web-screenshot

Web Screenshot

Take reliable screenshots of web pages. This skill teaches a tool-selection cascade - pick the lightest tool that does the job, never install dependencies the environment did not ask for.

Tool Selection Cascade

Two cascades govern the skill: one for picking the capture tool, one for escalating around a bot wall. They are different decisions - do not mix them up.

Cascade A: Picking the capture tool (no bot wall in sight)

Before any capture, check what is already available in the environment and pick the lightest viable tool:

#	Tool	Detect with	Best for	Limits
1	Browser MCP (e.g. mcp__*__browser_take_screenshot)	Already loaded in this session - check the MCP tool list	Single ad-hoc shot, no install, full-page and element shots, navigation flows	Runs in docker with datacenter IP - bot walls block this; output path is inside the MCP container
2	shot-scraper (CLI)	which shot-scraper	Repeated captures, batch YAML, scripted automation, CI jobs	Headless by default - some bot walls fire only on headless; requires pip install shot-scraper && shot-scraper install once
3	Playwright (Python or Node)	python -c "import playwright" 2>/dev/null	Multi-step flows, headed mode with stealth, anti-bot escalation (see Cascade B Tier 1)	Library-level; more code per shot
4	Ask user before installing	None of the above present	Long-term tooling decisions	Never install silently

Cascade B: Escalating around a bot wall

When Cascade A's pick gets blocked (status 403/429/503 or a CAPTCHA/block page), do not retry the same tool with new flags - escalate up the tiers in order. Every tier aims at LIVE content. Archived snapshots are not acceptable as a fallback - they give stale content with a third-party chrome on top.

#	Tier	What it does	When to pick it
1	Playwright headed + stealth	Local headed Chromium, stealth-patched, user's home IP	First escalation; user can install Playwright
2	CDP attach to user's Chrome	Use the user's actual running Chrome via --remote-debugging-port	User can relaunch Chrome with a debug flag; reuses their real session
3	System-native browser + OS screen capture	Open URL in the user's default browser, capture via the OS's built-in screenshot command	Last resort - no extra install, but brittle, steals focus, depends on OS permissions

Critical rule: never pip install or brew install without asking first. Same rule for installing browser binaries (playwright install chromium, shot-scraper install). If a tool is missing, surface what is missing and which install fixes it; let the user decide.

shot-scraper is the preferred install when long-term capture tooling is needed - it is a Playwright-backed CLI that wraps the common cases with sensible defaults. Playwright itself is the preferred install when bot-wall escalation is on the table.

Core Principles

Principle	Meaning
Default to shot-scraper	One install, one command per shot. Falls through to Playwright only when shot-scraper hits a wall.
Wait on something real	Wait for an element, a function, or a fixed delay - never networkidle. Playwright's own docs discourage it.
Element beats full page	A targeted selector shot is smaller, stabler, and faster to diff than a stitched full-page capture. Use full-page only when layout is the subject.
Disable animations	CSS animations are the #1 source of flake. Always pass options that freeze them for any shot that will be compared or reused.
Match the device	Mobile vs desktop produces wildly different layouts. Set viewport width/height explicitly when the user cares about a specific form factor.
Output is a file path	Every shot lands at a known absolute path the caller can hand to the next step (framing, OCR, diffing). Never leave output to chance.

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Quick Start

Path A: Browser MCP is in-session (zero install)

Use the MCP browser tools directly. No pip, no Chromium download. Names vary by MCP host - look for tools matching *browser_navigate and *browser_take_screenshot.

1. Call browser_navigate with url=https://example.com
2. (Optional) browser_resize for a specific viewport
3. (Optional) browser_wait_for to gate on a visible text
4. Call browser_take_screenshot with type=png, fullPage=true|false
5. ALWAYS: copy the resulting file out of the MCP container to the host.

The MCP host returns the image inline AND saves it to a path like ../tmp/playwright-output/page-<timestamp>.png - but that path is inside the docker container, not the host filesystem. Without the copy step, the user has no file to open, attach, edit, or version-control. The inline image alone is not the deliverable.

