How to register and use stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions in Azure Cosmos DB

APPLIES TO: NoSQL

The API for NoSQL in Azure Cosmos DB supports registering and invoking stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions (UDFs) written in JavaScript. After you define one or more stored procedures, triggers, or user-defined functions, you can load and view them in the Azure portal by using Data Explorer.

You can use the API for NoSQL SDK across multiple platforms including .NET v2 (legacy), .NET v3, Java, JavaScript, or Python SDKs to do these tasks. If you haven't worked with one of these SDKs before, see the quickstart article for the appropriate SDK:

SDK	Getting started
.NET v3	Quickstart: Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL client library for .NET
Java	Quickstart: Build a Java app to manage Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL data
JavaScript	Quickstart: Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL client library for Node.js
Python	Quickstart: Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL client library for Python

Important

The following code samples assume that you have already have client and container variables. If you need to create those variables, refer to the appropriate quickstart for your platform.

How to run stored procedures

Stored procedures are written using JavaScript. They can create, update, read, query, and delete items within an Azure Cosmos DB container. For more information, see How to write stored procedures.

The following examples show how to register and call a stored procedure by using the Azure Cosmos DB SDKs. For the source for this stored procedure, saved as spCreateToDoItem.js, see Create items using stored procedures.

Note

For partitioned containers, when you run a stored procedure, you must provide a partition key value in the request options. Stored procedures are always scoped to a partition key. Items that have a different partition key value aren't visible to the stored procedure. This principle also applies to triggers.

.NET SDK v2

The following example shows how to register a stored procedure by using the .NET SDK v2:

string storedProcedureId = "spCreateToDoItems";
StoredProcedure newStoredProcedure = new StoredProcedure
   {
       Id = storedProcedureId,
       Body = File.ReadAllText($@"..\js\{storedProcedureId}.js")
   };
Uri containerUri = UriFactory.CreateDocumentCollectionUri("myDatabase", "myContainer");
var response = await client.CreateStoredProcedureAsync(containerUri, newStoredProcedure);
StoredProcedure createdStoredProcedure = response.Resource;

The following code shows how to call a stored procedure by using the .NET SDK v2:

dynamic[] newItems = new dynamic[]
{
    new {
        category = "Personal",
        name = "Groceries",
        description = "Pick up strawberries",
        isComplete = false
    },
    new {
        category = "Personal",
        name = "Doctor",
        description = "Make appointment for check up",
        isComplete = false
    }
};

Uri uri = UriFactory.CreateStoredProcedureUri("myDatabase", "myContainer", "spCreateToDoItem");
RequestOptions options = new RequestOptions { PartitionKey = new PartitionKey("Personal") };
var result = await client.ExecuteStoredProcedureAsync<string>(uri, options, new[] { newItems });

.NET SDK v3

The following example shows how to register a stored procedure by using the .NET SDK v3:

string storedProcedureId = "spCreateToDoItems";
StoredProcedureResponse storedProcedureResponse = await client.GetContainer("myDatabase", "myContainer").Scripts.CreateStoredProcedureAsync(new StoredProcedureProperties
{
    Id = storedProcedureId,
    Body = File.ReadAllText($@"..\js\{storedProcedureId}.js")
});

The following code shows how to call a stored procedure by using the .NET SDK v3:

dynamic[] newItems = new dynamic[]
{
    new {
        category = "Personal",
        name = "Groceries",
        description = "Pick up strawberries",
        isComplete = false
    },
    new {
        category = "Personal",
        name = "Doctor",
        description = "Make appointment for check up",
        isComplete = false
    }
};

var result = await client.GetContainer("database", "container").Scripts.ExecuteStoredProcedureAsync<string>("spCreateToDoItem", new PartitionKey("Personal"), new[] { newItems });

Java SDK

The following example shows how to register a stored procedure by using the Java SDK:

CosmosStoredProcedureProperties definition = new CosmosStoredProcedureProperties(
    "spCreateToDoItems", 
    Files.readString(Paths.get("createToDoItems.js"))
);

