Support frequent and distributed counters

Many realtime apps have documents that act as counters. For example, you might count 'likes' on a post, or 'favorites' of a specific item.

In Firestore, you can't update a single document at an unlimited rate. If you have a counter based on single document and frequent enough increments to it you will eventually see contention on the updates to the document. See Updates to a single document.

Solution: Distributed counters

To support more frequent counter updates, create a distributed counter. Each counter is a document with a subcollection of "shards," and the value of the counter is the sum of the value of the shards.

Write throughput increases linearly with the number of shards, so a distributed counter with 10 shards can handle 10x as many writes as a traditional counter.

Web

// counters/${ID}
{
  "num_shards": NUM_SHARDS,
  "shards": [subcollection]
}

// counters/${ID}/shards/${NUM}
{
  "count": 123
}

Swift

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

// counters/${ID}
struct Counter {
  let numShards: Int

  init(numShards: Int) {
    self.numShards = numShards
  }
}

// counters/${ID}/shards/${NUM}
struct Shard {
  let count: Int

  init(count: Int) {
    self.count = count
  }
}SolutionCountersViewController.swift

Objective-C

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

// counters/${ID}
@interface FIRCounter : NSObject
@property (nonatomic, readonly) NSInteger shardCount;
@end

@implementation FIRCounter
- (instancetype)initWithShardCount:(NSInteger)shardCount {
  self = [super init];
  if (self != nil) {
    _shardCount = shardCount;
  }
  return self;
}
@end

// counters/${ID}/shards/${NUM}
@interface FIRShard : NSObject
@property (nonatomic, readonly) NSInteger count;
@end

@implementation FIRShard
- (instancetype)initWithCount:(NSInteger)count {
  self = [super init];
  if (self != nil) {
    _count = count;
  }
  return self;
}
@endFIRSolutionCountersViewController.m

Kotlin
Android

// counters/${ID}
data class Counter(var numShards: Int)

// counters/${ID}/shards/${NUM}
data class Shard(var count: Int)SolutionCounters.kt

Java
Android

// counters/${ID}
public class Counter {
    int numShards;

    public Counter(int numShards) {
        this.numShards = numShards;
    }
}

// counters/${ID}/shards/${NUM}
public class Shard {
    int count;

    public Shard(int count) {
        this.count = count;
    }
}SolutionCounters.java

Python

import random

from google.cloud import firestore


class Shard:
    """
    A shard is a distributed counter. Each shard can support being incremented
    once per second. Multiple shards are needed within a Counter to allow
    more frequent incrementing.
    """

    def __init__(self):
        self._count = 0

    def to_dict(self):
        return {"count": self._count}


class Counter:
    """
    A counter stores a collection of shards which are
    summed to return a total count. This allows for more
    frequent incrementing than a single document.
    """

    def __init__(self, num_shards):
        self._num_shards = num_shards
distributed_counters.py

Python
(Async)

import random

from google.cloud import firestore


class Shard:
    """
    A shard is a distributed counter. Each shard can support being incremented
    once per second. Multiple shards are needed within a Counter to allow
    more frequent incrementing.
    """

    def __init__(self):
        self._count = 0

    def to_dict(self):
        return {"count": self._count}


class Counter:
    """
    A counter stores a collection of shards which are
    summed to return a total count. This allows for more
    frequent incrementing than a single document.
    """

    def __init__(self, num_shards):
        self._num_shards = num_shards
distributed_counters.py

Node.js

Not applicable, see the counter increment snippet below.

Go

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"math/rand"
	"strconv"

	"cloud.google.com/go/firestore"
	"google.golang.org/api/iterator"
)

// Counter is a collection of documents (shards)
// to realize counter with high frequency.
type Counter struct {
	numShards int
}

// Shard is a single counter, which is used in a group
// of other shards within Counter.
type Shard struct {
	Count int
}
solution_counters.go

PHP

Not applicable, see the counter initialization snippet below.

