db.collection.insertOne()¶

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Definition¶

db.collection.insertOne()¶

New in version 3.2.

Inserts a document into a collection.

The insertOne() method has the following syntax:

db.collection.insertOne(
   <document>,
   {
      writeConcern: <document>
   }
)

Parameter	Type	Description
`document`	document	A document to insert into the collection.
`writeConcern`	document	Optional. A document expressing the write concern. Omit to use the default write concern.

Returns:	A document containing: A boolean `acknowledged` as `true` if the operation ran with write concern or `false` if write concern was disabled. A field `insertedId` with the `_id` value of the inserted document.

Behaviors¶

Collection Creation¶

If the collection does not exist, then the insertOne() method creates the collection.

`_id` Field¶

If the document does not specify an _id field, then mongod will add the _id field and assign a unique ObjectId for the document before inserting. Most drivers create an ObjectId and insert the _id field, but the mongod will create and populate the _id if the driver or application does not.

If the document contains an _id field, the _id value must be unique within the collection to avoid duplicate key error.

Explainability¶

insertOne() is not compatible with db.collection.explain().

Use insert() instead.

Error Handling¶

On error, insertOne() throws either a writeError or writeConcernError exception.

Examples¶

Insert a Document without Specifying an `_id` Field¶

In the following example, the document passed to the insertOne() method does not contain the _id field:

try {
   db.products.insertOne( { item: "card", qty: 15 } );
} catch (e) {
   print (e);
};

The operation returns the following document:

{
   "acknowledged" : true,
   "insertedId" : ObjectId("56fc40f9d735c28df206d078")
}

Because the documents did not include _id, mongod creates and adds the _id field and assigns it a unique ObjectId value.

The ObjectId values are specific to the machine and time when the operation is run. As such, your values may differ from those in the example.

Insert a Document Specifying an `_id` Field¶

In the following example, the document passed to the insertOne() method includes the _id field. The value of _id must be unique within the collection to avoid duplicate key error.

try {
   db.products.insertOne( { _id: 10, item: "box", qty: 20 } );
} catch (e) {
   print (e);
}

The operation returns the following:

{ "acknowledged" : true, "insertedId" : 10 }

Inserting an duplicate value for any key that is part of a unique index, such as _id, throws an exception. The following attempts to insert a document with a _id value that already exists:

try {
   db.products.insertOne( { _id: 10, "item" : "packing peanuts", "qty" : 200 } );
} catch (e) {
   print (e);
}

Since _id: 10 already exists, the following exception is thrown:

WriteError({
   "index" : 0,
   "code" : 11000,
   "errmsg" : "E11000 duplicate key error collection: inventory.products index: _id_ dup key: { : 10.0 }",
   "op" : {
      "_id" : 10,
      "item" : "packing peanuts",
      "qty" : 200
   }
})

Increase Write Concern¶

Given a three member replica set, the following operation specifies a w of majority, wtimeout of 100:

try {
   db.products.insertOne(
       { "item": "envelopes", "qty": 100, type: "Self-Sealing" },
       { writeConcern: { w : "majority", wtimeout : 100 } }
   );
} catch (e) {
   print (e);
}

If the acknowledgement takes longer than the wtimeout limit, the following exception is thrown:

WriteConcernError({
   "code" : 64,
   "errInfo" : {
      "wtimeout" : true
   },
   "errmsg" : "waiting for replication timed out"
})