testcontainers/testcontainers-java · error · ScriptLoadException

Could not load classpath init script

Error message

Could not load classpath init script: ${initScriptPath}. Resource not found.

What it means

ScriptUtils.runInitScript could not resolve initScriptPath on either the context classloader or ScriptUtils' own classloader, so it logs a warning and throws ScriptLoadException with this message. The init script resource you asked for does not exist on the classpath.

Solutions

1. Verify the file exists at src/test/resources/<initScriptPath> and the path string matches exactly (case-sensitive).
2. Print Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource(path) in a debug snippet to confirm resolution.
3. Check build configuration (resource filters, maven/gradle excludes) isn't stripping the file from the classpath.
4. Use a classpath-relative path like 'init/schema.sql', not a filesystem path.

Example fix

// before
container.withInitScript("scripts/init.sql"); // file is actually at resources/init.sql
// after
container.withInitScript("init.sql");

String path = "init.sql";
if (Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource(path) == null
    && ScriptUtils.class.getClassLoader().getResource(path) == null) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Init script not on classpath: " + path);
}

try {
    container.withInitScript(path);
} catch (ScriptLoadException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().endsWith("Resource not found.")) {
        // check the path against src/test/resources
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: withInitScript("foo.sql") where no file named foo.sql exists under src/test/resources (or the resolved classpath), or a typo in the path such as missing directories.

Common situations: Script placed in src/main/resources instead of test resources; path missing leading directory; file excluded by build filters; using an absolute path instead of a classpath-relative one.

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/280e35a8971ea5ab. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/database-commons/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/ext/ScriptUtils.java:207

            }
        }
        return false;
    }

    /**
     * Load script from classpath and apply it to the given database
     *
     * @param databaseDelegate database delegate for script execution
     * @param initScriptPath   the resource to load the init script from
     */
    public static void runInitScript(DatabaseDelegate databaseDelegate, String initScriptPath) {
        try {
            URL resource = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource(initScriptPath);
            if (resource == null) {
                resource = ScriptUtils.class.getClassLoader().getResource(initScriptPath);
                if (resource == null) {
                    LOGGER.warn("Could not load classpath init script: {}", initScriptPath);
                    throw new ScriptLoadException(
                        "Could not load classpath init script: " + initScriptPath + ". Resource not found."
                    );
                }
            }
            String scripts = IOUtils.toString(resource, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
            executeDatabaseScript(databaseDelegate, initScriptPath, scripts);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            LOGGER.warn("Could not load classpath init script: {}", initScriptPath);
            throw new ScriptLoadException("Could not load classpath init script: " + initScriptPath, e);
        } catch (ScriptException e) {
            LOGGER.error("Error while executing init script: {}", initScriptPath, e);
            throw new UncategorizedScriptException("Error while executing init script: " + initScriptPath, e);
        }
    }

    public static void executeDatabaseScript(DatabaseDelegate databaseDelegate, String scriptPath, String script)
        throws ScriptException {
        executeDatabaseScript(

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