@prop

Typings:

function prop(
  options?: BasePropOptions | ArrayPropOptions | MapPropOptions | PropOptionsForNumber | PropOptionsForString | VirtualOptions,
  kind?: PropType
): PropertyDecorator

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`options` Required	`BasePropOptions`	The Option to set for the following property
`kind`	`PropType`	Overwrite what Kind is used

@prop is used to mark properties to be in the Schema and also set Options of that property.

note

Any Property that does not have @prop on it will not be in the Schema, because typegoose's current approach is that the keys for the schema get defined in @prop, unlike class-transformer's global-@Expose and @Exclude.

Single Options

Example:

class Cat {
  @prop()
  public name?: string;
}

class Cat2 {
  @prop({ type: () => String }) // explicitly define the Type
  public name?: string;
}

class Cat3 {
  @prop({ type: () => String }, PropType) // explicitly define the "PropType"
  public name?: string;
}

required

Accepts Type: boolean

Set this to true, if the property is required (best practice is public property!: any, note the !)
For more information see the mongoose documentation

Example:

class Something {
  @prop({ required: true }) // this is now required in the schema
  public firstName!: string;

  @prop() // by default, a property is not required
  public lastName?: string; // using the "?" marks the property as optional
}

index

Accepts Type: boolean

Create an Index for this Property. Should act like the @index class decorator, but without options.

Example:

class IndexedClass {
  @prop({ index: true })
  public indexedField?: string;
}

unique

Accepts Type: boolean

Create an Index that sets this property to be unique.

Example:

class IndexedClass {
  @prop({ unique: true }) // implicitly has "index: true"
  public uniqueId?: string;
}

default

Accepts Type: any

Set a default, when no value is given at creation time.

Example:

class Defaulted {
  @prop({ default: 'hello world' })
  public upperCase?: string; // mark as optional, because it will be defaulted
}

You may also set the default schema option to a function. Mongoose will execute that function and use the return value as the default.

Example:

class Defaulted {
  @prop({ required: true })
  firstName!: string
  @prop({ required: true })
  lastName!: string
  
  @prop({ 
    default: function (this: DocumentType<Defaulted>) {
      return `${this.firstName} ${this.lastName}`
    }
  })
  public fullName?: string; // mark as optional, because it will be defaulted
}

note

To have the this keyword correctly typed, you have to pass a defined this parameter.

_id

Accepts Type: boolean

Set this to false, if you want to turn off creating IDs for sub-documents.

Example:

class Nested {}

class Parent {
  @prop({ _id: false })
  public nest: Nested;
}

ref

Accepts Type: Class | string

Set which class to use for Reference (this cannot be inferred by the type).

Look here where Class cannot be used

Example:

class Kitten {
  @prop()
  public name?: string;
}

class Cat {
  // single examples
  @prop({ ref: () => Kitten })
  public kitten?: Ref<Kitten>;
  // or
  @prop({ ref: 'Kitten' })
  public kitten?: Ref<Kitten>;

  // array examples
  @prop({ ref: () => Kitten })
  public kittens?: Ref<Kitten>[];
  // or
  @prop({ ref: 'Kitten' })
  public kittens?: Ref<Kitten>[];
}

The 'Nested'(as string) form is useful to avoid unintuitive errors due to circular dependencies, such as Option "ref" for "${name}.${key}" is null/undefined! [E005].

refPath

Accepts Type: string

Set which path to look for which Class to use.

Example:

class Car {}
class Shop {}

// in another class
class Another {
  @prop({ required: true, enum: 'Car' | 'Shop' })
  public which!: string;

  @prop({ refPath: 'which' })
  public kind?: Ref<Car | Shop>;
}

validate

Accepts Type: object OR RegExp OR (value) => boolean OR object[] Required options of the object:

validator: (value) => boolean
message: String, the message shows when the validator fails

Set a custom function for validation (must return a boolean).

Example: (For more Examples look at Mongoose's Documentation)

// "maxlength" already exists as an option, this just shows how to use validate
class Validated {
  @prop({
    validate: {
      validator: (v) => {
        return v.length <= 10;
      },
      message: 'value is over 10 characters long!'
    }
  })
  public validated?: string;
}

alias

Accepts Type: string

Set an Alias for a property (best practice is to add type information for it).

