATIC_CRON_TOKEN; database password
Ingress	Cloud Run URL / Cloud Load Balancing	Default run.app URL; optional external HTTPS load balancer + custom domain

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed by the shared application layer; Firefly connects over the Cloud SQL private IP via TCP with PGSQL_SSL_MODE = require (Cloud SQL rejects unencrypted private-IP TCP).
• APP_KEY is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager. This Laravel key encrypts sensitive fields at rest and must never be rotated after first boot — rotating it makes previously encrypted data unreadable.
• STATIC_CRON_TOKEN is generated automatically. Firefly does no background scheduling on its own; a caller must hit GET /api/v1/cron/<STATIC_CRON_TOKEN> to run recurring transactions, bill reminders, and auto-budgets. Wire a Cloud Scheduler job to do this daily.
• Scale-to-zero is enabled by default (min_instance_count = 0). Cold starts add 10–30 seconds of latency to the first request after idle. Set min_instance_count = 1 to keep the service warm.
• First run is /register. No admin is pre-seeded — the first account created becomes the owner/administrator. Disable open registration afterward in Administration → Settings.
• NFS is enabled by default to persist uploaded attachments and runtime data at /var/lib/fireflyiii across cold starts and revisions; requires the gen2 execution environment.
• Redis is off by default. Firefly III uses the database for cache and queue; a single instance needs no external Redis.

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2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume PROJECT and REGION are set. Service and resource names are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. Cloud Run — the Firefly III service

Firefly III runs as a Cloud Run v2 service that autoscales by request load between the minimum and maximum instance counts. Each deployment creates an immutable revision; traffic can be split across revisions for safe rollouts.

• Console: Cloud Run → select the service for revisions, traffic, logs, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services list --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run revisions list --service <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"

See App_CloudRun for scaling, concurrency, execution environment, and traffic splitting.

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

Firefly III stores all application data (accounts, transactions, budgets, bills, rules, users) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. On Cloud Run the service connects over the instance private IP via TCP with TLS required (PGSQL_SSL_MODE = require); no public IP is exposed. On first deploy an initialization Job creates the application role and database and grants privileges.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --database=<db-name> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database, user, and password secret are in the Outputs. See App_CloudRun for the connection model, backups, and password rotation.

C. Cloud Storage & NFS

A dedicated Cloud Storage uploads bucket is provisioned automatically. When NFS is enabled (the default), Firefly III's attachments and runtime directory is mounted from a Filestore/NFS volume at /var/lib/fireflyiii so uploaded files survive cold starts and new revisions.

• Console: Cloud Storage → Buckets; Filestore → Instances.
• CLI:

  gcloud storage buckets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage ls gs://<uploads-bucket>/        # bucket name is in the Outputs

See App_CloudRun for GCS Fuse, NFS, and CMEK options.

D. Secret Manager

Two cryptographic secrets are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager: the Laravel APP_KEY (encrypts sensitive fields at rest) and the STATIC_CRON_TOKEN (authenticates the cron endpoint). The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT" --filter="name~app-key OR name~cron-token"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun for injection and rotation details.

E. Cron (recurring transactions)

Firefly III runs recurring transactions, bill reminders, and auto-budgets only when a caller hits its cron endpoint. There is no in-process scheduler.

• Wire a Cloud Scheduler job to GET <service-url>/api/v1/cron/<STATIC_CRON_TOKEN> daily (define it via the cron_jobs input or create it in the Console).
• CLI:

  # Read the token, then trigger the cron manually to verify:
  TOKEN=$(gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<cron-token-secret> --project "$PROJECT")
  curl -s "$SERVICE_URL/api/v1/cron/$TOKEN"

F. Networking & ingress

The service is reachable at its run.app URL by default. An external HTTPS load balancer with a custom domain, Cloud CDN, and Cloud Armor can be layered on; ingress settings and VPC egress control connectivity.

• Console: Cloud Run (service URL); Network services → Load balancing.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" --format='value(status.url)'
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun.

G. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Container logs flow to Cloud Logging; Cloud Run and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring, with optional uptime checks and alert policies.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services logs read <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION" --limit 50

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3. Firefly III Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job runs db-init.sh using postgres:15-alpine. It idempotently creates the application role and database and grants privileges on the database and public schema. The job is safe to re-run.
• Schema created on container start. There is no separate migrate job. The fireflyiii/core image runs php artisan migrate --force and firefly-iii:upgrade-database on every boot, so upgrading application_version applies schema changes automatically once db-init has provisioned the database.
• APP_KEY is immutable after first boot. It is generated once and written to Secret Manager. Rotating it makes all previously encrypted fields unreadable. Only change it during a planned data-loss-aware migration.
• First run is /register. No admin credential exists in Secret Manager. Create the owner account at /register, then disable further registration in Administration → Settings.
• Cron endpoint drives recurring items. Confirm the token and trigger it:

  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" --format='value(status.url)'
  curl -s "$SERVICE_URL/api/v1/cron/<STATIC_CRON_TOKEN>"

• Health path. The startup probe is TCP on port 8080 (30s initial delay, 40 failures allowed); the liveness probe targets Firefly III's unauthenticated /status JSON endpoint (HTTP 200, no login, 300s initial delay). Allow a generous first-boot window while migrations run.
• Inspect job execution:

  gcloud run jobs list --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run jobs executions list --job <job-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"

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4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for Firefly III are listed; every other input is inherited from App_CloudRun with its standard behaviour.

Group 1 — Project & Identity

Variable	Default	Description
project_id	(required)	Target Google Cloud project.
region	us-central1	Region for the service and regional resources.

Group 2 — Deployment Environment

Variable	Default	Description
tenant_deployment_id	demo	Short suffix that makes resource names unique per environment.
support_users	[]	Emails granted project access and monitoring alerts.
resource_labels	{}	Labels applied to all resources.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	fireflyiii	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
display_name	FireflyIII	Human-readable name shown in the Console.
application_version	latest	fireflyiii/core image tag; pin to a release (e.g. version-6.1.21) in production.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
container_image_source	prebuilt	Deploys the official fireflyiii/core image directly.
cpu_limit	1000m	CPU per instance.
memory_limit	2Gi	Memory per instance; 512Mi floor on gen2.
min_instance_count	0	0 enables scale-to-zero; set 1 to avoid cold starts.
max_instance_count	1	Maximum instances.
container_port	8080	Firefly III (Apache) listens on port 8080.
execution_environment	gen2	Gen2 required for NFS/GCS mounts.
enable_cloudsql_volume	false	Cloud Run reaches Cloud SQL over private-IP TCP, not the socket sidecar.
enable_image_mirroring	true	Mirror the image into Artifact Registry.
timeout_seconds	300	Max request duration; raise for large CSV imports.

Group 5 — Access & Ingress Control

Variable	Default	Description
ingress_settings	all	Public run.app access.
vpc_egress_setting	PRIVATE_RANGES_ONLY	Route only RFC 1918 traffic via VPC.
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in in front of Firefly III (recommended for personal finance data).
iap_authorized_users / iap_authorized_groups	[]	Who may access through IAP.

Group 6 — Environment Variables & Secrets

Variable	Default	Description
environment_variables	{}	Extra non-secret settings (e.g. MAIL_*). Core values (DB_CONNECTION, PGSQL_SSL_MODE, TRUSTED_PROXIES, APP_ENV, APP_URL) are set automatically.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name. APP_KEY and STATIC_CRON_TOKEN are injected automatically.
secret_propagation_delay	30	Seconds to wait after secret creation before proceeding.
secret_rotation_period	2592000s	Secret Manager rotation notification frequency.

Group 7 — Backup & Restore

Variable	Default	Description
backup_schedule	0 2 * * *	Automated backup cron (UTC).
backup_retention_days	7	Retention; raise for production/compliance.
enable_backup_import / backup_source / backup_uri / backup_format	restore options	Restore from a backup on deploy.

Group 8 — CI/CD & Binary Authorization

Standard App_CloudRun Cloud Build / Cloud Deploy integration — see App_CloudRun. Key inputs: enable_cicd_trigger, github_repository_url, github_token, enable_cloud_deploy, enable_binary_authorization.

Group 9 — Load Balancer, CDN & Image Retention

Variable	Default	Description
enable_cloud_armor	false	Provision Global HTTPS LB + Cloud Armor WAF.
admin_ip_ranges	[]	CIDR ranges exempted from WAF rules.
application_domains	[]	Custom domain names for the HTTPS LB.
enable_cdn	false	Enable Cloud CDN on the HTTPS LB backend.
max_images_to_retain / delete_untagged_images / image_retention_days	(set)	Artifact Registry cleanup policy.

