---
title: "Pipeline Patterns Reference"
description: "**Official examples repo**: https://github.com/mongodb/ASP_example (quickstarts, example processors, Terraform examples). Start with example_processors/README.md for the full pattern catalog. Always consult the official repo for the latest validated patterns before creating processors."
type: skill
canonical_url: https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/pipeline-patterns
source: "Claudary"
difficulty: intermediate
author: "Claude Code Knowledge Pack"
date: 2026-07-10T11:31:58.508Z
license: CC-BY-4.0
attribution: "Pipeline Patterns Reference — Claudary (https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/pipeline-patterns)"
---

# Pipeline Patterns Reference
**Official examples repo**: https://github.com/mongodb/ASP_example (quickstarts, example processors, Terraform examples). Start with example_processors/README.md for the full pattern catalog. Always consult the official repo for the latest validated patterns before creating processors.

## Overview

# Pipeline Patterns Reference

**Official examples repo**: https://github.com/mongodb/ASP_example (quickstarts, example processors, Terraform examples). Start with example_processors/README.md for the full pattern catalog.
Always consult the official repo for the latest validated patterns before creating processors.

## Stage Quick-Reference

| Stage | Purpose | Category |
|-------|---------|----------|
| `$source` | Data ingress (Kafka, Cluster, Kinesis, Sample) | Source (required, first) |
| `$match` | Filter documents | Stateless |
| `$project` | Select/reshape fields | Stateless |
| `$addFields` | Add computed fields | Stateless |
| `$unset` | Remove fields | Stateless |
| `$unwind` | Explode arrays into documents | Stateless |
| `$replaceRoot` | Promote nested document to root | Stateless |
| `$redact` | Field-level access control | Stateless |
| `$validate` | Schema enforcement (route invalid to DLQ) | Validation |
| `$lookup` | Enrich from Atlas collection | Enrichment |
| `$https` | Enrich from HTTP API | Enrichment |
| `$externalFunction` | Invoke Lambda (mid-pipeline, NOT terminal) | Enrichment |
| `$tumblingWindow` | Fixed-size non-overlapping windows | Stateful |
| `$hoppingWindow` | Fixed-size overlapping windows | Stateful |
| `$sessionWindow` | Gap-based per-key windows | Stateful |
| `$function` | JavaScript UDF (requires SP30+) | Custom Code |
| `$group` | Aggregate (inside windows) | Stateful |
| `$merge` | Write to Atlas collection | Output (required, last) |
| `$emit` | Write to Kafka, Kinesis, or S3 | Output (required, last) |

| Category | Stages | Rules |
|----------|--------|-------|
| **Source** (1, required) | `$source` | Must be first. One per pipeline. |
| **Stateless Processing** | `$match`, `$project`, `$addFields`, `$unset`, `$unwind`, `$replaceRoot`, `$redact` | No state or memory overhead. Place `$match` first to reduce volume. |
| **Enrichment** | `$lookup`, `$https`, `$externalFunction` (sync/async) | I/O-bound. Use `parallelism` for throughput. `$https` and `$externalFunction` can be mid-pipeline enrichment OR terminal sink. For sinks: `$https` sends to webhooks/APIs, `$externalFunction` requires `execution: "async"`. |
| **Validation** | `$validate` | Schema enforcement. Place early to catch bad data before expensive stages. |
| **Stateful/Window** | `$tumblingWindow`, `$hoppingWindow`, `$sessionWindow` | Accumulates state in memory. Monitor `memoryUsageBytes`. |
| **Custom Code** | `$function` | JavaScript UDFs. Requires SP30+. |
| **Output** (1+, required) | `$merge`, `$emit`, `$https`, `$externalFunction` (async only) | Must be last. Required for deployed processors. |

## Invalid Constructs

Do NOT use these in streaming pipelines:
- `$$NOW`, `$$ROOT`, `$$CURRENT` — not available in stream processing
- HTTPS connections as `$source` — HTTPS is for `$https` enrichment only
- Kafka `$source` without `topic` — topic field is required
- Pipelines without a sink — `$merge`/`$emit` required for deployed processors (sinkless only works via `sp.process()`)
- Lambda connections with `$emit` — Lambda uses `$externalFunction` (can be mid-pipeline or terminal sink with async execution), not `$emit`

