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Query Modifiers

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Introduction

In addition to the MongoDB Query Operators, there are a number of “meta” operators that let you modify the output or behavior of a query. On the server, MongoDB treats the query and the options as a single object. The mongo shell and driver interfaces may provide cursor methods that wrap these options. When possible, use these methods; otherwise, you can add these options using either of the following syntax:

db.collection.find( { <query> } )._addSpecial( <option> )
db.collection.find( { $query: { <query> }, <option> } )

Operators

Modifiers

Many of these operators have corresponding methods in the shell. These methods provide a straightforward and user-friendly interface and are the preferred way to add these options.

Name Description
$comment Adds a comment to the query to identify queries in the database profiler output.
$explain Forces MongoDB to report on query execution plans. See explain().
$hint Forces MongoDB to use a specific index. See hint()
$maxScan Limits the number of documents scanned.
$max Specifies an exclusive upper limit for the index to use in a query. See max().
$min Specifies an inclusive lower limit for the index to use in a query. See min().
$orderby Returns a cursor with documents sorted according to a sort specification. See sort().
$returnKey Forces the cursor to only return fields included in the index.
$showDiskLoc Modifies the documents returned to include references to the on-disk location of each document.
$snapshot Forces the query to use the index on the _id field. See snapshot().
$query Wraps a query document.

Sort Order

Name Description
$natural A special sort order that orders documents using the order of documents on disk.