Missing frappe.get_docs() method

waredev · June 1, 2026, 6:10pm

According to the official Frappe tutorial, in the “Document API” page, there’s a frappe.get_docs() method which is like frappe.get_doc() but allows you to retrieve many documents at once. It was mentioned in a “Product Updates for April 2026” post.

However, if I try to call frappe.get_docs() from my custom app, I get the following message:

AttributeError: module 'frappe' has no attribute 'get_docs'. Did you mean: 'get_doc'?

I just updated to Frappe 16.19. I checked the frappe/model/document.py file (where I expected to find get_docs() based on the frappe source shown on GitHub): it’s dated May 7 and doesn’t have get_docs().

…Any idea what I’m missing?

avc · June 1, 2026, 6:13pm

Hi @waredev

github.com/frappe/frappe

feat: get_docs to fetch instantiated document objects from db

develop ← ShrihariMahabal:get-docs

opened 07:44AM - 09 Mar 26 UTC

ShrihariMahabal

+266 -17

get_docs allows choosing between eager and lazy loading depending on the use cas…e. Eager fetching (default) loads all documents into memory at once. Lazy fetching (as_generator=True) streams documents in chunks, reducing memory usage and making it more suitable for large datasets or background jobs. To fetch multiple document objects, current usage: ```python res = [frappe.get_doc("Test Doctype", name) for name in frappe.get_all("Test Doctype", pluck="name")] ``` If table has 2 child tables and has 1000 rows: Total database queries = Fetch all names - 1 Fetch parent docs - 1000 Fetch child table 1 - 1000 Fetch child table 2 - 1000 Total = 3001 With get_docs(Eager fetching): Fetch parent docs - 1 Fetch child table 1 - 1 Fetch child table 2 - 1 Total = 3 With get_docs(Lazy fetching using generators - chunk size = 500): The above queries for each chunk: so 6 Usage Examples: ```python invoices = frappe.get_docs("Sales Invoice", {"docstatus": 0}, order_by="posting_date desc") for invoice in invoices: invoice.status = "Processing" invoice.save() ``` ```python page_2 = frappe.get_docs( "User", limit=20, limit_start=20, order_by="creation asc" ) ``` ```python res = frappe.get_docs("Test Doctype", as_generator=True) for doc in res: doc.process() ```

Seems was not backported to version-16, so will only see that on develop branch

waredev · June 2, 2026, 1:45pm

Thanks for the quick and clear reply. I guess I’ll just use frappe.get_doc() while I wait for get_docs() to be added, it’s not really a problem for the script I’m writing. Do you know where this type of thing should be reported, though? It’s frustrating and confusing if a feature is officially announced but is unavailable; it should either be removed from the tutorial or added promptly to v16 (ideally with a note in the tutorial telling the reader the function is upcoming). Or have you reported this already?

avc · June 2, 2026, 10:23pm

HI @waredev

I am not from Frappe staff but, as far I know, product update posts are just related to products, without refers specific branch. Some features are being backported, others don’t inmediately, and others will be living on develop branch until next major version. Could be different reasons for that (incompatibilies, unfinished features, simple caution … etc …) . You can ask for backport raising an issue on Github. Maintainers will evaluate that.

I agree, some version info should be added to docs. You can also raise docs update request.
Hope this helps.