Serialization: How to exclude Entity columns in json response but not internal queries in Nestjs

You can skip properties depending on the operation. In your case, you would use:

@Column()
@Exclude({ toPlainOnly: true })
password: string;

This means, that password is only skipped when a class is transformed to json (when you send a response) and not when json is transformed to a class (when you get a request).

Then add the @UseInterceptors(ClassSerializerInterceptor) to your controller or a controller method. This will automatically transform an entity class to json, when you return it.

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For the ClassSerializerInterceptor to work, make sure that your entity was transformed to a class first. This can be automatically done by using the ValidationPipe with the { transform: true} option or by returning an entity from a repository (database). Also, you have to return the entity itself:

@Post()
@UseInterceptors(ClassSerializerInterceptor)
addUser(@Body(new ValidationPipe({transform: true})) user: User) {
  // Logs user with password
  console.log(user);
  // Returns user as JSON without password
  return user;
  }

Otherwise, you have to transform it manually:

async profile(@Request() req: IUserRequest) {
  // Profile comes from the database so it will be an entity class instance already
  const profile = await this.authService.getLoggedInProfile(req.user.id);
  // Since we are not returning the entity directly, we have to transform it manually
  return { profile: plainToClass(profile) };
}