Azure Cosmos DB output binding for Azure Functions 2.x and higher

The Python v2 programming model lets you define bindings using decorators directly in your Python function code. For more information, see the Python developer guide.

The Python v1 programming model requires you to define bindings in a separate function.json file in the function folder. For more information, see the Python developer guide.

The following code defines a MyDocument type:

    public class MyDocument
    {
        public string Id { get; set; }

        public string Text { get; set; }

        public int Number { get; set; }

        public bool Boolean { get; set; }
    }

In the following example, the return type is an IReadOnlyList<T>, which is a modified list of documents from trigger binding parameter:

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Microsoft.Azure.Functions.Worker;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;

namespace SampleApp
{
    public class CosmosDBFunction
    {
        private readonly ILogger<CosmosDBFunction> _logger;

        public CosmosDBFunction(ILogger<CosmosDBFunction> logger)
        {
            _logger = logger;
        }

        //<docsnippet_exponential_backoff_retry_example>
        [Function(nameof(CosmosDBFunction))]
        [ExponentialBackoffRetry(5, "00:00:04", "00:15:00")]
        [CosmosDBOutput("%CosmosDb%", "%CosmosContainerOut%", Connection = "CosmosDBConnection", CreateIfNotExists = true)]
        public object Run(
            [CosmosDBTrigger(
                "%CosmosDb%",
                "%CosmosContainerIn%",
                Connection = "CosmosDBConnection",
                LeaseContainerName = "leases",
                CreateLeaseContainerIfNotExists = true)] IReadOnlyList<MyDocument> input,
            FunctionContext context)
        {
            if (input != null && input.Any())
            {
                foreach (var doc in input)
                {
                    _logger.LogInformation("Doc Id: {id}", doc.Id);
                }

                // Cosmos Output
                return input.Select(p => new { id = p.Id });
            }

            return null;
        }
        //</docsnippet_exponential_backoff_retry_example>
    }

This section contains the following examples:

• Queue trigger, write one doc
• Queue trigger, write one doc (v4 extension)
• Queue trigger, write docs using IAsyncCollector

The examples refer to a simple ToDoItem type:

namespace CosmosDBSamplesV2
{
    public class ToDoItem
    {
        public string id { get; set; }
        public string Description { get; set; }
    }
}

Queue trigger, write one doc

The following example shows a C# function that adds a document to a database, using data provided in message from Queue storage.

using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs;
using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Host;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using System;

namespace CosmosDBSamplesV2
{
    public static class WriteOneDoc
    {
        [FunctionName("WriteOneDoc")]
        public static void Run(
            [QueueTrigger("todoqueueforwrite")] string queueMessage,
            [CosmosDB(
                databaseName: "ToDoItems",
                collectionName: "Items",
                ConnectionStringSetting = "CosmosDBConnection")]out dynamic document,
            ILogger log)
        {
            document = new { Description = queueMessage, id = Guid.NewGuid() };

            log.LogInformation($"C# Queue trigger function inserted one row");
            log.LogInformation($"Description={queueMessage}");
        }
    }
}

Queue trigger, write one doc (v4 extension)

Apps using Azure Cosmos DB extension version 4.x or higher will have different attribute properties which are shown below. The following example shows a C# function that adds a document to a database, using data provided in message from Queue storage.

using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs;
using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Host;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using System;

namespace CosmosDBSamplesV2
{
    public static class WriteOneDoc
    {
        [FunctionName("WriteOneDoc")]
        public static void Run(
            [QueueTrigger("todoqueueforwrite")] string queueMessage,
            [CosmosDB(
                databaseName: "ToDoItems",
                containerName: "Items",
                Connection = "CosmosDBConnection")]out dynamic document,
            ILogger log)
        {
            document = new { Description = queueMessage, id = Guid.NewGuid() };

            log.LogInformation($"C# Queue trigger function inserted one row");
            log.LogInformation($"Description={queueMessage}");
        }
    }
}

Queue trigger, write docs using IAsyncCollector

The following example shows a C# function that adds a collection of documents to a database, using data provided in a queue message JSON.

