testcontainers/testcontainers-java · error · ScriptLoadException

Could not load classpath init script

Error message

Could not load classpath init script: {}

What it means

In the newer CassandraContainer (modules/cassandra), runInitScriptIfRequired copies the classpath init script into the container and executes it. When the classpath resource cannot be resolved (MountableFile/IllegalArgumentException), it logs this warning and throws ScriptLoadException. The configured init script simply was not found on the classpath.

Solutions

1. Place the CQL script under src/test/resources and reference it relative to the classpath root, e.g. withInitScript("cql/init.cql") for src/test/resources/cql/init.cql
2. Verify the resource exists at runtime: getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("cql/init.cql") != null
3. Rebuild so resources are copied (mvn test vs mvn package inconsistencies; Gradle processResources)
4. Catch ScriptLoadException in test setup and print the resolved classpath for debugging

Example fix

// before
new CassandraContainer<>("cassandra:4.0").withInitScript("src/test/resources/init.cql");
// after
new CassandraContainer<>("cassandra:4.0").withInitScript("init.cql"); // file at src/test/resources/init.cql

static void assertClasspathResource(String path) {
    if (Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource(path) == null) {
        throw new IllegalStateException("Init script not on classpath: " + path);
    }
}

try {
    container.start();
} catch (ScriptLoadException e) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Fix withInitScript path (relative to classpath root): " + e.getMessage(), e);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling .withInitScript("init.cql") where the resource cannot be loaded from the classpath: wrong path, file outside the classpath root, missing leading consideration (paths are relative to classpath root), or resource packaged in a dependency that isn't on the runtime classpath.

Common situations: Typo in the script path; script lives in src/test/resources but the path includes src/test/resources prefix; file placed under a package directory but referenced without the package path; Maven/Gradle not copying resources.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Could not load classpath init script
• Could not load classpath init script
• Could not load classpath init script
• Could not load classpath init script
• Could not load classpath init script

AI-assisted analysis of testcontainers/testcontainers-java@8e549514e3 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d18297eb3de54e76. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/cassandra/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/cassandra/CassandraContainer.java:104

    protected void containerIsStarted(InspectContainerResponse containerInfo) {
        runInitScriptIfRequired();
    }

    /**
     * Load init script content and apply it to the database if initScriptPath is set
     */
    private void runInitScriptIfRequired() {
        if (this.initScriptPath != null) {
            try {
                final MountableFile originalInitScript = MountableFile.forClasspathResource(this.initScriptPath);
                // The init script is executed as is by the cqlsh command, so copy it into the container. The name
                // of the script is generic since it's not important to keep the original name.
                copyFileToContainer(originalInitScript, DEFAULT_INIT_SCRIPT_FILENAME);
                new CassandraDatabaseDelegate(this).execute(null, DEFAULT_INIT_SCRIPT_FILENAME, -1, false, false);
            } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
                // MountableFile.forClasspathResource will throw an IllegalArgumentException if the resource cannot
                // be found.
                logger().warn("Could not load classpath init script: {}", this.initScriptPath);
                throw new ScriptLoadException(
                    "Could not load classpath init script: " + this.initScriptPath + ". Resource not found.",
                    e
                );
            } catch (ScriptUtils.ScriptStatementFailedException e) {
                logger().error("Error while executing init script: {}", this.initScriptPath, e);
                throw new ScriptUtils.UncategorizedScriptException(
                    "Error while executing init script: " + this.initScriptPath,
                    e
                );
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * Initialize Cassandra with the custom overridden Cassandra configuration
     * <p>
     * Be aware, that Docker effectively replaces all /etc/cassandra content with the content of config location, so if

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