Convert Mongoose docs to json

You may also try mongoosejs's lean() :

UserModel.find().lean().exec(function (err, users) {
    return res.end(JSON.stringify(users));
}

Late answer but you can also try this when defining your schema.

/**
 * toJSON implementation
 */
schema.options.toJSON = {
    transform: function(doc, ret, options) {
        ret.id = ret._id;
        delete ret._id;
        delete ret.__v;
        return ret;
    }
};

Note that ret is the JSON'ed object, and it's not an instance of the mongoose model. You'll operate on it right on object hashes, without getters/setters.

And then:

Model
    .findById(modelId)
    .exec(function (dbErr, modelDoc){
         if(dbErr) return handleErr(dbErr);

         return res.send(modelDoc.toJSON(), 200);
     });

Edit: Feb 2015

Because I didn't provide a solution to the missing toJSON (or toObject) method(s) I will explain the difference between my usage example and OP's usage example.

OP:

UserModel
    .find({}) // will get all users
    .exec(function(err, users) {
        // supposing that we don't have an error
        // and we had users in our collection,
        // the users variable here is an array
        // of mongoose instances;

        // wrong usage (from OP's example)
        // return res.end(users.toJSON()); // has no method toJSON

        // correct usage
        // to apply the toJSON transformation on instances, you have to
        // iterate through the users array

        var transformedUsers = users.map(function(user) {
            return user.toJSON();
        });

        // finish the request
        res.end(transformedUsers);
    });

My Example:

UserModel
    .findById(someId) // will get a single user
    .exec(function(err, user) {
        // handle the error, if any
        if(err) return handleError(err);

        if(null !== user) {
            // user might be null if no user matched
            // the given id (someId)

            // the toJSON method is available here,
            // since the user variable here is a 
            // mongoose model instance
            return res.end(user.toJSON());
        }
    });