Aync / Await return pending - node.js

Question

Why is my Aync Await Function returning an Pending Promise ? i already tried .then statement but it doesn't work, here is my code :
const findData = async () => {
let query = await userSchema.findOne({ _id: research["uploaderID"] });
return query;
};
research["uploaderInfo"] = findData();
console.log(findData());
when i tried to console.log the findData, it just gave me this :
Promise { <pending> }
Promise { <pending> }
and when i tried to check the research object, it was empty, but when i tried to add a console.log(query) inside the findData() function, it gave me the expected result, which mean the query is correct, and this is an issue because of the async / await.
UPDATE
i tried #dai solution to add await when i tried to set my research like this
const findData = async () => {
let query = await userSchema.findOne({ _id: research["uploaderID"] });
return query;
};
async () => {
research["uploaderInfo"] = await findData();
};
when i tried this, any code that i put inside the second nameless async function does not work, i tried to set the object to random string and it still doesn't changing

Answer 1

Read this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/56590390/159145
Short answer: Run NodeJS 14.17 (or any version after 13.3+) with the flag --harmony-top-level-await and you can have this:
// program.js
const findData = async () => {
let query = await userSchema.findOne({ _id: research["uploaderID"] });
return query;
};
research["uploaderInfo"] = await findData();
console.log(research["uploaderInfo"]);
...or even just this (assuming your research and userSchema objects are trivially instantiated):
// program.js
research["uploaderInfo"] = await userSchema.findOne({ _id: research["uploaderID"] });
console.log(research["uploaderInfo"]);
Longer answer without NodeJS flags:
It looks like NodeJS 14.17 doesn't yet support "top-level await" (someone correct me if I'm wrong) but that's not a real problem: it just means you need to wrap all of your original top-level ("root function") code in an async function and invoke it immediately.
Like so (I've named the function entrypoint, though you can use an anonymous function if you like):
// program.js
async function entrypoint() {
const research = ...
const userSchema = ...
const findData = async () => {
let query = await userSchema.findOne({ _id: research["uploaderID"] });
return query;
};
research["uploaderInfo"] = await findData();
console.log(research["uploaderInfo"]);
}
entrypoint();
Note that you can elide and inline findData's function and call userSchema.findOne directly:
// program.js
async function entrypoint() {
const research = ...
const userSchema = ...
research["uploaderInfo"] = await await userSchema.findOne({ _id: research["uploaderID"] });
console.log(research["uploaderInfo"]);
}
entrypoint();