I have been writing Cloud Firestore Security Rules for years, and I usually edit them in the same place where I do the rest of my work: Android Studio or another JetBrains IDE.
And every time, the same thing bothered me.
A .rules file controls access to production data, but in many IDE setups it is treated almost like plain text.
No proper structure awareness.
No useful formatting.
No diagnostics while editing.
No symbol support for helper functions.
For something that decides who can read and write your data, that feels wrong.
So I built hotrulez, a free and open-source JetBrains plugin for Firebase Security Rules.
What hotrulez does
hotrulez adds IDE support for .rules files inside IntelliJ-based IDEs, including Android Studio.
It currently supports:
- syntax highlighting
- formatting
- parse error diagnostics
- structure-aware rule parsing
- helper/function symbol support
The goal is simple: make Firebase Security Rules easier to read, write, and maintain in the IDE where many Firebase developers already work.
What it does not do
hotrulez does not evaluate authentication logic.
It does not replace the Firebase Emulator Suite.
It does not tell you whether your rules are secure.
That part still belongs to proper tests, reviews, and Firebase’s own tooling.
The plugin focuses on the editor experience: helping .rules files feel like real code instead of a plain text blob.
Why I built it
Security rules tend to grow slowly.
At first, they are small enough that you can keep everything in your head. Then helper functions appear. Then nested match blocks grow. Then multiple collections get different access patterns. Eventually, the file becomes important enough that editing it without language support feels uncomfortable.
I wanted a free, open-source option that made this experience better in JetBrains IDEs.
So I built one.
Who it is for
hotrulez is probably useful if you:
- use Firebase or Cloud Firestore
- edit
.rulesfiles in Android Studio or IntelliJ - maintain larger Firestore rulesets
- want basic IDE support without using a paid plugin
- prefer open-source developer tooling
Links
GitHub: hotrulez
JetBrains Marketplace: Firebase Rules
Feedback, bug reports, and feature ideas are very welcome, especially from people maintaining larger Firebase Security Rules files.