## Source Patterns

### MongoDB Change Stream
```json
{"$source": {"connectionName": "my-cluster"}}
```

With full document and pushdown pipeline:
```json
{"$source": {
  "connectionName": "my-cluster",
  "db": "mydb", "coll": "mycoll",
  "fullDocument": "updateLookup",
  "fullDocumentBeforeChange": "whenAvailable",
  "pipeline": [{"$match": {"operationType": "insert"}}]
}}
```

### Kafka (topic is REQUIRED)
```json
{"$source": {
  "connectionName": "my-kafka",
  "topic": "my-topic",
  "auto_offset_reset": "earliest",
  "partitionIdleTimeout": {"size": 30, "unit": "second"}
}}
```

### Kinesis
```json
{"$source": {
  "connectionName": "my-kinesis",
  "stream": "my-stream",
  "config": {"initialPosition": "TRIM_HORIZON"},
  "shardIdleTimeout": {"size": 30, "unit": "second"},
  "consumerARN": "arn:aws:kinesis:us-east-1:123456789:stream/my-stream/consumer/my-consumer:123"
}}
```

`stream` (required): Kinesis stream name. `config.initialPosition`: `TRIM_HORIZON` (oldest, default) or `LATEST`. `shardIdleTimeout`: unblocks windows when shards go idle (like Kafka `partitionIdleTimeout`). `consumerARN` (optional): enables enhanced fan-out for dedicated throughput.

### Inline Documents (ephemeral testing only)
```json
{"$source": {"documents": [{"device_id": "sensor-1", "temp": 72.5}]}}
```

## Sink Patterns

### $merge to Atlas
```json
{"$merge": {"into": {"connectionName": "my-atlas", "db": "mydb", "coll": "mycoll"}}}
```

With match behavior and parallelism:
```json
{"$merge": {
  "into": {"connectionName": "my-atlas", "db": "mydb", "coll": "mycoll"},
  "on": "_id", "whenMatched": "replace", "whenNotMatched": "insert",
  "parallelism": 4
}}
```

`whenMatched`: `replace`, `merge`, `delete` (via `$cond`). `whenNotMatched`: `insert`.

Additive merge (append to arrays):
```json
{"$merge": {
  "into": {"connectionName": "my-atlas", "db": "mydb", "coll": "mycoll"},
  "on": "device_id",
  "whenMatched": [{"$addFields": {"readings": {"$concatArrays": ["$readings", "$$new.readings"]}}}],
  "whenNotMatched": "insert"
}}
```

Dynamic routing:
```json
{"$merge": {"into": {
  "connectionName": "my-atlas", "db": "mydb",
  "coll": {"$cond": {"if": {"$eq": ["$priority", "high"]}, "then": "alerts", "else": "events"}}
}}}
```

### $emit to Kafka
```json
{"$emit": {
  "connectionName": "my-kafka", "topic": "output-topic",
  "key": {"field": "device_id", "format": "string"}
}}
```

Key formats: `string`, `json`, `int`, `long`, `binData`. Tombstone support: `"tombstoneWhen": {"$expr": {"$eq": ["$status", "deleted"]}}`.

### $emit to Kafka with Schema Registry (Avro)
```json
{"$emit": {
  "connectionName": "my-kafka", "topic": "output-topic",
  "schemaRegistry": {
    "connectionName": "my-schema-registry",
    "valueSchema": {
      "type": "avro",
      "schema": {
        "type": "record", "name": "SensorReading",
        "fields": [
          {"name": "device_id", "type": "string"},
          {"name": "temp", "type": "double"},
          {"name": "timestamp", "type": "long"}
        ]
      },
      "options": {
        "subjectNameStrategy": "TopicNameStrategy",
        "autoRegisterSchemas": true
      }
    }
  }
}}
```
Requires a `SchemaRegistry` connection (see [connection-configs.md](connection-configs.md#schemaregistry)). `valueSchema.type` must be lowercase `avro` (case-sensitive). `valueSchema.schema` is always required, even with `autoRegisterSchemas: true`.

### $emit to Kinesis
```json
{"$emit": {"connectionName": "my-kinesis", "stream": "out", "partitionKey": "$device_id"}}
```

### $emit to S3
```json
{"$emit": {
  "connectionName": "my-s3", "bucket": "my-bucket",
  "path": {"$concat": ["data/", {"$dateToString": {"format": "%Y/%m/%d", "date": "$timestamp"}}]},
  "config": {"outputFormat": "relaxedJson"}
}}
```
Fields: `connectionName` (required), `bucket` (required), `path` (required — key prefix string or expression), `region` (optional), `config` (optional — `outputFormat`, `writeOptions`, `delimiter`, `compression`).