using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs;
using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Host;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;

namespace CosmosDBSamplesV2
{
    public static class WriteDocsIAsyncCollector
    {
        [FunctionName("WriteDocsIAsyncCollector")]
        public static async Task Run(
            [QueueTrigger("todoqueueforwritemulti")] ToDoItem[] toDoItemsIn,
            [CosmosDB(
                databaseName: "ToDoItems",
                collectionName: "Items",
                ConnectionStringSetting = "CosmosDBConnection")]
                IAsyncCollector<ToDoItem> toDoItemsOut,
            ILogger log)
        {
            log.LogInformation($"C# Queue trigger function processed {toDoItemsIn?.Length} items");

            foreach (ToDoItem toDoItem in toDoItemsIn)
            {
                log.LogInformation($"Description={toDoItem.Description}");
                await toDoItemsOut.AddAsync(toDoItem);
            }
        }
    }
}

The following example shows a storage queue triggered TypeScript function for a queue that receives JSON in the following format:

{
    "name": "John Henry",
    "employeeId": "123456",
    "address": "A town nearby"
}

The function creates Azure Cosmos DB documents in the following format for each record:

{
    "id": "John Henry-123456",
    "name": "John Henry",
    "employeeId": "123456",
    "address": "A town nearby"
}

Here's the TypeScript code:

import { app, InvocationContext, output } from '@azure/functions';

interface MyQueueItem {
    name: string;
    employeeId: string;
    address: string;
}

interface MyCosmosItem {
    id: string;
    name: string;
    employeeId: string;
    address: string;
}

export async function storageQueueTrigger1(queueItem: MyQueueItem, context: InvocationContext): Promise<MyCosmosItem> {
    return {
        id: `${queueItem.name}-${queueItem.employeeId}`,
        name: queueItem.name,
        employeeId: queueItem.employeeId,
        address: queueItem.address,
    };
}

app.storageQueue('storageQueueTrigger1', {
    queueName: 'inputqueue',
    connection: 'MyStorageConnectionAppSetting',
    return: output.cosmosDB({
        databaseName: 'MyDatabase',
        collectionName: 'MyCollection',
        createIfNotExists: true,
        connectionStringSetting: 'MyAccount_COSMOSDB',
    }),
    handler: storageQueueTrigger1,
});

To output multiple documents, return an array instead of a single object. For example:

import { app, InvocationContext, output } from '@azure/functions';

interface MyQueueItem {
    name: string;
    employeeId: string;
    address: string;
}

interface MyCosmosItem {
    id: string;
    name: string;
    employeeId: string;
    address: string;
}

export async function storageQueueTrigger1(
    queueItem: MyQueueItem,
    context: InvocationContext
): Promise<MyCosmosItem[]> {
    // <displayInDocs>
    return [
        {
            id: 'John Henry-123456',
            name: 'John Henry',
            employeeId: '123456',
            address: 'A town nearby',
        },
        {
            id: 'John Doe-123457',
            name: 'John Doe',
            employeeId: '123457',
            address: 'A town far away',
        },
    ];
    // </displayInDocs>
}

app.storageQueue('storageQueueTrigger1', {
    queueName: 'inputqueue',
    connection: 'MyStorageConnectionAppSetting',
    return: output.cosmosDB({
        databaseName: 'MyDatabase',
        collectionName: 'MyCollection',
        createIfNotExists: true,
        connectionStringSetting: 'MyAccount_COSMOSDB',
    }),
    handler: storageQueueTrigger1,
});

TypeScript samples are not documented for model v3.

The following example shows a storage queue triggered JavaScript function for a queue that receives JSON in the following format:

{
    "name": "John Henry",
    "employeeId": "123456",
    "address": "A town nearby"
}

The function creates Azure Cosmos DB documents in the following format for each record:

{
    "id": "John Henry-123456",
    "name": "John Henry",
    "employeeId": "123456",
    "address": "A town nearby"
}

Here's the JavaScript code:

const { app, output } = require('@azure/functions');

const cosmosOutput = output.cosmosDB({
    databaseName: 'MyDatabase',
    collectionName: 'MyCollection',
    createIfNotExists: true,
    connectionStringSetting: 'MyAccount_COSMOSDB',
});

app.storageQueue('storageQueueTrigger1', {
    queueName: 'inputqueue',
    connection: 'MyStorageConnectionAppSetting',
    return: cosmosOutput,
    handler: (queueItem, context) => {
        return {
            id: `${queueItem.name}-${queueItem.employeeId}`,
            name: queueItem.name,
            employeeId: queueItem.employeeId,
            address: queueItem.address,
        };
    },
});

