Stolen Example of Mongoose Populate

popuate.js

var mongoose = require('mongoose')
  , Schema = mongoose.Schema
  
var personSchema = Schema({
  _id     : Number,
  name    : String,
  age     : Number,
  stories : [{ type: Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: 'Story' }]
});

var storySchema = Schema({
  _creator : { type: Number, ref: 'Person' },
  title    : String,
  fans     : [{ type: Number, ref: 'Person' }]
});

var Story  = mongoose.model('Story', storySchema);
var Person = mongoose.model('Person', personSchema);

var aaron = new Person({ _id: 0, name: 'Aaron', age: 100 });

aaron.save(function (err) {
  if (err) return handleError(err);
  
  var story1 = new Story({
    title: "Once upon a timex.",
    _creator: aaron._id    // assign the _id from the person
  });
  
  story1.save(function (err) {
    if (err) return handleError(err);
    // thats it!
  });
});

Story
.findOne({ title: 'Once upon a timex.' })
.populate('_creator')
.exec(function (err, story) {
  if (err) return handleError(err);
  console.log('The creator is %s', story._creator.name);
  // prints "The creator is Aaron"
});

Story
.findOne({ title: /timex/i })
.populate('_creator', 'name') // only return the Persons name
.exec(function (err, story) {
  if (err) return handleError(err);
  
  console.log('The creator is %s', story._creator.name);
  // prints "The creator is Aaron"
  
  console.log('The creators age is %s', story._creator.age);
  // prints "The creators age is null'
})