grafana/k6 · error

pressing %q on %q: %w

Error message

pressing %q on %q: %w

What it means

Thrown by Locator.Press() when the wrapped frame.press call fails. Strict mode is forced on, so the selector must resolve to exactly one element. Failures come from strict-mode violations, timeout while waiting for the element to be ready, the element not being focusable, or an unrecognized key name in the lower keyboard layer.

Source

Thrown at internal/js/modules/k6/browser/common/locator.go:548

		return nil, fmt.Errorf("selecting option on %q: %w", l.selector, err)
	}

	applySlowMo(l.ctx)

	return v, nil
}

// Press the given key on the element found that matches the locator's
// selector with strict mode on.
func (l *Locator) Press(key string, opts *FramePressOptions) error {
	l.log.Debugf(
		"Locator:Press", "fid:%s furl:%q sel:%q key:%q opts:%+v",
		l.frame.ID(), l.frame.URL(), l.selector, key, opts,
	)

	opts.Strict = true
	if err := l.frame.press(l.selector, key, opts); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pressing %q on %q: %w", key, l.selector, err)
	}

	applySlowMo(l.ctx)

	return nil
}

// PressSequentially focuses on the element and sequentially sends a keydown,
// keypress, and keyup events for each character in the provided string.
// For handling special keys, use the [Locator.Press] method.
func (l *Locator) PressSequentially(text string, opts *FrameTypeOptions) error {
	l.log.Debugf(
		"Locator:PressSequentially", "fid:%s furl:%q sel:%q text:%q opts:%+v",
		l.frame.ID(), l.frame.URL(), l.selector, text, opts,
	)
	_, span := TraceAPICall(l.ctx, l.frame.page.targetID.String(), "locator.pressSequentially")
	defer span.End()

View on GitHub (pinned to 93accf6570)

Solutions

1. Use a unique selector that matches exactly one element
2. Use valid key names: 'Enter', 'Tab', 'ArrowDown', or single characters with modifiers like 'Control+A'
3. await locator.waitFor() before pressing if the element appears late
4. Increase opts.timeout for slow pages

Example fix

// before
await page.locator('.search').press('Return'); // wrong key name

// after
await page.locator('input.search').press('Enter');

const KEY_RE = /^(Enter|Tab|Escape|Arrow(Up|Down|Left|Right)|[a-zA-Z0-9]|Control\+.|Shift\+.|Alt\+.|Meta\+.)$/;
if (!KEY_RE.test(key)) throw new Error(`invalid key: ${key}`);
await page.locator(sel).press(key);

function isValidKey(k) {
  return /^(Enter|Tab|Escape|Arrow(Up|Down|Left|Right)|Backspace|Delete|[a-zA-Z0-9]|((Control|Shift|Alt|Meta)\+[a-zA-Z]))$/.test(k);
}

try {
  await page.locator(sel).press('Enter');
} catch (e) {
  if (/strict mode violation/i.test(e.message)) { /* narrow selector */ }
  else if (/timeout/i.test(e.message)) { /* element not ready: wait and retry once */ }
  else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: locator.press('key') where the selector matches 0 or >1 elements; the element is disabled/hidden past the timeout; the key string is not a valid Playwright-style key ('Enter', 'ArrowDown', 'a', 'Control+A').

Common situations: Pressing Enter on a search field that is rendered late; using a human key name like 'Return' or 'DOWN' instead of 'Enter'/'ArrowDown'; selector matching both the input and its wrapper.

Related errors

• getting input value of %q: %w
• selecting option on %q: %w
• hovering on %q: %w
• tapping on %q: %w
• dispatching locator event %q to %q: %w

AI-assisted analysis of grafana/k6@93accf6570 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8f7ce5fc6e52e43e. Report an issue: GitHub.