CosmosStoredProcedureResponse response = container
    .getScripts()
    .createStoredProcedure(definition);

The following code shows how to call a stored procedure by using the Java SDK:

CosmosStoredProcedure sproc = container   
    .getScripts()
    .getStoredProcedure("spCreateToDoItems");

List<Object> items = new ArrayList<Object>();

ToDoItem firstItem = new ToDoItem();
firstItem.category = "Personal";
firstItem.name = "Groceries";
firstItem.description = "Pick up strawberries";
firstItem.isComplete = false;
items.add(firstItem);

ToDoItem secondItem = new ToDoItem();
secondItem.category = "Personal";
secondItem.name = "Doctor";
secondItem.description = "Make appointment for check up";
secondItem.isComplete = true;
items.add(secondItem);

CosmosStoredProcedureRequestOptions options = new CosmosStoredProcedureRequestOptions();
options.setPartitionKey(
    new PartitionKey("Personal")
);

CosmosStoredProcedureResponse response = sproc.execute(
    items, 
    options
); 

JavaScript SDK

The following example shows how to register a stored procedure by using the JavaScript SDK:

const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const sprocId = "spCreateToDoItems";
await container.scripts.storedProcedures.create({
    id: sprocId,
    body: require(`../js/${sprocId}`)
});

The following code shows how to call a stored procedure by using the JavaScript SDK:

const newItem = [{
    category: "Personal",
    name: "Groceries",
    description: "Pick up strawberries",
    isComplete: false
}];
const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const sprocId = "spCreateToDoItems";
const {resource: result} = await container.scripts.storedProcedure(sprocId).execute(newItem, {partitionKey: newItem[0].category});

Python SDK

The following example shows how to register a stored procedure by using the Python SDK:

import azure.cosmos.cosmos_client as cosmos_client

url = "your_cosmos_db_account_URI"
key = "your_cosmos_db_account_key"
database_name = 'your_cosmos_db_database_name'
container_name = 'your_cosmos_db_container_name'

with open('../js/spCreateToDoItems.js') as file:
    file_contents = file.read()

sproc = {
    'id': 'spCreateToDoItem',
    'serverScript': file_contents,
}
client = cosmos_client.CosmosClient(url, key)
database = client.get_database_client(database_name)
container = database.get_container_client(container_name)
created_sproc = container.scripts.create_stored_procedure(body=sproc) 

The following code shows how to call a stored procedure by using the Python SDK:

import uuid

new_id= str(uuid.uuid4())

# Creating a document for a container with "id" as a partition key.

new_item =   {
      "id": new_id, 
      "category":"Personal",
      "name":"Groceries",
      "description":"Pick up strawberries",
      "isComplete":False
   }
result = container.scripts.execute_stored_procedure(sproc=created_sproc,params=[new_item], partition_key=new_id) 

How to run pretriggers

The following examples show how to register and call a pretrigger by using the Azure Cosmos DB SDKs. For the source of this pretrigger example, saved as trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp.js, see Pretriggers.

When you run an operation by specifying PreTriggerInclude and then passing the name of the trigger in a List object, pretriggers are passed in the RequestOptions object.

Note

Even though the name of the trigger is passed as a List, you can still run only one trigger per operation.

.NET SDK v2

The following code shows how to register a pretrigger using the .NET SDK v2:

string triggerId = "trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp";
Trigger trigger = new Trigger
{
    Id =  triggerId,
    Body = File.ReadAllText($@"..\js\{triggerId}.js"),
    TriggerOperation = TriggerOperation.Create,
    TriggerType = TriggerType.Pre
};
Uri containerUri = UriFactory.CreateDocumentCollectionUri("myDatabase", "myContainer");
await client.CreateTriggerAsync(containerUri, trigger);

The following code shows how to call a pretrigger using the .NET SDK v2:

dynamic newItem = new
{
    category = "Personal",
    name = "Groceries",
    description = "Pick up strawberries",
    isComplete = false
};

Uri containerUri = UriFactory.CreateDocumentCollectionUri("myDatabase", "myContainer");
RequestOptions requestOptions = new RequestOptions { PreTriggerInclude = new List<string> { "trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp" } };
await client.CreateDocumentAsync(containerUri, newItem, requestOptions);