To output multiple documents, return an array instead of a single object. For example:

const { app, output } = require('@azure/functions');

const cosmosOutput = output.cosmosDB({
    databaseName: 'MyDatabase',
    collectionName: 'MyCollection',
    createIfNotExists: true,
    connectionStringSetting: 'MyAccount_COSMOSDB',
});

app.storageQueue('storageQueueTrigger1', {
    queueName: 'inputqueue',
    connection: 'MyStorageConnectionAppSetting',
    return: cosmosOutput,
    handler: (queueItem, context) => {
        // <displayInDocs>
        return [
            {
                id: 'John Henry-123456',
                name: 'John Henry',
                employeeId: '123456',
                address: 'A town nearby',
            },
            {
                id: 'John Doe-123457',
                name: 'John Doe',
                employeeId: '123457',
                address: 'A town far away',
            },
        ];
        // </displayInDocs>
    },
});

The following example shows an Azure Cosmos DB output binding in a function.json file and a JavaScript function that uses the binding. The function uses a queue input binding for a queue that receives JSON in the following format:

{
    "name": "John Henry",
    "employeeId": "123456",
    "address": "A town nearby"
}

The function creates Azure Cosmos DB documents in the following format for each record:

{
    "id": "John Henry-123456",
    "name": "John Henry",
    "employeeId": "123456",
    "address": "A town nearby"
}

Here's the binding data in the function.json file:

{
    "name": "employeeDocument",
    "type": "cosmosDB",
    "databaseName": "MyDatabase",
    "collectionName": "MyCollection",
    "createIfNotExists": true,
    "connectionStringSetting": "MyAccount_COSMOSDB",
    "direction": "out"
}

The configuration section explains these properties.

Here's the JavaScript code:

    module.exports = async function (context) {

      context.bindings.employeeDocument = JSON.stringify({
        id: context.bindings.myQueueItem.name + "-" + context.bindings.myQueueItem.employeeId,
        name: context.bindings.myQueueItem.name,
        employeeId: context.bindings.myQueueItem.employeeId,
        address: context.bindings.myQueueItem.address
      });
    };

For bulk insert form the objects first and then run the stringify function. Here's the JavaScript code:

    module.exports = async function (context) {

        context.bindings.employeeDocument = JSON.stringify([
        {
            "id": "John Henry-123456",
            "name": "John Henry",
            "employeeId": "123456",
            "address": "A town nearby"
        },
        {
            "id": "John Doe-123457",
            "name": "John Doe",
            "employeeId": "123457",
            "address": "A town far away"
        }]);
    };

import logging
import azure.functions as func

app = func.FunctionApp()

@app.route()
@app.cosmos_db_output(arg_name="documents", 
                      database_name="DB_NAME",
                      collection_name="COLLECTION_NAME",
                      create_if_not_exists=True,
                      connection_string_setting="CONNECTION_SETTING")
def main(req: func.HttpRequest, documents: func.Out[func.Document]) -> func.HttpResponse:
    request_body = req.get_body()
    documents.set(func.Document.from_json(request_body))
    return 'OK'

The binding definition is defined in function.json where type is set to cosmosDB.

{
  "scriptFile": "__init__.py",
  "bindings": [
    {
      "authLevel": "function",
      "type": "httpTrigger",
      "direction": "in",
      "name": "req",
      "methods": [
        "get",
        "post"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "cosmosDB",
      "direction": "out",
      "name": "doc",
      "databaseName": "demodb",
      "collectionName": "data",
      "createIfNotExists": "true",
      "connectionStringSetting": "AzureCosmosDBConnectionString"
    },
    {
      "type": "http",
      "direction": "out",
      "name": "$return"
    }
  ]
}

To write to the database, pass a document object to the set method of the database parameter.

import azure.functions as func

def main(req: func.HttpRequest, doc: func.Out[func.Document]) -> func.HttpResponse:

    request_body = req.get_body()

    doc.set(func.Document.from_json(request_body))

    return 'OK'

The following table explains the properties that you can set on the options object passed to the output.cosmosDB() method. The type, direction, and name properties don't apply to the v4 model.

The following table explains the binding configuration properties that you set in the function.json file, where properties differ by extension version:

See Binding types for a list of supported types.

See Binding types for a list of supported types.

When you want the function to write to a single document, the Cosmos DB output binding can bind to the following types:

When you want the function to write to multiple documents, the Cosmos DB output binding can bind to the following types:

For other output scenarios, create and use types from Microsoft.Azure.Cosmos directly.

See Binding types for a list of supported types.