Stage 1 · Lesson 6 of 8

mongosh, the MongoDB shell

is the MongoDB shell: a command-line client where you type commands and see results. It is built on , so it understands JavaScript, and every example in this roadmap outside the application stage uses its syntax so it works whatever language you choose.

Connect with a , then learn the basics: show dbs, use shop, show collections, db.products.findOne() and exit. db always means the current database. find() shows 20 documents at a time; type it for more.

You can also run a script file with load("seed.js"). Servers, and deployment scripts rarely have a graphical tool, so this is the client you will always have.

Common traptyping use shop and assuming the database exists: MongoDB creates it only when you first write data into it.

A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 1 cheat sheet entry come with the full roadmap. Unlock

Resources for this stage

Start with

CourseFree
MongoDB University
MongoDB
Free: start with the introduction to MongoDB and Atlas setup lessons, which use the same sample data

Practise

Mongo Playground
Paste a few documents and a query and run it in the browser, no install needed

Keep handy

MongoDB Shell (mongosh)
The mongosh docs: connecting, running scripts and the shell helpers such as show and use
MongoDB Compass
The Compass docs for the Schema, Explain Plan and Aggregations tabs you will use later

Also worth your time

PostgreSQL vs. MongoDB vs. DynamoDB (opens in a new tab)Read
A balanced comparison of where a document database fits and where a relational one wins