🐛 Summary

MCP server crashes on startup with the following error:

Error: Cannot find module 'googleapis'
Require stack:
- .../node_modules/firebase-tools/lib/mcp/tools/apptesting/tests.js
- .../node_modules/firebase-tools/lib/mcp/tools/apptesting/index.js
- .../node_modules/firebase-tools/lib/mcp/tools/index.js
- .../node_modules/firebase-tools/lib/mcp/index.js

💡 Bug Information

⚙️ Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Firebase MCP using the official command:

   npx -y firebase-tools@latest mcp

2. Start the MCP server — it fails immediately with the error above.

🔍 Root Cause

The module googleapis is listed under devDependencies
but it’s used in production MCP code:

lib/mcp/tools/apptesting/tests.js

When installing via npx, dev dependencies are not included, leading to a runtime failure.

✅ Expected Behavior

The MCP server should start successfully with all required dependencies available.

🛠️ Suggested Fix

Move the googleapis package from devDependencies to dependencies in package.json.

🧩 Environment

• firebase-tools: 14.24.1
• Node.js: 20.x / 22.x
• OS: macOS Tahoe (but reproducible cross-platform)

❓ Question

Am I missing something in the setup, or is this a packaging bug?