Web Dashboard

k6 includes a built-in web dashboard that provides real-time visualization of your test results. The dashboard helps you monitor performance as your test runs and can generate downloadable HTML reports for sharing with your team. k6 web dashboard showing real-time test metrics

Features

The web dashboard offers:

Real-Time Metrics

Watch test performance live with updating graphs and statistics

HTML Reports

Generate self-contained reports for sharing and archiving

Zero Setup

Built into k6 - no additional tools or services required

Interactive Graphs

Zoom, pan, and explore metrics during and after test runs

Quick Start

Enable the web dashboard using the K6_WEB_DASHBOARD environment variable:

K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true k6 run script.js

Output:

         /\      Grafana   /‾‾/
    /\  /  \     |\  __   /  /
   /  \/    \    | |/ /  /   ‾‾\
  /          \   |   (  |  (‾)  |
 / __________ \  |_|\_\  \_____/

     execution: local
        script: script.js
 web dashboard: http://127.0.0.1:5665
        output: -

Open your browser to http://127.0.0.1:5665 to view the dashboard.

Dashboard Interface

The web dashboard displays:

Overview Section

Test progress - Visual progress bar and elapsed time
Virtual users - Current, min, and max VUs
Request statistics - Total requests, request rate, error rate
Response times - Current p95, p99, and average response times

Metrics Section

HTTP Metrics:

Request duration (blocked, connecting, TLS, sending, waiting, receiving)
Request rates and counts
Error rates

Execution Metrics:

Iteration duration
VUs over time
Data sent/received

Custom Metrics:

Any custom metrics defined in your test

Thresholds Section

Real-time threshold status (passing/failing)
Threshold values and limits
Visual indicators for threshold violations

Checks Section

Check pass/fail counts
Success percentages
Individual check status

Configuration

Customize the dashboard behavior with environment variables:

Basic
Advanced
CI/CD

# Enable dashboard
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true k6 run script.js

# Custom port
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PORT=8080 \
k6 run script.js

# Bind to all interfaces (remote access)
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
k6 run script.js

# Auto-open in browser
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_OPEN=true \
k6 run script.js

# Custom update frequency
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PERIOD=5s \
k6 run script.js

# Export HTML report on completion
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT=report.html \
k6 run script.js

# Disable HTTP server (CI/CD mode)
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PORT=-1 \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT=report.html \
k6 run script.js

This configuration:

Generates metrics for report
Skips starting web server
Exports HTML report on completion
Allows k6 to exit immediately

Configuration Options

Environment Variable	Description	Default
`K6_WEB_DASHBOARD`	Enable the web dashboard	`false`
`K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_HOST`	Host to bind the server to	`localhost`
`K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PORT`	Port to bind the server to (use `-1` to disable)	`5665`
`K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PERIOD`	Update frequency for metrics	`10s`
`K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_OPEN`	Auto-open dashboard in browser	`false`
`K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT`	Auto-export HTML report to file	“ (disabled)

HTML Reports

Generate shareable HTML reports directly from the dashboard:

From the Dashboard UI

Run your test with the dashboard enabled
Click the Report button in the dashboard menu
The report downloads as an HTML file

From Command Line

Auto-generate reports when the test completes:

K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT=test-report-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).html \
k6 run script.js

Report Features

The generated HTML report:

Self-contained - Single file with embedded assets
Interactive - Graphs are still zoomable and explorable
Shareable - Email or upload anywhere
Archive-friendly - Stores complete test history

Reports only include graphs if test duration exceeds 3× the aggregation period (default: 30 seconds).

Use Cases

Local Development
Team Collaboration
CI/CD Integration

Monitor tests during development:

# Quick feedback loop
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_OPEN=true \
k6 run script.js

Benefits:

See results immediately
Iterate quickly on test scripts
Debug issues in real time

Share results with stakeholders:

# Generate report for sharing
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT=results/test-$(date +%Y%m%d).html \
k6 run script.js

Benefits:

Non-technical stakeholders can view results
No need to access test infrastructure
Results can be archived long-term

Generate reports in pipelines:

.github/workflows/load-test.yml

name: Load Test
on: [push]
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Run k6 test
        uses: grafana/[email protected]
        with:
          filename: test.js
        env:
          K6_WEB_DASHBOARD: true
          K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PORT: -1
          K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT: report.html
      - name: Upload report
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: k6-report
          path: report.html

Example Test

Here’s a complete example showing the dashboard in action:

test.js

import http from 'k6/http';
import { check, sleep } from 'k6';
import { Trend } from 'k6/metrics';