### $https as Sink (webhook/API)
```json
{"$https": {
  "connectionName": "my-webhook",
  "path": "/events",
  "method": "POST",
  "onError": "dlq"
}}
```

When used as a **final sink stage**, `$https` sends processed documents to an external HTTP endpoint. Unlike mid-pipeline usage (which enriches documents with API responses), sink usage doesn't expect a response to merge back into the document. Useful for:
- Sending data to webhooks
- Posting to external APIs
- Triggering external systems

### $externalFunction as Sink (Lambda async)
```json
{"$externalFunction": {
  "connectionName": "my-lambda",
  "functionName": "arn:aws:lambda:us-west-1:123456789:function:my-function",
  "execution": "async",
  "onError": "dlq"
}}
```

**Important**: When used as a **final sink stage**, `$externalFunction` MUST use `execution: "async"`. This fires off the Lambda function without waiting for a response, useful for:
- Triggering downstream AWS applications or analytics
- Notifying external systems
- Firing off alerts or billing logic
- Propagating data to external workflows

Unlike mid-pipeline usage (where `execution: "sync"` is allowed for enrichment), sink usage requires async execution only. The pipeline still needs this as the terminal stage — you cannot use `$emit` to invoke Lambda.

## Window Patterns

### Tumbling
```json
{"$tumblingWindow": {
  "interval": {"size": 5, "unit": "minute"},
  "pipeline": [{"$group": {"_id": "$deviceId", "avg": {"$avg": "$temp"}, "count": {"$sum": 1}}}]
}}
```

### Hopping (with allowedLateness)
```json
{"$hoppingWindow": {
  "interval": {"size": 5, "unit": "minute"},
  "hopSize": {"size": 1, "unit": "minute"},
  "allowedLateness": {"size": 15, "unit": "second"},
  "pipeline": [{"$group": {"_id": "$region", "total": {"$sum": "$amount"}}}]
}}
```

### Session
```json
{"$sessionWindow": {
  "gap": {"size": 5, "unit": "minute"}, "key": "$userId",
  "pipeline": [{"$group": {"_id": "$userId", "actions": {"$push": "$action"}, "count": {"$sum": 1}}}]
}}
```

### Late data
```json
{"$tumblingWindow": {
  "interval": {"size": 1, "unit": "minute"},
  "allowedLateness": {"size": 30, "unit": "second"},
  "boundaryType": "eventTime",
  "pipeline": [{"$group": {"_id": "$sensorId", "max": {"$max": "$value"}}}]
}}
```

`boundaryType`: `eventTime` (document timestamp) or `processTime` (wall clock, default).

## Windowing Rules
- Windows require `$group` inside the window pipeline
- Idle Kafka partitions block windows — use `partitionIdleTimeout`
- `allowedLateness` lets late docs update closed windows

## Enrichment Patterns

### $https
```json
{"$https": {
  "connectionName": "my-api",
  "path": {"$concat": ["/users/", "$userId"]},
  "method": "GET", "as": "userInfo", "onError": "dlq"
}}
```

`onError`: `dlq` (recommended), `discard`, `fail`. Store auth in connection settings, not pipeline. Place `$https` after windows to batch requests.

### $lookup
```json
{"$lookup": {
  "connectionName": "my-atlas",
  "from": {"db": "mydb", "coll": "users"},
  "localField": "userId", "foreignField": "_id", "as": "user",
  "parallelism": 2
}}
```

### $externalFunction (Lambda - Mid-Pipeline Enrichment)
```json
{"$externalFunction": {
  "connectionName": "my-lambda",
  "functionName": "my-function-name",
  "execution": "sync",
  "as": "lambdaResult",
  "onError": "dlq",
  "payload": [
    {"$project": {"userId": 1, "data": 1}}
  ]
}}
```

**Mid-pipeline usage:**
- `execution`: `sync` (waits for Lambda result, stores in `as` field) or `async` (non-blocking)
- `as`: Field name to store Lambda response (required for `sync`, ignored for `async`)
- `payload`: Optional inner pipeline to customize request body sent to Lambda
- Use for enriching/transforming documents before downstream stages

**Sink usage:** See the Sink Patterns section. When used as final stage, MUST use `execution: "async"` only.

### $validate (Schema Validation)
```json
{"$validate": {
  "validator": {"$jsonSchema": {
    "required": ["device_id", "timestamp", "reading"],
    "properties": {
      "device_id": {"bsonType": "string"},
      "reading": {"bsonType": "double"}
    }
  }},
  "validationAction": "dlq"
}}
```

`validationAction`: `"dlq"` (recommended), `"discard"`, `"error"` (crashes processor — avoid in production). Place early to catch bad data before expensive stages.

