--- id: api/commands/get title: get | Cypress Documentation description: Get one or more DOM elements by selector or alias in Cypress. section: api source_path: docs/api/commands/get.mdx version: fa8f60eba6ec9a949b75fe9f9f5f6591719cd01f updated_at: '2026-05-05T21:21:10.048Z' --- # get Get one or more DOM elements by selector or [alias](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/variables-and-aliases.md). The querying behavior of this command is similar to how [`$(...)`](http://api.jquery.com/jQuery/) works in jQuery. ## Syntax ``` cy.get(selector)cy.get(alias)cy.get(selector, options)cy.get(alias, options) ``` ### Usage **Correct Usage** ``` cy.get('.list > li') // Yield the
  • 's in .list ``` ### Arguments **selector _(String selector)_** A selector used to filter matching DOM elements. **alias _(String)_** An alias as defined using the [`.as()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/as.md) command and referenced with the `@` character and the name of the alias. You can use `cy.get()` for aliases of primitives, regular objects, or even DOM elements. When using aliases with DOM elements, Cypress will query the DOM again if the previously aliased DOM element has gone stale. **Core Concept** [You can read more about aliasing objects and elements in our Core Concept Guide](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/variables-and-aliases.md#Aliases). **options _(Object)_** Pass in an options object to change the default behavior of `cy.get()`. | Option | Default | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | `log` | `true` | Displays the command in the [Command log](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/open-mode.md#Command-Log) | | `timeout` | [`defaultCommandTimeout`](/llm/markdown/app/references/configuration.md#Timeouts) | Time to wait for `cy.get()` to resolve before [timing out](#Timeouts) | | `withinSubject` | null | Element to search for children in. If null, search begins from root-level DOM element | | `includeShadowDom` | [`includeShadowDom` config option value](/llm/markdown/app/references/configuration.md#Global) | Whether to traverse shadow DOM boundaries and include elements within the shadow DOM in the yielded results. | ### Yields [Learn about subject management](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Subject-Management) * `cy.get()` yields the DOM element(s) it found, or the results of the alias lookup. * `cy.get()` is a query, and it is _safe_ to chain further commands. ## Examples ### Selector #### Get the input element ``` cy.get('input').should('be.disabled') ``` #### Find the first `li` descendent within a `ul` ``` cy.get('ul li:first').should('have.class', 'active') ``` #### Find the dropdown-menu and click it ``` cy.get('.dropdown-menu').click() ``` #### Find 5 elements with the given data attribute ``` cy.get('[data-test-id="test-example"]').should('have.length', 5) ``` #### Find the link with an href attribute containing the word "questions" and click it ``` cy.get('a[href*="questions"]').click() ``` #### Find the element with id that starts with "local-" ``` cy.get('[id^=local-]') ``` #### Find the element with id that ends with "-remote" ``` cy.get('[id$=-remote]') ``` #### Find the element with id that starts with "local-" and ends with "-remote" ``` cy.get('[id^=local-][id$=-remote]') ``` #### Find the element with id that has characters used in CSS like ".", ":". ``` cy.get('#id\\.\\.\\.1234') // escape the character with \\ ``` ### `cy.get()` in the [`.within()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/within.md) command Since `cy.get()` is chained off of `cy`, it always looks for the selector within the entire `document`. The only exception is when used inside a [.within()](/llm/markdown/api/commands/within.md) command. ``` cy.get('form').within(() => { cy.get('input').type('Pamela') // Only yield inputs within form cy.get('textarea').type('is a developer') // Only yield textareas within form}) ``` ### Get vs Find The `cy.get` command always starts its search from the [cy.root](/llm/markdown/api/commands/root.md) element. In most cases, it is the `document` element, unless used inside the [.within()](/llm/markdown/api/commands/within.md) command. The [.find](/llm/markdown/api/commands/find.md) command starts its search from the current subject. ```
    cy.get vs .find
    Both are querying commands
    ``` ``` cy.get('#comparison') .get('div') // finds the div.test-title outside the #comparison // and the div.feature inside .should('have.class', 'test-title') .and('have.class', 'feature')cy.get('#comparison') .find('div') // the search is limited to the tree at #comparison element // so it finds div.feature only .should('have.length', 1) .and('have.class', 'feature') ``` ### Alias For a detailed explanation of aliasing, [read more about aliasing here](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/variables-and-aliases.md#Aliases). #### Get the aliased 'todos' elements ``` cy.get('ul#todos').as('todos')//...hack hack hack...//later retrieve the todoscy.get('@todos') ``` #### Get the aliased 'submitBtn' element ``` beforeEach(() => { cy.get('button[type=submit]').as('submitBtn')})it('disables on click', () => { cy.get('@submitBtn').should('be.disabled')}) ``` #### Get the aliased 'users' fixture ``` beforeEach(() => { cy.fixture('users.json').as('users')})it('disables on click', () => { // access the array of users cy.get('@users').then((users) => { // get the first user const user = users[0] cy.get('header').contains(user.name) })}) ``` ## Rules ### Requirements [Learn about chaining commands](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Chains-of-Commands) * `cy.get()` requires being chained off a command that yields DOM element(s). ### Assertions [Learn about assertions](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Assertions) * `cy.get()` will automatically [retry](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/retry-ability.md) until the element(s) [exist in the DOM](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Implicit-Assertions). * `cy.get()` will automatically [retry](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/retry-ability.md) until all chained assertions have passed. ### Timeouts [Learn about timeouts](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Timeouts) * `cy.get()` can time out waiting for the element(s) to [exist in the DOM](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Implicit-Assertions). * `cy.get()` can time out waiting for assertions you've added to pass. ## Command Log **_Get an input and assert on the value_** ``` cy.get('input[name="firstName"]').should('have.value', 'Homer') ``` The commands above will display in the Command Log as: When clicking on the `get` command within the command log, the console outputs the following: ## History | Version | Changes | | --- | --- | | [5.2.0](/llm/markdown/app/references/changelog.md#5-2-0) | Added `includeShadowDom` option. | ## See also * [`.as()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/as.md) * [`cy.contains()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/contains.md) * [`.find()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/find.md) * [`.within()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/within.md) * [Retry-ability](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/retry-ability.md)