Mongoose Seed Kit

A lightweight, zero-dependency seeder toolkit for Mongoose. Run one-time database seed scripts on app startup, track execution status, and manage seeders via CLI — all without registering any Mongoose models.

Installation

npm install mongoose-seed-kit

Peer dependency: mongoose >= 6.0.0

Quick Start

1. Create a config file

Create mongoose-seed-kit.config.js in your project root:

module.exports = { seedersPath: "./src/db/seeders" };

2. Create your first seeder

npx mongoose-seed-kit create user

This generates src/db/seeders/20260320120000-user.seeder.ts.

3. Implement the seeder

Edit the generated file:

const seed = async (): Promise<void> => {
  const User = require("../models/User").default;
  const exists = await User.findOne({ email: "admin@example.com" });
  if (exists) return;
  await User.create({ email: "admin@example.com", role: "admin" });
};

export default seed;

4. Run on app startup

import mongoose from "mongoose";
import { runPendingSeeders } from "mongoose-seed-kit";

await mongoose.connect(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const results = await runPendingSeeders();

How It Works

1. Seeder files are sorted alphabetically — the timestamp prefix (20260320120000-) ensures chronological order.
2. On each runPendingSeeders() call, only seeders without a success record in the tracking collection are executed.
3. If a seeder fails, it is recorded as failed and will be retried on the next run. Execution continues with remaining seeders regardless.
4. Tracking is stored in a MongoDB collection (seeders by default) — no Mongoose model registration required.

API

runPendingSeeders(config?)

Runs all seeders that haven't been successfully executed yet. Returns SeederRunResult[].

const results = await runPendingSeeders();
// [{ name: "20260320120000-user.seeder", status: "success" }]

runSeederByName(name, config?)

Force-runs a specific seeder by name (even if already executed). Returns SeederRunResult[].

const results = await runSeederByName("20260320120000-user.seeder");

getSeederStatuses(config?)

Lists all seeders with their status (pending, success, or failed). Returns SeederStatus[].

const statuses = await getSeederStatuses();
// [{ name: "20260320120000-user.seeder", status: "success", executedAt: Date, error: null }]

resetSeeder(name, config?)

Marks a seeder as pending again so it will re-run on next runPendingSeeders() call.

await resetSeeder("20260320120000-user.seeder");

Config

All functions accept an optional inline config. If omitted, the config file is loaded automatically.

Option	Type	Default	Description
seedersPath	string	—	Path to directory containing seeder files
collectionName	string	"seeders"	MongoDB collection for tracking execution
filePattern	RegExp	/^\d{14}-.+\.seeder\.(ts|js)$/	Pattern to match seeder files

Config is resolved from (in order):

1. mongoose-seed-kit.config.js
2. mongoose-seed-kit.config.json
3. "mongoose-seed-kit" key in package.json

Or pass config inline:

await runPendingSeeders({ seedersPath: "./seeders", collectionName: "my_seeders" });

CLI

npx mongoose-seed-kit create <name>    # Scaffold a new seeder file

Building Admin Routes

The package exposes helper functions — build your own routes:

import { getSeederStatuses, runSeederByName, runPendingSeeders, resetSeeder } from "mongoose-seed-kit";

router.get("/seeders", async (req, res) => {
  res.json(await getSeederStatuses());
});

router.post("/seeders/run", async (req, res) => {
  const results = req.body.name
    ? await runSeederByName(req.body.name)
    : await runPendingSeeders();
  res.json(results);
});

router.post("/seeders/reset", async (req, res) => {
  await resetSeeder(req.body.name);
  res.json({ ok: true });
});

Contributing

Submit a pull request or open an issue on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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For more information, visit the GitHub repository.