k6 version

Display k6 version information

k6 version

Show the k6 version and build information.

Synopsis

k6 version [flags]
k6 --version

Description

The k6 version command displays version and build information for the k6 binary. This includes:

• k6 version number
• Git commit hash (if available)
• Go version used to build k6
• Operating system and architecture
• Loaded extensions (if any)

Examples

# Show version (standard format)
k6 version

# Show version (short format)
k6 --version

# Show version in JSON format
k6 version --json

Flags

--json · boolean

Output version information in JSON format

Output Format

Standard Output

The standard output format shows a human-readable version string:

k6 v0.48.0 (commit/a1b2c3d4, go1.21.4, linux/amd64)

This includes:

• Version number (e.g., v0.48.0)
• Git commit hash (e.g., a1b2c3d4)
• Go version (e.g., go1.21.4)
• Platform (e.g., linux/amd64)

With Extensions

If k6 extensions are loaded, they are listed:

k6 v0.48.0 (commit/a1b2c3d4, go1.21.4, linux/amd64)
Extensions:
  github.com/grafana/xk6-browser v1.0.0
  github.com/grafana/xk6-sql v0.1.0

JSON Output

With the --json flag, output is structured JSON:

{
  "version": "v0.48.0",
  "commit": "a1b2c3d4",
  "commit_dirty": false,
  "go_version": "go1.21.4",
  "go_os": "linux",
  "go_arch": "amd64",
  "extensions": [
    {
      "module": "github.com/grafana/xk6-browser",
      "version": "v1.0.0",
      "outputs": [],
      "imports": ["k6/x/browser"]
    }
  ]
}

Version Components

Version Number

The semantic version of k6 (e.g., v0.48.0). Follows Semantic Versioning:

• Major version: Breaking changes
• Minor version: New features (backwards compatible)
• Patch version: Bug fixes

Commit Hash

The Git commit hash from which k6 was built. Useful for:

• Identifying exact build
• Debugging issues
• Verifying builds

If the working directory had uncommitted changes, -dirty is appended.

Go Version

The version of Go used to compile k6. Important for:

• Compatibility verification
• Performance characteristics
• Security updates

Platform

The target operating system and architecture:

• linux/amd64 - 64-bit Linux
• darwin/amd64 - Intel Mac
• darwin/arm64 - Apple Silicon Mac
• windows/amd64 - 64-bit Windows

Use Cases

Bug Reports

Include full version information in bug reports:

k6 version --json > version-info.json

CI/CD Verification

Verify the correct k6 version in pipelines:

# Check minimum version
VERSION=$(k6 version --json | jq -r '.version')
if [[ "$VERSION" < "v0.48.0" ]]; then
  echo "k6 version too old"
  exit 1
fi

Extension Verification

Check if required extensions are loaded:

k6 version --json | jq -r '.extensions[].module'

Debugging

Identify build characteristics:

k6 version --json | jq '{version, commit, go_version}'

Development Builds

Development builds show (devel) as the version:

k6 (devel) (commit/devel, go1.21.4, linux/amd64)

This indicates k6 was built from source without a version tag.

Extensions Information

The output includes details about loaded k6 extensions:

• Module: Go module path
• Version: Extension version
• Imports: JavaScript import paths (for JS extensions)
• Outputs: Output names (for output extensions)

Example with multiple extension types:

{
  "extensions": [
    {
      "module": "github.com/grafana/xk6-browser",
      "version": "v1.0.0",
      "imports": ["k6/x/browser"]
    },
    {
      "module": "github.com/grafana/xk6-output-prometheus",
      "version": "v0.1.0",
      "outputs": ["prometheus"]
    }
  ]
}

Exit Codes

• 0 - Command executed successfully

See Also

• k6 Extensions
• Building k6 from source