meteor-methods

name	meteor-methods
description	Use when authoring or debugging Meteor methods (Meteor.methods, Meteor.call, Meteor.callAsync). Triggers on argument validation with check(), optimistic UI stubs, latency compensation, Meteor.Error handling, and DDPRateLimiter. Use this skill when the user asks about server-side mutation, asks about rate limiting RPC, or asks about wrapping a method with auth checks.
metadata	{"author":"meteor","kind":"knowledge","meteor":">=3.0","area":"data","tagline":"Author and debug Meteor methods (argument `check()`, optimistic stubs, latency compensation, `Meteor.Error`, `DDPRateLimiter`).","bundle":["essentials","fullstack"],"docs_synced_at":"2026-08-25"}
license	MIT

Meteor methods

Methods are Meteor's primitive for server-side mutation called from the client. In Meteor 3 they are async on the server. Latency compensation still works via client-side stubs.

Decision flow

1. Is this code mutating server data? Use a method.
2. Does the client need to read the result before the server replies? Write a client stub with the same name; it mutates the local Minimongo collection and the change is reverted if the server disagrees.
3. Does the method accept untrusted input? Validate every argument with check(). Otherwise the agent should refuse to write the method.
4. Is the method rate-sensitive? Add a DDPRateLimiter.addRule.

Scaffold

import { Meteor } from "meteor/meteor";
import { check, Match } from "meteor/check";

Meteor.methods({
  async addItem(payload) {
    check(payload, {
      title: String,
      qty: Match.Integer,
    });
    if (!this.userId) {
      throw new Meteor.Error("not-authorized");
    }
    const _id = await Items.insertAsync({
      ...payload,
      ownerId: this.userId,
      createdAt: new Date(),
    });
    return _id;
  },
});

Calling from the client

try {
  const id = await Meteor.callAsync("addItem", { title: "Hi", qty: 1 });
  setLocalId(id);
} catch (err) {
  if (err && typeof err === "object" && "error" in err) {
    console.error(err.error, err.reason, err.details);
  } else {
    console.error("local or transport failure", err);
  }
}

Optimistic UI

Define the same method on the client. The client stub runs immediately against the local Minimongo; the server's authoritative result reverts any divergence.

// client/methods.js
import { Meteor } from "meteor/meteor";
import { Random } from "meteor/random";
Meteor.methods({
  addItem(payload) {
    Items.insert({
      ...payload,
      _id: Random.id(),
      ownerId: Meteor.userId(),
      createdAt: new Date(),
    });
  },
});

Synchronous stubs are simplest when they only need synchronous Minimongo. Async stubs are also supported by callAsync and are useful when the same method definition runs on client and server with *Async collection calls. An async stub may await microtask-based local work, but it must not wait on fetch, timers, IndexedDB, workers, or other browser macrotask APIs. Run external I/O outside the stub.

Rate limiting

import { DDPRateLimiter } from "meteor/ddp-rate-limiter";

DDPRateLimiter.addRule(
  {
    type: "method",
    name: "addItem",
    userId: (userId) => Boolean(userId),
  },
  5,        // operations
  10000,    // per 10s
);

Meteor 3.5+ permits async matcher functions for database-backed decisions. On Meteor 3.0 through 3.4, matchers must stay synchronous; use a fixed rule, precomputed synchronous state, or upgrade instead of awaiting Mongo in a matcher.

Meteor awaits async matchers sequentially on the incoming connection's message queue. Project only required fields and keep the lookup fast. A rejected matcher Promise errors the invocation; test that path explicitly.

See references/rate-limiting.md for the rule-object schema and per-connection vs per-user keys.

Error handling

Throw Meteor.Error(code, reason, details?) for an intentional client-visible failure. A plain Error is logged on the server and sanitized for the client as Meteor.Error(500, "Internal server error"); its original message and stack are not exposed. Meteor.Error carries its code, reason, and details. Do not assume every callAsync rejection has that shape: callback misuse, transport failures, and local stub exceptions can produce native or arbitrary errors. Narrow the caught value before reading Meteor-specific fields.

Anti-patterns

• Methods without check() on every argument. Reject the method in code review.
• Reusing a method for both authenticated and unauthenticated calls. Split into two methods.
• Awaiting browser macrotask APIs such as fetch or timers inside a client stub. Async stubs are valid, but those APIs let unrelated code run before the optimistic simulation finishes.
• Calling Meteor.user() inside an async method body. Use this.userId.

See also

• references/check-and-validate.md
• references/rate-limiting.md
• references/eval-cases.md