> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ploegert.gitbook.io/til/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ploegert.gitbook.io/til/programmy/elixir/refer-to-a-module-within-itself.md).

# Refer To A Module Within Itself

Elixir comes with the `__MODULE__` reserve word for referencing a module within itself. This is handy for things like structs.

```elixir
defmodule SomeNamespace.MyModule do
  defstruct [:id]

  def do_thing(%__MODULE__{}=thing) do
    # ...
  end
end
```

You can use an alias in order to ditch `__MODULE__` and perhaps make your code a bit more human readable.

```elixir
defmodule SomeNamespace.MyModule do
  alias __MODULE__, as: MyModule

  defstruct [:id]

  def do_thing(%MyModule{}=thing) do
    # ...
  end
end
```