grafana/k6 · error

getting remote node

Error message

getting remote node %q: %w

What it means

ContentFrame() starts with a CDP dom.DescribeNode call for the element's remote object; this error wraps that protocol call failing. The remote object ID became unusable — the element was removed by a navigation/re-render, the execution context was destroyed, or the browser session/target is gone.

Solutions

1. Re-query the element immediately before calling contentFrame() — do not cache handles across navigations
2. Wait for the page/frame to settle: await page.waitForLoadState('load') before resolving the iframe element
3. On failure, retry the whole query-and-step-in sequence once after a short wait
4. Verify the session is alive (page.isClosed()) and restart the iteration if the browser crashed

Example fix

// before
const el = await page.$('iframe#app');
await page.reload();
const frame = await el.contentFrame(); // stale

// after
await page.reload();
const el = await page.$('iframe#app');
const frame = await el.contentFrame();

if (page.isClosed()) throw new Error('page closed; stale handle unusable');
await page.waitForLoadState('load');
const el = await page.$('iframe#app'); // fresh handle after navigation

let frame;
for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 2; attempt++) {
  try {
    frame = await el.contentFrame();
    break;
  } catch (e) {
    if (attempt === 1 || page.isClosed()) throw e;
    await page.waitForTimeout(500);
    el = await page.$('iframe#app'); // re-acquire
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling contentFrame() (or frame-chained selectors that step into iframes) on a handle whose node no longer exists: the page navigated after the handle was created, an SPA re-rendered the iframe away, or the renderer/session died; DescribeNode rejects the stale ObjectID.

Common situations: Holding element handles across page.goto or SPA route changes; iframes recreated by frameworks on each render; remote/cloud browsers dropping sessions; timing races right after load events.

Related errors

• frame not found for id
• creating a new
• Error while parsing selector
• frame has been detached
• getting bounding box of parent frame

AI-assisted analysis of grafana/k6@3fcf5388d7 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d86bf90cd4ca06d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/js/modules/k6/browser/common/element_handle.go:859

		&opts.ElementHandleBasePointerOptions,
	)
	if _, err := call(h.ctx, click, opts.Timeout); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("clicking on element: %w", err)
	}
	applySlowMo(h.ctx)

	return nil
}

// ContentFrame returns the frame that contains this element.
func (h *ElementHandle) ContentFrame() (*Frame, error) {
	var (
		node *cdp.Node
		err  error
	)
	action := dom.DescribeNode().WithObjectID(h.remoteObject.ObjectID)
	if node, err = action.Do(cdp.WithExecutor(h.ctx, h.session)); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("getting remote node %q: %w", h.remoteObject.ObjectID, err)
	}
	if node == nil || node.FrameID == "" {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("element is not an iframe")
	}

	frame, ok := h.frame.manager.getFrameByID(node.FrameID)
	if !ok {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("frame not found for id %s", node.FrameID)
	}

	return frame, nil
}

// Dblclick scrolls element into view and double clicks on the element.
func (h *ElementHandle) Dblclick(opts *ElementHandleDblclickOptions) error {
	dblclick := func(_ context.Context, handle *ElementHandle, p *Position) (any, error) {
		return nil, handle.dblclick(p, opts.ToMouseClickOptions())
	}

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