findAndModify
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Definition
findAndModify
-
The
findAndModify
command modifies and returns a single document. By default, the returned document does not include the modifications made on the update. To return the document with the modifications made on the update, use thenew
option.Tip
In
mongosh
, this command can also be run through thedb.collection.findAndModify()
helper method.Helper methods are convenient for
mongosh
users, but they may not return the same level of information as database commands. In cases where the convenience is not needed or the additional return fields are required, use the database command.Changed in version 5.0.
Syntax
The command has the following syntax:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: <collection-name>, query: <document>, sort: <document>, remove: <boolean>, update: <document or aggregation pipeline>, new: <boolean>, fields: <document>, upsert: <boolean>, bypassDocumentValidation: <boolean>, writeConcern: <document>, maxTimeMS: <integer>, collation: <document>, arrayFilters: <array>, hint: <document|string>, comment: <any>, let: <document> // Added in MongoDB 5.0 } )
Command Fields
The command takes the following fields:
Field | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
query | document | Optional. The selection criteria for the modification. The query field employs the same query selectors as used in the db.collection.find() method. Although the query may match multiple documents, findAndModify will only select one document to modify.If unspecified, defaults to an empty document. Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operation errors if the query argument is not a document. |
sort
| document | Optional. Determines which document the operation modifies if the query selects multiple documents. findAndModify modifies the first document in the sort order specified by this argument.Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operation errors if the sort argument is not a document. MongoDB does not store documents in a collection in a particular order. When sorting on a field which contains duplicate values, documents containing those values may be returned in any order. If consistent sort order is desired, include at least one field in your sort that contains unique values. The easiest way to guarantee this is to include the _id field in your sort query.See Sort Consistency for more information. |
remove | boolean | Must specify either the remove or the update field. Removes the document specified in the query field. Set this to true to remove the selected document . The default is false . |
update | document or array | Must specify either the remove or the update field. Performs an update of the selected document.
|
new | boolean | Optional. When true , returns the modified document rather than the original. The default is false . |
fields | document | Optional. A subset of fields to return. The fields document specifies an inclusion of a field with 1 , as in: fields: { <field1>: 1, <field2>: 1, ... } . See Projection.Starting in MongoDB 4.2 (and 4.0.12+, 3.6.14+, and 3.4.23+), the operation errors if the fields argument is not a document. |
upsert | boolean | Optional. Used in conjunction with the update field.When true , findAndModify either:
query field(s) are uniquely indexed. See Upsert with Unique Index for an example.Defaults to false , which does not insert a new document when no match is found.
|
bypassDocumentValidation | boolean | Optional. Enables findAndModify to bypass document validation during the operation. This lets you update documents that do not meet the validation requirements. |
writeConcern | document | Optional. A document expressing the write concern. Omit to use the default write concern. Do not explicitly set the write concern for the operation if run in a transaction. To use write concern with transactions, see Transactions and Write Concern. |
maxTimeMS | non-negative integer | Optional. Specifies a time limit in milliseconds. If you do not specify a value for maxTimeMS , operations will not time out. A value of 0 explicitly specifies the default unbounded behavior.MongoDB terminates operations that exceed their allotted time limit using the same mechanism as db.killOp() . MongoDB only terminates an operation at one of its designated interrupt points.
|
findAndModify | string | The collection against which to run the command. |
collation | document | Optional. Specifies the collation to use for the operation. Collation allows users to specify language-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules for lettercase and accent marks. The collation option has the following syntax: collation: { locale: <string>, caseLevel: <boolean>, caseFirst: <string>, strength: <int>, numericOrdering: <boolean>, alternate: <string>, maxVariable: <string>, backwards: <boolean> } When specifying collation, the If the collation is unspecified but the collection has a default collation (see If no collation is specified for the collection or for the operations, MongoDB uses the simple binary comparison used in prior versions for string comparisons. You cannot specify multiple collations for an operation. For example, you cannot specify different collations per field, or if performing a find with a sort, you cannot use one collation for the find and another for the sort. |
arrayFilters | array | Optional. An array of filter documents that determine which array elements to modify for an update operation on an array field. In the update document, use the $[<identifier>] filtered positional operator to define an identifier, which you then reference in the array filter documents. You cannot have an array filter document for an identifier if the identifier is not included in the update document.
NoteThe <identifier> must begin with a lowercase letter and contain only alphanumeric characters.
