MongoDB / Mongoose timestamps not updating

Question

Schema:

var schema = new Schema({...}, {
    timestamps: true,
    id: false,
    toJSON: {
        virtuals: true,
    },
    toObject: {
        virtual: true,
    }
});
schema.virtual('updated').get(function () {
    if(typeof this.updatedAt === "undefined" && typeof this.createdAt === "undefined") return "";
    var updated = (typeof this.updatedAt === "undefined") ? this.createdAt : this.updatedAt;
    return "Updated "+moment(updated).fromNow();
});

This code was working recently - updatedAt for a particular instance comes up as August 24th, however any new edits to the document doesn't update the timestamp.

Feels like I'm missing something very silly here.

Answer 1

Can try by modify your schema like:

var schema =new Schema({..}, 
           { timestamps: { createdAt: 'createdDate',updatedAt: 'updatedDate' } 
});

for this schema timestmps will update on save(), update() and findOneAndUpdate(). so no need schema.virtual('updated')...

Process-2

added createdDate and updatedDate with Date type in your schema and update these date fields using schema plugin.

like:

var mongoose = require('mongoose'),
    Schema   = mongoose.Schema,
    SchemaPlugin = require('../helpers/schemaPlugin');
  var schema =new Schema({..},
    createdDate: {
      type: Date,
      default: Date.now
    },
    updatedDate: {
      type: Date,
      default: Date.now
    }
  });

  schema.plugin(SchemaPlugin);

in schemaPlugin.js file:

module.exports = function(schema) {

  var updateTimestemps = function(next){
    var self = this;


    if(!self.createdAt) {
      self.createdDate = new Date();
      //or self.update({},{ $set: { createdDate : new Date(), updatedDate: new Date() } });
    } else {
      self.updatedDate= new Date();
      //or self.update({},{ $set: {updatedDate: new Date() } });
    }
    next();
  };

  schema.
    pre('save', updateTimestemps ).
    pre('update', updateTimestemps ).
    pre('findOneAndUpdate', updateTimestemps);
};

Answer 2

Stumbled upon the same thing, figured out that if the property updatedAt is set on my object when I'm updating it with findOneAndUpdate() (or update()), it won't update it.

In my case, solved it by making sure updatedAt isn't set before update:

delete thing.updatedAt;

Thing.findOneAndUpdate(
  { _id : thing._id },
  thing,
  function (err, result) {
   …

Credit to Valeri Karpov for his answer on Github.

Answer 3

updatedAt and createdAt both created on same time when a new document is entered into the database using mongoose so your checking of whether updatedAt is undefined or not is illogical as both will have the same value when new document is created.

Whenever you use a mongoose update function or findByIdAndUpdate or findOneAndUpdate the value of the updatedAt will be updated automatically.Use Mongodb client like mongochef or robomongo to directly check the value of the updatedAt.