agent-skills/skills/vue-best-practices/reference/watch-flush-timing.md

title, impact, impactDescription, type, tags

title	impact	impactDescription	type	tags
Use flush post When Accessing Updated DOM in Watchers	MEDIUM	Default watcher timing runs before DOM updates, causing stale DOM reads	capability	vue3 watch watchers flush DOM timing post

Use flush: 'post' When Accessing Updated DOM in Watchers

Impact: MEDIUM - By default, watcher callbacks run before the component's DOM is updated. If you access the DOM in a watcher callback, you'll see the pre-update state. Use flush: 'post' or watchPostEffect when you need to access the updated DOM.

Task Checklist

• Use { flush: 'post' } when reading DOM after reactive state changes
• Use watchPostEffect() as a shorthand for watchEffect with flush: 'post'
• Avoid { flush: 'sync' } unless absolutely necessary (performance impact)
• Remember default timing is ideal for most non-DOM operations

Incorrect:

<script setup>
import { ref, watch, watchEffect } from 'vue'

const count = ref(0)
const listItems = ref(['a', 'b', 'c'])

// BAD: DOM shows old value when this runs
watch(count, () => {
  // Element still shows the OLD count value
  const el = document.querySelector('.counter')
  console.log('DOM shows:', el.textContent)  // Old value!
})

// BAD: List DOM not yet updated
watchEffect(() => {
  console.log('Items:', listItems.value.length)
  // DOM still has old number of list items
  const items = document.querySelectorAll('.list-item')
  console.log('DOM items:', items.length)  // Old count!
})
</script>

<template>
  <div class="counter">{{ count }}</div>
  <ul>
    <li v-for="item in listItems" :key="item" class="list-item">
      {{ item }}
    </li>
  </ul>
</template>

Correct:

<script setup>
import { ref, watch, watchEffect, watchPostEffect } from 'vue'

const count = ref(0)
const listItems = ref(['a', 'b', 'c'])

// CORRECT: flush: 'post' runs after DOM update
watch(
  count,
  () => {
    const el = document.querySelector('.counter')
    console.log('DOM shows:', el.textContent)  // Correct new value!
  },
  { flush: 'post' }
)

// CORRECT: watchPostEffect shorthand
watchPostEffect(() => {
  console.log('Items:', listItems.value.length)
  const items = document.querySelectorAll('.list-item')
  console.log('DOM items:', items.length)  // Matches listItems.length!
})

// CORRECT: Using watchEffect with flush option
watchEffect(
  () => {
    // Access reactive state and DOM together
    const expectedCount = listItems.value.length
    const actualCount = document.querySelectorAll('.list-item').length
    console.log(`Expected: ${expectedCount}, Actual: ${actualCount}`)
  },
  { flush: 'post' }
)
</script>

<template>
  <div class="counter">{{ count }}</div>
  <ul>
    <li v-for="item in listItems" :key="item" class="list-item">
      {{ item }}
    </li>
  </ul>
</template>

Flush Timing Options

import { watch, watchEffect, watchPostEffect, watchSyncEffect } from 'vue'

// Default: 'pre' - runs before component DOM update
watch(source, callback)  // Same as { flush: 'pre' }

// Post: runs after component DOM update
watch(source, callback, { flush: 'post' })
watchPostEffect(callback)  // Shorthand

// Sync: runs immediately when reactive value changes
// USE WITH CAUTION - no batching, fires on every mutation
watch(source, callback, { flush: 'sync' })
watchSyncEffect(callback)  // Shorthand

When to Use Each Flush Timing

Timing	Use Case
'pre' (default)	Logic that doesn't need DOM access
'post'	Reading or measuring updated DOM
'sync'	Debug logging, simple boolean flags only

Sync Watcher Warning

import { ref, watch } from 'vue'

const items = ref([1, 2, 3])

// DANGEROUS: Fires for EVERY array mutation
watch(
  items,
  () => {
    console.log('Changed!')  // Called 3 times for push, push, push
  },
  { flush: 'sync' }
)

// This triggers the watcher 3 times synchronously
items.value.push(4)
items.value.push(5)
items.value.push(6)

// Better: Use default flush which batches updates
watch(items, () => {
  console.log('Changed!')  // Called once after all mutations
}, { deep: true })

Practical Example: Auto-scroll

<script setup>
import { ref, watchPostEffect } from 'vue'

const messages = ref([])
const containerRef = ref(null)

// Auto-scroll to bottom when new messages arrive
watchPostEffect(() => {
  // Access messages.value to track it
  const msgCount = messages.value.length

  // DOM is updated, safe to scroll
  if (containerRef.value && msgCount > 0) {
    containerRef.value.scrollTop = containerRef.value.scrollHeight
  }
})

function addMessage(text) {
  messages.value.push({ text, timestamp: Date.now() })
}
</script>

<template>
  <div ref="containerRef" class="messages">
    <div v-for="msg in messages" :key="msg.timestamp">
      {{ msg.text }}
    </div>
  </div>
</template>

Reference

• Vue.js Watchers - Callback Flush Timing