-> For more information see the mongoose documentation

Example:

class Dummy {
  @prop({ alias: 'helloWorld' })
  public hello: string; // will be included in the DB
  public helloWorld: string; // will NOT be included in the DB, just for type completion (gets passed as hello in the DB)
}

select

Accepts Type: boolean

Set it to false, if you want to retrieve data without this property by default
-> Read more in Mongoose's official documentation

class Dummy {
  @prop({ select: false })
  public hello: string;
}

In order to retrieve a prop marked as select: false, you must explicitly ask for it:

// find all in the collection and have the "hello" property selected
const dummies = await DummyModel.find().select('+hello').exec();

note

select() accepts an array as well

note

select() accepts a long string with space as a separator

get & set

Accepts Type: (input) => output

Set getters & setters for fields, it is not virtual.

note

Both get & set must be defined all the time, even when just wanting to use one.

note

If the PropType (Primitive / Array / Map) is different from what is got from the reflection, it requires explicit setting that it is different

Pre-process string to string:

class Dummy {
  @prop({ set: (val: string) => val.toLowerCase(), get: (val: string) => val })
  public hello: string;
}

Store string, runtime have string array (string array to string):

class Dummy {
  // this value is a "string-array" during runtime and is stored in the database as a "primite-string"
  @prop({ set: (val: string[]) => val.join(' '), get: (val: string) => val.split(' '), type: String }, PropType.NONE) // requires explicit setting of "PropType"
  public fullName?: string[];
}

type

Accepts Type: any | any[] | () => (any | any[])

Overwrite the type generated for the design:type reflection.

Example:

class Dummy {
  // explicitly set type
  @prop({ type: String })
  public version1: string;

  // supports deferred-function style
  @prop({ type: () => String })
  public version2: string;
}

note

Mongoose initializes arrays with [] instead of null / undefined

Example: Arrays (array item types can't be automatically inferred via reflection)

class Dummy {
  @prop({ type: String })
  public hello1: string[];

  // supports wrapping type in nested arrays
  // nested arrays are counted and will be used as option "dim"
  @prop({ type: [[String]] })
  public hello2: string[][];
}

(type: [[String]] is equivalent to type: String, dim: 2)

tip

Since typegoose 12.11.0, type: [TYPE] will also infer PropType.ARRAY, unless manually specified.

Example: get as string[], save as string

class Dummy {
  @prop({ set: (val: string[]) => val.join(' '), get: (val: string) => val.split(' '), type: String })
  public hello: string[];
}

Example: Overwrite type for an enum.

enum SomeEnum {
  One,
  Two
}
class Dummy {
  @prop({ enum: SomeEnum, type: Number })
  public enumprop: SomeEnum;
}

Example: Overwrite the inferred type as a last resort.

class Dummy {
  @prop({ type: mongoose.Schema.Types.Mixed }) // used for mongoose / how it is stored to the DB
  public something: NewableFunction; // used for intellisense / TypeScript
}

enum

Accepts Type: TypescriptEnum | (string | number)[]

Only allow values from the enum (best practice is to use TypeScript's enum).

note

design:type will be set to String, if the enum is full of Strings, and Number, if full of Numbers and Object of the enum contains both.

Example for String-Enums:

enum Gender {
  MALE = 'male',
  FEMALE = 'female'
}

class Enumed {
  @prop({ enum: Gender })
  public gender?: Gender;

  // typegoose enum also supports deferred function
  @prop({ enum: () => Gender })
  public gender?: Gender;
}

Example for Number-Enums:
(since mongoose 5.8 and typegoose 6.2)

enum Gender {
  MALE, // equal to "= 0"
  FEMALE // equal to "= 1"
}

class Enumed {
  @prop({ enum: Gender })
  public gender?: Gender;

  // typegoose enum also supports deferred function
  @prop({ enum: Gender })
  public gender?: Gender;
}

Known-Issues:

Babel doesn't set the type for enums correctly. They need to be set manually with the type option
If transpiling your code with tsc --transpile-only or ts-node -- transpile-only, then the --transpile-only needs to be removed or the type needs to be set manually with the type option (see Known-Issues: Babel)

addNullToEnum

Accepts Type: boolean

Adds null to the enum array.

note

This doesn't work if the value is required

Example:

enum SomeNumberEnum {
  one = 1,
  two = 2
}
class AddNullToEnum {
  @prop({ enum: SomeNumberEnum, addNullToEnum: true })
  public value?: SomeNumberEnum;
}

const AddNullToEnumModel = getModelForClass(AddNullToEnum);

AddNullToEnumModel.schema.path('value').options.enum === [1, 2, null]; // true

// this is necessary to avoid a validation error
new AddNullToEnumModel({ value: null } as AddNullToEnum);

discriminators

Accepts Type: () => [DiscriminatorObject | Class]

Use this function for embedded discriminators.

