# mongoose-autopopulate

Always `populate()` certain fields in your mongoose schemas

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[Read the docs here](http://plugins.mongoosejs.io/plugins/autopopulate).

**Note:** This plugin will *only* work with mongoose >= 4.0. Do NOT use
this plugin with mongoose 3.x. You have been warned.

**Note:** population is a powerful feature, but it has limitations and
helps you get away with poor schema design.  In particular, it is usually
bad MongoDB schema design to include arrays that grow without bound in
your documents. Do not include a constantly-growing array of ObjectIds
in your schema - your data will become unwieldy as the array grows and
you will eventually hit the [16mb document size limit](http://docs.mongodb.org/manual/reference/limits/#BSON-Document-Size).
In general, think carefully when designing your schemas.

# Usage

The `mongoose-autopopulate` module exposes a single function that you can
pass to [Mongoose schema's `plugin()` function](https://mongoosejs.com/docs/api.html#schema_Schema-plugin).

```javascript
const schema = new mongoose.Schema({
  populatedField: {
    type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
    ref: 'ForeignModel',
    // The below option tells this plugin to always call `populate()` on
    // `populatedField`
    autopopulate: true
  }
});
schema.plugin(require('mongoose-autopopulate'));
```