HTTP request: PUT 401 (Unauthorized) - angularjs

Question

I start to learn how to use firebase in my app. I follow the instruction in angular website and set the snippet in the index.html like:
<!-- The codes to add firebase -->
<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/firebasejs/3.2.0/firebase.js"></script>
<!-- The core firebase client (required) -->
<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/firebasejs/3.1.0/firebase-app.js"></script>
<!-- firebase-auth - Firebase Authentication (optional) -->
<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/firebasejs/3.1.0/firebase-auth.js"></script>
<!-- firebase-database - The Firebase Realtime Database (optional) -->
<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/firebasejs/3.1.0/firebase-database.js"></script>
<script>
var config = {
apiKey: ...,
authDomain: ...,
databaseURL: "https://...",
storageBucket: "...",
};
firebase.initializeApp(config);
</script>
And then I try to use HTTP request to put data like:
submitForm(personalInfo: PersonalInfo, educationsInfo: Education[], experiencesInfo: Experience[]): Observable<string>{
let body = JSON.stringify({personalInfo, educationsInfo, experiencesInfo});
let headers = new Headers({'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
let options = new RequestOptions({ headers: headers});
console.log(body);
let url = this.firebaseUrl + 'apply-form.json';
return this.http.put(url, body)
.map((response) => {
return response;
})
.catch(this.handleError);
}
However, I got the following error:
PUT https://XXX.firebaseio.com/apply-form.json 401 (Unauthorized)
I don't know what the problem is. I'm new in using firebase and really need someone to help me. Thank you!

Answer 1

Your Firebase Database is by default only writeable by authenticated users. See the warning in the first blue box on the page on saving data to the database.
To work around this you can of course configure the security rules of your database to allow public access. But while that is typically fine during development, it's a bad idea as you get your app ready for release to people other than yourself.
The proper way to post data securely is to require the user to sign in with Firebase Authentication and then use that information to ensure they can only access data that they're authorized to. By using HTTP to access the Firebase Database, you've made this more difficult for yourself than needed. I recommend using the Firebase JavaScript SDK for both authentication and accessing the database.