grafana/k6 · error

the page may have navigated away or the element is now mi

Error message

the page may have navigated away or the element is
			now missing. It might happen when k6 and/or Chrome are overloaded. You
			might need to increase the compute resources

What it means

DOM.resolveNode succeeded but returned no remote object. The code comment states the cause: a race condition between k6 trying to act on an element and Chrome moving on (typically navigating). k6 treats a nil remote object as 'the node disappeared under us' and returns this advisory message, which also notes that k6 and/or Chrome being overloaded can trigger it.

Source

Thrown at internal/js/modules/k6/browser/common/execution_context.go:111

		e.sid, e.stid, e.fid, e.id, e.furl, backendNodeID)

	var (
		remoteObj *runtime.RemoteObject
		err       error
	)

	action := dom.ResolveNode().
		WithBackendNodeID(backendNodeID).
		WithExecutionContextID(e.id)

	if remoteObj, err = action.Do(cdp.WithExecutor(e.ctx, e.session)); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("resolving DOM node: %w", err)
	}

	// This can occur due to race conditions between trying to click on an element
	// and chrome moving on (e.g. navigating).
	if remoteObj == nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf(`the page may have navigated away or the element is
			now missing. It might happen when k6 and/or Chrome are overloaded. You
			might need to increase the compute resources`)
	}

	return NewJSHandle(e.ctx, e.session, e, e.frame, remoteObj, e.logger).AsElement(), nil
}

// Adopts the specified element handle into this execution context from another execution context.
func (e *ExecutionContext) adoptElementHandle(eh *ElementHandle) (*ElementHandle, error) {
	var (
		efid cdp.FrameID
		esid target.SessionID
	)
	if eh.frame != nil {
		efid = cdp.FrameID(eh.frame.ID())
	}
	if eh.session != nil {
		esid = eh.session.ID()

View on GitHub (pinned to 93accf6570)

Solutions

1. Retry the action: re-query the element and act again — the race is transient
2. Await the expected navigation (waitForNavigation / waitForLoadState) before further actions
3. Increase compute for Chrome (more CPU, fewer VUs per browser) if it appears intermittently under load
4. Let the DOM settle after dynamic updates before interacting

Example fix

// before
const el = await page.$('#link');
await el.click();
await el.click(); // second click races the navigation

// after
const el = await page.$('#link');
await Promise.all([page.waitForNavigation(), el.click()]);
const el2 = await page.$('#next');
await el2.click();

try {
  await el.click();
} catch (e) {
  if (/navigated away|now missing/.test(e.message)) {
    await page.waitForLoadState();
    el = await page.$('#link');
    await el.click();
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Page navigates between the moment k6 resolves the element's backend node and the moment it materializes an object; the node is removed by a SPA re-render; Chrome is resource-starved and drops the node; the tab closes during the action.

Common situations: High-VU runs where a single Chrome instance is CPU/memory bound; slow machines or constrained CI containers running the browser; clicking elements that trigger immediate navigation (form submits, links); lazy loading replacing DOM subtrees.

Related errors

• getting node in frame: %w
• resolving DOM node: %w
• describing DOM node: %w
• getProperties: %w
• errorText

AI-assisted analysis of grafana/k6@93accf6570 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e2a3385aff8bc560. Report an issue: GitHub.