How to execute a query that does not return the entire document, but only the fields that I specified?
From the mouth of a horse:
# Return only the first and last names of each person. Person.only(:first_name, :last_name)
Source: http://mongoid.org/docs/querying/criteria.html#only
you can also use pluck
pluck
Person.all.pluck(:first_name, :last_name, :id)
http://www.rubydoc.info/github/mongoid/mongoid/Mongoid%2FContextual%2FMongo%3Apluck