db.collection.findOneAndUpdate()

Definition

  • db.collection.findOneAndUpdate(filter, update, options)

mongo Shell Method

This page documents the mongo shell method, and doesnot refer to the MongoDB Node.js driver (or any other driver)method. For corresponding MongoDB driver API, refer to your specificMongoDB driver documentation instead.

New in version 3.2.

Updates a single document based on the filter andsort criteria.

The findOneAndUpdate() method has the followingform:

  1. db.collection.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    <filter>,
  3.    <update document or aggregation pipeline>, // Changed in MongoDB 4.2
  4.    {
  5.      projection: <document>,
  6.      sort: <document>,
  7.      maxTimeMS: <number>,
  8.      upsert: <boolean>,
  9.      returnNewDocument: <boolean>,
  10.      collation: <document>,
  11.      arrayFilters: [ <filterdocument1>, ... ]
  12.    }
  13. )

The findOneAndUpdate() method takes the followingparameters:

ParameterTypeDescriptionfilterdocumentThe selection criteria for the update. The same queryselectors as in the find() method are available.

Specify an empty document { } to update the first document returned inthe collection.

If unspecified, defaults to an empty document.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operationerrors if the query argument is not a document.updatedocument or arrayThe update document or, starting in MongoDB 4.2, an aggregationpipeline.

Note

The document must contain only update operator expressions. You cannot specify a replacementdocument { <field1>: <value1>, …}. To use a replacementdocument, see db.collection.findOneAndReplace()instead.

To return all fields in the returned document, omit this parameter.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operationerrors if the projection argument is not a document.sortdocumentOptional. Specifies a sorting order for the documents matched by the filter.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operationerrors if the sort argument is not a document.

See cursor.sort().maxTimeMSnumberOptional. Specifies a time limit in milliseconds within which the operation mustcomplete within. Throws an error if the limit is exceeded.upsertbooleanOptional. When true, findOneAndUpdate() either:

  • Creates a new document if no documents match the filter.For more details see upsert behavior. Returns null after inserting the new document, unless returnNewDocument is true.
  • Updates a single document that matches the filter.To avoid multiple upserts, ensure that the filter fieldsare uniquely indexed.

Defaults to false.returnNewDocumentbooleanOptional. When true, returns the updated document instead of the originaldocument.

Defaults to false.collationdocumentOptional.

Specifies the collation to use for the operation.

Collation allows users to specifylanguage-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules forlettercase and accent marks.

The collation option has the following syntax:

  1. collation: {
  2.    locale: <string>,
  3.    caseLevel: <boolean>,
  4.    caseFirst: <string>,
  5.    strength: <int>,
  6.    numericOrdering: <boolean>,
  7.    alternate: <string>,
  8.    maxVariable: <string>,
  9.    backwards: <boolean>
  10. }

When specifying collation, the locale field is mandatory; allother collation fields are optional. For descriptions of the fields,see Collation Document.

If the collation is unspecified but the collection has adefault collation (see db.createCollection()), theoperation uses the collation specified for the collection.

If no collation is specified for the collection or for theoperations, MongoDB uses the simple binary comparison used in priorversions for string comparisons.

You cannot specify multiple collations for an operation. Forexample, you cannot specify different collations per field, or ifperforming a find with a sort, you cannot use one collation for thefind and another for the sort.

New in version 3.4.

arrayFiltersarrayOptional. An array of filter documents that determine which array elements tomodify for an update operation on an array field.

In the update document, use the $[<identifier>] filteredpositional operator to define an identifier, which you then referencein the array filter documents. You cannot have an array filterdocument for an identifier if the identifier is not included in theupdate document.

Note

The <identifier> must begin with a lowercase letter andcontain only alphanumeric characters.

