Hello Next.js community,

I'm facing a perplexing issue with firebase-admin in a Next.js API route handler that only occurs in the production environment. My setup functions correctly in development, but the problem arises when I deploy my project.

Here's a summary of the issue:

- Environment: The issue only occurs in production. In development, Firebase Admin initializes correctly.
- Code Snippet:

  import { initAdmin } from '_/lib/firebaseAdmin';

  export async function POST(request: NextRequest, response: NextResponse) {
    await initAdmin();
    // other logic
    return NextResponse.json({}, {status: 200});
  }
  

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- Behavior: Despite initializing Firebase Admin at the start of my function, I get an error in production stating that the Firebase app is not initialized. However, logging firebase-admin's apps.length shows that there is an instance.
- Error Message: "FirebaseAppError: The default Firebase app does not exist. Make sure you call initializeApp() before using any of the Firebase services."
- Attempted Solutions: I've tried initializing with a name [DEFAULT], but it didn't resolve the issue.
- Environment Variables: I've also verified that all my environment variables, including Firebase credentials, are correctly set up in production.
I'm puzzled why this works in development but fails in production. Has anyone experienced a similar issue or can offer insights into what might be going wrong? Any tips on properly initializing firebase-admin in a Next.js API route handler for production use would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help!