Shadowing is the process by which a local variable shares the same name as a variable in its containing scope. For example:

var a = 3;
function b() {
    var a = 10;
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In this case, the variable a inside of b() is shadowing the variable a in the global scope. This can cause confusion while reading the code and it’s impossible to access the global variable.

Rule Details

This rule aims to eliminate shadowed variable declarations.

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: "error"*/
/*eslint-env es6*/
var a = 3;
function b() {
    var a = 10;
var b = function () {
    var a = 10;
function b(a) {
    a = 10;
b(a);
if (true) {
    let a = 5;
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Options

This rule takes one option, an object, with properties "builtinGlobals" , "hoist" , "allow" and "ignoreOnInitialization" .

"no-shadow" : [ "error" , { "builtinGlobals" : false , "hoist" : "functions" , "allow" : [ ] , "ignoreOnInitialization" : false } ]

builtinGlobals

The builtinGlobals option is false by default. If it is true , the rule prevents shadowing of built-in global variables: Object , Array , Number , and so on.

Examples of incorrect code for the { "builtinGlobals": true } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "builtinGlobals": true }]*/
function foo() {
    var Object = 0;
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hoist

The hoist option has three settings:

functions (by default) - reports shadowing before the outer functions are defined.

all - reports all shadowing before the outer variables/functions are defined.

never - never report shadowing before the outer variables/functions are defined.

hoist: functions

Examples of incorrect code for the default { "hoist": "functions" } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "hoist": "functions" }]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/
if (true) {
    let b = 6;
function b() {}
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Although let b in the if statement is before the function declaration in the outer scope, it is incorrect.

Examples of correct code for the default { "hoist": "functions" } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "hoist": "functions" }]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/
if (true) {
    let a = 3;
let a = 5;
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Because let a in the if statement is before the variable declaration in the outer scope, it is correct.

hoist: all

Examples of incorrect code for the { "hoist": "all" } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "hoist": "all" }]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/
if (true) {
    let a = 3;
    let b = 6;
let a = 5;
function b() {}
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hoist: never

Examples of correct code for the { "hoist": "never" } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "hoist": "never" }]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/
if (true) {
    let a = 3;
    let b = 6;
let a = 5;
function b() {}
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Because let a and let b in the if statement are before the declarations in the outer scope, they are correct.

allow

The allow option is an array of identifier names for which shadowing is allowed. For example, "resolve" , "reject" , "done" , "cb" .

Examples of correct code for the { "allow": ["done"] } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "allow": ["done"] }]*/
/*eslint-env es6*/
import async from 'async';
function foo(done) {
  async.map([1, 2], function (e, done) {
    done(null, e * 2)
  }, done);
foo(function (err, result) {
  console.log({ err, result });
});
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ignoreOnInitialization

The ignoreOnInitialization option is false by default. If it is true , it prevents reporting shadowing of variables in their initializers when the shadowed variable is presumably still uninitialized.

The shadowed variable must be on the left side. The shadowing variable must be on the right side and declared in a callback function or in an IIFE.

Examples of incorrect code for the { "ignoreOnInitialization": "true" } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "ignoreOnInitialization": true }]*/
var x = x => x;
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Because the shadowing variable x will shadow the already initialized shadowed variable x .

Examples of correct code for the { "ignoreOnInitialization": true } option:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-shadow: ["error", { "ignoreOnInitialization": true }]*/
var x = foo(x => x)
var y = (y => y)()
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The rationale for callback functions is the assumption that they will be called during the initialization, so that at the time when the shadowing variable will be used, the shadowed variable has not yet been initialized.

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