See Nested Discriminators for a guide on how to use nested Discriminators.

warning

A Error is thrown when both this option and the model-option discriminators are defined.
See Duplicate Option Definition [E032].

note

The discriminatorKey (like in the example property type) needs to be always set in a newly created document (via .create({ type: 'yourKey' }), or .save())

note

There currently is no typegoose built-in way to get the models the path.discriminator call would return, see typegoose/typegoose#744.

Example for [Class]:

@modelOptions({
  schemaOptions: {
    discriminatorKey: 'type'
  }
})
class Building {
  @prop({ default: 100 })
  public width: number;

  @prop({ required: true })
  public type: string;
}

class Garage extends Building {
  @prop({ default: 10 })
  public slotsForCars: number;
}

class SummerHouse extends Building {
  @prop({ default: 100 })
  public distanceToLake: number;
}

class Area {
  @prop({ type: Building, discriminators: () => [Garage, SummerHouse] })
  public buildings: Building[];
}

const AreaModel = getModelForClass(Area);

// then somewhere in an async function
const area = await AreaModel.create({});
area.buildings.push({ type: getName(SummerHouse), distanceToLake: 100 } as SummerHouse);
area.buildings.push({ type: getName(Garage), slotsForCars: 20 } as Garage);
await area.save();

Example for [DiscriminatorObject]:

@modelOptions({
  schemaOptions: {
    discriminatorKey: 'type'
  }
})
class Building {
  @prop({ default: 100 })
  public width: number;

  @prop({ required: true })
  public type: string;
}

class Garage extends Building {
  @prop({ default: 10 })
  public slotsForCars: number;
}

class SummerHouse extends Building {
  @prop({ default: 100 })
  public distanceToLake: number;
}

class Area {
  @prop({
    type: Building,
    discriminators: () => [
      { type: Garage, value: 'G' },
      { type: SummerHouse, value: 'S' }
    ]
  })
  public buildings: Building[];
}

const AreaModel = getModelForClass(Area);

// then somewhere in an async function
const area = await AreaModel.create({});
area.buildings.push({ type: 'S', distanceToLake: 100 } as SummerHouse);
area.buildings.push({ type: 'G', slotsForCars: 20 } as Garage);
await area.save();

innerOptions

innerOptions is used to override options at the "Type" level

warning

Use this only when absolutely necessary and please open a new issue about it

note

This option can be used everywhere mapOptions function is called (currently being PropType.ARRAY and PropType.MAP)

Example:

class Something {
  @prop({ required: true })
  public propy: string[];
}

// This would be mapped to
{
  type: [{ type: String }],
  required: true
}

// when using the override
class Something {
  @prop({ innerOptions: { required: true } })
  public propy: string[];
}

// This would be mapped to
{
  type: [{ type: String, required: true }]
}

outerOptions

outerOptions is used to override options at the "Array" level

warning

Use this only when absolutely necessary and please open a new issue about it

note

This option can be used everywhere mapOptions function is called (currently being PropType.ARRAY and PropType.MAP)

Example:

class Something {
  @prop({ maxlength: 1 })
  public propy: string[];
}

// This would be mapped to
{
  type: [{ type: String, maxlength: 1 }]
}

// when using the override
class Something {
  @prop({ outerOptions: { maxlength: 1 } })
  public propy: string[];
}

// This would be mapped to
{
  type: [{ type: String }],
  maxlength: 1
}

allowMixed

allowMixed is used to set a custom warnMixed Severity for a specific Property.
Takes priority over class-wide allowMixed.

See modelOptions#allowMixed for all possible variants for the enum.

Example:

class Something {
  @prop({ allowMixed: Severity.ERROR, type: () => mongoose.Schema.Types.Mixed })
  public propy?: any;
}

buildSchema(Something); // would throw a "warnMixed" error

Array Options

note

Option type must be provided, otherwise the array will result in Mixed read typegoose issue #300 for more info

Example:

class Kitten {
  @prop()
  public name?: string;
}

class Cat {
  @prop({ type: () => [Kitten] })
  public kitten?: Kitten[]; // "[]" or "Array<any>" or "mongoose.Types.Array<any>" or "mongoose.Types.DocumentArray" is needed to be detected as an Array
}

class Cat2 {
  @prop({ type: () => [Kitten] }, PropType.ARRAY) // explicitly define the "PropType"
  public kitten?: Kitten[];
}

dim

dim is used to set the Dimensions this array should have (for something like a matrix)
-> needs to be higher than 0
-> This Option is overridden by using type () => [Type]

