Working with models
This section of the documentation focuses on the model methods provided by Waterline out of the box. In addition to these, additional methods can come from hooks (like the resourceful PubSub methods) or be manually written in your app to wrap reusable custom code.
- For an in-depth introduction to models in Sails/Waterline, see Concepts > Models and ORM > Models.
- You can find an example of how to define a model here.
Built-in model methods
In general, model methods are asynchronous, meaning you cannot just call them and use the return value. Instead, you must use callbacks, promises or async/await.
Most built-in model methods accept a callback as an optional final argument. If the callback is not supplied, a chainable Query object is returned, which has methods like .fetch(), .decrypt(), and .where(). See Working with Queries for more on that.
Here are some of the most common model methods you will encounter building Node.js apps in Sails:
| Method | Summary |
|---|---|
.find() |
Get an array of records which match the specified criteria. |
.findOne() |
Get the record which matches the specified criteria, or undefined if there isn't one. |
.updateOne() |
Update the record that matches the specified criteria, if there is one, using the specified attrName:value pairs. |
.archiveOne() |
Archive ("soft-delete") the record that matches the specified criteria, if there is one. |
.destroyOne() |
Permanently and irreversibly destroy the record that matches the specified criteria, if there is one. |
.create() |
Create a new record consisting of the specified values. |
.createEach() |
Create multiple new records at the same time. |
.count() |
Count the total number of records that match certain criteria. |
.sum() |
Compute the sum for a given attribute, totalled across all records that match certain criteria. |
.avg() |
Compute the arithmetic mean for an attribute, averaged over all records that match certain criteria. |
.addToCollection() |
Add existing records from an associated model to one of your collections. |
.removeFromCollection() |
Remove record(s) from one of your collections. |
These methods are just the beginning. To read more about available model methods in Sails, check out the complete reference in the sidebar.
sails.models
If you need to disable global variables in Sails, you can still use sails.models.<model_identity> to access your models.
Not sure of your model's
identity? Check out Concepts > Models and ORM > Model settings.
For a better experience on sailsjs.com, update your browser.
Reference
- Application
- Blueprint API
- Command-line interface
-
Configuration
- sails.config.*
- sails.config.blueprints
- sails.config.bootstrap()
- sails.config.custom
- sails.config.datastores
- sails.config.globals
- sails.config.http
- sails.config.i18n
- sails.config.log
- sails.config.models
- sails.config.policies
- sails.config.routes
- sails.config.security
- sails.config.session
- sails.config.sockets
- sails.config.views
-
Request (`req`)
- req._startTime
- req.body
- req.cookies
- req.fresh
- req.headers
- req.hostname
- req.ip
- req.ips
- req.isSocket
- req.method
- req.options
- req.originalUrl
- req.params
- req.path
- req.protocol
- req.query
- req.secure
- req.signedCookies
- req.socket
- req.subdomains
- req.url
- req.wantsJSON
- req.xhr
- req.accepts()
- req.acceptsCharsets()
- req.acceptsLanguages()
- req.allParams()
- req.file()
- req.get()
- req.is()
- req.param()
- req.setLocale()
- req.setTimeout()
- req.host
- Response (`res`)
- Waterline (ORM)
- WebSockets
Built with Love
The Sails framework is built by a web & mobile shop in Austin, TX, with the help of our contributors. We created Sails in 2012 to assist us on Node.js projects. Naturally we open-sourced it. We hope it makes your life a little bit easier!
© 2012-2023 The Sails Company.
The Sails framework is free and open-source under the MIT License.
Illustrations by Edamame.