[selector](https://pptr.dev/guides/page-interactions#query-selectors) to query page for. [CSS selectors](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Selectors) can be passed as-is and a [Puppeteer-specific seletor syntax](https://pptr.dev/guides/page-interactions#p-selectors) allows quering by [text](https://pptr.dev/guides/page-interactions#text-selectors--p-text), [a11y role and name](https://pptr.dev/guides/page-interactions#aria-selectors--p-aria), and [xpath](https://pptr.dev/guides/page-interactions#xpath-selectors--p-xpath) and [combining these queries across shadow roots](https://pptr.dev/guides/page-interactions#-and--combinators). Alternatively, you can specify a selector type using a prefix [prefix](https://pptr.dev/guides/page-interactions#built-in-selectors).
The result of calling `pageFunction`. If it returns an element it is wrapped in an [ElementHandle](./puppeteer.elementhandle.md), else the raw value itself is returned.
## Remarks
If no element is found matching `selector`, the method will throw an error.
If `pageFunction` returns a promise `$eval` will wait for the promise to resolve and then return its value.
## Example 1
```ts
const searchValue = await page.$eval('#search', el => el.value);
const preloadHref = await page.$eval('link[rel=preload]', el => el.href);
const html = await page.$eval('.main-container', el => el.outerHTML);
```
If you are using TypeScript, you may have to provide an explicit type to the first argument of the `pageFunction`. By default it is typed as `Element`, but you may need to provide a more specific sub-type:
## Example 2
```ts
// if you don't provide HTMLInputElement here, TS will error
// as `value` is not on `Element`
const searchValue = await page.$eval(
'#search',
(el: HTMLInputElement) => el.value
);
```
The compiler should be able to infer the return type from the `pageFunction` you provide. If it is unable to, you can use the generic type to tell the compiler what return type you expect from `$eval`:
## Example 3
```ts
// The compiler can infer the return type in this case, but if it can't
// or if you want to be more explicit, provide it as the generic type.