Scenarios

Scenarios provide fine-grained control over how k6 executes your test workload. They let you model diverse traffic patterns and complex user behaviors in a single test.

What are scenarios?

Scenarios configure how VUs (virtual users) and iterations are scheduled during test execution. Each scenario can:

Execute a different JavaScript function
Use a different executor to control workload patterns
Run in parallel or sequence with other scenarios
Have independent environment variables and tags

Why use scenarios?

Scenarios provide several benefits over simple VU/duration configuration:

Realistic traffic patterns

Model different user behaviors with arrival rates, iterations, or ramping patterns.

Multiple workloads

Run different test functions in parallel or sequence within one test.

Better organization

Separate different test phases or user types into distinct scenarios.

Granular analysis

Tag and analyze each scenario independently with scenario-specific metrics.

Basic scenario configuration

Define scenarios in the options.scenarios object:

import http from 'k6/http';

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    my_scenario: {
      executor: 'constant-vus',
      vus: 10,
      duration: '30s',
    },
  },
};

export default function () {
  http.get('https://test.k6.io/');
}

Each scenario requires:

A unique name (my_scenario)
An executor property specifying the workload pattern
Executor-specific configuration (like vus and duration)

Scenario executors

Executors determine how k6 schedules VUs and iterations. Choose the executor that best matches your workload:

By iterations

shared-iterations
per-vu-iterations

A fixed number of iterations shared between VUs.

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    shared_iters: {
      executor: 'shared-iterations',
      vus: 10,
      iterations: 100,  // Total across all VUs
    },
  },
};

Use when: You need exactly 100 iterations, distributed among VUs.

Each VU runs a fixed number of iterations.

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    per_vu_iters: {
      executor: 'per-vu-iterations',
      vus: 10,
      iterations: 10,  // Per VU
    },
  },
};

Use when: Each VU should run exactly 10 iterations (100 total).

By VUs

constant-vus
ramping-vus

A constant number of VUs for a duration.

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    constant_load: {
      executor: 'constant-vus',
      vus: 50,
      duration: '1m',
    },
  },
};

Use when: You want steady load with 50 VUs for 1 minute.

VUs ramp up and down over stages.

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    ramping_load: {
      executor: 'ramping-vus',
      startVUs: 0,
      stages: [
        { duration: '1m', target: 50 },   // Ramp up
        { duration: '3m', target: 50 },   // Stay
        { duration: '1m', target: 0 },    // Ramp down
      ],
    },
  },
};

Use when: You need gradual load increases and decreases.

By arrival rate

constant-arrival-rate
ramping-arrival-rate

Fixed iteration rate (open model).

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    constant_rate: {
      executor: 'constant-arrival-rate',
      rate: 100,           // 100 iterations per timeUnit
      timeUnit: '1s',      // Per second
      duration: '1m',
      preAllocatedVUs: 50, // Initial VUs
      maxVUs: 100,         // Maximum VUs
    },
  },
};

Use when: You need exactly 100 requests per second, regardless of response time.

Variable iteration rate over stages.

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    ramping_rate: {
      executor: 'ramping-arrival-rate',
      startRate: 0,
      timeUnit: '1s',
      preAllocatedVUs: 50,
      maxVUs: 200,
      stages: [
        { duration: '1m', target: 50 },   // Ramp to 50/s
        { duration: '3m', target: 50 },   // Stay at 50/s
        { duration: '1m', target: 0 },    // Ramp down
      ],
    },
  },
};

Use when: You need gradual changes in request rate.

Scenario options

All scenarios support these common options:

Option	Type	Description	Default
`executor`	string	Executor type (required)	-
`startTime`	string	Delay before starting	`"0s"`
`gracefulStop`	string	Time to wait for iterations to finish	`"30s"`
`exec`	string	Function name to execute	`"default"`
`env`	object	Scenario-specific environment variables	`{}`
`tags`	object	Scenario-specific tags	`{}`

Multiple scenarios

Run multiple scenarios in parallel:

import http from 'k6/http';

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    load_test: {
      executor: 'constant-vus',
      vus: 50,
      duration: '5m',
      exec: 'loadTest',
    },
    stress_test: {
      executor: 'ramping-vus',
      startTime: '5m',  // Start after load_test
      startVUs: 0,
      stages: [
        { duration: '2m', target: 100 },
        { duration: '5m', target: 100 },
        { duration: '2m', target: 0 },
      ],
      exec: 'stressTest',
    },
  },
};

export function loadTest() {
  http.get('https://test.k6.io/');
}

export function stressTest() {
  http.get('https://test.k6.io/');
  http.post('https://test.k6.io/login', { username: 'test' });
}

This runs a load test for 5 minutes, then immediately starts a stress test.