$[identifier] )
in the update document, you must specify exactly one
corresponding array filter document. That is, you cannot specify multiple array filter documents for the same identifier. For example, if the update statement includes the identifier x (possibly multiple times), you cannot specify the following for arrayFilters that includes 2 separate filter documents for x :
// INVALID [ { "x.a": { $gt: 85 } }, { "x.b": { $gt: 80 } } ] However, you can specify compound conditions on the same identifier in a single filter document, such as in the following examples: // Example 1 [ { $or: [{"x.a": {$gt: 85}}, {"x.b": {$gt: 80}}] } ] // Example 2 [ { $and: [{"x.a": {$gt: 85}}, {"x.b": {$gt: 80}}] } ] // Example 3 [ { "x.a": { $gt: 85 }, "x.b": { $gt: 80 } } ] For examples, see Array Update Operations with Note
|
hint | document or string | Optional. A document or string that specifies the index to use to support the query .The option can take an index specification document or the index name string. If you specify an index that does not exist, the operation errors. For an example, see Specify hint for findAndModify Operations.
New in version 4.4.
|
comment | any | Optional. A user-provided comment to attach to this command. Once set, this comment appears alongside records of this command in the following locations:
New in version 4.4.
|
let | document | Optional. Specifies a document with a list of variables. This allows you to improve command readability by separating the variables from the query text. The document syntax is: { <variable_name_1>: <expression_1>, ..., <variable_name_n>: <expression_n> } The variable is set to the value returned by the expression, and cannot be changed afterwards. To access the value of a variable in the command, use the double dollar sign prefix ( NoteTo use a variable to filter results, you must access the variable within the For a complete example using New in version 5.0. |
Output
The findAndModify
command returns a document with the following fields:
Field | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
value | document | Contains the command's returned value. See value for details. |
lastErrorObject | document | Contains information about updated documents. See lastErrorObject for details. |
ok | number | Contains the command's execution status. 1 on success, or 0 if an error occurred. |
lastErrorObject
The lastErrorObject
embedded document contains the following fields:
Field | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
updatedExisting | boolean | Contains true if an update operation:
|
upserted | document | Contains the ObjectId of the inserted document if an update operation with upsert: true resulted in a new document. |
value
For remove
operations, value
contains the removed document if the query matches a document. If the query does not match a document to remove, value
contains null
.
For update
operations, the value
embedded document contains the following:
-
If the
new
parameter is not set or isfalse
:-
the pre-modification document if the query matches a document;
-
otherwise,
null
.
-
-
If
new
istrue
:-
the modified document if the query returns a match;
-
the inserted document if
upsert: true
and no document matches the query; -
otherwise,
null
.
-
Behavior
Upsert with Unique Index
When using the upsert: true
option with the findAndModify
command, and not using a unique index on the query field(s), multiple instances of a findAndModify
operation with similar query field(s) could result in duplicate documents being inserted in certain circumstances.
Consider an example where no document with the name Andy
exists and multiple clients issue the following command at roughly the same time:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "people", query: { name: "Andy" }, update: { $inc: { score: 1 } }, upsert: true } )
If all findAndModify
operations finish the query phase before any client successfully inserts data, and there is no unique index on the name
field, each findAndModify
operation may result in an insert, creating multiple documents with name: Andy
.
To ensure that only one such document is created, and the other findAndModify
operations update this new document instead, create a unique index on the name
field. This guarantees that only one document with name: Andy
is permitted in the collection.
With this unique index in place, the multiple findAndModify
operations now exhibit the following behavior:
-
Exactly one
findAndModify
operation will successfully insert a new document. -
All other
findAndModify
operations will update the newly-inserted document, incrementing thescore
value.
Sharded Collections
To use findAndModify
on a sharded collection, the query filter must include an equality condition on the shard key.
Starting in version 4.4, documents in a sharded collection can be missing the shard key fields. To target a document that is missing the shard key, you can use the null
equality match in conjunction with another filter condition (such as on the _id
field). For example:
{ _id: <value>, <shardkeyfield>: null } // _id of the document missing shard key
Shard Key Modification
Starting in MongoDB 4.2, you can update a document's shard key value unless the shard key field is the immutable _id
field. In MongoDB 4.2 and earlier, a document's shard key field value is immutable.
Warning
Starting in version 4.4, documents in sharded collections can be missing the shard key fields. Take precaution to avoid accidentally removing the shard key when changing a document's shard key value.
To modify the existing shard key value with findAndModify
:
-
You must run on a
mongos
. Do not issue the operation directly on the shard. -
You must run either in a transaction or as a retryable write.
