screenshotcenter

Python SDK for the ScreenshotCenter API — capture web screenshots, PDFs, HTML, and video at scale.

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or later
• No runtime dependencies (uses only the Python standard library)

Installation

pip install screenshotcenter

Quick start

from screenshotcenter import ScreenshotCenterClient

client = ScreenshotCenterClient(api_key="your_api_key")

shot = client.screenshot.create(url="https://example.com", country="us")
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])

print(result["url"])          # https://example.com/
print(result["status"])       # finished
client.screenshot.save_image(result["id"], "homepage.png")

Authentication

Pass your API key to the constructor:

client = ScreenshotCenterClient(api_key="your_api_key")

You can also override the base URL for self-hosted instances:

client = ScreenshotCenterClient(
    api_key="your_api_key",
    base_url="https://your-instance.example.com/api/v1",
)

---

Use cases

Basic screenshot

shot = client.screenshot.create(url="https://example.com")
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])
client.screenshot.save_image(result["id"], "screenshot.png")

Country / geolocation

# Capture from France
shot = client.screenshot.create(url="https://example.com", country="fr")

# Exact coordinates
shot = client.screenshot.create(
    url="https://example.com",
    country="us",
    geo_enable=True,
    geo_latitude=37.7749,
    geo_longitude=-122.4194,
)

PDF generation

shot = client.screenshot.create(url="https://example.com", pdf=True)
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])
assert result["has_pdf"] is True
client.screenshot.save_pdf(result["id"], "page.pdf")

HTML capture

shot = client.screenshot.create(url="https://example.com", html=True)
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])
client.screenshot.save_html(result["id"], "page.html")

Video recording

shot = client.screenshot.create(
    url="https://example.com",
    video=True,
    video_duration=10,   # seconds
)
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])
client.screenshot.save_video(result["id"], "recording.webm")

Multi-shot (time-lapse)

# Capture 5 screenshots at 3-second intervals
shot = client.screenshot.create(
    url="https://example.com",
    shots=5,
    shot_interval=3,
)
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])

for i in range(1, 6):
    client.screenshot.save_image(result["id"], f"shot_{i}.png", shot=i)

Step automation

shot = client.screenshot.create(
    url="https://example.com/login",
    steps=[
        {"command": "type",  "selector": "#email",    "value": "user@example.com"},
        {"command": "type",  "selector": "#password", "value": "secret"},
        {"command": "click", "selector": "#submit"},
        {"command": "wait",  "value": "2000"},
        {"command": "screenshot"},
    ],
)
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])

Save all outputs at once

shot = client.screenshot.create(url="https://example.com", html=True, pdf=True)
result = client.wait_for(shot["id"])

saved = client.screenshot.save_all(result["id"], "./output/", basename="homepage")
print(saved["image"])   # ./output/homepage.png
print(saved["html"])    # ./output/homepage.html
print(saved["pdf"])     # ./output/homepage.pdf

Batch processing

batch = client.batch.create(
    urls=["https://example.com", "https://example.org", "https://python.org"],
    country="us",
)

result = client.batch.wait_for(batch["id"], timeout=300)
print(f"Processed: {result['processed']}/{result['count']}")

if result["status"] == "finished":
    client.batch.save_zip(result["id"], "results.zip")

Credit balance

acc = client.account.info()
print(f"Credits remaining: {acc['balance']}")

Error handling

from screenshotcenter import ApiError, ScreenshotFailedError, TimeoutError

try:
    shot = client.screenshot.create(url="https://example.com")
    result = client.wait_for(shot["id"], timeout=60)

except ScreenshotFailedError as e:
    print(f"Screenshot {e.screenshot_id} failed: {e.error}")

except TimeoutError as e:
    print(f"Timed out after {e.timeout_ms}ms")

except ApiError as e:
    print(f"API error {e.status}: {e}")
    if e.fields:
        for field, messages in e.fields.items():
            print(f"  {field}: {', '.join(messages)}")

---

API reference

ScreenshotCenterClient(api_key, *, base_url=None, timeout=30)

Parameter	Type	Description
api_key	str	Your ScreenshotCenter API key (required)
base_url	str	Override the API base URL (default: https://api.screenshotcenter.com/api/v1)
timeout	int	Per-request timeout in seconds (default: 30)

---

client.screenshot

Method	Required	Returns	Description
create(url, **kwargs)	url	Screenshot	Request a new screenshot
info(screenshot_id)	screenshot_id	Screenshot	Get status and details
list(**kwargs)	—	list[Screenshot]	List recent screenshots
search(url, **kwargs)	url	list[Screenshot]	Search by URL pattern
thumbnail(screenshot_id, **kwargs)	screenshot_id	bytes	Download thumbnail
html(screenshot_id)	screenshot_id	str	Get captured HTML
pdf(screenshot_id)	screenshot_id	bytes	Get rendered PDF
video(screenshot_id)	screenshot_id	bytes	Get recorded video
delete(screenshot_id, data="all")	screenshot_id	None	Delete data
save_image(screenshot_id, path, **kwargs)	screenshot_id, path	None	Download and save thumbnail
save_html(screenshot_id, path)	screenshot_id, path	None	Download and save HTML
save_pdf(screenshot_id, path)	screenshot_id, path	None	Download and save PDF
save_video(screenshot_id, path)	screenshot_id, path	None	Download and save video
save_all(screenshot_id, dir, basename=None)	screenshot_id, dir	dict	Save all available outputs

---

client.batch

Method	Required	Returns	Description
create(urls, country, **kwargs)	urls, country	Batch	Submit a batch job
info(batch_id)	batch_id	Batch	Get batch status
list(**kwargs)	—	list[Batch]	List recent batches
cancel(batch_id)	batch_id	None	Cancel a running batch
download(batch_id)	batch_id	bytes	Download results ZIP
save_zip(batch_id, path)	batch_id, path	None	Download and save ZIP
wait_for(batch_id, *, interval=2, timeout=120)	batch_id	Batch	Poll until done

---

client.account

Method	Required	Returns	Description
info()	—	Account	Get balance and account info

---

client.wait_for(screenshot_id, *, interval=2, timeout=120)

Poll until a screenshot reaches finished or error.

Parameter	Default	Description
screenshot_id	—	Screenshot ID to poll
interval	2	Seconds between polls
timeout	120	Maximum total wait in seconds

Raises ScreenshotFailedError on status: "error", TimeoutError when the deadline is exceeded.

---

Testing

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Unit tests only (no credentials needed)
pytest tests/test_client.py

# Unit tests + integration tests against the production API
SCREENSHOTCENTER_API_KEY=your_key pytest

# Unit tests + integration tests against a local instance
SCREENSHOTCENTER_API_KEY=your_key \
SCREENSHOTCENTER_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000/api/v1 \
pytest

# Integration tests only
SCREENSHOTCENTER_API_KEY=your_key pytest tests/test_integration.py

Variable	Required	Description
SCREENSHOTCENTER_API_KEY	Required for integration tests	API key for live requests
SCREENSHOTCENTER_BASE_URL	Optional	Override the API base URL

Type hints

All methods are fully type-annotated. Response objects are typed as TypedDict subclasses (Screenshot, Batch, Account) — they are plain dicts at runtime, so all standard dict operations apply. Unknown future API fields are accessible directly on the returned dict.

from screenshotcenter import Screenshot

def print_info(shot: Screenshot) -> None:
    print(shot["id"], shot["status"], shot["url"])

License

MIT