When using replaceOne, the createdAt timestamp is being updated like the updatedAt

[Cefalu129]

Prerequisites

• I have written a descriptive issue title
• I have searched existing issues to ensure the bug has not already been reported

Mongoose version

7.6.4

Node.js version

18.16.14

MongoDB server version

7.0.2

Typescript version (if applicable)

5.0.4

Description

When using replaceOne to update a document, only the updatedAt timestamp should be modified to reflect the time of the update. However, the createdAt timestamp, which should remain constant to preserve the original creation time of the document, is also being updated to the same timestamp as updatedAt.

The docs says:

Mongoose will then set createdAt when the document is first inserted, and update updatedAt whenever you update the document using save(), updateOne(), updateMany(), findOneAndUpdate(), update(), replaceOne(), or bulkWrite().

The createdAt property is immutable

So I assume that createdAt timestamp should not be updated when using replaceOne.
It should preserve the original createdAt timestamp of the document.

Steps to Reproduce

Sorry for any inaccuracies, this is my first public issue.

Define a ProductModel:

const productSchema = new Schema<Product>({
  name: {
    type: String,
    required: true,
  },
  price: {
    type: Number,
    required: true,
    min: 0,
  },
}, {
  timestamps: true
});

const ProductModel = model<ProductDocument>('Product', productSchema);

Now, let's create a document and try to replace with some updated data.

const createdProduct = await ProductModel.create({ name: 'Product', price: 18 }); 

await ProductModel.replaceOne({ _id: createdProduct.id}, { name: 'Changed Product' });

Expected Behavior

I expect the create to create a document with the following data:

name: 'Product',
price: 19,
createdAt: *dateOfCreation*
updatedAt: *dateOfCreation*

While this is the expected replace result:

name: 'Changed Product',
createdAt: *dateOfUpdate*
updatedAt: *dateOfUpdate*

But this should be the actual replace behavior:

name: 'Changed Product',
createdAt: *dateOfCreation*
updatedAt: *dateOfUpdate*

[IslandRhythms]

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const { Schema } = mongoose;

const productSchema = new Schema({
  name: {
    type: String,
    required: true,
  },
  price: {
    type: Number,
    required: true,
    min: 0,
  },
}, {
  timestamps: true
});

const ProductModel = mongoose.model('Product', productSchema);

async function run() {
  await mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017');
  await mongoose.connection.dropDatabase();

  const createdProduct = await ProductModel.create({ name: 'Product', price: 18 });
  console.log('what is createdProduct', createdProduct);

  const res = await ProductModel.replaceOne({ _id: createdProduct.id}, { name: 'Changed Product' });
  console.log('what is res', res);
  console.log(await ProductModel.findOne());
}

run();

[vkarpov15]

This is expected behavior, but something we need to make more clear in the docs.

Unfortunately MongoDB's replaceOne() means replace the whole document except _id, and there's no way to preserve createdAt when updating.

For preserving createdAt with replaceOne(), your best bet is to use the "pull the timestamp from the _id" trick:

schema.virtual('createdAt').get(function() {
  return this._id.getTimestamp();
});

This approach works presuming you always use the default _id