.NET SDK v3

The following code shows how to register a pretrigger using the .NET SDK v3:

await client.GetContainer("database", "container").Scripts.CreateTriggerAsync(new TriggerProperties
{
    Id = "trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp",
    Body = File.ReadAllText("@..\js\trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp.js"),
    TriggerOperation = TriggerOperation.Create,
    TriggerType = TriggerType.Pre
});

The following code shows how to call a pretrigger using the .NET SDK v3:

dynamic newItem = new
{
    category = "Personal",
    name = "Groceries",
    description = "Pick up strawberries",
    isComplete = false
};

await client.GetContainer("database", "container").CreateItemAsync(newItem, null, new ItemRequestOptions { PreTriggers = new List<string> { "trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp" } });

Java SDK

The following code shows how to register a pretrigger using the Java SDK:

CosmosTriggerProperties definition = new CosmosTriggerProperties(
    "preValidateToDoItemTimestamp",
    Files.readString(Paths.get("validateToDoItemTimestamp.js"))
);
definition.setTriggerOperation(TriggerOperation.CREATE);
definition.setTriggerType(TriggerType.PRE);

CosmosTriggerResponse response = container
    .getScripts()
    .createTrigger(definition);

The following code shows how to call a pretrigger using the Java SDK:

ToDoItem item = new ToDoItem();
item.category = "Personal";
item.name = "Groceries";
item.description = "Pick up strawberries";
item.isComplete = false;
    
CosmosItemRequestOptions options = new CosmosItemRequestOptions();
options.setPreTriggerInclude(
    Arrays.asList("preValidateToDoItemTimestamp")
);

CosmosItemResponse<ToDoItem> response = container.createItem(item, options);

JavaScript SDK

The following code shows how to register a pretrigger using the JavaScript SDK:

const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const triggerId = "trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp";
await container.scripts.triggers.create({
    id: triggerId,
    body: require(`../js/${triggerId}`),
    triggerOperation: "create",
    triggerType: "pre"
});

The following code shows how to call a pretrigger using the JavaScript SDK:

const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const triggerId = "trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp";
await container.items.create({
    category: "Personal",
    name: "Groceries",
    description: "Pick up strawberries",
    isComplete: false
}, {preTriggerInclude: [triggerId]});

Python SDK

The following code shows how to register a pretrigger using the Python SDK:

import azure.cosmos.cosmos_client as cosmos_client
from azure.cosmos import documents

url = "your_cosmos_db_account_URI"
key = "your_cosmos_db_account_key"
database_name = 'your_cosmos_db_database_name'
container_name = 'your_cosmos_db_container_name'

with open('../js/trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp.js') as file:
    file_contents = file.read()

trigger_definition = {
    'id': 'trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp',
    'serverScript': file_contents,
    'triggerType': documents.TriggerType.Pre,
    'triggerOperation': documents.TriggerOperation.All
}
client = cosmos_client.CosmosClient(url, key)
database = client.get_database_client(database_name)
container = database.get_container_client(container_name)
trigger = container.scripts.create_trigger(trigger_definition)

The following code shows how to call a pretrigger using the Python SDK:

item = {'category': 'Personal', 'name': 'Groceries',
        'description': 'Pick up strawberries', 'isComplete': False}

result = container.create_item(item, pre_trigger_include='trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp')

How to run post-triggers

The following examples show how to register a post-trigger by using the Azure Cosmos DB SDKs. For the source of this post-trigger example, saved as trgPostUpdateMetadata.js, see Post-triggers

.NET SDK v2

The following code shows how to register a post-trigger using the .NET SDK v2:

string triggerId = "trgPostUpdateMetadata";
Trigger trigger = new Trigger
{
    Id = triggerId,
    Body = File.ReadAllText($@"..\js\{triggerId}.js"),
    TriggerOperation = TriggerOperation.Create,
    TriggerType = TriggerType.Post
};
Uri containerUri = UriFactory.CreateDocumentCollectionUri("myDatabase", "myContainer");
await client.CreateTriggerAsync(containerUri, trigger);