-
You must include an equality filter on the full shard key.
Missing Shard Key
Starting in version 4.4, documents in a sharded collection can be missing the shard key fields. To use findAndModify
to set the document's missing shard key:
-
You must run on a
mongos
. Do not issue the operation directly on the shard. -
You must run either in a transaction or as a retryable write if the new shard key value is not
null
. -
You must include an equality filter on the full shard key.
Tip
Since a missing key value is returned as part of a null equality match, to avoid updating a null-valued key, include additional query conditions (such as on the _id
field) as appropriate.
See also:
Document Validation
The findAndModify
command adds support for the bypassDocumentValidation
option, which lets you bypass document validation when inserting or updating documents in a collection with validation rules.
Comparisons with the update
Method
When updating a document, findAndModify
and the updateOne()
method operate differently:
-
If multiple documents match the update criteria, for
findAndModify
, you can specify asort
to provide some measure of control on which document to update.updateOne()
updates the first document that matches. -
By default,
findAndModify
returns an object that contains the pre-modified version of the document, as well as the status of the operation. To obtain the updated document, use thenew
option.The
updateOne()
method returns aWriteResult()
object that contains the status of the operation.To return the updated document, use the
find()
method. However, other updates may have modified the document between your update and the document retrieval. Also, if the update modified only a single document but multiple documents matched, you will need to use additional logic to identify the updated document.
When modifying a single document, both findAndModify
and the updateOne()
method atomically update the document. See Atomicity and Transactions for more details about interactions and order of operations of these methods.
Tip
See also:
Transactions
findAndModify
can be used inside multi-document transactions.
Important
In most cases, multi-document transaction incurs a greater performance cost over single document writes, and the availability of multi-document transactions should not be a replacement for effective schema design. For many scenarios, the denormalized data model (embedded documents and arrays) will continue to be optimal for your data and use cases. That is, for many scenarios, modeling your data appropriately will minimize the need for multi-document transactions.
For additional transactions usage considerations (such as runtime limit and oplog size limit), see also Production Considerations.
Upsert within Transactions
Starting in MongoDB 4.4, you can create collections and indexes inside a multi-document transaction if the transaction is not a cross-shard write transaction.
Specifically, in MongoDB 4.4 and greater, findAndModify
with upsert: true
can be run on an existing collection or a non-existing collection. If run on a non-existing collection, the operation creates the collection.
In MongoDB 4.2 and earlier, the operation must be run on an existing collection.
Tip
Write Concerns and Transactions
Do not explicitly set the write concern for the operation if run in a transaction. To use write concern with transactions, see Transactions and Write Concern.
Examples
Update and Return
The following command updates an existing document in the people
collection where the document matches the query
criteria:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "people", query: { name: "Tom", state: "active", rating: { $gt: 10 } }, sort: { rating: 1 }, update: { $inc: { score: 1 } } } )
This command performs the following actions:
-
The
query
finds a document in thepeople
collection where thename
field has the valueTom
, thestate
field has the valueactive
and therating
field has a valuegreater than
10. -
The
sort
orders the results of the query in ascending order. If multiple documents meet thequery
condition, the command will select for modification the first document as ordered by thissort
. -
The
update
increments
the value of thescore
field by 1. -
The command returns a document with the following fields:
-
The
lastErrorObject
field that contains the details of the command, including the fieldupdatedExisting
which istrue
, and -
The
value
field that contains the original (i.e. pre-modification) document selected for this update:{ "lastErrorObject" : { "connectionId" : 1, "updatedExisting" : true, "n" : 1, "syncMillis" : 0, "writtenTo" : null, "err" : null, "ok" : 1 }, value" : { "_id" : ObjectId("54f62d2885e4be1f982b9c9c"), "name" : "Tom", "state" : "active", "rating" : 100, "score" : 5 }, "ok" : 1 }
-
To return the modified document in the value
field, add the new:true
option to the command.
If no document match the query
condition, the command returns a document that contains null
in the value
field:
{ "value" : null, "ok" : 1 }
mongosh
and many drivers provide a findAndModify()
helper method. Using the shell helper, this previous operation can take the following form:
db.people.findAndModify( { query: { name: "Tom", state: "active", rating: { $gt: 10 } }, sort: { rating: 1 }, update: { $inc: { score: 1 } } } );
However, the findAndModify()
shell helper method returns only the unmodified document, or if new
is true
, the modified document.
