11ai MongoDB collections

Version baseline: MongoDB 8.x, with 8.3.7 as the current stable release at this review. Inspect server, Atlas release track, featureCompatibilityVersion, mongosh, Database Tools, and driver versions independently before using 8.3-only behavior.

Keep collection operations separate from document CRUD. Inspect existing options before changing collection shape, and treat rename and drop as destructive operations.

Inspect

show collections
db.getCollectionNames()
db.getCollectionInfos({ name: "users" })
db.users.stats()
db.users.getIndexes()

Use getCollectionInfos to see validators, validation levels, capped settings, and other options. Avoid printing sample documents when metadata is enough.

Create

A basic collection:

db.createCollection("users")

A collection with document validation:

db.createCollection("users", {
  validator: {
    $jsonSchema: {
      bsonType: "object",
      required: ["email"],
      properties: {
        email: { bsonType: "string" }
      }
    }
  },
  validationLevel: "strict",
  validationAction: "error"
})

Confirm field names, required fields, and whether existing documents comply before enabling strict validation.

Rename

db.users.renameCollection("users_archive")

Check that the destination name is unused, identify application references, and ask for explicit approval. A rename can break code even when no data is lost.

Drop

db.users.drop()

A collection drop is irreversible. First confirm the deployment, database, collection, backup requirement, and expected data loss. Require approval for the exact command; never use a wildcard or infer the target from a partial name.

Reporting

Report the collection name, options, approximate count or size when requested, indexes, and the next safe action. Hand document changes to the CRUD skill and index changes to the indexes skill.