// Custom metric for dashboard
const customWaitTime = new Trend('custom_wait_time');

export const options = {
  stages: [
    { duration: '30s', target: 10 },
    { duration: '1m', target: 10 },
    { duration: '30s', target: 0 },
  ],
  thresholds: {
    http_req_duration: ['p(95)<500'],
    http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01'],
    custom_wait_time: ['avg<300'],
  },
};

export default function () {
  const startTime = Date.now();
  
  const res = http.get('https://test.k6.io');
  
  check(res, {
    'status is 200': (r) => r.status === 200,
    'response time < 500ms': (r) => r.timings.duration < 500,
    'has content': (r) => r.body.length > 0,
  });
  
  const waitTime = Date.now() - startTime;
  customWaitTime.add(waitTime);
  
  sleep(1);
}

Run with dashboard:

K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_OPEN=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT=report.html \
k6 run test.js

The dashboard will show:

Real-time request metrics
Threshold status (3 thresholds)
Check results (3 checks)
Custom metric (custom_wait_time)
VU ramping stages

Tips and Best Practices

Dashboard won't exit after test

The k6 process waits while browser windows are open. To exit immediately:

Close the browser window, or
Set K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PORT=-1 for CI/CD, or
Use Ctrl+C to force quit

Remote access to dashboard

To access the dashboard from another machine:

K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PORT=5665 \
k6 run script.js

Then access via http://<server-ip>:5665Security Warning: Only bind to 0.0.0.0 in trusted networks.

Dashboard performance impact

The dashboard has minimal overhead but can impact high-load tests:

Increase K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PERIOD for very high RPS
Consider disabling for maximum performance tests
Use --out options for zero-overhead metrics collection

Organizing reports

Create a structured naming convention:

# Include timestamp and test name
export REPORT="reports/$(basename $TEST)-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).html"
K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_EXPORT=$REPORT k6 run $TEST

Comparison with Other Outputs

Web Dashboard
Grafana Dashboard
Grafana Cloud k6

Best for:

Local development
Quick visual feedback
Sharing with non-technical users
No additional infrastructure

Limitations:

Only one test at a time
No historical comparison
Limited to test duration

Troubleshooting

Port already in use:

Error: listen tcp 127.0.0.1:5665: bind: address already in use

Solution: Change the port or stop the conflicting service:

K6_WEB_DASHBOARD=true K6_WEB_DASHBOARD_PORT=8080 k6 run script.js

Empty or missing graphs in report:Reports only include graphs if test duration > 3× the period.For a 10s period (default), run tests for at least 30 seconds:

export const options = {
  duration: '30s', // Minimum for graphs
  vus: 10,
};

Next Steps

End-of-Test Summary

Understand the default text summary output

Real-Time Streaming

Stream metrics to external services

Grafana Dashboards

Create advanced visualizations with Grafana

Custom Metrics

Add custom metrics to your tests

Using k6

Testing Guides

Browser Testing

Results & Visualization

Web Dashboard

Web Dashboard

Features

Real-Time Metrics

HTML Reports

Zero Setup

Interactive Graphs

Quick Start

Dashboard Interface

Overview Section

Metrics Section

Thresholds Section

Checks Section

Configuration

Configuration Options

HTML Reports

From the Dashboard UI

From Command Line

Report Features

Use Cases

Example Test

Tips and Best Practices

Comparison with Other Outputs

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

End-of-Test Summary

Real-Time Streaming

Grafana Dashboards

Custom Metrics

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Using k6

Testing Guides

Browser Testing

Results & Visualization

​Web Dashboard

​Features

Real-Time Metrics

HTML Reports

Zero Setup

Interactive Graphs

​Quick Start

​Dashboard Interface

​Overview Section

​Metrics Section

​Thresholds Section

​Checks Section

​Configuration

​Configuration Options

​HTML Reports

​From the Dashboard UI

​From Command Line

​Report Features

​Use Cases

​Example Test

​Tips and Best Practices

​Comparison with Other Outputs

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

End-of-Test Summary

Real-Time Streaming

Grafana Dashboards

Custom Metrics

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Web Dashboard

Features

Quick Start

Dashboard Interface

Overview Section

Metrics Section

Thresholds Section

Checks Section

Configuration

Configuration Options

HTML Reports

From the Dashboard UI

From Command Line

Report Features

Use Cases

Example Test

Tips and Best Practices

Comparison with Other Outputs

Troubleshooting

Next Steps