{ "_id" : ObjectId("54f62d2885e4be1f982b9c9c"), "name" : "Tom", "state" : "active", "rating" : 100, "score" : 5 }
upsert: true
The following findAndModify
command includes the upsert:
true
option for the update
operation to either update a matching document or, if no matching document exists, create a new document:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "people", query: { name: "Gus", state: "active", rating: 100 }, sort: { rating: 1 }, update: { $inc: { score: 1 } }, upsert: true } )
If the command finds a matching document, the command performs an update.
If the command does not find a matching document, the update
with upsert: true operation results in an insertion and returns a document with the following fields:
-
The
lastErrorObject
field that contains the details of the command, including the fieldupserted
that contains the_id
value of the newly inserted document, and -
The
value
field containingnull
.
{ "value" : null, "lastErrorObject" : { "updatedExisting" : false, "n" : 1, "upserted" : ObjectId("54f62c8bc85d4472eadea26f") }, "ok" : 1 }
Return New Document
The following findAndModify
command includes both upsert: true
option and the new:true
option. The command either updates a matching document and returns the updated document or, if no matching document exists, inserts a document and returns the newly inserted document in the value
field.
In the following example, no document in the people
collection matches the query
condition:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "people", query: { name: "Pascal", state: "active", rating: 25 }, sort: { rating: 1 }, update: { $inc: { score: 1 } }, upsert: true, new: true } )
The command returns the newly inserted document in the value
field:
{ "lastErrorObject" : { "connectionId" : 1, "updatedExisting" : false, "upserted" : ObjectId("54f62bbfc85d4472eadea26d"), "n" : 1, "syncMillis" : 0, "writtenTo" : null, "err" : null, "ok" : 1 }, "value" : { "_id" : ObjectId("54f62bbfc85d4472eadea26d"), "name" : "Pascal", "rating" : 25, "state" : "active", "score" : 1 }, "ok" : 1 }
Sort and Remove
By including a sort
specification on the rating
field, the following example removes from the people
collection a single document with the state
value of active
and the lowest rating
among the matching documents:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "people", query: { state: "active" }, sort: { rating: 1 }, remove: true } )
The command returns the deleted document:
{ "lastErrorObject" : { "connectionId" : 1, "n" : 1, "syncMillis" : 0, "writtenTo" : null, "err" : null, "ok" : 1 }, "value" : { "_id" : ObjectId("54f62a6785e4be1f982b9c9b"), "name" : "XYZ123", "score" : 1, "state" : "active", "rating" : 3 }, "ok" : 1 }
Specify Collation
Collation allows users to specify language-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules for lettercase and accent marks.
A collection myColl
has the following documents:
{ _id: 1, category: "café", status: "A" } { _id: 2, category: "cafe", status: "a" } { _id: 3, category: "cafE", status: "a" }
The following operation includes the collation option:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "myColl", query: { category: "cafe", status: "a" }, sort: { category: 1 }, update: { $set: { status: "Updated" } }, collation: { locale: "fr", strength: 1 } } )
The operation returns the following document:
{ "lastErrorObject" : { "updatedExisting" : true, "n" : 1 }, "value" : { "_id" : 1, "category" : "café", "status" : "A" }, "ok" : 1 }
Array Update Operations with arrayFilters
Note
arrayFilters
is not available for updates that use an aggregation pipeline.
Starting in MongoDB 3.6, when updating an array field, you can specify arrayFilters
that determine which array elements to update.
Update Elements Match arrayFilters
Criteria
Note
arrayFilters
is not available for updates that use an aggregation pipeline.
Create a collection students
with the following documents:
db.students.insertMany( [ { "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ 95, 92, 90 ] }, { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ 98, 100, 102 ] }, { "_id" : 3, "grades" : [ 95, 110, 100 ] } ] )
To modify all elements that are greater than or equal to 100
in the grades
array, use the positional $[<identifier>]
operator with the arrayFilters
option:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "students", query: { grades: { $gte: 100 } }, update: { $set: { "grades.$[element]" : 100 } }, arrayFilters: [ { "element": { $gte: 100 } } ] } )
The operation updates the grades
field for a single document, and after the operation, the collection has the following documents:
{ "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ 95, 92, 90 ] } { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ 98, 100, 100 ] } { "_id" : 3, "grades" : [ 95, 110, 100 ] }
Update Specific Elements of an Array of Documents
Note
arrayFilters
is not available for updates that use an aggregation pipeline.