The following code shows how to call a post-trigger using the .NET SDK v2:

var newItem = { 
    name: "artist_profile_1023",
    artist: "The Band",
    albums: ["Hellujah", "Rotators", "Spinning Top"]
};

RequestOptions options = new RequestOptions { PostTriggerInclude = new List<string> { "trgPostUpdateMetadata" } };
Uri containerUri = UriFactory.CreateDocumentCollectionUri("myDatabase", "myContainer");
await client.createDocumentAsync(containerUri, newItem, options);

.NET SDK v3

The following code shows how to register a post-trigger using the .NET SDK v3:

await client.GetContainer("database", "container").Scripts.CreateTriggerAsync(new TriggerProperties
{
    Id = "trgPostUpdateMetadata",
    Body = File.ReadAllText(@"..\js\trgPostUpdateMetadata.js"),
    TriggerOperation = TriggerOperation.Create,
    TriggerType = TriggerType.Post
});

The following code shows how to call a post-trigger using the .NET SDK v3:

var newItem = { 
    name: "artist_profile_1023",
    artist: "The Band",
    albums: ["Hellujah", "Rotators", "Spinning Top"]
};

await client.GetContainer("database", "container").CreateItemAsync(newItem, null, new ItemRequestOptions { PostTriggers = new List<string> { "trgPostUpdateMetadata" } });

Java SDK

The following code shows how to register a post-trigger using the Java SDK:

CosmosTriggerProperties definition = new CosmosTriggerProperties(
    "postUpdateMetadata",
    Files.readString(Paths.get("updateMetadata.js"))
);
definition.setTriggerOperation(TriggerOperation.CREATE);
definition.setTriggerType(TriggerType.POST);

CosmosTriggerResponse response = container
    .getScripts()
    .createTrigger(definition);

The following code shows how to call a post-trigger using the Java SDK:

ToDoItem item = new ToDoItem();
item.category = "Personal";
item.name = "Doctor";
item.description = "Make appointment for check up";
item.isComplete = true;
    
CosmosItemRequestOptions options = new CosmosItemRequestOptions();
options.setPostTriggerInclude(
    Arrays.asList("postUpdateMetadata")
);

CosmosItemResponse<ToDoItem> response = container.createItem(item, options);

JavaScript SDK

The following code shows how to register a post-trigger using the JavaScript SDK:

const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const triggerId = "trgPostUpdateMetadata";
await container.scripts.triggers.create({
    id: triggerId,
    body: require(`../js/${triggerId}`),
    triggerOperation: "create",
    triggerType: "post"
});

The following code shows how to call a post-trigger using the JavaScript SDK:

const item = {
    name: "artist_profile_1023",
    artist: "The Band",
    albums: ["Hellujah", "Rotators", "Spinning Top"]
};
const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const triggerId = "trgPostUpdateMetadata";
await container.items.create(item, {postTriggerInclude: [triggerId]});

Python SDK

The following code shows how to register a post-trigger using the Python SDK:

import azure.cosmos.cosmos_client as cosmos_client
from azure.cosmos import documents

url = "your_cosmos_db_account_URI"
key = "your_cosmos_db_account_key"
database_name = 'your_cosmos_db_database_name'
container_name = 'your_cosmos_db_container_name'

with open('../js/trgPostValidateToDoItemTimestamp.js') as file:
    file_contents = file.read()

trigger_definition = {
    'id': 'trgPostValidateToDoItemTimestamp',
    'serverScript': file_contents,
    'triggerType': documents.TriggerType.Post,
    'triggerOperation': documents.TriggerOperation.All
}
client = cosmos_client.CosmosClient(url, key)
database = client.get_database_client(database_name)
container = database.get_container_client(container_name)
trigger = container.scripts.create_trigger(trigger_definition)

The following code shows how to call a post-trigger using the Python SDK:

item = {'category': 'Personal', 'name': 'Groceries',
        'description': 'Pick up strawberries', 'isComplete': False}
container.create_item(item, pre_trigger_include='trgPreValidateToDoItemTimestamp')

How to work with user-defined functions

The following examples show how to register a user-defined function by using the Azure Cosmos DB SDKs. For the source of this user-defined function example, saved as udfTax.js, see How to write user-defined functions.

