Keyof Type Operator

The keyof type operator

The keyof operator takes an object type and produces a string or numeric literal union of its keys:

  1. type Point = { x: number; y: number };
    type P = keyof Point;
    //   ^ = type P = keyof Point

If the type has a string or number index signature, keyof will return those types instead:

  1. type Arrayish = { [n: number]: unknown };
    type A = keyof Arrayish;
    //   ^ = type A = number
  3. type Mapish = { [k: string]: boolean };
    type M = keyof Mapish;
    //   ^ = type M = string | number

Note that in this example, M is string | number — this is because JavaScript object keys are always coerced to a string, so obj[0] is always the same as obj["0"].

keyof types become especially useful when combined with mapped types, which we’ll learn more about later.