You can include the same identifier multiple times in the updatedocument; however, for each distinct identifier ($[identifier])in the update document, you must specify exactly onecorresponding array filter document. That is, you cannot specifymultiple array filter documents for the same identifier. Forexample, if the update statement includes the identifier x(possibly multiple times), you cannot specify the following forarrayFilters that includes 2 separate filter documents for x:

  1. // INVALID
  2.  
  3. [
  4.   { "x.a": { $gt: 85 } },
  5.   { "x.b": { $gt: 80 } }
  6. ]

However, you can specify compound conditions on the same identifierin a single filter document, such as in the following examples:

  1. // Example 1
  2. [
  3.   { $or: [{"x.a": {$gt: 85}}, {"x.b": {$gt: 80}}] }
  4. ]
  5. // Example 2
  6. [
  7.   { $and: [{"x.a": {$gt: 85}}, {"x.b": {$gt: 80}}] }
  8. ]
  9. // Example 3
  10. [
  11.   { "x.a": { $gt: 85 }, "x.b": { $gt: 80 } }
  12. ]

For examples, see Array Update Operations with arrayFilters.

Note

arrayFilters is not available for updates that use anaggregation pipeline.

New in version 3.6.

Returns:Returns either the original document or, if returnNewDocument: true,the updated document.

Behavior

Document Match

db.collection.findOneAndUpdate() updates the first matchingdocument in the collection that matches the filter.The sort parameter can be used to influence which document is updated.

Projection

The projection parameter takes a document in the following form:

  1. { field1 : < boolean >, field2 : < boolean> ... }

The <boolean> value can be any of the following:

  • 1 or true to include the field. The method returns the_id field even if it is not explicitly stated in the projectionparameter.
  • 0 or false to exclude the field. This can be used on anyfield, including _id.

Sharded Collections

To use db.collection.findOneAndUpdate() on a sharded collection, the query filter mustinclude an equality condition on the shard key.

Shard Key Modification

Starting in MongoDB 4.2, you can update a document’s shard key valueunless the shard key field is the immutable _id field. For detailson updating the shard key, see Change a Document’s Shard Key Value.

Before MongoDB 4.2, a document’s shard key field value is immutable.

To use db.collection.findOneAndUpdate() to update the shard key:

  • You must run on a mongos either in atransaction or as a retryablewrite. Do not issue the operationdirectly on the shard.
  • You must include an equality condition on the full shardkey in the query filter. For example, if a collection messagesuses { country : 1, userid : 1 } as the shard key, to updatethe shard key for a document, you must include country: <value>,userid: <value> in the query filter. You can include additionalfields in the query as appropriate.

Transactions

db.collection.findOneAndUpdate() can be used inside multi-document transactions.

Important

In most cases, multi-document transaction incurs a greaterperformance cost over single document writes, and theavailability of multi-document transactions should not be areplacement for effective schema design. For many scenarios, thedenormalized data model (embedded documents and arrays) will continue to be optimal for yourdata and use cases. That is, for many scenarios, modeling your dataappropriately will minimize the need for multi-documenttransactions.

For additional transactions usage considerations(such as runtime limit and oplog size limit), see alsoProduction Considerations.

Existing Collections and Transactions

Inside a transaction, you can specify read/write operations on existingcollections. If the db.collection.findOneAndUpdate() results in anupsert, the collection must already exist.

If the operation results in an upsert, the collection must already exist.

Write Concerns and Transactions

Do not explicitly set the write concern for the operation if run ina transaction. To use write concern with transactions, seeTransactions and Write Concern.

Examples

Update A Document

The grades collection contains documents similar to the following:

  1. { _id: 6305, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 24 },
  2. { _id: 6308, name : "B. Batlock", "assignment" : 3, "points" : 22 },
  3. { _id: 6312, name : "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 },
  4. { _id: 6319, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 },
  5. { _id: 6322, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 },
  6. { _id: 6234, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 1, "points" : 10 }

The following operation finds the first document where name : R. Stilesand increments the score by 5:

  1. db.grades.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    { "name" : "R. Stiles" },
  3.    { $inc: { "points" : 5 } }
  4. )

The operation returns the original document before the update:

  1. { _id: 6319, name: "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 }

If returnNewDocument was true, the operation would return theupdated document instead.

