mongosh method. This is not
the documentation for a language-specific driver, such as Node.js.For MongoDB API drivers, refer to the language-specific MongoDB driver documentation.
Call this method on a query to override MongoDB's default index
selection and query optimization process.
Use db.collection.getIndexes() to return the list of
current indexes on a collection.
The cursor.hint() method has the following parameter:
Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| string or document | The index to "hint" or force MongoDB to use when performing the query. Specify the index either by the index name or by the index specification document. You can also specify |
Compatibility
This method is available in deployments hosted in the following environments:
MongoDB Atlas: The fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud
Note
This command is supported in all MongoDB Atlas clusters. For information on Atlas support for all commands, see Unsupported Commands.
MongoDB Enterprise: The subscription-based, self-managed version of MongoDB
MongoDB Community: The source-available, free-to-use, and self-managed version of MongoDB
Behavior
When an index filter exists for the query shape, MongoDB ignores the
hint().If a query includes a
$textexpression, you cannot usehint()to specify which index to use for the query.If you use
hint()on a hidden index or an index that doesn't exist, the operation returns an error.On a time series collections, you can only specify hints using the index name, not the index key pattern.
Examples
Specify an Index
The following example returns all documents in the collection named
users using the index on the age field.
db.users.find().hint( { age: 1 } )
You can also specify the index using the index name:
db.users.find().hint( "age_1" )
Force Collection Scans
You can specify { $natural : 1 } to force the query to perform a forwards
collection scan:
db.users.find().hint( { $natural : 1 } )
You can also specify { $natural : -1 } to force the query to perform a
reverse collection scan:
db.users.find().hint( { $natural : -1 } )