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You get the error "Operation not permitted on a capped collection". What might be the issue?

 The error:

"Operation not permitted on a capped collection"

comes from MongoDB, and it indicates that you're trying to perform an operation that is not allowed on a capped collection.

You get the error "Operation not permitted on a capped collection". What might be the issue?

🔍 What Is a Capped Collection?

A capped collection in MongoDB is a special type of collection with:

  • Fixed size (in bytes or documents)

  • Automatic overwrites of the oldest documents when full

  • Insertion order preservation

  • High performance for insert + read workloads (e.g. logs, telemetry)

🚫 Operations Not Allowed on Capped Collections

The following operations will trigger this error:

❌ 1. Delete Specific Documents

db.logs.deleteOne({ level: "error" }) // ❌ Not allowed

❌ 2. Update with Document Size Increase

You can't update a document in a capped collection if the updated version is larger than the original.

❌ 3. Remove Documents with remove() or deleteMany()

Only automatic removal by the capped size is allowed.

❌ 4. FindAndModify that Deletes or Replaces

Can't use findAndModify to delete or replace documents in a capped collection.

✅ How to Fix or Work Around It

🛠 1. Avoid Deletes and Size-Increasing Updates

  • Only use in-place updates that don't change document size.

  • Use capped collections only for append-only use cases (like logs).


// This is allowed
db.logs.updateOne({ _id: ... }, { $set: { level: "warn" } })

🛠 2. Check if the Collection Is Capped

To confirm:

db.collection.stats().then(stats => console.log(stats.capped))

🛠 3. Convert to a Normal Collection (If Needed)

If you need deletes or flexible updates:

  1. Create a new normal collection:

    db.createCollection("new_logs")

  2. Copy data:

    db.new_logs.insertMany(db.logs.find().toArray())

  3. Drop the old capped collection:

    db.logs.drop()

  4. Rename:

    db.new_logs.renameCollection("logs")

💡 When Should You Use a Capped Collection?

Only when:

  • You have append-only data

  • Document size is predictable

  • You need fast inserts and fixed-size storage

e.g., log streams, sensor data, circular buffers

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