@firebase/firestore: Firestore (12.3.0): FIRESTORE (12.3.0) INTERNAL ASSERTION FAILED: Unexpected state (ID: ca9) CONTEXT: {"ve":-1}

[jpfbarreira]

Operating System

Windows 11

Environment (if applicable)

Node.js version: 22.19.0

Firebase SDK Version

12.3.0

Firebase SDK Product(s)

Firestore

Project Tooling

• Framework: Angular (v20.2.4)
• Language: TypeScript (v5.8.3)
• Test runner: Playwright (v1.55.0)
• Firebase Emulator Suite (v13.16.0 via firebase-tools)
• Node.js (v22.19.1)

Detailed Problem Description

We are running end-to-end tests with Playwright against our Angular app.

What we were trying to achieve:

We want to simulate user permission changes in our tests by adding and deleting a manager document in Firestore. The UI should react to these changes by redirecting the user back to a summary page.

What actually happened:

Occasionally, the tests fail due to a Firestore internal assertion crash. Instead of the expected redirect, the app crashes with the following error in the console:

@firebase/firestore: Firestore (12.3.0): FIRESTORE (12.3.0) INTERNAL ASSERTION FAILED: Unexpected state (ID: ca9) CONTEXT: {"ve":-1}

This happens only intermittently (flaky). Based on test runs:

First run: 30 tests -> 26 passed, 4 failed

Second run: 30 tests -> 25 passed, 5 failed

This means roughly 15–17% of our runs fail due to this issue. When it doesn’t crash, everything works as expected.

Context:

• The error occurs only when running against the Firebase Emulator.
• It happens when Firestore documents are added and deleted quickly (add manager -> delete manager).

We believe this may be related to: #8250

Steps and code to reproduce issue

We have not been able to create a minimal reproduction, as this error only appears intermittently (flaky) during our Playwright end-to-end tests against the Firestore emulator. However, the issue seems related to rapid document add/delete operations while listening to Firestore against the emulator.

The sequence that seems to trigger it is:

1. User is assigned a “manager” role -> Firestore document is added.
2. Shortly after, the manager is deleted from Firestore (document removed).
3. Our Angular app listens to Firestore snapshot changes and updates the UI.

[google-oss-bot]

I couldn't figure out how to label this issue, so I've labeled it for a human to triage. Hang tight.

[MarkDuckworth]

Is this an issue you have experienced before SDK version 12.3.0?

[basvandorst]

Same here, Angular 19.2.16, haven't seen this (ca9,b815) issue before on a local machine with emulators:

APPLICATION_ERROR_HANDLER Error: FIRESTORE (12.3.0) INTERNAL ASSERTION FAILED: Unexpected state (ID: b815) CONTEXT: {"Pc":"Error: FIRESTORE (12.3.0) INTERNAL ASSERTION FAILED: Unexpected state (ID: ca9) CONTEXT: {\"ve\":-1}
    at __PRIVATE__fail (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:3437:32)
    at __PRIVATE_hardAssert (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:3441:46)
    at __PRIVATE_TargetState.Ke (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7538:19)
    at http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7574:13
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
    at __PRIVATE_WatchChangeAggregator.forEachTarget (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7604:42)
    at __PRIVATE_WatchChangeAggregator.tt (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7567:10)
    at http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:14167:137
    at Generator.next (<anonymous>)
    at http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/chunk-YZEP45GQ.js?v=abbb359d:88:61"}
    at __PRIVATE__fail (index.esm.js:199:32)
    at fail (index.esm.js:185:41)
    at __PRIVATE_AsyncQueueImpl.uc (index.esm.js:19560:16)
    at __PRIVATE_AsyncQueueImpl.enqueue (index.esm.js:19503:14)
    at __PRIVATE_AsyncQueueImpl.enqueueAndForget (index.esm.js:19488:10)
    at _DelayedOperation.handleDelayElapsed (index.esm.js:16130:21)
    at index.esm.js:16110:46
    at timer (zone.js:1752:27)
    at _ZoneDelegate.invokeTask (zone.js:364:171)
    
....

    logger.handler.ts:81 APPLICATION_ERROR_HANDLER Error: FIRESTORE (12.3.0) INTERNAL ASSERTION FAILED: Unexpected state (ID: b815) CONTEXT: {"Pc":"Error: FIRESTORE (12.3.0) INTERNAL ASSERTION FAILED: Unexpected state (ID: ca9) CONTEXT: {\"ve\":-1}
    at __PRIVATE__fail (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:3437:32)
    at __PRIVATE_hardAssert (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:3441:46)
    at __PRIVATE_TargetState.Ke (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7538:19)
    at http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7574:13
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
    at __PRIVATE_WatchChangeAggregator.forEachTarget (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7604:42)
    at __PRIVATE_WatchChangeAggregator.tt (http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:7567:10)
    at http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/@angular_fire_firestore.js?v=abbb359d:14167:137
    at Generator.next (<anonymous>)
    at http://localhost:4201/@fs/Users/bas/Projects/cash-register/.angular/cache/19.2.16/point-of-sale/vite/deps/chunk-YZEP45GQ.js?v=abbb359d:88:61"}

edit, just had it 2 times:

1. fixed with page refresh
2. not fixed with page refresh, only option was to clear local storage

[jpfbarreira]

Yes, the crash happens in a previous version as well. We were on "firebase": "12.2.1", which brings in the "@firebase/firestore: Firestore (12.2.0): FIRESTORE (12.2.0) INTERNAL ASSERTION FAILED: Unexpected state (ID: ca9) CONTEXT: {"ve":-1}". We observed the same flaky behavior there.

We updated to 12.3.0, hoping the issue would be resolved, but the same assertion failure still occurs.