Mongo/Mongoose Invalid atomic update value error - node.js

Question

I am trying to write to write an update to a Mongo document using the Mongoose findOneAndUpdate function. Essentially, I have a document that has an array of another Schema in it, and when I attempt to append more of those schema type, I get the following error:
[Error: Invalid atomic update value for $__. Expected an object, received object]
I'm having a hard time figuring out what this error even means, much less what its source is.
The data I'm attempting to update is as follows:
{ section_id: 51e427ac550dabbb0900000d,
version_id: 7,
last_editor_id: 51ca0c4b5b0669307000000e,
changelog: 'Added modules via merge function.',
committed: true,
_id: 51e45c559b85903d0f00000a,
__v: 0,
modules:
[ { orderId: 0,
type: 'test',
tags: [],
data: [],
images: [],
content: ["Some Content Here"] },
{ orderId: 1,
type: 'test',
tags: [],
data: [],
images: [],
content: ["Some Content Here"] },
{ orderId: 2,
type: 'test',
tags: [],
data: [],
images: [],
content: ["Some Content Here"] },
{ orderId: 3,
type: 'test',
tags: [],
data: [],
images: [],
content: ["Some Content Here"] },
{ orderId: 4,
type: 'test',
tags: [],
data: [],
images: [],
content: ["Some Content Here"] },
{ orderId: 5,
type: 'test',
tags: [],
data: [],
images: [],
content: ["Some Content Here"] } ] }
The only difference is that when I retrieve it, there are three fewer modules, and I append some new ones to the array.
Would love to hear any thoughts, at least as to what the error means!

Answer 1

This is probably because the updated object is still a Mongoose object.
Try to convert it to a JS object before the findOneAndUpdate
object = object.toString()
And delete any potential ID attribute
delete object._id
Or simply
object = object.toObject();

Answer 2

I had the same problem and it turned out I was using $push incorrectly. I was doing
{$push:thing_to_push}
But it needed to be
{$push:{list_to_push_into:thing_to_push}}

Answer 3

#Magrelo and #plus led me to an answer that worked. Something like:
MyModel.findOneAndUpdate({ section_id: '51e427ac550dabbb0900000d' }, mongooseObject.toObject(), { upsert: true }, function(err, results) {
//...
});

Answer 4

Try passing update parameter value as string instead of mongoose model object. I was getting same error when I use to pass model object. Below is the code difference.
Code that was having issue:
updateUser: function(req, res) {
**var updatedUserModel = new Users(req.body);**
Users.findOneAndUpdate({tpx_id:req.params.id}, {$set:**updatedUserModel**}, function(err, User){
...
}
}
Working code:
updateUser: function(req, res) {
Users.findOneAndUpdate({tpx_id:req.params.id}, {$set:**req.body**}, function(err, User) {
...
}

Answer 5

I had the same issue. I ended up by using finOne() method
create a new one if no found, update the existing one if found.
I know there are two operations. but I just haven't find any way to do it in one step.

Answer 6

Another thing to check is if you are sending passing an array of changes to $set. The error message that I received when calling something like this:
db.products.update( { sku: "abc123" },
{ $set: [
{quantity: 500},
{instock: true}
]
}
)
Gave me the [Error: Invalid atomic update value for $set. Expected an object, received object]
Changing it to an object worked.
db.products.update( { sku: "abc123" },
{ $set: {
quantity: 500,
instock: true
}
}
)