### $function (JavaScript UDF)
```json
{"$addFields": {
  "boostedWatts": {"$function": {
    "body": "function(watts) { return watts * 1.2; }",
    "args": ["$watts"],
    "lang": "js"
  }}
}}
```

Requires **SP30+ tier**. `body`: JavaScript function as string. `args`: array of field references. `lang`: always `"js"`.

## Common Pipeline Patterns

### Array Normalization
```json
[
  {"$source": {"connectionName": "my-kafka", "topic": "orders"}},
  {"$unwind": "$items"},
  {"$replaceRoot": {"newRoot": {"$mergeObjects": ["$items", {"orderId": "$orderId", "ts": "$timestamp"}]}}},
  {"$merge": {"into": {"connectionName": "my-atlas", "db": "mydb", "coll": "line_items"}}}
]
```

### Dynamic Kafka Topic Routing
```json
{"$emit": {
  "connectionName": "my-kafka",
  "topic": {"$switch": {
    "branches": [
      {"case": {"$eq": ["$severity", "critical"]}, "then": "alerts-critical"},
      {"case": {"$eq": ["$severity", "warning"]}, "then": "alerts-warning"}
    ],
    "default": "alerts-info"
  }}
}}
```

### Complex Event Processing (Fraud Detection)
```json
[
  {"$source": {"connectionName": "my-kafka", "topic": "transactions"}},
  {"$tumblingWindow": {
    "interval": {"size": 5, "unit": "minute"},
    "pipeline": [
      {"$group": {
        "_id": "$userId",
        "txnCount": {"$sum": 1},
        "totalAmount": {"$sum": "$amount"},
        "uniqueLocations": {"$addToSet": "$location"}
      }},
      {"$addFields": {
        "suspiciousLocations": {"$gt": [{"$size": "$uniqueLocations"}, 3]},
        "highVelocity": {"$gt": ["$txnCount", 10]}
      }},
      {"$match": {"$or": [{"suspiciousLocations": true}, {"highVelocity": true}]}}
    ]
  }},
  {"$merge": {"into": {"connectionName": "my-atlas", "db": "fraud", "coll": "alerts"}}}
]
```

### Graceful Degradation with $ifNull
```json
{"$addFields": {
  "userName": {"$ifNull": ["$userInfo.name", "unknown"]},
  "userTier": {"$ifNull": ["$userInfo.tier", "standard"]},
  "enrichmentSucceeded": {"$ne": [{"$type": "$userInfo"}, "missing"]}
}}
```

## Window Metadata

Inside window pipelines, `_stream_meta.window.start` and `_stream_meta.window.end` provide boundary timestamps:
```json
{"$group": {
  "_id": "$deviceId",
  "windowStart": {"$first": "$_stream_meta.window.start"},
  "windowEnd": {"$first": "$_stream_meta.window.end"},
  "avg": {"$avg": "$temp"}
}}
```

## Checkpoint Resume Constraints

With `resumeFromCheckpoint: true` (default), you CANNOT change: window type, interval, remove windows, or modify `$source`. Set `false` to make these changes (restarts from beginning).

## DLQ Configuration
```json
{"dlq": {"connectionName": "my-atlas", "db": "streams_dlq", "coll": "failed_documents"}}
```
DLQ documents include: original document, error message, stage info, timestamp.

## Sample Stream Formats

| Format | Data type |
|--------|-----------|
| `sample_stream_solar` | Solar panel IoT readings (default) |
| `samplestock` | Stock market tick data |
| `sampleweather` | Weather station readings |
| `sampleiot` | Generic IoT sensor data |
| `samplelog` | Application log events |
| `samplecommerce` | E-commerce transaction data |

## Chained Processors (Multi-Sink Pattern)

**CRITICAL: A single pipeline can only have ONE terminal sink** (`$merge` or `$emit`). You CANNOT have both `$merge` and `$emit` as terminal stages. When a user requests multiple output destinations (e.g., "write to Atlas AND emit to Kafka" or "archive to S3 AND send to Lambda"), you MUST:

1. **Acknowledge** the single-sink

---

Source: [Claudary](https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/pipeline-patterns) · https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com