Firebase calling .remove() on ref is removing all parents

Question

In the following code, after processing the data returned in the snapshot, I am seeking to remove the record in question. When I call remove on my reference with the key of

Answer 1

It's hard to be certain without seeing your JSON structure (hint: add it to your question as text), but I think you may be mistaking how Firebase operates.

Firebase stores values at locations identified by paths. When you store a value at a location, the path is automatically created. When you remove the last value from a location, the path is automatically removed.

Aside from that, this code is somewhat more idiomatic:

fbRef.on('value', function (snap) {
  if (snap.exists()) {
    snap.forEach(function(msgSnap) {          
      var msg = msgSnap.val();
      messenger(msg, function (msgErr, msgData) {
        if (!msgErr) {
          msgSnap.ref().remove();
        }
        else {
          console.log(msgErr);
        }
      });
    });
  }
});