$sort

The $sort update modifier orders array elements when used with the $push operator. It arranges array elements in ascending or descending order based on specified field values or the elements themselves.

Parameters

• field: The array field to modify.

• order: Use 1 for ascending order or -1 for descending order.

Example (MongoDB Shell)

The following example demonstrates using the $sort modifier with $push to add new quiz scores and keep them sorted in descending order.

Create sample documents

db.students.insertOne({
  _id: 1,
  name: "Bob",
  quizzes: [
    { score: 85, date: "2024-01-15" },
    { score: 92, date: "2024-02-10" }
  ]
});

Query example

db.students.updateOne(
  { _id: 1 },
  {
    $push: {
      quizzes: {
        $each: [{ score: 78, date: "2024-03-05" }],
        $sort: { score: -1 }
      }
    }
  }
)

Output

{
  "_id" : 1,
  "name" : "Bob",
  "quizzes" : [
    { "score" : 92, "date" : "2024-02-10" },
    { "score" : 85, "date" : "2024-01-15" },
    { "score" : 78, "date" : "2024-03-05" }
  ]
}

Code examples

To view a code example for using the $sort update modifier, choose the tab for the language that you want to use:

Node.js

const { MongoClient } = require('mongodb');

async function updateDocument() {
  const client = await MongoClient.connect('mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster-endpoint>:27017/?tls=true&tlsCAFile=global-bundle.pem&replicaSet=rs0&readPreference=secondaryPreferred&retryWrites=false');
  const db = client.db('test');
  const collection = db.collection('students');

  await collection.updateOne(
    { _id: 1 },
    {
      $push: {
        quizzes: {
          $each: [{ score: 78, date: "2024-03-05" }],
          $sort: { score: -1 }
        }
      }
    }
  );

  const updatedDocument = await collection.findOne({ _id: 1 });
  console.log(updatedDocument);

  await client.close();
}

updateDocument();

Python

from pymongo import MongoClient

def update_document():
    client = MongoClient('mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster-endpoint>:27017/?tls=true&tlsCAFile=global-bundle.pem&replicaSet=rs0&readPreference=secondaryPreferred&retryWrites=false')
    db = client.test
    collection = db.students

    collection.update_one(
        {'_id': 1},
        {
            '$push': {
                'quizzes': {
                    '$each': [{'score': 78, 'date': '2024-03-05'}],
                    '$sort': {'score': -1}
                }
            }
        }
    )

    updated_document = collection.find_one({'_id': 1})
    print(updated_document)

    client.close()

update_document()