Entities, Properties, and Keys

Data objects in Firestore in Datastore mode are known as entities. An entity has one or more named properties, each of which can have one or more values. Entities of the same kind do not need to have the same properties, and an entity's values for a given property do not all need to be of the same data type. (If necessary, an application can establish and enforce such restrictions in its own data model.)

Datastore mode supports a variety of data types for property values. These include, among others:

  • Integers
  • Floating-point numbers
  • Strings
  • Dates
  • Binary data

Each entity in a Datastore mode database has a key that uniquely identifies it. The key consists of the following components:

  • The namespace of the entity, which allows for multitenancy
  • The kind of the entity, which categorizes it for the purpose of queries
  • An identifier for the individual entity, which can be either
    • a key name string
    • an integer numeric ID
  • An optional ancestor path locating the entity within the database hierarchy

An application can fetch an individual entity from the database using the entity's key, or it can retrieve one or more entities by issuing a query based on the entities' keys or property values.

Firestore in Datastore mode itself does not enforce any restrictions on the structure of entities, such as whether a given property has a value of a particular type; this task is left to the application.

The snippets on this page build upon the example at Getting started with Firestore in Datastore mode.

Working with entities

Applications can use the Firestore in Datastore mode API to create, retrieve, update, and delete entities. If the application knows the complete key for an entity (or can derive it from its parent key, kind, and identifier), it can use the key to operate directly on the entity. An application can also obtain an entity's key as a result of a query; see the Queries topic for more information.

Creating an entity

You create a new entity by initializing it and setting its properties:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Entity task = new Entity()
{
    Key = _db.CreateKeyFactory("Task").CreateKey("sampleTask"),
    ["category"] = "Personal",
    ["done"] = false,
    ["priority"] = 4,
    ["description"] = "Learn Cloud Datastore"
};

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

type Task struct {
	Category        string
	Done            bool
	Priority        float64
	Description     string `datastore:",noindex"`
	PercentComplete float64
	Created         time.Time
}
task := &Task{
	Category:        "Personal",
	Done:            false,
	Priority:        4,
	Description:     "Learn Cloud Datastore",
	PercentComplete: 10.0,
	Created:         time.Now(),
}

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Key taskKey = datastore.newKeyFactory().setKind("Task").newKey("sampleTask");
Entity task =
    Entity.newBuilder(taskKey)
        .set("category", "Personal")
        .set("done", false)
        .set("priority", 4)
        .set("description", "Learn Cloud Datastore")
        .build();

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const task = {
  category: 'Personal',
  done: false,
  priority: 4,
  description: 'Learn Cloud Datastore',
};

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$task = $datastore->entity('Task', [
    'category' => 'Personal',
    'done' => false,
    'priority' => 4,
    'description' => 'Learn Cloud Datastore'
]);

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

task = datastore.Entity(client.key("Task"))
task.update(
    {
        "category": "Personal",
        "done": False,
        "priority": 4,
        "description": "Learn Cloud Datastore",
    }
)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

task = datastore.entity "Task" do |t|
  t["category"] = "Personal"
  t["done"] = false
  t["priority"] = 4
  t["description"] = "Learn Cloud Datastore"
end

You can save the entity to the database by using upsert (which will overwrite an entity if it already exists in Datastore mode) or insert (which requires that the entity key not already exist).

Here's how you upsert an entity:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

_db.Upsert(_sampleTask);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

key := datastore.IncompleteKey("Task", nil)
key, err := client.Put(ctx, key, task)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Entity task = Entity.newBuilder(keyFactory.newKey("sampleTask")).build();
datastore.put(task);

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key('Task');
const task = {
  category: 'Personal',
  done: false,
  priority: 4,
  description: 'Learn Cloud Datastore',
};

const entity = {
  key: taskKey,
  data: task,
};

await datastore.upsert(entity);
// Task inserted successfully.

