Docs Menu

Docs Home → Develop Applications → MongoDB Manual

db.collection.findOneAndReplace()

On this page

  • Definition
  • Syntax
  • Behavior
  • Examples

Definition

db.collection.findOneAndReplace( filter, replacement, options )

Important

mongo Shell Method

This page documents a mongo method. This is not the documentation for database commands or language-specific drivers, such as Node.js. To use the database command, see the update command.

For MongoDB API drivers, refer to the language-specific MongoDB driver documentation.

Replaces a single document based on the specified filter.

Syntax

The findOneAndReplace() method has the following form:

db.collection.findOneAndReplace(
   <filter>,
   <replacement>,
   {
     writeConcern: <document>,
     projection: <document>,
     sort: <document>,
     maxTimeMS: <number>,
     upsert: <boolean>,
     returnNewDocument: <boolean>,
     collation: <document>
   }
)

Parameters and Options

The findOneAndReplace() method takes the following parameters and options:

Parameter
Type
Description
filter
document

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

Specify an empty document { } to replace the first document returned in the 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 operation errors if the query argument is not a document.

replacement
document

The replacement document.

Cannot contain update operators.

The <replacement> document cannot specify an _id value that differs from the replaced document.

writeConcern
document

Optional. A document expressing the write concern. Omit to use the default write concern.

{ w: <value>, j: <boolean>, wtimeout: <number> }

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.

projection
document

Optional. A subset of fields to return.

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

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

sort
document

Optional. 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 operation errors if the sort argument is not a document.

See cursor.sort().

maxTimeMS
number
Optional. Specifies a time limit in milliseconds within which the operation must complete. Throws an error if the limit is exceeded.
upsert
boolean

Optional. When true, findOneAndReplace() either:

  • Inserts the document from the replacement parameter if no document matches the filter. Returns null after inserting the new document, unless returnNewDocument is true.

  • Replaces the document that matches the filter with the replacement document.

MongoDB will add the _id field to the replacement document if it is not specified in either the filter or replacement documents. If _id is present in both, the values must be equal.

To avoid multiple upserts, ensure that the query fields are uniquely indexed.

Defaults to false.

returnNewDocument
boolean

Optional. When true, returns the replacement document instead of the original document.

Defaults to false.

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 locale field is mandatory; all other collation fields are optional. For descriptions of the fields, see Collation Document.

If the collation is unspecified but the collection has a default collation (see db.createCollection()), the operation uses the collation specified for the collection.

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.

New in version 3.4.

Returns

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

Behavior

Document Match

db.collection.findOneAndReplace() replaces the first matching document in the collection that matches the filter. The sort parameter can be used to influence which document is modified.

Projection

Important

Language Consistency

Starting in MongoDB 4.4, as part of making find() and findAndModify() projection consistent with aggregation's $project stage,

The projection parameter takes a document in the following form:

{ field1: <value>, field2: <value> ... }
Projection
Description
<field>: <1 or true>
Specifies the inclusion of a field. If you specify a non-zero integer for the projection value, the operation treats the value as true.
<field>: <0 or false>
Specifies the exclusion of a field.
"<field>.$": <1 or true>

Uses the $ array projection operator to return the first element that matches the query condition on the array field. If you specify a non-zero integer for the projection value, the operation treats the value as true.

Not available for views.

<field>: <array projection>

Uses the array projection operators ($elemMatch, $slice) to specify the array elements to include.

Not available for views.

<field>: <aggregation expression>

Specifies the value of the projected field.

Starting in MongoDB 4.4, with the use of aggregation expressions and syntax, including the use of literals and aggregation variables, you can project new fields or project existing fields with new values.

  • If you specify a non-numeric, non-boolean literal (such as a literal string or an array or an operator expression) for the projection value, the field is projected with the new value, for example:

    • { field: [ 1, 2, 3, "$someExistingField" ] }

    • { field: "New String Value" }

    • { field: { status: "Active", total: { $sum: "$existingArray" } } }

  • To project a literal value for a field, use the $literal aggregation expression, for example:

    • { field: { $literal: 5 } }

    • { field: { $literal: true } }

    • { field: { $literal: { fieldWithValue0: 0, fieldWithValue1: 1 } } }

In versions 4.2 and earlier, any specification value (with the exception of the previously unsupported document value) is treated as either true or false to indicate the inclusion or exclusion of the field.

New in version 4.4.

Embedded Field Specification

For fields in an embedded documents, you can specify the field using either:

  • dot notation, for example "field.nestedfield": <value>

  • nested form, for example { field: { nestedfield: <value> } } (Starting in MongoDB 4.4)

_id Field Projection

The _id field is included in the returned documents by default unless you explicitly specify _id: 0 in the projection to suppress the field.

Inclusion or Exclusion

A projection cannot contain both include and exclude specifications, with the exception of the _id field:

  • In projections that explicitly include fields, the _id field is the only field that you can explicitly exclude.

  • In projections that explicitly excludes fields, the _id field is the only field that you can explicitly include; however, the _id field is included by default.