C#

/// <summary>
/// Shard is a document that contains the count.
/// </summary>
[FirestoreData]
public class Shard
{
    [FirestoreProperty(name: "count")]
    public int Count { get; set; }
}Program.cs

The following code initializes a distributed counter:

Web

function createCounter(ref, num_shards) {
    var batch = db.batch();

    // Initialize the counter document
    batch.set(ref, { num_shards: num_shards });

    // Initialize each shard with count=0
    for (let i = 0; i < num_shards; i++) {
        const shardRef = ref.collection('shards').doc(i.toString());
        batch.set(shardRef, { count: 0 });
    }

    // Commit the write batch
    return batch.commit();
}test.solution-counters.js

Swift

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

func createCounter(ref: DocumentReference, numShards: Int) async {
  do {
    try await ref.setData(["numShards": numShards])
    for i in 0...numShards {
      try await ref.collection("shards").document(String(i)).setData(["count": 0])
    }
  } catch {
    // ...
  }
}SolutionCountersViewController.swift

Objective-C

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

- (void)createCounterAtReference:(FIRDocumentReference *)reference
                      shardCount:(NSInteger)shardCount {
  [reference setData:@{ @"numShards": @(shardCount) } completion:^(NSError * _Nullable error) {
    for (NSInteger i = 0; i < shardCount; i++) {
      NSString *shardName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%ld", (long)shardCount];
      [[[reference collectionWithPath:@"shards"] documentWithPath:shardName]
          setData:@{ @"count": @(0) }];
    }
  }];
}FIRSolutionCountersViewController.m

Kotlin
Android

fun createCounter(ref: DocumentReference, numShards: Int): Task<Void> {
    // Initialize the counter document, then initialize each shard.
    return ref.set(Counter(numShards))
        .continueWithTask { task ->
            if (!task.isSuccessful) {
                throw task.exception!!
            }

            val tasks = arrayListOf<Task<Void>>()

            // Initialize each shard with count=0
            for (i in 0 until numShards) {
                val makeShard = ref.collection("shards")
                    .document(i.toString())
                    .set(Shard(0))

                tasks.add(makeShard)
            }

            Tasks.whenAll(tasks)
        }
}SolutionCounters.kt

Java
Android

public Task<Void> createCounter(final DocumentReference ref, final int numShards) {
    // Initialize the counter document, then initialize each shard.
    return ref.set(new Counter(numShards))
            .continueWithTask(new Continuation<Void, Task<Void>>() {
                @Override
                public Task<Void> then(@NonNull Task<Void> task) throws Exception {
                    if (!task.isSuccessful()) {
                        throw task.getException();
                    }

                    List<Task<Void>> tasks = new ArrayList<>();

                    // Initialize each shard with count=0
                    for (int i = 0; i < numShards; i++) {
                        Task<Void> makeShard = ref.collection("shards")
                                .document(String.valueOf(i))
                                .set(new Shard(0));

                        tasks.add(makeShard);
                    }

                    return Tasks.whenAll(tasks);
                }
            });
}SolutionCounters.java

Python

def init_counter(self, doc_ref):
    """
    Create a given number of shards as
    subcollection of specified document.
    """
    col_ref = doc_ref.collection("shards")

    # Initialize each shard with count=0
    for num in range(self._num_shards):
        shard = Shard()
        col_ref.document(str(num)).set(shard.to_dict())
distributed_counters.py

Python
(Async)

async def init_counter(self, doc_ref):
    """
    Create a given number of shards as
    subcollection of specified document.
    """
    col_ref = doc_ref.collection("shards")

    # Initialize each shard with count=0
    for num in range(self._num_shards):
        shard = Shard()
        await col_ref.document(str(num)).set(shard.to_dict())
distributed_counters.py

Node.js

Not applicable, see the counter increment snippet below.