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$key = $datastore->key('Task', 'sampleTask');
$task = $datastore->entity($key, [
    'category' => 'Personal',
    'done' => false,
    'priority' => 4,
    'description' => 'Learn Cloud Datastore'
]);
$datastore->upsert($task);

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

complete_key = client.key("Task", "sampleTask")

task = datastore.Entity(key=complete_key)

task.update(
    {
        "category": "Personal",
        "done": False,
        "priority": 4,
        "description": "Learn Cloud Datastore",
    }
)

client.put(task)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# task_name = "sampleTask"
task = datastore.entity "Task", task_name do |t|
  t["category"] = "Personal"
  t["done"] = false
  t["priority"] = 4
  t["description"] = "Learn Cloud Datastore"
end
datastore.save task

Here's how you insert an entity:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Entity task = new Entity()
{
    Key = _keyFactory.CreateIncompleteKey()
};
task.Key = _db.Insert(task);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

taskKey := datastore.NameKey("Task", "sampleTask", nil)
_, err := client.RunInTransaction(ctx, func(tx *datastore.Transaction) error {
	// We first check that there is no entity stored with the given key.
	var empty Task
	if err := tx.Get(taskKey, &empty); err != datastore.ErrNoSuchEntity {
		return err
	}
	// If there was no matching entity, store it now.
	_, err := tx.Put(taskKey, &task)
	return err
})

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Key taskKey = datastore.add(FullEntity.newBuilder(keyFactory.newKey()).build()).getKey();

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key('Task');
const task = {
  category: 'Personal',
  done: false,
  priority: 4,
  description: 'Learn Cloud Datastore',
};

const entity = {
  key: taskKey,
  data: task,
};

datastore.insert(entity).then(() => {
  // Task inserted successfully.
});

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$task = $datastore->entity('Task', [
    'category' => 'Personal',
    'done' => false,
    'priority' => 4,
    'description' => 'Learn Cloud Datastore'
]);
$datastore->insert($task);

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

with client.transaction():
    incomplete_key = client.key("Task")

    task = datastore.Entity(key=incomplete_key)

    task.update(
        {
            "category": "Personal",
            "done": False,
            "priority": 4,
            "description": "Learn Cloud Datastore",
        }
    )

    client.put(task)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

datastore.transaction do |_tx|
  task = datastore.entity "Task" do |t|
    t["category"] = "Personal"
    t["done"] = false
    t["priority"] = 4
    t["description"] = "Learn Cloud Datastore"
  end
  datastore.save task
end

Retrieving an entity

To retrieve an entity from the database, use its key for a lookup:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Entity task = _db.Lookup(_sampleTask.Key);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

var task Task
taskKey := datastore.NameKey("Task", "sampleTask", nil)
err := client.Get(ctx, taskKey, &task)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Entity task = datastore.get(taskKey);

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key('Task');
const [entity] = await datastore.get(taskKey);
// entity = {
//   category: 'Personal',
//   done: false,
//   priority: 4,
//   description: 'Learn Cloud Datastore',
//   [Symbol(KEY)]:
//    Key {
//      namespace: undefined,
//      id: '...',
//      kind: 'Task',
//      path: [Getter]
//    }
//   }
// };
console.log(entity);

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$key = $datastore->key('Task', 'sampleTask');
$task = $datastore->lookup($key);

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

key = client.key("Task", "sampleTask")
task = client.get(key)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# task_name = "sampleTask"
task_key = datastore.key "Task", task_name
task = datastore.find task_key

Updating an entity

To update an existing entity, modify the properties of the entity previously retrieved and store it using the key:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

_sampleTask["priority"] = 5;
_db.Update(_sampleTask);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

taskKey := datastore.NameKey("Task", "sampleTask", nil)
tx, err := client.NewTransaction(ctx)
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("client.NewTransaction: %v", err)
}
var task Task
if err := tx.Get(taskKey, &task); err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("tx.Get: %v", err)
}
task.Priority = 5
if _, err := tx.Put(taskKey, &task); err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("tx.Put: %v", err)
}
if _, err := tx.Commit(); err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("tx.Commit: %v", err)
}

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Entity task = Entity.newBuilder(datastore.get(taskKey)).set("priority", 5).build();
datastore.update(task);

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key('Task');
const task = {
  category: 'Personal',
  done: false,
  priority: 4,
  description: 'Learn Cloud Datastore',
};

const entity = {
  key: taskKey,
  data: task,
};

await datastore.update(entity);
// Task updated successfully.