Sort And Update A Document

The grades collection contains documents similar to the following:

  1. { _id: 6305, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 24 },
  2. { _id: 6308, name : "B. Batlock", "assignment" : 3, "points" : 22 },
  3. { _id: 6312, name : "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 },
  4. { _id: 6319, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 },
  5. { _id: 6322, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 },
  6. { _id: 6234, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 1, "points" : 10 }

The following operation updates a document where name : "A. MacDyver". Theoperation sorts the matching documents by points ascending to update thematching document with the least points.

  1. db.grades.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
  3.    { $inc : { "points" : 5 } },
  4.    { sort : { "points" : 1 } }
  5. )

The operation returns the original document before the update:

  1. { _id: 6322, name: "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 }

Project the Returned Document

The following operation uses projection to only display the _id,points, and assignment fields in the returned document:

  1. db.grades.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
  3.    { $inc : { "points" : 5 } },
  4.    { sort : { "points" : 1 }, projection: { "assignment" : 1, "points" : 1 } }
  5. )

The operation returns the original document with only thefields specified in the projection document and the _id field as it was notexplicitly suppressed (_id: 0) in the projection document.

  1. { "_id" : 6322, "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 }

Update Document with Time Limit

The following operation sets a 5ms time limit to complete the update:

  1. try {
  2.    db.grades.findOneAndUpdate(
  3.       { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
  4.       { $inc : { "points" : 5 } },
  5.       { sort: { "points" : 1 }, maxTimeMS : 5 };
  6.    );
  7. }
  8. catch(e){
  9.    print(e);
  10. }

If the operation exceeds the time limit, it returns:

  1. Error: findAndModifyFailed failed: { "ok" : 0, "errmsg" : "operation exceeded time limit", "code" : 50 }

Update Document with Upsert

The following operation uses the upsert field to insert the updatedocument if nothing matches the filter:

  1. try {
  2. db.grades.findOneAndUpdate(
  3.    { "name" : "A.B. Abracus" },
  4.    { $set: { "name" : "A.B. Abracus", "assignment" : 5}, $inc : { "points" : 5 } },
  5.    { sort: { "points" : 1 }, upsert:true, returnNewDocument : true }
  6. );
  7. }
  8. catch (e){
  9.    print(e);
  10. }

The operation returns the following:

  1. {
  2.    "_id" : ObjectId("5789249f1c49e39a8adc479a"),
  3.    "name" : "A.B. Abracus",
  4.    "assignment" : 5,
  5.    "points" : 5
  6. }

If returnNewDocument was false, the operation would return null asthere is no original document to return.

Specify Collation

New in version 3.4.

Collation allows users to specifylanguage-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules forlettercase and accent marks.

A collection myColl has the following documents:

  1. { _id: 1, category: "café", status: "A" }
  2. { _id: 2, category: "cafe", status: "a" }
  3. { _id: 3, category: "cafE", status: "a" }

The following operation includes the collationoption:

  1. db.myColl.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    { category: "cafe" },
  3.    { $set: { status: "Updated" } },
  4.    { collation: { locale: "fr", strength: 1 } }
  5. );

The operation returns the following document:

  1. { "_id" : 1, "category" : "café", "status" : "A" }

Array Update Operations with arrayFilters

Note

arrayFilters is not available for updates that use anaggregation pipeline.

New in version 3.6.

Starting in MongoDB 3.6, when updating an array field, you canspecify arrayFilters that determine which array elements toupdate.

Update Elements Match arrayFilters Criteria

Note

arrayFilters is not available for updates that use anaggregation pipeline.

