MongoDB "$search ... Atlas Search is not available" against local mongod in CI

The $search aggregation stage is an Atlas Search feature backed by a separate search process. A local or service-container mongod has no Atlas Search, so $search fails there even though it works against your Atlas cluster.

What this error means

An aggregation using $search fails against a local/CI mongod with "$search is not allowed in this context" or "Unrecognized pipeline stage name: '$search'", but succeeds on Atlas.

node

MongoServerError: $search is not allowed or the syntax is incorrect,
see the Atlas documentation for more information
  code: 40324, codeName: 'Location40324'

Common causes

Local mongod has no Atlas Search

Atlas Search runs as a managed search node alongside Atlas; a standalone mongod in CI cannot execute $search.

Tests point at the local service instead of Atlas

The suite uses $search but the CI URI targets a local mongod without search, so the stage is rejected.

How to fix it

Run search tests against Atlas or a local Atlas Search deployment

For $search coverage, point those tests at an Atlas cluster with a search index.
Or use the Atlas CLI local deployment, which includes Atlas Search.
Keep plain data tests on the fast local mongod.

Terminal

atlas deployments setup local --type local
atlas deployments search indexes create --deploymentName local ...

Skip or gate $search tests without Atlas

Guard search-only tests so they are skipped when the target is a plain mongod, and run them on the Atlas-backed job.

How to prevent it

Route $search tests to an Atlas-backed target.
Use the Atlas CLI local deployment when you need search offline.
Gate Atlas-only features so local runs do not fail on them.