Use the bundled helper:

./scripts/copy_mcp_capture_to_host.sh \
  /tmp/playwright-output/page-<timestamp>.png \
  ~/Desktop/screenshots/<descriptive-name>.png

The script auto-detects the running MCP browser container by the docker-mcp-name=playwright label, normalises the ../tmp/... paths the MCP returns, and runs docker cp to land the file on the host. It prints the final absolute host path on success - that path is the deliverable the user opens.

Path B: shot-scraper is installed

shot-scraper https://example.com -o example.png

Defaults: viewport-only (1280x780), waits for load, saves PNG. That's it.

Path C: Nothing is installed

Ask first, install second:

# After explicit user OK:
pip install shot-scraper
shot-scraper install         # downloads Chromium (~150 MB)
shot-scraper --version       # verify

Skip the shot-scraper install step and every capture fails with a browser-missing error.

Path D: Anti-bot blocks the shot

Bot-detection vendors (Cloudflare, Akamai, PerimeterX, DataDome, and many in-house systems) serve a block page instead of the real content when they detect automation. The block usually combines three signals:

1. UA string containing HeadlessChrome or Playwright
2. navigator.webdriver === true (most modern MCP browsers patch this to false)
3. Datacenter IP reputation - cloud-VM IP ranges are pre-flagged

How to detect a block (any URL)

After loading any URL, check for these markers before saving the screenshot as "the real page":

Signal	Indicates block
HTTP status 403, 429, 503	Server-side refusal
<title> contains Access Denied, Blocked, Forbidden, Just a moment, Attention Required, Robot Check	Bot wall
Page body contains you have been blocked, cloudflare, please verify you are human, unusual traffic	Bot wall
Page renders an iframe with challenges.cloudflare.com or geo.captcha-delivery.com	Active challenge
Body word count under ~50 on what should be a content-rich page	Likely block page

If any of these are true, treat the page as blocked and walk the fallback ladder before declaring success.

Escalation tiers (try in order)

Every tier aims at the live content. If one tier is not viable, fall to the next - never settle for an archive.

Tier 1 - Playwright headed + stealth (recommended)

The most reproducible "real user" path. Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Needs a one-time install with user approval.

# One-time install (ask user first):
pipx install playwright          # or: pip install --user playwright
playwright install chromium       # download the browser binary

# Stealth plugin to mask remaining automation signals:
pipx inject playwright tf-playwright-stealth

Then use the bundled scripts/capture_with_stealth.py helper - it launches Chromium headed (not headless), applies the stealth patches that hide navigator.webdriver, browser plugins, language list, and chrome.runtime, and saves the screenshot. The browser uses the user's home IP, defeating the datacenter-IP check that drives most refusals.

Why this is Tier 1: portable, scripted, no user interaction during capture, uses the user's normal network.

Tier 2 - Connect to the user's running Chrome via CDP

When the user has Chrome already open with their real profile (cookies, extensions, logged-in sessions), a CDP attach reuses that exact browser. The bot wall sees the user's actual Chrome - same fingerprint, same cookies, same IP - no second browser process and no second profile.

Setup (one-time, user relaunches Chrome with the flag):

macOS:    /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222
Linux:    google-chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222
Windows:  "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222

Pick one of two attach paths:

Path 2a - dedicated CLI (preferred when npm is available):

The agent-browser package wraps the CDP attach pattern with auto-discovery of any Chrome running with a debug port, named element refs from the accessibility tree, and a wide command surface (snapshot, click, fill, screenshot, eval, get-box). Install once:

npm install -g agent-browser

Then any agent command works against the user's live Chrome:

agent-browser --auto-connect open https://example.com
agent-browser --auto-connect screenshot out.png
agent-browser --auto-connect screenshot --selector "article" cropped.png

--auto-connect finds the running Chrome without hard-coding the port. Use this when one tool needs to navigate, locate elements, and capture as a single workflow.

Path 2b - bundled Python script (fallback when npm is not available):

python scripts/connect_to_running_chrome.py https://example.com out.png

Same CDP attach, fewer commands. Useful when npm cannot be installed in the environment.

Why Tier 2 not Tier 1: it needs the user to relaunch Chrome with a debug flag, and a Chrome running with --remote-debugging-port open is a mild local security risk if untrusted processes share the machine.

