If it returns a temporary, you'll get a compile-time error, as the temporary cannot be bound to a non-const ref. I would prefer "const auto&" as you shouldn't b

If it returns a temporary, you'll get a compile-time error, as the temporary cannot be bound to a non-const ref. I would prefer "const auto&" as you shouldn't be modifying temporaries, or "auto x{std::move(myWidget.getRef())}" if I want a mutable value and to avoid copying the return value of getRef.