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insert (database command)

Definition

insert

Inserts one or more documents into a collection and returns a status document. MongoDB driver insert methods use this command internally.

Tip

In mongosh, this command can also be run through the db.collection.insertOne() and db.collection.insertMany() helper methods.

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.

Returns:	A document that contains the status of the operation. See Output for details.

Compatibility

This command is available in deployments hosted in the following environments:

MongoDB Atlas: The fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud

Note

This command is supported in all MongoDB Atlas clusters. For information on Atlas support for all commands, see Unsupported Commands.

MongoDB Enterprise: The subscription-based, self-managed version of MongoDB
MongoDB Community: The source-available, free-to-use, and self-managed version of MongoDB

Syntax

The command has the following syntax:

db.runCommand(
   {
      insert: <collection>,
      documents: [ <document>, <document>, <document>, ... ],
      ordered: <boolean>,
      maxTimeMS: <integer>,
      writeConcern: { <write concern> },
      bypassDocumentValidation: <boolean>,
      comment: <any>
   }
)

Command Fields

The command takes the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
`insert`	string	The name of the target collection.
`documents`	array	An array of one or more documents to insert into the named collection.
`ordered`	boolean	Optional. If `true`, when an insert fails, return without inserting any remaining documents. If `false`, when an insert fails, continue inserting the remaining documents. Defaults to `true`.
`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.
`writeConcern`	document	Optional. Specifies 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.
`bypassDocumentValidation`	boolean	Optional. Enables `insert` to bypass schema validation during the operation.
`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: mongod log messages, in the `attr.command.cursor.comment` field. Database profiler output, in the `command.comment` field. `currentOp` output, in the `command.comment` field. A comment can be any valid BSON type (string, integer, object, array, etc).

Behavior

Size Limit

The total size of all documents array elements must not exceed the maximum BSON document size.

The total number of documents in the documents array must not exceed the maximum bulk size.

Schema Validation

The insert command adds support for the bypassDocumentValidation option, which lets you bypass schema validation when inserting or updating documents in a collection with validation rules.

Transactions

insert 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.

Collection Creation in Transactions

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

If you specify an insert on a non-existing collection in a transaction, MongoDB creates the collection implicitly.

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.

Insert Inaccuracies

Even if you encounter a server error during an insert, some documents may have been inserted.

After a successful insert, the system returns insert.n, the number of documents inserted into the collection. If the insert operation is interrupted by a replica set state change, the system may continue inserting documents. As a result, insert.n may report fewer documents than actually inserted.

Examples

Insert a Single Document

Insert a document into the users collection:

db.runCommand(
   {
      insert: "users",
      documents: [ { _id: 1, user: "abc123", status: "A" } ]
   }
)

The operation returns the following document:

{ "ok" : 1, "n" : 1 }

Bulk Insert

Insert three documents into the users collection:

db.runCommand(
   {
      insert: "users",
      documents: [
         { _id: 2, user: "ijk123", status: "A" },
         { _id: 3, user: "xyz123", status: "P" },
         { _id: 4, user: "mop123", status: "P" }
      ],
      ordered: false,
      writeConcern: { w: "majority", wtimeout: 5000 }
   }
)

The operation returns the following document:

{ "ok" : 1, "n" : 3 }

Using Insert with `bypassDocumentValidation`

If schema validation validationActions are set to error, the insert command returns an error for documents that fail validation. To insert documents that violate validation rules, set bypassDocumentValidation: true.

Create the user collection with a validation rule on the status fields.

The validation rule validates that the status must be "Unknown" or "Incomplete":

db.createCollection("users", {
   validator:
      {
         status: {
            $in: [ "Unknown", "Incomplete" ]
         }
      }
})

Insert a document that violates the validation rule:

db.runCommand({
      insert: "users",
      documents: [ {user: "123", status: "Active" } ]
})

The insert returns a write error message:

{
   n: 0,
   writeErrors: [
      {
         index: 0,
         code: 121,
         errInfo: {
            failingDocumentId: ObjectId('6197a7f2d84e85d1cc90d270'),
            details: {
               operatorName: '$in',
               specifiedAs: { status: { '$in': [Array] } },
               reason: 'no matching value found in array',
               consideredValue: 'Active'
            }
         },
         errmsg: 'Document failed validation'
      }
   ],
   ok: 1
}

Set bypassDocumentValidation: true and rerun the insert:

db.runCommand({
   insert: "users",
   documents: [ {user: "123", status: "Active" } ],
   bypassDocumentValidation: true
})

The operation succeeds.

To check for documents that violate schema validation rules, use the validate command.

Output

The returned document contains a subset of the following fields:

insert.ok: The status of the command.

insert.n: The number of documents inserted.

insert.writeErrors

An array of documents that contains information regarding any error encountered during the insert operation. The writeErrors array contains an error document for each insert that errors.

Each error document contains the following fields:

insert.writeErrors.index: An integer that identifies the document in the documents array, which uses a zero-based index.

insert.writeErrors.code: An integer value identifying the error.

insert.writeErrors.errmsg: A description of the error.

insert.writeConcernError

Document describing errors that relate to the write concern.

Changed in version 7.0.6: (also available in 6.0.14 and 5.0.30): When insert executes on mongos, write concern errors are always reported, even when one or more write errors occur. In previous releases, the occurrence of write errors could cause the insert to not report write concern errors.

The writeConcernError documents contain the following fields:

insert.writeConcernError.code: An integer value identifying the cause of the write concern error.

insert.writeConcernError.errmsg: A description of the cause of the write concern error.

insert.writeConcernError.errInfo.writeConcern

The write concern object used for the corresponding operation. For information on write concern object fields, see Write Concern Specification.

The write concern object may also contain the following field, indicating the source of the write concern:

insert.writeConcernError.errInfo.writeConcern.provenance

A string value indicating where the write concern originated (known as write concern provenance). The following table shows the possible values for this field and their significance:

Provenance	Description
`clientSupplied`	The write concern was specified in the application.
`customDefault`	The write concern originated from a custom defined default value. See `setDefaultRWConcern`.
`getLastErrorDefaults`	The write concern originated from the replica set's `settings.getLastErrorDefaults` field.
`implicitDefault`	The write concern originated from the server in absence of all other write concern specifications.

The following shows an example output for a successful single-document insert:

{ ok: 1, n: 1 }

The following shows an example output when one document inserts successfully and a second document fails:

{
   "ok" : 1,
   "n" : 1,
   "writeErrors" : [
      {
         "index" : 1,
         "code" : 11000,
         "errmsg" : "insertDocument :: caused by :: 11000 E11000 duplicate key error index: test.users.$_id_  dup key: { : 1.0 }"
      }
   ]
}

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mapReduce

Definition

Tip

Compatibility

Note

Syntax

Command Fields

Behavior

Size Limit

Schema Validation

Transactions

Important

Collection Creation in Transactions

Write Concerns and Transactions

Insert Inaccuracies

Examples

Insert a Single Document

Bulk Insert

Using Insert with bypassDocumentValidation

Output

Using Insert with `bypassDocumentValidation`