Mongoose query.populate only returns objectId

mongodb, mongoose

Solution

The path you want to populate is `owner.user`, not just `user`, so you should change this:

return Gift.find()
    .populate({
        path:'user',
        model:'User'
    })

To this:

return Gift.find()
    .populate({
        path:'owner.user',
        model:'User'
    })

Problem

When trying to populate one field all that is returned is the objectid that was originally saved for that field In `models/gifts.js` ``` var GiftSchema = new Schema({ name: String, owner: { user: { type: Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: 'User', required: false }, nonRegisteredEmail: { type: String, required: false }, nonRegisteredName: { type: String, required: false } }, description: String, url: String } }); module.exports = mongoose.model('Gift', GiftSchema); ``` In `models/user.js` ``` var UserSchema = new Schema({ name: String, email: { type: String, lowercase: true }, role: { type: String, default: 'user' }, hashedPassword: String, provider: String, salt: String }); module.exports = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema); ``` I save my `gift` models by adding the `_id` for the user to the `owner.user` field in my `gift`. Then when I try to populate the `user` field during a query only the `_id` field is returned. EX `5388bb3a82f0e4003100a6ba` ``` exports.getAll = function (req, res) { return Gift.find() .populate({ path:'user', model:'User' }) .exec(function(err,gifts){ if(!err) { return res.json(gifts); } else{ return res.send(err); } }); }; ```

Original source