svelte/site/content/tutorial/08-stores/02-auto-subscriptions/text.md

---
title: Auto-subscriptions
---

The app in the previous example works, but there's a subtle bug — the `unsubscribe` function never gets called. If the component was instantiated and destroyed many times, this would result in a *memory leak*.

One way to fix it would be to use the `onDestroy` [lifecycle hook](tutorial/ondestroy):

```html
<script>
	import { onDestroy } from 'svelte';
	import { count } from './stores.js';
	import Incrementer from './Incrementer.svelte';
	import Decrementer from './Decrementer.svelte';
	import Resetter from './Resetter.svelte';

	let count_value;

	const unsubscribe = count.subscribe(value => {
		count_value = value;
	});

	onDestroy(unsubscribe);
</script>

<h1>The count is {count_value}</h1>
```

It starts to get a bit boilerplatey though, especially if your component subscribes to multiple stores. Instead, Svelte has a trick up its sleeve — you can reference a store value by prefixing the store name with `$`:

```html
<script>
	import { count } from './stores.js';
	import Incrementer from './Incrementer.svelte';
	import Decrementer from './Decrementer.svelte';
	import Resetter from './Resetter.svelte';
</script>

<h1>The count is {$count}</h1>
```

> Auto-subscription only works with store variables that are declared (or imported) at the top-level scope of a component.

You're not limited to using `$count` inside the markup, either — you can use it anywhere in the `<script>` as well, such as in event handlers or reactive declarations.

> Any name beginning with `$` is assumed to refer to a store value. It's effectively a reserved character — Svelte will prevent you from declaring your own variables with a `$` prefix.