Data Models: LawyerUser and FormReserve in MongoDB

Despacho Backend uses Mongoose ODM to define and interact with two core collections in MongoDB: LawyerUser, which represents authenticated lawyer accounts, and FormReserve, which holds client appointment reservation requests. Both schemas use Mongoose’s built-in timestamps option to automatically track document creation and modification times. Understanding these models is essential for working with the API’s request and response shapes.

Both schemas are created with { timestamps: true }. Mongoose automatically adds and manages the createdAt and updatedAt fields on every document — you do not need to set these manually when creating or updating records.

LawyerUser model

The LawyerUser model (src/models/LawyerUser.js) represents a law firm staff member who can log in and manage client reservations. A new LawyerUser is created via POST /api/lawyer/user/create and receives the default role of Admin on registration.

Fields

token

String

default:"\"\""

Stores the most recently issued JWT for this user. Updated on every successful login via LawyerUser.updateOne(). Defaults to an empty string before the first login.

String

required

The lawyer’s unique email address. Used as the login identifier. Stored as provided (the controller calls .toLowerCase() during lookup to ensure case-insensitive matching).

password

String

required

The bcrypt-hashed password. The raw password is never stored — encryptPassword() hashes it at cost factor 10 before the document is saved.

role

Array<{ name: String, value: String }>

An array of role objects. Each object has a human-readable name and a numeric string value. Defaults to [{ name: "Admin", value: "1" }] on account creation. See the Roles section for the full role reference.

createdAt

Date

Automatically set by Mongoose when the document is first inserted.

updatedAt

Date

Automatically updated by Mongoose every time the document is modified.

Schema source

// src/models/LawyerUser.js
import mongoose from "mongoose";
import bcrypt from "bcrypt";
const { Schema } = mongoose;

const LawyerUserSchema = new Schema(
  {
    token: { type: String, default: "" },
    email: String,
    password: String,
    role: [{ name: String, value: String }],
  },
  { timestamps: true }
);

export const encryptPassword = async (password) => {
  const pass = password.toString();
  return await bcrypt.hash(pass, parseInt(10));
};

export const comparePassword = async (password, receivePassword) => {
  return await bcrypt.compare(password, receivePassword);
};

/*
  role
  1 → Admin
  2 → SuperAdmin
*/

export const LawyerUser = mongoose.model("LawyerUser", LawyerUserSchema);

Helper functions

Show encryptPassword(password)

Converts the password to a string (guarding against numeric inputs), then calls bcrypt.hash() with a cost factor of 10. Returns a Promise that resolves to the hashed string. Used in the registration controller before saving a new LawyerUser.

export const encryptPassword = async (password) => {
  const pass = password.toString();
  return await bcrypt.hash(pass, parseInt(10));
};

Show comparePassword(password, receivePassword)

Calls bcrypt.compare() with the plain-text password (first argument) and the stored hash (second argument). Returns a Promise that resolves to true if they match, false otherwise. Used in the login controller to verify credentials.

export const comparePassword = async (password, receivePassword) => {
  return await bcrypt.compare(password, receivePassword);
};

FormReserve model

The FormReserve model (src/models/FormReserve.js) represents a single appointment request submitted by a prospective client. Reservations begin with reservation_accepted: false and are updated to true when a lawyer confirms the appointment.

Fields

full_name

String

required

The client’s full name as submitted in the reservation form.

String

required

The client’s email address. Used for contact and notification purposes.

phone

Number

required

The client’s phone number stored as a numeric value.

required_service

String (enum)

required

The legal service area the client is requesting. Must be one of the six allowed values — any other string will fail Mongoose validation. Defaults to "" if omitted (though the controller enforces this field as required).Allowed values:

"Derecho civil"
"Derecho familiar"
"Derecho mercantil"
"Derecho penal"
"Derecho laboral"
"Derecho inmobiliario"

preferred_date

String

required

The client’s requested appointment date. Stored as a string (e.g., "2024-03-15").

preferred_hour

String

required

The client’s requested appointment time. Stored as a string (e.g., "10:00").

additional_message

String

An optional free-text field for any extra context or notes the client wants to include with their request.

reservation_accepted

Boolean

default:"false"

Tracks whether a lawyer has accepted and confirmed the reservation. Set to true when the lawyer calls POST /api/form/reserve/accept/:reserveId/reserve. Drives the filtering logic in the listing endpoints.

createdAt

Date

Automatically set by Mongoose when the document is first inserted.

updatedAt

Date

Automatically updated by Mongoose every time the document is modified.

Schema source

// src/models/FormReserve.js
import mongoose from "mongoose";
const { Schema } = mongoose;

const FormReserveSchema = new Schema(
  {
    full_name: String,
    email: String,
    phone: Number,
    required_service: {
      type: String,
      enum: [
        "Derecho civil",
        "Derecho familiar",
        "Derecho mercantil",
        "Derecho penal",
        "Derecho laboral",
        "Derecho inmobiliario",
      ],
      default: "",
    },
    preferred_date: String,
    preferred_hour: String,
    additional_message: String,
    reservation_accepted: { type: Boolean, default: false },
  },
  { timestamps: true }
);

export const FormReserve = mongoose.model("FormReserve", FormReserveSchema);

Allowed values for `required_service`

Value	Area of Law
`Derecho civil`	Civil law
`Derecho familiar`	Family law
`Derecho mercantil`	Commercial / mercantile law
`Derecho penal`	Criminal law
`Derecho laboral`	Labor / employment law
`Derecho inmobiliario`	Real estate law

MongoDB connection

Database connectivity is handled by the MongooseDB() function in src/database/DB/mongooseDB.js. It reads the connection string from the MONGODB_URL environment variable (defined in src/config.js via dotenv) and establishes the connection using mongoose.connect().

// src/database/DB/mongooseDB.js
import mongoose from "mongoose";
import dotenv from "dotenv";

dotenv.config();

const DB_URI = process.env.MONGODB_URL;
mongoose.set("strictQuery", true);

export const MongooseDB = () => {
  mongoose
    .connect(DB_URI, {})
    .then(() => console.log("Connected to Mongoose ✅"))
    .catch(() => console.log("Error connecting to Mongoose ❌"));
};

strictQuery: true is set globally, which means Mongoose will filter out any query fields that are not defined in the schema rather than passing them through to MongoDB. This prevents accidental queries against undefined fields.

Set the MONGODB_URL environment variable in a .env file at the project root (e.g., MONGODB_URL=mongodb+srv://user:pass@cluster.mongodb.net/despacho). The config.js module loads it automatically via dotenv.config() when the server starts.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Data Models: LawyerUser and FormReserve in MongoDB

LawyerUser model

Fields

Schema source

Helper functions

FormReserve model

Fields

Schema source

Allowed values for `required_service`

MongoDB connection

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Documentation Index

​LawyerUser model

​Fields

​Schema source

​Helper functions

​FormReserve model

​Fields

​Schema source

​Allowed values for required_service

​MongoDB connection

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

LawyerUser model

Fields

Schema source

Helper functions

FormReserve model

Fields

Schema source

Allowed values for `required_service`

MongoDB connection