tl;dr:
In Vue 3, components are no longer limited to only 1 root element. Implicitly, this means you no longer have an $el.
You have to use ref to interact with any element in your template:
<div ref="root" />
In the setup function, you should instantiate root as const root = ref(null).
In the Options API, you can just use this.$refs.root in any method or hook, as long as it’s after mounted().
As pointed out by @AndrewSee in the comments, when using a render function (not a template), you can specify the desired ref in createElement options:
render: function (createElement) {
return createElement('div', { ref: 'root' })
}
// or, in short form:
render: h => h('div', { ref: 'root' })
initial answer:
As outlined in docs,
[…] the concepts of reactive refs and template refs are unified in Vue 3.
And you also have an example on how to ref a “root” element. Obviously, you don’t need to name it root. Name it $el, if you prefer. However, doing so doesn’t mean it will be available as this.$el, but as this.$refs.$el.
<template>
<div ref="root"></div>
</template>
<script>
import { ref, onMounted } from 'vue'
export default {
setup() {
const root = ref(null)
onMounted(() => {
// the DOM element will be assigned to the ref after initial render
console.log(root.value) // this is your $el
})
return {
root
}
}
}
</script>
In Vue 3 you’re no longer limited to only one root element in <template>, so you have to specifically reference any element you want to interact with.
Update, 2 years later.
Specific syntaxes for various component styles (they are not different solutions, they are different ways of writing the same thing):
<script setup>:
<script setup>
import { ref, onMounted } from 'vue';
const root = ref(null);
onMounted(() => console.log(root.value.outerHTML));
</script>
<template>
<div ref="root" />
</template>
<script setup lang="ts">:
<script setup lang="ts">
import { ref, onMounted } from 'vue';
const root = ref<HTMLElement | null>(null);
onMounted(() => console.log(root.value?.outerHTML));
</script>
<template>
<div ref="root" />
</template>
Options API:
<script>
export default {
mounted() {
console.log(this.$refs.root.outerHTML);
}
}
</script>
<template>
<div ref="root" />
</template>