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$transaction = $datastore->transaction();
$key = $datastore->key('Task', 'sampleTask');
$task = $transaction->lookup($key);
$task['priority'] = 5;
$transaction->update($task);
$transaction->commit();

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

with client.transaction():
    key = client.key("Task", "sampleTask")
    task = client.get(key)

    task["done"] = True

    client.put(task)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# task_name = "sampleTask"
datastore.transaction do |_tx|
  task = datastore.find "Task", task_name
  task["priority"] = 5
  datastore.save task
end

The provided data overwrites the existing entity. The entire object must be sent to the database. If the entity does not exist, the update will fail. If you want to update-or-create an entity, use upsert as described previously. Using a transaction allows you to perform the get and update operations in a single atomic transaction.

Deleting an entity

Given an entity's key, you can delete the entity:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

_db.Delete(_sampleTask.Key);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

key := datastore.NameKey("Task", "sampletask", nil)
err := client.Delete(ctx, key)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

datastore.delete(taskKey);

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key('Task');
await datastore.delete(taskKey);
// Task deleted successfully.

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$datastore->delete($taskKey);

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

key = client.key("Task", "sampleTask")
client.delete(key)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# task_name = "sampleTask"
task_key = datastore.key "Task", task_name
datastore.delete task_key

Batch operations

Firestore in Datastore mode supports batch versions of the operations which allow it to operate on multiple objects in a single Datastore mode call.

Such batch calls are faster than making separate calls for each individual entity because they incur the overhead for only one service call. If multiple entity groups are involved, the work for all the groups is performed in parallel on the server side.

For example, you can upsert multiple entities:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

var taskList = new[]
{
    new Entity()
    {
        Key = _keyFactory.CreateIncompleteKey(),
        ["category"] = "Personal",
        ["done"] = false,
        ["priority"] = 4,
        ["description"] = "Learn Cloud Datastore"
    },
    new Entity()
    {
        Key = _keyFactory.CreateIncompleteKey(),
        ["category"] = "Personal",
        ["done"] = "false",
        ["priority"] = 5,
        ["description"] = "Integrate Cloud Datastore"
    }
};
var keyList = _db.Upsert(taskList[0], taskList[1]);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

tasks := []*Task{
	{
		Category:    "Personal",
		Done:        false,
		Priority:    4,
		Description: "Learn Cloud Datastore",
	},
	{
		Category:    "Personal",
		Done:        false,
		Priority:    5,
		Description: "Integrate Cloud Datastore",
	},
}
keys := []*datastore.Key{
	datastore.IncompleteKey("Task", nil),
	datastore.IncompleteKey("Task", nil),
}

keys, err := client.PutMulti(ctx, keys, tasks)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

FullEntity<IncompleteKey> task1 =
    FullEntity.newBuilder(keyFactory.newKey())
        .set("category", "Personal")
        .set("done", false)
        .set("priority", 4)
        .set("description", "Learn Cloud Datastore")
        .build();
FullEntity<IncompleteKey> task2 =
    Entity.newBuilder(keyFactory.newKey())
        .set("category", "Personal")
        .set("done", false)
        .set("priority", 5)
        .set("description", "Integrate Cloud Datastore")
        .build();
List<Entity> tasks = datastore.add(task1, task2);
Key taskKey1 = tasks.get(0).getKey();
Key taskKey2 = tasks.get(1).getKey();

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey1 = this.datastore.key(['Task', 1]);
const taskKey2 = this.datastore.key(['Task', 2]);

const task1 = {
  category: 'Personal',
  done: false,
  priority: 4,
  description: 'Learn Cloud Datastore',
};

const task2 = {
  category: 'Work',
  done: false,
  priority: 8,
  description: 'Integrate Cloud Datastore',
};

const entities = [
  {
    key: taskKey1,
    data: task1,
  },
  {
    key: taskKey2,
    data: task2,
  },
];

await datastore.upsert(entities);
// Tasks inserted successfully.