Tier 3 - System-native browser plus OS screen capture

When neither Playwright nor a CDP-debug Chrome is on the table, fall back to the OS's own tools. This tier needs nothing the system does not ship with - but it is brittle, steals focus, and the shot will include whatever the user's screen happens to show (browser chrome, bookmarks bar, possibly other windows).

The bundled scripts/capture_via_system_browser.sh dispatches by platform:

Platform	Open URL	Capture
macOS	osascript -> Google Chrome new tab; reads window bounds	screencapture -R<x,y,w,h> out.png
Linux (X11)	xdg-open <URL> or google-chrome <URL>	import -window root out.png (ImageMagick) / scrot / gnome-screenshot -f out.png
Linux (Wayland)	xdg-open <URL>	grim out.png
Windows	PowerShell Start-Process chrome <URL>	PowerShell Add-Type System.Drawing screen-capture

Permissions to know about:

• macOS prompts for "Allow Terminal to control Google Chrome" (Automation) the first time, and refuses screencapture until the calling terminal has Screen Recording permission. The script reports the missing permission instead of failing silently.
• Linux needs a capture tool installed (grim, ImageMagick, scrot, or gnome-screenshot); the script picks the first one it finds.
• Windows path uses only PowerShell built-ins, so no extra install - but the calling user needs to allow the script to invoke Start-Process.

Why Tier 3 is the last resort: it depends on the user's current screen state, requires OS-level permissions that may need a one-time grant, and the resulting capture may include UI chrome the user has to crop manually. Use it only when Tiers 1 and 2 cannot run.

Out-of-scope - do not auto-apply, surface to the user instead:

Strategy	Why we do not auto-apply
Residential proxy	Costs money and routes traffic through someone else's IP - needs explicit approval and a legitimate use case
CAPTCHA-solving service	Defeats a security control the site put there on purpose - report back, do not work around silently
Stealth + scraping protected content	Just because the wall can be bypassed does not mean the site permits it - check terms before pushing past explicit refusals

Report what actually got captured

The skill captures the block page faithfully when blocked - that is a real result, not a tool failure. After any escalation, always tell the user:

1. Which tier produced the final screenshot
2. Which URL was actually loaded (in case it was a deep-link rather than the root)
3. Whether the frame contains any incidental chrome (browser toolbars in Tier 3, cookie banners that did not strip, etc.)

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Capture Modes

Mode	Command	When to use
Viewport	shot-scraper URL -o out.png	Hero shots, above-the-fold, social cards
Full page	shot-scraper URL -o out.png --width 1280 --height 800 then add --full-page style via JS, or use shotscraper URL -o out.png -h 0 to capture from y=0 to bottom	Long landing pages, articles, full-doc captures
Element	shot-scraper URL -o out.png --selector "main .hero"	Specific component, isolated UI, design-system docs
Multiple selectors	--selector "header" --selector "footer" (one per shot, via batch)	Multi-region capture in one run
JPEG (smaller)	-o out.jpg --quality 80	Documentation, social previews, anywhere PNG is overkill
Retina (2x)	--retina	High-DPI displays, marketing assets

Full-page caveat: pages with position: sticky headers may render duplicate bands in WebKit/Firefox full-page mode. Test before committing to a full-page shot - prefer viewport + scroll-and-stitch via custom JS if sticky headers misbehave.

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Wait Strategies

Playwright (and shot-scraper) load pages until the load event by default. That is enough for static pages. For dynamic content, layer on additional waits.

Strategy	Flag	When
Wait for selector	--wait-for "document.querySelector('.loaded')"	Wait until a DOM marker appears
Wait fixed time	--wait 2000 (ms)	Last resort for "just give it 2 seconds" cases
Custom JS readiness	--wait-for "window.__myAppReady === true"	App sets a global when ready
Skip JavaScript	--javascript false	Static HTML only, fastest, no JS runs

Do not use networkidle. Playwright's own team discourages it - pages with analytics pings or long-poll connections never settle. Wait for something deterministic instead.

See references/wait-strategies.md for deeper patterns: SPA route changes, image-decode waits, font-load waits.