Example:

class Something {
  @prop({ dim: 3, type: String })
  public propy: string[][][];
  //or
  @prop({ type: () => [[[String]]] })
  public propy: string[][][];
}

// This would be mapped to
{
  type: [[[{ type: String }]]]
}

The option dim can be omitted when used with the () => [Type] syntax (since 7.4.0):

class ArrayInType {
  @prop({ type: () => [[String]] }) // dim is 2
  public propy: string[][];

  @prop({ type: () => [String] }) // dim is 1
  public propy: string[];
}

Map Options

Example:

class SomeMapClass1 {
  @prop({ type: String })
  public lookup?: Map<string, string>; // "Map<any, any>" or "mongoose.Types.Map<any>" is needed to be detected as a Map
}

class SomeMapClass2 {
  @prop({ type: () => String }, PropType.MAP) // explicitly define the "PropType"
  public lookup?: Map<string, string>;
}

// Extra Examples with different types
// Example: Primitive-Arrays
class SomeMapClass3 {
  @prop({ type: () => [String] })
  public lookup?: Map<string, string[]>;
}

// Example: SubDocuments
class Nested {
  @prop()
  public dummy?: string;
}
class SomeMapClass3 {
  @prop({ type: () => Nested, _id: false })
  public lookup?: Map<string, Nested>;
}

// Example: SubDocument-Arrays (since 8.1.1)
class Nested {
  @prop()
  public dummy?: string;
}
class SomeMapClass3 {
  @prop({ type: () => [Nested], _id: false })
  public lookup?: Map<string, Nested[]>;
}

note

type can be Primitives, Primitive-Arrays, SubDocuments(Classes) and SubDocument(Class)-Arrays

String Transform options

lowercase

Accepts Type: boolean

Set this to true, if the value should always be transformed to be lowercased.

Example:

class LowerCased {
  @prop({ lowercase: true })
  public lowerCase: string; // "HELLO" -> "hello"
}

uppercase

Accepts Type: boolean

Set this to true, if the value should always be transformed to be UPPERCASE.

Example:

class UpperCased {
  @prop({ uppercase: true })
  public upperCase: string; // "hello" -> "HELLO"
}

trim

Accepts Type: boolean

Set this to true, if the value should always be trimmed.

Example:

class Trimmed {
  @prop({ trim: true })
  public trim: string; // "   Trim me   " -> "Trim me"
}

String Validation options

maxlength

Accepts Type: number

Sets the maximum length the string can have.

Example:

class MaxLengthed {
  @prop({ maxlength: 10 })
  public maxlengthed?: string; // the string can only be 10 characters long
}

minlength

Accepts Type: number

Sets the minimum length the string can have (must be above 0).

Example:

class MinLengthed {
  @prop({ minlength: 10 })
  public minlengthed?: string; // the string must be at least 10 characters long
}

match

Accepts Type: RegExp

Sets a Regular Expression for the string must match.

Example:

class RegExpString {
  @prop({ match: /^H/i })
  public matched?: string;
}

Number Validation options

max

Accepts Type: number

Sets the maximum value the number property can have.

Example:

class Maxed {
  @prop({ max: 10 })
  public maxed?: number; // the value can be at most 10
}

min

Accepts Type: number

Sets the minimum value the number property can have.

Example:

class Mined {
  @prop({ min: 0 })
  public mined?: number; // the value must be at least 0
}

Virtual Populate Options

Options for Virtual Populate

ref

Required: yes, if using virtual populate

For Options and Typings, see normal ref.

foreignField

Accepts Type: string | DynamicStringFunc<any>
Required: yes, if using virtual populate

Set the field to look at in the remote document and be compared with the field set by localField.

localField

Accepts Type: string | DynamicStringFunc<any>
Required: yes, if using virtual populate

Set the field to look at in the local document and be compared with the field set by foreignField.

justOne

Accepts Type: boolean
Conflicts with: count

Set whether the query should only return one document instead of a array of documents.

count

Accepts Type: boolean
Conflicts with: justOne

Set whether the query should return a count of found documents instead of the documents themself.

options

Accepts Type: mongoose.QueryOptions

Set custom options to be used in the query for virtual populate.

match

Accepts Type: object | (doc) => object

Set a custom matcher for virtual populate.

