Pull objects from array in embedded MongoDB document - node.js

Question

I've been unable to figure out a way to to remove objects from arrays in embedded mongoDB documents.
My schema holds a user and a list of flower objects. It looks like this:
const UserSchema = new Schema({
name : {
type : String,
required : true
},
flowers : [
{
name : {
type : String,
required : true
},
water_freq : {
type : Number,
required : true
}
}
]
});
I've managed to add flower objects like so:
router.post('/:id/flowers/add', (req, res) => {
const { name, water_freq } = req.body;
User.findByIdAndUpdate(
req.params.id,
{
$push : {
flowers : { name, water_freq }
}
},
{ new: true }
).then((user) => res.json(user));
});
I want to delete flowers from users by their id but I'm unable to get it to work.
The code below is my non-working attempt at it.
router.delete('/:id/flowers/delete/:flowerid', (req, res) => {
User.findByIdAndUpdate(req.params.id, {
$pull : {
flowers : { _id: req.params.flowerid }
}
}).then((user) => res.json(user));
});
I would greatly appreciate if someone can help me get this right.

Answer 1

One possible cause is, in your query {$pul: xxxx}, MongoDB is expecting a BSON type object id that was auto generated for each flower entry, while you are giving a string. So you may want to convert it to the proper type before doing the query:
try:
router.delete('/:id/flowers/delete/:flowerid', (req, res) => {
User.findByIdAndUpdate(req.params.id, {
$pull : {
flowers : { _id: ObjectId(req.params.flowerid) }
}
}).then((user) => res.json(user)); });
To see more about the objectId

Answer 2

Thanks for the replies!
I did some more testing with postman and found out that in fact the code I posted in my question did work after all. What set me off was that the response with the user document still displayed the flower I had just deleted, which made me think it didn't work.
I still have no idea why that is, or if there's a way to get a response with the updated user. But the deletion seems to work as intended.