Scenario-specific tags and environment

Tag metrics by scenario:

import http from 'k6/http';

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    api_test: {
      executor: 'constant-vus',
      vus: 10,
      duration: '1m',
      tags: { 
        test_type: 'api',
        priority: 'high',
      },
      env: {
        BASE_URL: 'https://api.example.com',
      },
    },
    web_test: {
      executor: 'constant-vus',
      vus: 20,
      duration: '1m',
      tags: { 
        test_type: 'web',
        priority: 'medium',
      },
      env: {
        BASE_URL: 'https://www.example.com',
      },
    },
  },
  thresholds: {
    'http_req_duration{test_type:api}': ['p(95)<500'],
    'http_req_duration{test_type:web}': ['p(95)<1000'],
  },
};

export default function () {
  http.get(__ENV.BASE_URL);
}

Complete example

Here’s a realistic scenario combining multiple patterns:

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

export const options = {
  scenarios: {
    // Warm-up phase
    warmup: {
      executor: 'constant-vus',
      vus: 5,
      duration: '30s',
      tags: { phase: 'warmup' },
    },
    
    // Main load test
    load: {
      executor: 'ramping-vus',
      startTime: '30s',
      startVUs: 0,
      stages: [
        { duration: '1m', target: 50 },
        { duration: '5m', target: 50 },
        { duration: '1m', target: 0 },
      ],
      tags: { phase: 'load' },
    },
    
    // Spike test
    spike: {
      executor: 'constant-arrival-rate',
      startTime: '7m30s',
      rate: 100,
      timeUnit: '1s',
      duration: '30s',
      preAllocatedVUs: 100,
      maxVUs: 200,
      tags: { phase: 'spike' },
    },
  },
  
  thresholds: {
    'http_req_duration{phase:load}': ['p(95)<500'],
    'http_req_duration{phase:spike}': ['p(95)<1000'],
    'http_req_failed': ['rate<0.01'],
  },
};

const baseUrl = 'https://quickpizza.grafana.com';

export default function () {
  const res = http.get(baseUrl);
  
  check(res, {
    'status is 200': (r) => r.status === 200,
  });
  
  sleep(1);
}

Scenario execution output

When running scenarios, k6 displays scenario information:

  scenarios: (100.00%) 2 scenarios, 20 max VUs, 10m40s max duration:
           * shared_iter_scenario: 100 iterations shared among 10 VUs
           * per_vu_scenario: 10 iterations for each of 10 VUs (startTime: 10s)

Results are shown both overall and per-scenario:

  █ TOTAL RESULTS
    http_req_duration..........: avg=115.25ms
    http_reqs..................: 200

  █ SCENARIO: shared_iter_scenario
    http_req_duration..........: avg=115.65ms
    http_reqs..................: 100

  █ SCENARIO: per_vu_scenario
    http_req_duration..........: avg=114.86ms
    http_reqs..................: 100

Best practices

Choose the right executor

Use VU-based executors for closed models, arrival-rate executors for open models.

Use meaningful names

Name scenarios descriptively: “warmup”, “load_test”, “spike” not “scenario1”.

Tag for analysis

Add scenario-specific tags to enable granular threshold and analysis.

Sequence with startTime

Use startTime to create sequential test phases within one test run.

Next steps

Executors Reference

Detailed documentation for each executor type with advanced options

Using k6

Testing Guides

Browser Testing

Results & Visualization

What are scenarios?

Why use scenarios?

Realistic traffic patterns

Multiple workloads

Better organization

Granular analysis

Basic scenario configuration

Scenario executors

By iterations

By VUs

By arrival rate

Scenario options

Multiple scenarios

Scenario-specific tags and environment

Complete example

Scenario execution output

Best practices

Choose the right executor

Use meaningful names

Tag for analysis

Sequence with startTime

Next steps

Executors Reference

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Using k6

Testing Guides

Browser Testing

Results & Visualization

​What are scenarios?

​Why use scenarios?

Realistic traffic patterns

Multiple workloads

Better organization

Granular analysis

​Basic scenario configuration

​Scenario executors

​By iterations

​By VUs

​By arrival rate

​Scenario options

​Multiple scenarios

​Scenario-specific tags and environment

​Complete example

​Scenario execution output

​Best practices

Choose the right executor

Use meaningful names

Tag for analysis

Sequence with startTime

​Next steps

Executors Reference

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

What are scenarios?

Why use scenarios?

Basic scenario configuration

Scenario executors

By iterations

By VUs

By arrival rate

Scenario options

Multiple scenarios

Scenario-specific tags and environment

Complete example

Scenario execution output

Best practices

Next steps