PageShot API

Free Screenshot & Webpage Capture API for developers. Capture any public URL as a PNG/JPEG/WebP image via a simple REST API.

Features

URL → Image — GET or POST to capture any public webpage
Full-page capture — render the entire scrollable page
Device emulation — custom viewport, scale factor, user-agent
Element selector — capture a specific CSS selector on the page
Dark mode — force prefers-color-scheme: dark
Ad blocking — block common ad/tracker domains
CSS injection — apply custom styles before capture
Multiple formats — PNG, JPEG, WebP with quality control
SSRF protection — private/internal IPs are blocked
Rate limiting — 30 req/min per API key
Free tier — 100 screenshots/month, no credit card required

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Runtime	Node.js 20+
Framework	Express 4
Browser	Playwright (Chromium, headless)
Image processing	Sharp
Security	Helmet, CORS, rate limiting
Deployment	Docker → Azure Web App

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Node.js 20 or later
npm (comes with Node.js)

Install & Run

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/your-org/pageshot-api.git
cd pageshot-api

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Install Playwright's Chromium browser
npx playwright install chromium

# Start the development server (auto-reload on changes)
npm run dev

The server starts at http://localhost:3000.

URL	Description
http://localhost:3000	Landing page
http://localhost:3000/docs	API documentation
http://localhost:3000/v1	API info endpoint
http://localhost:3000/health	Health check

Take a Screenshot

curl "http://localhost:3000/v1/screenshot?url=https://example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ps_live_demo" \
  -o screenshot.png

Running with Docker

# Build and start
docker-compose up --build

# The API is available at http://localhost:3000

Or build the image manually:

docker build -t pageshot-api .
docker run -p 3000:8080 pageshot-api

API Endpoints

Method	Path	Auth	Description
`GET`	`/v1/screenshot`	Yes	Capture a URL, return the image directly
`POST`	`/v1/screenshot`	Yes	Capture with JSON body, optional JSON response
`GET`	`/v1/status`	No	Service health check
`GET`	`/health`	No	Docker/container health check
`GET`	`/docs`	No	Interactive API documentation
`GET`	`/`	No	Landing page

Authentication

Pass your API key using any of these methods:

Authorization: Bearer ps_live_xxxxx
X-API-Key: ps_live_xxxxx
?api_key=ps_live_xxxxx

Keys are auto-registered on first use (demo mode).

Screenshot Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`url`	string	required	URL to capture
`width`	int	1280	Viewport width (320–3840)
`height`	int	720	Viewport height (200–2160)
`full_page`	bool	false	Capture the full scrollable page
`format`	string	png	Output format: `png`, `jpeg`, `webp`
`quality`	int	80	JPEG/WebP quality (1–100)
`dark_mode`	bool	false	Force dark color scheme
`block_ads`	bool	false	Block common ad/tracker domains
`selector`	string	—	CSS selector to capture
`delay`	int	0	Wait ms after page load before capture
`scale`	float	1	Device scale factor (1–3)
`user_agent`	string	—	Custom User-Agent string
`css`	string	—	CSS to inject before capture

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`PORT`	`3000` (dev) / `8080` (prod)	Server listen port
`NODE_ENV`	`development`	`development` or `production`

Project Structure

pageshot-api/
├── src/
│   ├── server.js              # Express app & route wiring
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── screenshot.js      # GET & POST /v1/screenshot
│   │   └── docs.js            # /docs route
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   ├── apiKey.js          # API key auth + usage tracking
│   │   └── rateLimit.js       # Rate limiting
│   ├── services/
│   │   └── browser.js         # Playwright browser management
│   └── public/                # Landing page & docs assets
├── Dockerfile                 # Production container image
├── docker-compose.yml         # Local Docker development
└── package.json

Scripts

Command	Description
`npm start`	Start the production server
`npm run dev`	Start with `--watch` (auto-reload on file changes)

License

MIT

PageShot MCP

Quick Install