Create a collection students2
with the following documents:
db.students2.insertMany( [ { "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 90, "std" : 4 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 6 } ] }, { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 90, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 87, "mean" : 90, "std" : 3 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 4 } ] } ] )
The following operation finds a document where the _id
field equals 1
and uses the filtered positional operator $[<identifier>]
with the arrayFilters
to modify the mean
for all elements in the grades
array where the grade is greater than or equal to 85
.
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "students2", query: { _id : 1 }, update: { $set: { "grades.$[elem].mean" : 100 } }, arrayFilters: [ { "elem.grade": { $gte: 85 } } ] } )
The operation updates the grades
field for a single document, and after the operation, the collection has the following documents:
{ "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 100, "std" : 4 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 100, "std" : 6 } ] } { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 90, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 87, "mean" : 90, "std" : 3 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 4 } ] }
Use an Aggregation Pipeline for Updates
Starting in MongoDB 4.2, findAndModify
can accept an aggregation pipeline for the update. The pipeline can consist of the following stages:
-
$addFields
and its alias$set
-
$replaceRoot
and its alias$replaceWith
.
Using the aggregation pipeline allows for a more expressive update statement, such as expressing conditional updates based on current field values or updating one field using the value of another field(s).
For example, create a collection students2
with the following documents:
db.students2.insertMany( [ { "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 90, "std" : 4 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 6 } ] }, { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 90, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 87, "mean" : 90, "std" : 3 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85, "std" : 4 } ] } ] )
The following operation finds a document where the _id
field equals 1
and uses an aggregation pipeline to calculate a new field total
from the grades
field:
db.runCommand( { findAndModify: "students2", query: { "_id" : 1 }, update: [ { $set: { "total" : { $sum: "$grades.grade" } } } ], new: true } )
Note
After the operation, the collection has the following documents:
{ "_id" : 1, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 80, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 90, "std" : 4 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" :85, "std" : 6 } ], "total" : 250 } { "_id" : 2, "grades" : [ { "grade" : 90, "mean" : 75, "std" : 6 }, { "grade" : 87, "mean" : 90, "std" : 3 }, { "grade" : 85, "mean" : 85,"std" : 4 } ] }
Specify hint
for findAndModify
Operations
New in version 4.4.
In mongosh
, create a members
collection with the following documents:
db.members.insertMany( [ { "_id" : 1, "member" : "abc123", "status" : "P", "points" : 0, "misc1" : null, "misc2" : null }, { "_id" : 2, "member" : "xyz123", "status" : "A", "points" : 60, "misc1" : "reminder: ping me at 100pts", "misc2" : "Some random comment" }, { "_id" : 3, "member" : "lmn123", "status" : "P", "points" : 0, "misc1" : null, "misc2" : null }, { "_id" : 4, "member" : "pqr123", "status" : "D", "points" : 20, "misc1" : "Deactivated", "misc2" : null }, { "_id" : 5, "member" : "ijk123", "status" : "P", "points" : 0, "misc1" : null, "misc2" : null }, { "_id" : 6, "member" : "cde123", "status" : "A", "points" : 86, "misc1" : "reminder: ping me at 100pts", "misc2" : "Some random comment" } ] )
Create the following indexes on the collection:
db.members.createIndex( { status: 1 } ) db.members.createIndex( { points: 1 } )
The following operation explicitly hints to use the index { status: 1 }
:
db.runCommand({ findAndModify: "members", query: { "points": { $lte: 20 }, "status": "P" }, remove: true, hint: { status: 1 } })
Note
If you specify an index that does not exist, the operation errors.
To see the index used, run explain
on the operation:
db.runCommand( { explain: { findAndModify: "members", query: { "points": { $lte: 20 }, "status": "P" }, remove: true, hint: { status: 1 } }, verbosity: "queryPlanner" } )
Use Variables in let
New in version 5.0.
To define variables that you can access elsewhere in the command, use the let option.
Note
To filter results using a variable, you must access the variable within the $expr
operator.
Create a collection cakeFlavors
:
db.cakeFlavors.insertMany( [ { _id: 1, flavor: "chocolate" }, { _id: 2, flavor: "strawberry" }, { _id: 3, flavor: "cherry" } ] )
The following example defines a targetFlavor
variable in let
and uses the variable to change the cake flavor from cherry to orange:
db.cakeFlavors.runCommand( { findAndModify: db.cakeFlavors.getName(), query: { $expr: { $eq: [ "$flavor", "$$targetFlavor" ] } }, update: { flavor: "orange" }, let: { targetFlavor: "cherry" } } )