wtf is autobind-decorator?

gaearon/autobind-decorator — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2015-08-23

★ 6JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5DormantSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Fixes lost this binding
      Auto-binds class methods
      Works on method or class
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      Babel
      core-js
    Use cases
      React event handlers
      Cleaner class methods
      Avoid manual bind calls
    Audience
      JavaScript developers
      React developers
    Setup
      Needs Babel transpiler
      Install core-js

mindmap root((repo)) What it does Fixes lost this binding Auto-binds class methods Works on method or class Tech stack JavaScript Babel core-js Use cases React event handlers Cleaner class methods Avoid manual bind calls Audience JavaScript developers React developers Setup Needs Babel transpiler Install core-js

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Fix React component methods that lose their 'this' context when passed to onClick handlers.

REASON 2

Automatically bind every method in a class at once instead of binding each one manually.

REASON 3

Write cleaner class methods without scattering manual .bind(this) calls throughout the constructor.

What's in the stack?

JavaScriptBabelcore-js

How it stacks up

	gaearon/autobind-decorator	arthurmoorgan/drift	atom/etch-list-view
Stars	6	6	6
Language	JavaScript	JavaScript	JavaScript
Last pushed	2015-08-23	—	2020-04-28
Maintenance	Dormant	—	Dormant
Setup difficulty	moderate	moderate	moderate
Complexity	2/5	2/5	2/5
Audience	developer	general	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Babel to compile decorator syntax plus core-js for supporting JavaScript features.

No license information is mentioned in the explanation.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to use @autobind to fix a React onClick handler losing its this context.

Prompt 2

Help me set up Babel so I can use the @autobind decorator syntax in my project.

Prompt 3

Explain the difference between binding one method versus binding an entire class with this decorator.

Prompt 4

Help me migrate this code that uses @autobind decorators to plain arrow functions instead.

Prompt 5

Why do I need core-js installed alongside this autobind decorator?

Frequently asked questions