karatelabs/karate · info

DRY RUN — nothing was executed

Error message

DRY RUN — nothing was executed

What it means

Like error 827, this is a status string, not an error: in SuiteResult.printSummary(), when a dry run completes with no scenario failures, the scenarios line prints 'DRY RUN — nothing was executed' instead of 'all passed', so nobody mistakes a dry run for a real green suite.

Solutions

1. Set dryRun(false) (or drop the flag) to actually execute scenarios
2. Use the dry-run output deliberately as a pre-flight check before the real run in the pipeline
3. Surface the summary status in CI logs so a 'DRY RUN' line is visible to reviewers

Example fix

// before
// CI step: mvn test -Dkarate.dryRun=true  (always)
// after: separate preflight and real steps
// mvn test -Dkarate.dryRun=true   # preflight parse check
// mvn test                        # real execution

SuiteResult r = Runner.path("classpath:features").outputHtmlReport(true).parallel(2); // no .dryRun(true)
if (r.getScenarioCount() == 0) throw new AssertionError("no scenarios executed");

function ranForReal(res){ return !res.isDryRun() && res.getScenarioCount() > 0; }

When it happens

Trigger: Suite finished as a dry run (dryRun flag on Runner/Suite) and printSummary is called with scenarioFailed == 0; skipped scenarios counted as passed by design.

Common situations: Verifying feature files parse and tag filters resolve before a real run; a CI pipeline that intended real tests but the dry-run option stayed enabled in shared setup code.

Related errors

• parsed only
• Failed to write HTML summary

AI-assisted analysis of karatelabs/karate@a22eb90246 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a46d60b47e53d8b2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at karate-core/src/main/java/io/karatelabs/core/SuiteResult.java:320

        int featurePassed = getFeaturePassedCount();
        int featureFailed = getFeatureFailedCount();
        // a dry run cannot fail (nothing runs) and its skips count as passed — printing "all passed" for it
        // would report a green for a suite that never touched the system under test
        String featureStatus = featureFailed > 0
                ? Console.fail(featureFailed + " failed")
                : dryRun ? Console.warn("parsed only") : Console.pass("all passed");

        Console.println(String.format("features: %4d | passed: %4d | %s",
                featureTotal, featurePassed, featureStatus));

        // Scenario stats
        int scenarioTotal = getScenarioCount();
        int scenarioPassed = getScenarioPassedCount();
        int scenarioFailed = getScenarioFailedCount();
        int scenarioSkipped = getScenarioSkippedCount();
        String scenarioStatus = scenarioFailed > 0
                ? Console.fail(scenarioFailed + " failed")
                : dryRun ? Console.warn("DRY RUN — nothing was executed") : Console.pass("all passed");

        if (scenarioSkipped > 0) {
            Console.println(String.format("scenarios: %3d | passed: %4d | skipped: %4d | %s",
                    scenarioTotal, scenarioPassed, scenarioSkipped, scenarioStatus));
        } else {
            Console.println(String.format("scenarios: %3d | passed: %4d | %s",
                    scenarioTotal, scenarioPassed, scenarioStatus));
        }

        // Footer with version, env, and HTML report (URL last for easy clicking)
        Console.println(Console.cyan("-".repeat(60)));
        StringBuilder footer = new StringBuilder("Karate " + Globals.KARATE_VERSION);
        if (env != null && !env.isEmpty()) {
            footer.append(" | env: ").append(Console.cyan(env));
        }
        if (reportUrl != null) {
            footer.append(" | HTML report:");
            Console.println(footer.toString());

View on GitHub (pinned to a22eb90246)