PropType

This is an Enum to represent what the prop should be, this is in most cases automatically set. It can be overridden in the second parameter of @prop

Full Enum:

enum PropType {
  ARRAY,
  MAP,
  NONE // default for properties if no Map / Array is detected
}

For Examples, look at:

Single Options - NONE
Array Options - ARRAY
Map Options - MAP

Passthrough Class

warning

It is not recommended to use this class, it should always be another class if nesting, like in the quick-start-guide is wanted

The Passthrough class is, like the name implies, is to pass-through a schema definition directly, without "wrapping" it in a new Schema({}) explicitly.

Non-Direct

Using the Passthrough class this way will be from mongoose 6.0 onward the same as doing another class (see Mongoose#7181).
Also see the FAQ Do all Classes get compiled to their own "mongoose.Schema"?.

note

It should be noted that using this method no typegoose transformations or warnings will be applied to what is inside Passthrough.raw (like type: () => Class will not be translated, it will stay as-is).

There is also a option to set the Passthrough class to direct mode (with the second parameter), this will mean that absolutely no typegoose process is applied (everything has to be done manually), see Passthrough-Class#Direct.

Example for PropType.NONE:

class PassthroughNoDirect {
  @prop()
  public normalProp?: string;

  @prop({ type: () => new Passthrough({ somePath: String }) })
  public child?: { somePath: string };
}

// would be equal to

new mongoose.Schema({
  normalProp: {
    type: String
  },
  child: {
    type: {
      somePath: String
    }
  }
})

Example for PropType.ARRAY:

note

This was not working before mongoose 6.0.9, see issue #10750.

note

Using this way will throw a "Mixed" warning for property child, because at the time where typegoose checks types is way before it being a proper Type.

class PassthroughNoDirect {
  @prop({ type: () => new Passthrough({ somePath: String }) })
  public child?: [{ somePath: string }]
}

// would be equal to
new mongoose.Schema({
  child: {
    type: [{
      somePath: String
    }]
  }
})

Example for PropType.MAP:

class PassthroughNoDirect {
  @prop({ type: () => new Passthrough({ someProp: String }) })
  public child?: Map<string, { someProp: string }>;
}

// would be equal to
new mongoose.Schema({
  child: {
    type: Map,
    of: {
      type: {
        someProp: String
      }
    }
  }
})

Direct

The option direct (second parameter to Passthrough, default false), is used to set assigning the contents of raw (first parameter to Passthrough) directly, with no processing on the typegoose side or preceding type:.

note

With the option direct set to true, no other option will be applied (even when defined) (like defining required, will have no effect).

The most obvious one being that no type: will be in-front of what Passthrough holds.

Example for PropType.NONE:

class PassthroughWithDirect {
  @prop({ type: () => new Passthrough({ somePath: String }, true) })
  public child?: { somePath: string; };
}

// would be equal to

new mongoose.Schema({
  child: {
    somePath: String
  }
})

Example for PropType.ARRAY:

class PassthroughWithDirect {
  @prop({ type: () => new Passthrough([{ somePath: String }], true) })
  public child?: [{ somePath: string; }];
}

// would be equal to

new mongoose.Schema({
  child: [{ somePath: String }]
})

Example for PropType.MAP:

class PassthroughWithDirect {
  @prop({ type: () => new Passthrough({ type: Map, of: { somePath: String } }, true) })
  public child?: Map<string, { somePath: string }>;
}

// would be equal to

new mongoose.Schema({
  child: {
    type: Map,
    of: {
      somePath: String
    }
  }
})

Single Options​

required​

index​

unique​

default​

_id​

ref​

refPath​

validate​

alias​

select​

get & set​

type​

enum​

addNullToEnum​

discriminators​

innerOptions​

outerOptions​

allowMixed​

Array Options​

dim​

Map Options​

String Transform options​

lowercase​

uppercase​

trim​

String Validation options​

maxlength​

minlength​

match​

Number Validation options​

max​

min​

Virtual Populate Options​

ref​

foreignField​

localField​

justOne​

count​

options​

match​

PropType​

Passthrough Class​

Non-Direct​

Direct​

Single Options

required

index

unique

default

_id

ref

refPath

validate

alias

select

get & set

type

enum

addNullToEnum

discriminators

innerOptions

outerOptions

allowMixed

Array Options

dim

Map Options

String Transform options

lowercase

uppercase

trim

String Validation options

maxlength

minlength

match

Number Validation options

max

min

Virtual Populate Options

ref

foreignField

localField

justOne

count

options

match

PropType

Passthrough Class

Non-Direct

Direct