.NET SDK v2

The following code shows how to register a user-defined function using the .NET SDK v2:

string udfId = "Tax";
var udfTax = new UserDefinedFunction
{
    Id = udfId,
    Body = File.ReadAllText($@"..\js\{udfId}.js")
};

Uri containerUri = UriFactory.CreateDocumentCollectionUri("myDatabase", "myContainer");
await client.CreateUserDefinedFunctionAsync(containerUri, udfTax);

The following code shows how to call a user-defined function using the .NET SDK v2:

Uri containerUri = UriFactory.CreateDocumentCollectionUri("myDatabase", "myContainer");
var results = client.CreateDocumentQuery<dynamic>(containerUri, "SELECT * FROM Incomes t WHERE udf.Tax(t.income) > 20000"));

foreach (var result in results)
{
    //iterate over results
}

.NET SDK v3

The following code shows how to register a user-defined function using the .NET SDK v3:

await client.GetContainer("database", "container").Scripts.CreateUserDefinedFunctionAsync(new UserDefinedFunctionProperties
{
    Id = "Tax",
    Body = File.ReadAllText(@"..\js\Tax.js")
});

The following code shows how to call a user-defined function using the .NET SDK v3:

var iterator = client.GetContainer("database", "container").GetItemQueryIterator<dynamic>("SELECT * FROM Incomes t WHERE udf.Tax(t.income) > 20000");
while (iterator.HasMoreResults)
{
    var results = await iterator.ReadNextAsync();
    foreach (var result in results)
    {
        //iterate over results
    }
}

Java SDK

The following code shows how to register a user-defined function using the Java SDK:

CosmosUserDefinedFunctionProperties definition = new CosmosUserDefinedFunctionProperties(
    "udfTax",
    Files.readString(Paths.get("tax.js"))
);

CosmosUserDefinedFunctionResponse response = container
    .getScripts()
    .createUserDefinedFunction(definition);

The following code shows how to call a user-defined function using the Java SDK:

CosmosQueryRequestOptions options = new CosmosQueryRequestOptions();

CosmosPagedIterable<ToDoItem> iterable = container.queryItems(
    "SELECT t.cost, udf.udfTax(t.cost) AS costWithTax FROM t", 
    options, 
    ToDoItem.class);

JavaScript SDK

The following code shows how to register a user-defined function using the JavaScript SDK:

const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const udfId = "Tax";
await container.userDefinedFunctions.create({
    id: udfId,
    body: require(`../js/${udfId}`)

The following code shows how to call a user-defined function using the JavaScript SDK:

const container = client.database("myDatabase").container("myContainer");
const sql = "SELECT * FROM Incomes t WHERE udf.Tax(t.income) > 20000";
const {result} = await container.items.query(sql).toArray();

Python SDK

The following code shows how to register a user-defined function using the Python SDK:

import azure.cosmos.cosmos_client as cosmos_client

url = "your_cosmos_db_account_URI"
key = "your_cosmos_db_account_key"
database_name = 'your_cosmos_db_database_name'
container_name = 'your_cosmos_db_container_name'

with open('../js/udfTax.js') as file:
    file_contents = file.read()
udf_definition = {
    'id': 'Tax',
    'serverScript': file_contents,
}
client = cosmos_client.CosmosClient(url, key)
database = client.get_database_client(database_name)
container = database.get_container_client(container_name)
udf = container.scripts.create_user_defined_function(udf_definition)

The following code shows how to call a user-defined function using the Python SDK:

results = list(container.query_items(
    'query': 'SELECT * FROM Incomes t WHERE udf.Tax(t.income) > 20000'))

Next steps

Learn more concepts and how-to write or use stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions in Azure Cosmos DB:

• Stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions
• JavaScript query API in Azure Cosmos DB