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$datastore->upsertBatch($tasks);

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

task1 = datastore.Entity(client.key("Task", 1))

task1.update(
    {
        "category": "Personal",
        "done": False,
        "priority": 4,
        "description": "Learn Cloud Datastore",
    }
)

task2 = datastore.Entity(client.key("Task", 2))

task2.update(
    {
        "category": "Work",
        "done": False,
        "priority": 8,
        "description": "Integrate Cloud Datastore",
    }
)

client.put_multi([task1, task2])

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

task_1 = datastore.entity "Task" do |t|
  t["category"] = "Personal"
  t["done"] = false
  t["priority"] = 4
  t["description"] = "Learn Cloud Datastore"
end

task_2 = datastore.entity "Task" do |t|
  t["category"] = "Personal"
  t["done"] = false
  t["priority"] = 5
  t["description"] = "Integrate Cloud Datastore"
end

tasks = datastore.save task_1, task_2
task_key_1 = tasks[0].key
task_key_2 = tasks[1].key

You can look up multiple entities:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

var keys = new Key[] { _keyFactory.CreateKey(1), _keyFactory.CreateKey(2) };
var tasks = _db.Lookup(keys[0], keys[1]);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

var taskKeys []*datastore.Key // Populated with incomplete keys.
tasks := make([]*Task, len(taskKeys))
err := client.GetMulti(ctx, taskKeys, &tasks)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Iterator<Entity> tasks = datastore.get(taskKey1, taskKey2);

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey1 = this.datastore.key(['Task', 1]);
const taskKey2 = this.datastore.key(['Task', 2]);

const keys = [taskKey1, taskKey2];

const [tasks] = await datastore.get(keys);
// Tasks retrieved successfully.
console.log(tasks);

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$result = $datastore->lookupBatch($keys);
if (isset($result['found'])) {
    // $result['found'] is an array of entities.
} else {
    // No entities found.
}

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

keys = [client.key("Task", 1), client.key("Task", 2)]
tasks = client.get_multi(keys)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# task_name_1 = "sampleTask1"
# task_name_2 = "sampleTask2"
task_key_1 = datastore.key "Task", task_name_1
task_key_2 = datastore.key "Task", task_name_2
tasks = datastore.find_all task_key_1, task_key_2

You can delete multiple entities:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

var keys = new Key[] { _keyFactory.CreateKey(1), _keyFactory.CreateKey(2) };
_db.Delete(keys);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

err := client.DeleteMulti(ctx, taskKeys)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

datastore.delete(taskKey1, taskKey2);

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey1 = this.datastore.key(['Task', 1]);
const taskKey2 = this.datastore.key(['Task', 2]);

const keys = [taskKey1, taskKey2];

await datastore.delete(keys);
// Tasks deleted successfully.

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$datastore->deleteBatch($keys);

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

keys = [client.key("Task", 1), client.key("Task", 2)]
client.delete_multi(keys)

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# task_name_1 = "sampleTask1"
# task_name_2 = "sampleTask2"
task_key_1 = datastore.key "Task", task_name_1
task_key_2 = datastore.key "Task", task_name_2
datastore.delete task_key_1, task_key_2

Batch operations do not change your read, write, or delete costs, which are documented at Pricing and Quota. You will be charged for every key in a batched operation, whether or not each key exists.

The size of the entities involved in an operation does not affect the read, write, or delete costs. However, the size of entities does impact your storage size costs.

Kinds and identifiers

Each entity is of a particular kind, which categorizes the entity for the purpose of queries: for instance, a task list application might represent each task to complete with an entity of kind Task.

All kind names that begin with two underscores (__) are reserved and may not be used.

Assigning identifiers

In addition to a kind, each entity has an identifier, assigned when the entity is created. Because it is part of the entity's key, the identifier is associated permanently with the entity and cannot be changed. It can be assigned in either of two ways:

  • Your application can specify its own key name string for the entity.
  • You can have Firestore in Datastore mode automatically assign the entity an integer numeric ID.

