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accepted2026-06-23vuejs/rfcs

Summary

What was chosen

  • The `$on`, `$off`, and `$once` instance methods will be removed from Vue.adr
  • Vue instances will no longer implement the event emitter interface.adr

Constraints

  • Vue 2 previously removed `$dispatch` and `$broadcast` in favor of state-driven data flow.adr
  • The `$emit` method in Vue 2 is overloaded for both declarative and imperative event handling.adr
  • The full event emitter API is not part of typical inter-component data-flow in Vue 2.adr
  • The `$on`, `$off`, and `$once` methods are rarely used by developers.adr
  • There is no strong reason to expose the event emitter API via component instances.adr

Consequences

  • Users can replace event hub functionality with external libraries like mitt.adr
  • The removed event emitter methods can be supported in compatibility builds.adr

The recorded why

Summary

Remove $on, $off and $once instance methods. Vue instances no longer implement the event emitter interface.

Motivation

Vue 1.x implemented the component event system similar to that of AngularJS, with $dispatch and $broadcast where components in a tree can communicate by sending events up and down the tree.

In Vue 2, we removed $dispatch and $broadcast in favor of a more state-driven data flow (props down, events up).

With Vue 2's API, $emit can be used to trigger event handlers declaratively attached by a parent component (in templates or render functions), but can also be used to trigger handlers attached imperatively via the event emitter API ($on, $off and $once). This is in fact an overload: the full event emitter API isn't a part of the typical inter-component data-flow. They are rarely used, and there are really no strong reason for them to be exposed via component instances. This RFC therefore proposes to remove the $on, $off and $once instance methods.

Adoption strategy

In Vue 2, the most common usage of the event emitter API is using an empty Vue instance as an event hub. This can be replaced by using an external library implementing the event emitter interface, for example mitt.

These methods can also be supported in compatibility builds.

Source: active-rfcs/0020-events-api-change.md