Create a collection students with the following documents:

  1. db.students.insert([
  2.    { "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ 95, 92, 90 ] },
  3.    { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ 98, 100, 102 ] },
  4.    { "_id" : 3, "grades" : [ 95, 110, 100 ] }
  5. ])

To modify all elements that are greater than or equal to 100 in thegrades array, use the filtered positional operator$[<identifier>] with the arrayFilters option in thedb.collection.findOneAndUpdate method:

  1. db.students.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    { grades: { $gte: 100 } },
  3.    { $set: { "grades.$[element]" : 100 } },
  4.    { arrayFilters: [ { "element": { $gte: 100 } } ] }
  5. )

The operation updates the grades field for a single document, andafter the operation, the collection has the following documents:

  1. { "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ 95, 92, 90 ] }
  2. { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ 98, 100, 100 ] }
  3. { "_id" : 3, "grades" : [ 95, 110, 100 ] }

Update Specific Elements of an Array of Documents

Note

arrayFilters is not available for updates that use anaggregation pipeline.

Create a collection students2 with the following documents:

  1. db.students2.insert([
  2.    {
  3.       "_id" : 1,
  4.       "grades" : [
  5.          { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 },
  6.          { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 90, "std" : 4 },
  7.          { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 6 }
  8.       ]
  9.    },
  10.    {
  11.       "_id" : 2,
  12.       "grades" : [
  13.          { "grade" : 90, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 },
  14.          { "grade" : 87, "mean" : 90, "std" : 3 },
  15.          { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 4 }
  16.       ]
  17.    }
  18. ])

The following operation finds a document where the id field equals1 and uses the filtered positional operator [$[<identifier>]]($ec4d226916b8aa6c.md#up._S[]) withthe arrayFilters to modify the mean for all elements in thegrades array where the grade is greater than or equal to 85.

  1. db.students2.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    { _id : 1 },
  3.    { $set: { "grades.$[elem].mean" : 100 } },
  4.    { arrayFilters: [ { "elem.grade": { $gte: 85 } } ] }
  5. )

The operation updates the grades field for a single document, and after theoperation, the collection has the following documents:

  1. {
  2.    "_id" : 1,
  3.    "grades" : [
  4.       { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 },
  5.       { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 100, "std" : 4 },
  6.       { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 100, "std" : 6 }
  7.     ]
  8. }
  9. {
  10.    "_id" : 2,
  11.    "grades" : [
  12.       { "grade" : 90, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 },
  13.       { "grade" : 87, "mean" : 90, "std" : 3 },
  14.       { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 4 }
  15.    ]
  16. }

Use an Aggregation Pipeline for Updates

Starting in MongoDB 4.2, db.collection.findOneAndUpdate() canaccept an aggregation pipeline for the update. The pipeline can consistof the following stages:

Using the aggregation pipeline allows for a more expressive updatestatement, such as expressing conditional updates based on currentfield values or updating one field using the value of another field(s).

For example, create a collection students2 with the followingdocuments:

  1. db.students2.insert([
  2.    {
  3.       "_id" : 1,
  4.       "grades" : [
  5.          { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 },
  6.          { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 90, "std" : 4 },
  7.          { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 6 }
  8.       ]
  9.    },
  10.    {
  11.       "_id" : 2,
  12.       "grades" : [
  13.          { "grade" : 90, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 },
  14.          { "grade" : 87, "mean" : 90, "std" : 3 },
  15.          { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 4 }
  16.       ]
  17.    }
  18. ])

The following operation finds a document where the _id field equals1 and uses an aggregation pipeline to calculate a new fieldtotal from the grades field:

  1. db.students2.findOneAndUpdate(
  2.    { _id : 1 },
  3.    [ { $set: { "total" : { $sum: "$grades.grade" } } } ],  // The $set stage is an alias for ``$addFields`` stage
  4.    { returnNewDocument: true }
  5. )

Note

The $set used in the pipeline refers to the aggregation stage$set and not the update operator $set.

The operation returns the updated document :

  1. {
  2.   "_id" : 1,
  3.   "grades" : [ { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 90, "std" : 4 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" :85, "std" : 6 } ],
  4.   "total" : 250
  5. }