The following example creates a key with kind Task using a key name, "sampleTask", as the identifier:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Key key = _db.CreateKeyFactory("Task").CreateKey("sampleTask");

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

taskKey := datastore.NameKey("Task", "sampletask", nil)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Key taskKey = datastore.newKeyFactory().setKind("Task").newKey("sampleTask");

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key(['Task', 'sampleTask']);

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$taskKey = $datastore->key('Task', 'sampleTask');

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

key = client.key("Task", "sampleTask")

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# task_name = "sampleTask"
task_key = datastore.key "Task", task_name

Datastore mode can also automatically assign IDs. Datastore mode generates a random sequence of unused IDs that are approximately uniformly distributed. Each ID can be up to 16 decimal digits long.

The following example creates a key with kind Task, without using a key name. The full key (including the automatically assigned ID) of the entity will be returned when an entity with the incomplete key is saved to Datastore mode:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Key incompleteKey = _db.CreateKeyFactory("Task").CreateIncompleteKey();
Key key = _db.AllocateId(incompleteKey);

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

// A complete key is assigned to the entity when it is Put.
taskKey := datastore.IncompleteKey("Task", nil)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

KeyFactory keyFactory = datastore.newKeyFactory().setKind("Task");
Key taskKey = datastore.allocateId(keyFactory.newKey());

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key('Task');

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$taskKey = $datastore->key('Task');

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

from google.cloud import datastore

# For help authenticating your client, visit
# https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/getting-started
client = datastore.Client()

key = client.key("Task")

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

task_key = datastore.key "Task"

If you want to display the entity IDs to the user, and/or depend upon their order, the best thing to do is use manual allocation.

Assigning your own numeric ID

Instead of using key name strings or generating numeric IDs automatically, advanced applications may sometimes wish to assign their own numeric IDs manually to the entities they create. Be aware, however, that there is nothing to prevent a Datastore mode database from assigning one of your manual numeric IDs to another entity. The only way to avoid such conflicts is to have your application obtain a block of IDs with the allocateIds() method.

Datastore mode's automatic ID generator will keep track of IDs that have been allocated with these methods and will avoid reusing them for another entity, so you can safely use such IDs without conflict. You can not manually choose which values are returned by the allocateIds() method. The values returned by allocateIds() are assigned by Datastore mode.

Ancestor paths

Entities in a Datastore mode database form a hierarchically structured space similar to the directory structure of a file system. When you create an entity, you can optionally designate another entity as its parent; the new entity is a child of the parent entity (note that unlike in a file system, the parent entity need not actually exist). An entity without a parent is a root entity. The association between an entity and its parent is permanent, and cannot be changed once the entity is created. Datastore mode will never assign the same numeric ID to two entities with the same parent, or to two root entities (those without a parent).

An entity's parent, parent's parent, and so on recursively, are its ancestors; its children, children's children, and so on, are its descendants. The sequence of entities beginning with a root entity and proceeding from parent to child, leading to a given entity, constitute that entity's ancestor path. The complete key identifying the entity consists of a sequence of kind-identifier pairs specifying its ancestor path and terminating with those of the entity itself:

[User:alice, TaskList:default, Task:sampleTask]

For a root entity, the ancestor path is empty and the key consists solely of the entity's own kind and identifier:

[User:alice]

Levels of parents

Use levels of parents to organize your data. For example, if your application organizes Task entities by TaskList entities, use one level of parent:

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Key rootKey = _db.CreateKeyFactory("TaskList").CreateKey("default");
Key key = new KeyFactory(rootKey, "Task").CreateKey("sampleTask");

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

parentKey := datastore.NameKey("TaskList", "default", nil)
taskKey := datastore.NameKey("Task", "sampleTask", parentKey)

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

Key taskKey =
    datastore
        .newKeyFactory()
        .addAncestors(PathElement.of("TaskList", "default"))
        .setKind("Task")
        .newKey("sampleTask");

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const taskKey = datastore.key([
  'TaskList',
  'default',
  'Task',
  'sampleTask',
]);

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

$taskKey = $datastore->key('TaskList', 'default')
    ->pathElement('Task', 'sampleTask');

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud Datastore, see Cloud Datastore client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Datastore Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Datastore, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.