Go


// initCounter creates a given number of shards as
// subcollection of specified document.
func (c *Counter) initCounter(ctx context.Context, docRef *firestore.DocumentRef) error {
	colRef := docRef.Collection("shards")

	// Initialize each shard with count=0
	for num := 0; num < c.numShards; num++ {
		shard := Shard{0}

		if _, err := colRef.Doc(strconv.Itoa(num)).Set(ctx, shard); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("Set: %w", err)
		}
	}
	return nil
}
solution_counters.go

PHP

$numShards = 10;
$ref = $db->collection('samples/php/distributedCounters');
for ($i = 0; $i < $numShards; $i++) {
    $doc = $ref->document((string) $i);
    $doc->set(['Cnt' => 0]);
}solution_sharded_counter_create.php

C#

/// <summary>
/// Create a given number of shards as a
/// subcollection of specified document.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="docRef">The document reference <see cref="DocumentReference"/></param>
private static async Task CreateCounterAsync(DocumentReference docRef, int numOfShards)
{
    CollectionReference colRef = docRef.Collection("shards");
    var tasks = new List<Task>();
    // Initialize each shard with Count=0
    for (var i = 0; i < numOfShards; i++)
    {
        tasks.Add(colRef.Document(i.ToString()).SetAsync(new Shard() { Count = 0 }));
    }
    await Task.WhenAll(tasks);
}Program.cs

Ruby

# project_id = "Your Google Cloud Project ID"
# num_shards = "Number of shards for distributed counter"
# collection_path = "shards"

require "google/cloud/firestore"

firestore = Google::Cloud::Firestore.new project_id: project_id

shards_ref = firestore.col collection_path

# Initialize each shard with count=0
num_shards.times do |i|
  shards_ref.doc(i).set({ count: 0 })
end

puts "Distributed counter shards collection created."distributed_counters.rb

To increment the counter, choose a random shard and increment the count:

Web

function incrementCounter(ref, num_shards) {
    // Select a shard of the counter at random
    const shard_id = Math.floor(Math.random() * num_shards).toString();
    const shard_ref = ref.collection('shards').doc(shard_id);

    // Update count
    return shard_ref.update("count", firebase.firestore.FieldValue.increment(1));
}test.solution-counters.js

Swift

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

func incrementCounter(ref: DocumentReference, numShards: Int) {
  // Select a shard of the counter at random
  let shardId = Int(arc4random_uniform(UInt32(numShards)))
  let shardRef = ref.collection("shards").document(String(shardId))

  shardRef.updateData([
    "count": FieldValue.increment(Int64(1))
  ])
}SolutionCountersViewController.swift

Objective-C

Note: This product is not available on watchOS and App Clip targets.

- (void)incrementCounterAtReference:(FIRDocumentReference *)reference
                         shardCount:(NSInteger)shardCount {
  // Select a shard of the counter at random
  NSInteger shardID = (NSInteger)arc4random_uniform((uint32_t)shardCount);
  NSString *shardName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%ld", (long)shardID];
  FIRDocumentReference *shardReference =
      [[reference collectionWithPath:@"shards"] documentWithPath:shardName];

  [shardReference updateData:@{
    @"count": [FIRFieldValue fieldValueForIntegerIncrement:1]
  }];
}FIRSolutionCountersViewController.m

Kotlin
Android

fun incrementCounter(ref: DocumentReference, numShards: Int): Task<Void> {
    val shardId = Math.floor(Math.random() * numShards).toInt()
    val shardRef = ref.collection("shards").document(shardId.toString())

    return shardRef.update("count", FieldValue.increment(1))
}SolutionCounters.kt

Java
Android

public Task<Void> incrementCounter(final DocumentReference ref, final int numShards) {
    int shardId = (int) Math.floor(Math.random() * numShards);
    DocumentReference

Support frequent and distributed counters

Solution: Distributed counters

Web

Swift

Objective-C

KotlinAndroid

JavaAndroid

Python

Python(Async)

Node.js

Go

PHP

C#

Web

Swift

Objective-C

KotlinAndroid

JavaAndroid

Python

Python(Async)

Node.js

Go

PHP

C#

Ruby

Web

Swift

Objective-C

KotlinAndroid

JavaAndroid

Kotlin
Android

Java
Android

Python
(Async)

Kotlin
Android

Java
Android

Python
(Async)

Kotlin
Android

Java
Android