grafana/k6 · error

invalid template type %q

Error message

invalid template type %q

What it means

The --template value matched no built-in template type, contains no path separator, and no file with that name exists in the current directory, so k6 reports "invalid template type \"<tpl>\"". Built-in types are selected by name (MinimalTemplate, ProtocolTemplate, BrowserTemplate); anything else must be a file path containing a separator.

Source

Thrown at internal/cmd/templates/templates.go:104

		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read template file %s: %w", tpl, err)
		}

		tmpl, err := template.New(filepath.Base(tplPath)).Parse(string(content))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse template file %s: %w", tpl, err)
		}

		return tmpl, nil
	}

	// Check if there's a file with this name in current directory
	exists, err := fsext.Exists(tm.fs, fsext.JoinFilePath(".", tpl))
	if err == nil && exists {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid template type %q, did you mean ./%s?", tpl, tpl)
	}

	return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid template type %q", tpl)
}

// isFilePath checks if the given string looks like a file path by detecting path separators
// We assume that built-in template names don't contain path separators
func isFilePath(path string) bool {
	return strings.ContainsRune(path, filepath.Separator) || strings.ContainsRune(path, '/')
}

// TemplateArgs represents arguments passed to templates
type TemplateArgs struct {
	ScriptName string
	ProjectID  string
}

// ExecuteTemplate applies the template with provided arguments and writes to the provided writer
func ExecuteTemplate(w io.Writer, tmpl *template.Template, args TemplateArgs) error {
	return tmpl.Execute(w, args)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 93accf6570)

Solutions

1. Use one of the built-in names supported by your build: minimal, protocol, browser (check 'k6 new --help')
2. Pass an existing template file via ./relative or an absolute path
3. Upgrade k6 if documentation references a template your version lacks

Example fix

# before
k6 new --template=browsr script.js
# after
k6 new --template=browser script.js

# Allow-list built-in names; anything else must be an existing file
case "$tpl" in
  minimal|protocol|browser) ;;
  *) [ -f "$tpl" ] || { echo "unknown template: $tpl" >&2; exit 2; } ;;
esac
k6 new --template="$tpl" script.js

When it happens

Trigger: Typos such as --template=minimal-new or --template=browsr; passing a bare filename that does not exist in the cwd; using a template name that exists only in a different k6 version.

Common situations: Version differences where a template name exists in newer k6 but not the installed one; outdated blog posts or docs listing template names; copy-paste errors.

Related errors

• error retrieving template: %w
• 104
• invalid tag, empty name
• invalid tag, empty value
• accepts %d arg(s), received %d: %s

AI-assisted analysis of grafana/k6@93accf6570 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bb460a218a6d3991. Report an issue: GitHub.