getting scenario information outside of the VU context is no

Error message

getting scenario information outside of the VU context is not supported

What it means

The k6/execution module exposes exec.scenario and exec.vu through property accessors that read live VU state (vu.State()). That state only exists while a VU is executing iterations; in the init context (top-level script code) it is nil, so accessing scenario or VU info there throws errRunInInitContext.

Source

Thrown at internal/js/modules/k6/execution/execution.go:74

			common.Throw(rt, err)
		}
	}
	defProp("instance", mi.newInstanceInfo)
	defProp("scenario", mi.newScenarioInfo)
	defProp("test", mi.newTestInfo)
	defProp("vu", mi.newVUInfo)

	mi.obj = o

	return mi
}

// Exports returns the exports of the execution module.
func (mi *ModuleInstance) Exports() modules.Exports {
	return modules.Exports{Default: mi.obj}
}

var errRunInInitContext = errors.New("getting scenario information outside of the VU context is not supported")

// newScenarioInfo returns a sobek.Object with property accessors to retrieve
// information about the scenario the current VU is running in.
func (mi *ModuleInstance) newScenarioInfo() (*sobek.Object, error) {
	rt := mi.vu.Runtime()
	vuState := mi.vu.State()
	if vuState == nil {
		return nil, errRunInInitContext
	}
	getScenarioState := func() *lib.ScenarioState {
		ss := lib.GetScenarioState(mi.vu.Context())
		if ss == nil {
			common.Throw(rt, errRunInInitContext)
		}
		return ss
	}

	si := map[string]func() any{

View on GitHub (pinned to 93accf6570)

Solutions

Move exec.scenario / exec.vu access inside the default exported function (or functions it calls per iteration)
For init-time branching, use the options/scenarios objects from k6/options or the exported options variable instead
Guard shared helpers: only touch exec when running inside an iteration (pass the info in as arguments)

Example fix

// before (init context -- throws)
import exec from 'k6/execution';
import { scenario } from 'k6/execution';
const tag = `scenario=${exec.scenario.name}`;

// after
import exec from 'k6/execution';
export default function () {
  const tag = `scenario=${exec.scenario.name}`;
  // ...
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

import exec from 'k6/execution';

function safeScenarioName() {
  try {
    return exec.scenario.name;
  } catch (e) {
    if (String(e.message).includes('outside of the VU context')) return 'init';
    throw e;
  }
}

Prevention

Treat exec.vu and exec.scenario as iteration-phase-only APIs; never read them at module scope
Pass scenario name into shared helpers as a parameter captured inside the default function
For init-time decisions use the exported options object or k6/options instead

When it happens

Trigger: Reading exec.scenario.name, exec.vu.idInTest, or exec.instance at the top level of the script; calling a helper that touches exec from setup()/teardown() or other non-iteration phases; using exec during module-scope constant initialization.

Common situations: Trying to compute per-scenario thresholds, tags, or config at file scope; logging or branching on scenario name before the default function; sharing a helper between init and VU phases that unconditionally dereferences exec.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of grafana/k6@93accf6570 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5ead4fb8e90be5cd. Report an issue: GitHub.