For more information on projection, see also:

Sharded Collections

To use db.collection.findOneAndReplace() 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. Before MongoDB 4.2, 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 db.collection.findOneAndReplace():

  • 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 db.collection.findOneAndReplace() 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:

Transactions

db.collection.findOneAndReplace() can be used inside distributed transactions.

Important

In most cases, a distributed transaction incurs a greater performance cost over single document writes, and the availability of distributed 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 distributed transactions.

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

Upsert within Transactions

You can create collections and indexes inside a distributed transaction if the transaction is not a cross-shard write transaction.

db.collection.findOneAndReplace() 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.

Tip

See also:

Create Collections and Indexes in a Transaction

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

Replace A Document

Create a sample scores collection with the following documents:

db.scores.insertMany([
   { "_id" : 1, "team" : "Fearful Mallards", "score" : 25000 },
   { "_id" : 2, "team" : "Tactful Mooses", "score" : 23500 },
   { "_id" : 3, "team" : "Aquatic Ponies", "score" : 19250 },
   { "_id" : 4, "team" : "Cuddly Zebras", "score" : 15235 },
   { "_id" : 5, "team" : "Garrulous Bears", "score" : 18000 }
]);

The following operation finds a document with score less than 20000 and replaces it:

db.scores.findOneAndReplace(
   { "score" : { $lt : 20000 } },
   { "team" : "Observant Badgers", "score" : 20000 }
)

The operation returns the original document that has been replaced:

{ "_id" : 3, "team" : "Aquatic Ponies", "score" : 19250 }

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

Although multiple documents meet the filter criteria, db.collection.findOneAndReplace() replaces only one document.

Sort and Replace A Document

Create a sample scores collection with the following documents:

db.scores.insertMany([
   { "_id" : 1, "team" : "Fearful Mallards", "score" : 25000 },
   { "_id" : 2, "team" : "Tactful Mooses", "score" : 23500 },
   { "_id" : 3, "team" : "Aquatic Ponies", "score" : 19250 },
   { "_id" : 4, "team" : "Cuddly Zebras", "score" : 15235 },
   { "_id" : 5, "team" : "Garrulous Bears", "score" : 18000 }
]);

By including an ascending sort on the score field, the following example replaces the document with the lowest score among those documents that match the filter:

db.scores.findOneAndReplace(
   { "score" : { $lt : 20000 } },
   { "team" : "Observant Badgers", "score" : 20000 },
   { sort: { "score" : 1 } }
)

The operation returns the original document that has been replaced:

{ "_id" : 4, "team" : "Cuddly Zebras", "score" : 15235 }

See Replace A Document for the non-sorted result of this command.

Project Specific Fields in Return Document

Create a sample scores collection with the following documents:

db.scores.insertMany([
   { "_id" : 1, "team" : "Fearful Mallards", "score" : 25000 },
   { "_id" : 2, "team" : "Tactful Mooses", "score" : 23500 },
   { "_id" : 3, "team" : "Aquatic Ponies", "score" : 19250 },
   { "_id" : 4, "team" : "Cuddly Zebras", "score" : 15235 },
   { "_id" : 5, "team" : "Garrulous Bears", "score" : 18000 }
])

The following operation uses projection to only display the team field in the returned document:

db.scores.findOneAndReplace(
   { "score" : { $lt : 22250 } },
   { "team" : "Therapeutic Hamsters", "score" : 22250 },
   { sort : { "score" : 1 }, projection: { "_id" : 0, "team" : 1 } }
)

The operation returns the original document with only the team field:

{ "team" : "Cuddly Zebras" }

Replace Document with Time Limit

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

try {
   db.scores.findOneAndReplace(
      { "score" : { $gt : 25000 } },
      { "team" : "Emphatic Rhinos", "score" : 25010 },
      { maxTimeMS: 5 }
   );
} catch(e){
   print(e);
}

If the operation exceeds the time limit, it returns:

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

Replace Document with Upsert

The following operation uses the upsert field to insert the replacement document if no document matches the filter:

try {
   db.scores.findOneAndReplace(
      { "team" : "Fortified Lobsters" },
      { "_id" : 6019, "team" : "Fortified Lobsters" , "score" : 32000},
      { upsert : true, returnNewDocument: true }
   );
} catch (e){
   print(e);
}

The operation returns the following:

{
   "_id" : 6019,
   "team" : "Fortified Lobsters",
   "score" : 32000
}

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

Specify Collation

New in version 3.4.

Collation allows users to specify language-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules for lettercase and accent marks.

Create a sample myColl collection with the following documents:

db.myColl.insertMany([
   { _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.myColl.findOneAndReplace(
   { category: "cafe", status: "a" },
   { category: "cafÉ", status: "Replaced" },
   { collation: { locale: "fr", strength: 1 } }
);

The operation returns the following document:

{ "_id" : 1, "category" : "café", "status" : "A" }
← db.collection.findOneAndDelete()
db.collection.findOneAndUpdate() →

On this page