The documentation states that the mongo shell is a good option for administrative scripting. For example:

• http://docs.mongodb.org/manual/applications/server-side-javascript/#running-js-scripts-in-mongo-on-mongod-host says, "Running a JavaScript (.js) file using a mongo shell instance on the server is a good technique for performing batch administrative work."

• http://docs.mongodb.org/manual/tutorial/write-scripts-for-the-mongo-shell/ says, "You can write scripts for the mongo shell in JavaScript that ... perform administrative operation."

However, 10gen support staff have subsequently indicated to us that the shell is not actually designed for this, at least not in production. The docs should be much clearer about this. And since much of the documentation is written in terms of the shell, if those techniques aren't appropriate for production, there should be cross references to the documentation for whatever corresponding API is recommended and supported for production administration.