Web/API/Event/composedPath

The composedPath() method of the Event interface returns the event’s path which is an array of the objects on which listeners will be invoked. This does not include nodes in shadow trees if the shadow root was created with its ShadowRoot.mode closed.

Syntax

var composed = Event.composedPath();

Parameters

None.

Return value

An array of EventTarget objects representing the objects on which an event listener will be invoked.

Examples

In our composed-composed-path example (see it live), we define two trivial custom elements, <open-shadow> and <closed-shadow>, both of which take the contents of their text attribute and insert them into the element's shadow DOM as the text content of a <p> element. The only difference between the two is that their shadow roots are attached with their modes set to open and closed respectively.

The first definition looks like this, for example:

customElements.define('open-shadow',
  class extends HTMLElement {
    constructor() {
      super();

      let pElem = document.createElement('p');
      pElem.textContent = this.getAttribute('text');

      let shadowRoot = this.attachShadow({mode: 'open'})
        .appendChild(pElem);

  }
});

We then insert one of each element into our page:

<open-shadow text="I have an open shadow root"></open-shadow>
<closed-shadow text="I have a closed shadow root"></closed-shadow>

Then include a click event listener on the <html> element:

document.querySelector('html').addEventListener('click',function(e) {
  console.log(e.composed);
  console.log(e.composedPath());
});

When you click on the <open-shadow> element and then the <closed-shadow> element, you'll notice two things. First, the composed property returns true beause the click event is always able to propagate across shadow boundaries. Second, you'll notice a difference in the value of composedPath for the two elements. The <open-shadow> element's composed path is this:

Array [ p, ShadowRoot, open-shadow, body, html, HTMLDocument https://mdn.github.io/web-components-examples/composed-composed-path/, Window ]

Whereas the <closed-shadow> element's composed path is a follows:

Array [ closed-shadow, body, html, HTMLDocument https://mdn.github.io/web-components-examples/composed-composed-path/, Window ]

In the second case, the event listeners only propagate as far as the <closed-shadow> element itself, but not to the nodes inside the shadow boundary.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'composedPath()' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`composedPath`	Chrome Full support 53 Full support 53 No support 50 — 53 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `deepPath`	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 52	IE No support No	Opera Full support 40 Full support 40 No support 37 — 40 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `deepPath`	Safari Full support 10	WebView Android Full support 53 Full support 53 No support 50 — 53 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `deepPath`	Chrome Android Full support 53 Full support 53 No support 50 — 53 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `deepPath`	Firefox Android Full support 52	Opera Android Full support 41 Full support 41 No support 37 — 41 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `deepPath`	Safari iOS Full support 10	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0 Full support 6.0 No support 5.0 — 6.0 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `deepPath`

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Uses a non-standard name.': Uses a non-standard name.

Event.composedPath() by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.