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Stability Tips

For any shot you want to compare across runs or reuse in docs:

shot-scraper https://example.com -o out.png \
  --reduced-motion \
  --wait-for "document.fonts.ready"

Option	What it does
--reduced-motion	Sets prefers-reduced-motion: reduce, freezes most CSS animations
document.fonts.ready	Wait for web fonts to finish loading - prevents text-shift artifacts
--javascript-disable	Mask cookie banners or chat widgets with custom JS that hides them before the shot

Hide a cookie banner before capturing:

shot-scraper https://example.com -o out.png \
  --javascript "document.querySelector('#cookie-banner')?.remove();"

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Common Recipes

Mobile shot (iPhone 14 Pro viewport)

shot-scraper https://example.com -o mobile.png \
  --width 393 --height 852 \
  --user-agent "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 17_0 like Mac OS X)"

Dark mode

shot-scraper https://example.com -o dark.png \
  --javascript "document.documentElement.style.colorScheme = 'dark';"

For sites that respect prefers-color-scheme, the cleanest path is shot-scraper's --media option or a CDP override. See references/options.md.

Mobile + desktop pair (for a comparison page)

shot-scraper https://example.com -o desktop.png --width 1280 --height 800
shot-scraper https://example.com -o mobile.png --width 393 --height 852

Batch capture from YAML

Create shots.yaml:

- url: https://example.com
  output: example.png
  width: 1280
  height: 800
- url: https://news.ycombinator.com
  output: hn.png
  selector: ".athing:first-child"

Run:

shot-scraper multi shots.yaml

Best for nightly captures, doc-site galleries, or capturing many components at once.

Element shot with scroll

shot-scraper https://example.com -o feature.png \
  --selector "#features" \
  --javascript "document.querySelector('#features').scrollIntoView({block:'start'});"

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When to Escalate to Raw Playwright

shot-scraper covers ~90% of cases. Reach for raw Playwright when the flow needs:

Need	Why shot-scraper falls short
Multi-step navigation (login -> dashboard -> screenshot)	shot-scraper is single-page-shot oriented
Form interaction before shot	Cannot fill complex multi-step forms
Multiple shots from one session	Each shot-scraper call boots a fresh browser
Visual regression suite	Use @playwright/test with built-in toHaveScreenshot() matcher
Auth via OAuth flows	Multi-redirect auth is awkward in single-command CLI

Minimal Playwright Python fallback:

from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright

with sync_playwright() as p:
    browser = p.chromium.launch()
    page = browser.new_page(viewport={"width": 1280, "height": 800})
    page.goto("https://example.com")
    page.fill("#email", "user@example.com")
    page.click("button[type=submit]")
    page.wait_for_selector(".dashboard")
    page.screenshot(path="dashboard.png", animations="disabled")
    browser.close()

Install: pip install playwright && playwright install chromium.

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Helper Scripts

Five bundled helpers, ordered by what they replace in the cascade.

Script	Role in cascade	Install needed	Platforms
scripts/copy_mcp_capture_to_host.sh	Post-step for Path A - copy MCP container files to the host. Required on every MCP capture.	docker CLI	All (where Docker runs)
scripts/capture_with_stealth.py	Tier 1 anti-bot fallback - Playwright headed + stealth	Playwright	macOS, Linux, Windows
scripts/connect_to_running_chrome.py	Tier 2 anti-bot fallback - attach to user's running Chrome via CDP	Playwright (no browser download)	macOS, Linux, Windows
scripts/capture_via_system_browser.sh	Tier 3 anti-bot fallback - system-native browser + OS screen capture	None (OS built-ins)	macOS, Linux, Windows
scripts/multi_viewport.py	Multi-device convenience wrapper	shot-scraper	All

Decide which to call

Was the headless capture blocked or refused?
   |
   No -> done. Save the shot. Copy to host if it lives inside a container.
   |
   Yes -> escalate to Tier 1 (capture_with_stealth.py).
       Playwright installable (with user OK)?
          Yes -> install, run Tier 1.
          No  -> escalate to Tier 2 (connect_to_running_chrome.py or agent-browser).
              User can relaunch Chrome with --remote-debugging-port?
                 Yes -> Tier 2.
                 No  -> escalate to Tier 3 (capture_via_system_browser.sh).
                     OS permissions in place (Screen Recording on macOS,
                     a capture tool installed on Linux, etc.)?
                        Yes -> Tier 3.
                        No  -> stop and report. Do not silently work around explicit refusals.