Group 10 — Storage & Filesystem

Variable	Default	Description
create_cloud_storage	true	Create GCS buckets defined in storage_buckets.
storage_buckets	[{ name_suffix = "data" }]	Additional buckets beyond the auto-provisioned uploads bucket.
enable_nfs	true	Persist attachments and runtime data at /var/lib/fireflyiii.
nfs_mount_path	/var/lib/fireflyiii	Mount path inside the container.
gcs_volumes	[]	GCS Fuse volume mounts (requires gen2).
manage_storage_kms_iam / enable_artifact_registry_cmek	false	CMEK options.

Group 12 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed to PostgreSQL 15.
db_name	fireflyiii	Database name, injected as DB_DATABASE. Immutable after first deploy.
db_user	fireflyiii	Application user, injected as DB_USERNAME. Password auto-generated in Secret Manager.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length (16–64).
enable_auto_password_rotation / rotation_propagation_delay_sec	off	DB password rotation.

Group 13 — Jobs & Scheduled Tasks

Variable	Default	Description
initialization_jobs	[]	Leave empty to use the built-in db-init job.
cron_jobs	[]	Define a daily Cloud Scheduler → Cloud Run Job hit to /api/v1/cron/<STATIC_CRON_TOKEN>.

Group 14 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe	TCP port 8080, 30s delay, 40 failures	Startup probe.
liveness_probe	HTTP /status, 300s delay	Liveness probe (unauthenticated 200).
uptime_check_config	{ enabled=false, path="/status" }	Cloud Monitoring uptime check.
alert_policies	[]	Metric alert policies.

Group 21 — Redis

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	false	Optional cache/session backend; Firefly III uses the database by default.
redis_host / redis_port / redis_auth	"" / 6379 / ""	Redis endpoint and auth.

Group 22 — VPC Service Controls & Audit Logging

Variable	Default	Description
enable_vpc_sc	false	Enforce a VPC-SC perimeter (requires organization_id).
vpc_cidr_ranges / vpc_sc_dry_run	(set)	Access level CIDRs / dry-run mode.
enable_audit_logging	false	Detailed Cloud Audit Logs.

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5. Outputs

Returned on a successful deployment — the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Cloud Run service name.
service_url	Default run.app URL of the service.
service_location	Region the service runs in.
stage_services	Stage-specific service URLs (Cloud Deploy).
load_balancer_ip / load_balancer_url	External HTTPS load balancer IP / URL (when enabled).
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name / database_user	Application database name / user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint (Cloud SQL private IP) / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets.
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels / uptime_check_names	Monitoring status, channels, uptime checks.
initialization_jobs	Names of the setup jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

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6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Inherited plan-time validation. This module passes its configuration through the App_CloudRun foundation engine, which validates values and combinations at plan time — a read replica without its primary, IAP with no authorized identities, a gen1 runtime with NFS/GCS mounts, an out-of-range redis_port/backup_retention_days. Invalid configuration fails the plan with a clear, named error before any resource is created, so most mistakes below are caught up front rather than at apply or runtime.

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
APP_KEY (auto-generated)	Never rotate after first boot	Critical	Rotating it makes all previously encrypted fields unreadable — data is effectively lost.
db_name / db_user	Set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/user and destroys all data.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_uri fails the import job.
PGSQL_SSL_MODE (auto require)	Leave as set	High	Cloud SQL rejects unencrypted private-IP TCP; disable breaks the connection.
STATIC_CRON_TOKEN / cron job	Schedule a daily hit	High	Without a scheduled cron call, recurring transactions, bills, and auto-budgets never fire.
enable_nfs	true	High	Disabling it puts attachments on ephemeral disk — uploaded files vanish on cold start / new revision.
memory_limit	2Gi	High	Below 512Mi is rejected on gen2; low memory OOM-kills PHP during imports.
enable_iap	enable for private data	High	Firefly III holds financial data; leaving it publicly reachable exposes it to anyone with the URL.
First-run registration	Disable after first admin	High	Leaving registration open lets anyone with the URL create an account.
min_instance_count	1 for daily use	Medium	Scale-to-zero adds 10–30 s cold-start latency after idle.
backup_retention_days	7 (raise for prod)	Medium	Too short for compliance retention.
enable_cloud_armor	enable for production	Medium	The UI and API are publicly reachable without WAF protection.

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For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — service identity, scaling and concurrency, ingress and load balancing, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_CloudRun. Firefly III-specific application configuration shared with the GKE variant is described in FireflyIII_Common.