grafana/k6 · error

secret value at path %q is not a string (got %s)

Error message

secret value at path %q is not a string (got %s)

What it means

When the gjson path does resolve, the module only accepts string values; if result.Type is not gjson.String (number, bool, null, object...) this error reports the actual type. The secret source requires the selected JSON field to be a string.

Source

Thrown at internal/secretsource/url/url.go:260

	}

	if len(data) > maxSecretSize {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("secret response exceeds maximum size of %d bytes", maxSecretSize)
	}

	if responsePath == "" {
		// If no path specified, assume response body is the secret
		return string(data), nil
	}

	result := gjson.GetBytes(data, responsePath)

	if !result.Exists() {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("path %q not found in response", responsePath)
	}

	if result.Type != gjson.String {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("secret value at path %q is not a string (got %s)", responsePath, result.Type)
	}

	return result.String(), nil
}

// retry retries to execute a provided function until it succeeds or the maximum
// number of attempts is hit. It waits with exponential backoff between attempts.
// The backoff calculation is: wait = (base ^ attempt) + random jitter up to 1 second.
// The do function returns an error and a boolean indicating if the error is retryable.
func retry(
	ctx context.Context,
	attempts int,
	baseBackoff time.Duration,
	logger logrus.FieldLogger,
	do func() (error, bool),
) error {
	r := rand.New(rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())) //nolint:gosec

View on GitHub (pinned to 01ffac6f24)

Solutions

1. Point responsePath at a string field in the response
2. Change the service to return the secret as a JSON string

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at internal/secretsource/url/url.go:260 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of grafana/k6@01ffac6f24 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/46cc9cda626f1ba4. Report an issue: GitHub.