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mongodb / v3.6 / reference / reference-operator-aggregation-pipeline.html

Aggregation Pipeline Stages

In the db.collection.aggregate method and db.aggregate method, pipeline stages appear in an array. Documents pass through the stages in sequence.

Stages

db.collection.aggregate() Stages

All except the $out and $geoNear stages can appear multiple times in a pipeline.

Note

For details on specific operator, including syntax and examples, click on the specific operator to go to its reference page.

db.collection.aggregate( [ { <stage> }, ... ] )
Stage Description
$addFields Adds new fields to documents. Similar to $project, $addFields reshapes each document in the stream; specifically, by adding new fields to to output documents that contain both the existing fields from the input documents and the newly added fields.
$bucket Categorizes incoming documents into groups, called buckets, based on a specified expression and bucket boundaries.
$bucketAuto Categorizes incoming documents into a specific number of groups, called buckets, based on a specified expression. Bucket boundaries are automatically determined in an attempt to evenly distribute the documents into the specified number of buckets.
$collStats Returns statistics regarding a collection or view.
$count Returns a count of the number of documents at this stage of the aggregation pipeline.
$facet Processes multiple aggregation pipelines within a single stage on the same set of input documents. Enables the creation of multi-faceted aggregations capable of characterizing data across multiple dimensions, or facets, in a single stage.
$geoNear Returns an ordered stream of documents based on the proximity to a geospatial point. Incorporates the functionality of $match, $sort, and $limit for geospatial data. The output documents include an additional distance field and can include a location identifier field.
$graphLookup Performs a recursive search on a collection. To each output document, adds a new array field that contains the traversal results of the recursive search for that document.
$group Groups input documents by a specified identifier expression and applies the accumulator expression(s), if specified, to each group. Consumes all input documents and outputs one document per each distinct group. The output documents only contain the identifier field and, if specified, accumulated fields.
$indexStats Returns statistics regarding the use of each index for the collection.
$limit Passes the first n documents unmodified to the pipeline where n is the specified limit. For each input document, outputs either one document (for the first n documents) or zero documents (after the first n documents).
$listSessions Lists all sessions that have been active long enough to propagate to the system.sessions collection.
$lookup Performs a left outer join to another collection in the same database to filter in documents from the “joined” collection for processing.
$match Filters the document stream to allow only matching documents to pass unmodified into the next pipeline stage. $match uses standard MongoDB queries. For each input document, outputs either one document (a match) or zero documents (no match).
$out Writes the resulting documents of the aggregation pipeline to a collection. To use the $out stage, it must be the last stage in the pipeline.
$project Reshapes each document in the stream, such as by adding new fields or removing existing fields. For each input document, outputs one document.
$redact Reshapes each document in the stream by restricting the content for each document based on information stored in the documents themselves. Incorporates the functionality of $project and $match. Can be used to implement field level redaction. For each input document, outputs either one or zero documents.
$replaceRoot Replaces a document with the specified embedded document. The operation replaces all existing fields in the input document, including the _id field. Specify a document embedded in the input document to promote the embedded document to the top level.
$sample Randomly selects the specified number of documents from its input.
$skip Skips the first n documents where n is the specified skip number and passes the remaining documents unmodified to the pipeline. For each input document, outputs either zero documents (for the first n documents) or one document (if after the first n documents).
$sort Reorders the document stream by a specified sort key. Only the order changes; the documents remain unmodified. For each input document, outputs one document.
$sortByCount Groups incoming documents based on the value of a specified expression, then computes the count of documents in each distinct group.
$unwind Deconstructs an array field from the input documents to output a document for each element. Each output document replaces the array with an element value. For each input document, outputs n documents where n is the number of array elements and can be zero for an empty array.

For aggregation expression operators to use in the pipeline stages, see Aggregation Pipeline Operators.

db.aggregate() Stages

Starting in version 3.6, MongoDB also provides the db.aggregate method:

db.aggregate( [ { <stage> }, ... ] )

The following stages use the db.aggregate() method and not the db.collection.aggregate() method.

Stage Description
$currentOp Returns information on active and/or dormant operations for the MongoDB deployment.
$listLocalSessions Lists all active sessions recently in use on the currently connected mongos or mongod instance. These sessions may have not yet propagated to the system.sessions collection.

Alphabetical Listing of Stages

Name Description
$addFields Adds new fields to documents. Outputs documents that contain all existing fields from the input documents and newly added fields.
$bucket Categorizes incoming documents into groups, called buckets, based on a specified expression and bucket boundaries.
$bucketAuto Categorizes incoming documents into a specific number of groups, called buckets, based on a specified expression. Bucket boundaries are automatically determined in an attempt to evenly distribute the documents into the specified number of buckets.
$collStats Returns statistics regarding a collection or view.
$count Returns a count of the number of documents at this stage of the aggregation pipeline.
$currentOp Returns information on active and/or dormant operations for the MongoDB deployment. To run, use the db.aggregate() method.
$facet Processes multiple aggregation pipelines within a single stage on the same set of input documents. Enables the creation of multi-faceted aggregations capable of characterizing data across multiple dimensions, or facets, in a single stage.
$geoNear Returns an ordered stream of documents based on the proximity to a geospatial point. Incorporates the functionality of $match, $sort, and $limit for geospatial data. The output documents include an additional distance field and can include a location identifier field.
$graphLookup Performs a recursive search on a collection. To each output document, adds a new array field that contains the traversal results of the recursive search for that document.
$group Groups input documents by a specified identifier expression and applies the accumulator expression(s), if specified, to each group. Consumes all input documents and outputs one document per each distinct group. The output documents only contain the identifier field and, if specified, accumulated fields.
$indexStats Returns statistics regarding the use of each index for the collection.
$limit Passes the first n documents unmodified to the pipeline where n is the specified limit. For each input document, outputs either one document (for the first n documents) or zero documents (after the first n documents).
$listLocalSessions Lists all active sessions recently in use on the currently connected mongos or mongod instance. These sessions may have not yet propagated to the system.sessions collection.
$listSessions Lists all sessions that have been active long enough to propagate to the system.sessions collection.
$lookup Performs a left outer join to another collection in the same database to filter in documents from the “joined” collection for processing.
$match Filters the document stream to allow only matching documents to pass unmodified into the next pipeline stage. $match uses standard MongoDB queries. For each input document, outputs either one document (a match) or zero documents (no match).
$out Writes the resulting documents of the aggregation pipeline to a collection. To use the $out stage, it must be the last stage in the pipeline.
$project Reshapes each document in the stream, such as by adding new fields or removing existing fields. For each input document, outputs one document.
$redact Reshapes each document in the stream by restricting the content for each document based on information stored in the documents themselves. Incorporates the functionality of $project and $match. Can be used to implement field level redaction. For each input document, outputs either one or zero documents.
$replaceRoot Replaces a document with the specified embedded document. The operation replaces all existing fields in the input document, including the _id field. Specify a document embedded in the input document to promote the embedded document to the top level.
$sample Randomly selects the specified number of documents from its input.
$skip Skips the first n documents where n is the specified skip number and passes the remaining documents unmodified to the pipeline. For each input document, outputs either zero documents (for the first n documents) or one document (if after the first n documents).