express-mongodb

MongoDB-backed session stores for express-session.

This package is a modern rewrite of the original Express 2/Mongoose store. It now targets Node.js >=22, Express 5, express-session, and current MongoDB tooling.

Installation

npm install express-mongodb express-session mongodb

For the Mongoose adapter, install Mongoose as well:

npm install mongoose

Native MongoDB Usage

import express from "express";
import session from "express-session";
import { MongoClient } from "mongodb";
import { MongoSessionStore } from "express-mongodb";

const app = express();
const client = new MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017/test");
await client.connect();

app.use(session({
    secret: "replace-this-secret",
    resave: false,
    saveUninitialized: false,
    store: new MongoSessionStore({
        client,
        dbName: "test",
        collectionName: "session"
    })
}));

app.get("/", (req, res) => {
    req.session.views = (req.session.views || 0) + 1;
    res.json({ views: req.session.views });
});

app.listen(3000);

You can also pass a Db instance:

new MongoSessionStore({
    db: client.db("test"),
    collectionName: "session"
});

Mongoose Usage

import express from "express";
import session from "express-session";
import mongoose from "mongoose";
import { MongooseSessionStore } from "express-mongodb";

const app = express();
const connection = await mongoose.createConnection("mongodb://localhost:27017/test").asPromise();

app.use(session({
    secret: "replace-this-secret",
    resave: false,
    saveUninitialized: false,
    store: new MongooseSessionStore({
        connection,
        collectionName: "session"
    })
}));

The Mongoose adapter uses connection.collection(collectionName) directly. It does not create a Mongoose model and does not close the supplied connection.

CommonJS Compatibility

Named exports are available through require:

const {
    MongoSessionStore,
    MongooseSessionStore,
    createMongoSessionStore,
    createMongooseSessionStore
} = require("express-mongodb");

The old callable factory is kept only as a deprecated migration aid:

const legacyFactory = require("express-mongodb");
const MongooseStore = legacyFactory(express);

The express argument is ignored. New code should use MongoSessionStore or MongooseSessionStore directly with express-session.

Options

Option	Default	Description
collectionName	session	MongoDB collection used for session documents.
collection	undefined	Deprecated alias for collectionName.
ttlSeconds	1209600	Fallback expiration when session.cookie.expires is absent.
autoCreateTtlIndex	true	Creates { expiresAt: 1 } with { expireAfterSeconds: 0 }.
clearIntervalSeconds	0	Deprecated compatibility cleanup interval for expired documents.
clear_interval	undefined	Deprecated alias for clearIntervalSeconds.

The default collection name is session.

Store methods use Node-style callbacks. Operation errors are reported through those callbacks, so provide callbacks when you need to observe failures.

Expiration Behavior

Session documents are stored as:

{
    _id: sid,
    session,
    expiresAt,
    updatedAt
}

expiresAt is calculated from session.cookie.expires when it is a valid date. Otherwise, the store uses ttlSeconds. get, all, and length ignore expired sessions; get also deletes an expired document opportunistically.

MongoDB TTL cleanup is the primary expiration mechanism. clearIntervalSeconds and clear_interval exist for compatibility and should not be needed in new applications.

Manual Smoke Test

Start MongoDB locally at mongodb://localhost:27017/test, build the package, and run the smoke app:

npm run build
node demo/store.js

Open http://localhost:3000. The app writes sessions to the mysession collection and returns the current session counter plus stored session count.

License

MIT