Using $refs with Element UI's input component

The $refs object stores Vue components and should be working fine. The problem is that you are attempting to invoke a focus method which doesn't exist in the component, but rather on an input somewhere inside the component's template.

So, to actually find the input you'd have to do something like this:

this.$refs.test.$el.getElementsByTagName('input')[0].focus();

Not the prettiest line of code ever made, right? So, instead of calling anything in your app's mounted method, if you want to autofocus on the input, just do this:

<el-input type="text" placeholder="enter text" autofocus></el-input>