Examples

Capture a live page that requires a real-user fingerprint (Tier 1):

python scripts/capture_with_stealth.py https://example.com out.png \
  --width 1280 --height 800 --wait-for "document.fonts.ready"

Capture using the user's existing Chrome session (Tier 2):

# Once, in another terminal:
google-chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222

# Then:
python scripts/connect_to_running_chrome.py https://example.com out.png

Last-resort system-native capture (Tier 3, no extra install):

./scripts/capture_via_system_browser.sh https://example.com out.png --wait 8

Multi-device capture (no anti-bot needs):

python scripts/multi_viewport.py https://example.com --out screenshots/

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Quick Reference: Checklist

• Preflight the URL with a text fetch first - a quick WebFetch or curl confirms the URL returns real content (status 200, expected title, body word count). Opening a browser only to land on a 404 or a wrong redirect wastes a session and steals user focus.
• shot-scraper install has been run on this machine (if using shot-scraper)
• URL is reachable (no auth wall, no geoblock)
• Viewport size matches the target device or use case
• Output path is absolute and the directory exists
• Wait strategy targets a real DOM marker - not networkidle
• Animations are reduced for stable shots (--reduced-motion)
• Cookie banners and chat widgets removed via --javascript
• Full-page sticky-header issue checked when capturing full page
• Final file size acceptable (use JPEG + --quality for big captures)
• If capturing a specific region, the selector survived the verification routine in references/platform-selectors.md
• Final file is on the host filesystem and the absolute path is reported. No screenshot is "done" while it lives only inside a docker container or remote sandbox.

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Reference Files

Reference	Contents
options	Complete shot-scraper option reference: viewport, device emulation, headers, auth, media queries, JS injection, output formats
wait-strategies	Deep dive on waiting: SPA route changes, font readiness, image decode, custom readiness signals, debugging slow-loading pages
platform-selectors	CSS selectors by content type and platform (articles, social posts, comments, code, video, products); verification routine; shadow-DOM tactics

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Integration with Other Skills

Situation	Recommended Skill
Apply frames, annotations, or compositing to the captured image	(future) image-framing tool skill
Diff screenshots across runs for visual regression	testing knowledge skill (component vs page strategy)
Capture as part of an end-to-end test suite	Use @playwright/test directly - this skill is for ad-hoc captures
Accessibility audit of the captured page	accessibility knowledge skill

Critical Rules

1. Every capture must land on the host filesystem, not inside a container. Browser MCP servers run in docker and save inside the container - the inline image alone is not a deliverable. Always end an MCP-based capture with scripts/copy_mcp_capture_to_host.sh (or an equivalent docker cp) so the user has a real file they can open, attach, edit, or commit. Local tools (shot-scraper, Playwright) already write to the host; the rule applies to any tool that writes inside a container or remote sandbox.
2. Two cascades, not one. Cascade A picks the capture tool. Cascade B escalates around bot walls. Do not confuse them.
3. Never install dependencies silently - that includes pip install, brew install, playwright install chromium, and shot-scraper install. Each one needs explicit user approval. Surface what is missing; let the user pick.
4. shot-scraper install runs once per machine before any shot-scraper capture - the browser is not bundled with the pip package. Same for playwright install chromium.
5. Never wait on networkidle - waits never terminate on pages with persistent connections. Wait on a selector, function, or fixed delay.
6. Output paths must be absolute and on the host. Report the final host path with every capture. When the path is inside a container, copy out before reporting (see Rule 1).
7. Strip dynamic UI (cookie banners, chat bubbles, ad slots) before any shot that will be reused or compared.
8. For visual regression, escalate to Playwright's test runner - shot-scraper is for ad-hoc captures, not pixel-diff suites.
9. An anti-bot block page is a valid result. Capture it, name it for what it is, and let the user decide whether to escalate. Do not silently retry with evasion tactics on sites that explicitly refuse automation, and never substitute archived content to make a capture "succeed".
10. No archive substitutions. Wayback Machine, archive.today, and similar mirrors serve stale content with someone else's UI chrome wrapped around it. They are not a fallback for live content. If the live site refuses, escalate through Tiers 1-3; do not pivot to an archive.