Screenshot Scout Python SDK

The official Python SDK for the Screenshot Scout screenshot API. Easily capture website screenshots from your Python applications.

Requirements

Python 3.11 or newer.

Installation

python -m pip install screenshotscout

Get your API credentials

Before using the SDK, sign up for Screenshot Scout or sign in to your existing account. Screenshot Scout automatically creates a default API key when you sign up.

Open the API Keys page, copy the access key and secret key, and store them securely. The access key is required when creating ScreenshotScoutClient or AsyncScreenshotScoutClient. The secret key is optional and enables signed requests.

Capture a screenshot

Read your access key from an environment variable and pass it to the client:

import os
from pathlib import Path

from screenshotscout import (
    BinaryCaptureResponse,
    CaptureFormat,
    CaptureOptions,
    ScreenshotScoutClient,
)

access_key = os.environ.get("SCREENSHOTSCOUT_ACCESS_KEY")
if not access_key:
    raise RuntimeError("Set SCREENSHOTSCOUT_ACCESS_KEY first.")

with ScreenshotScoutClient(access_key) as client:
    response = client.capture(
        "https://example.com",
        CaptureOptions(format=CaptureFormat.WEBP, full_page=True),
    )

if not isinstance(response, BinaryCaptureResponse):
    raise RuntimeError("Expected a binary capture response")

Path("screenshot.webp").write_bytes(response.bytes)

POST is used by default. The screenshot is available as response.bytes.

Request a JSON result

Set response_type to CaptureResponseType.JSON to receive screenshot metadata instead of the binary file:

import os

from screenshotscout import (
    CaptureOptions,
    CaptureResponseType,
    JsonCaptureResponse,
    ScreenshotScoutClient,
)

options = CaptureOptions(response_type=CaptureResponseType.JSON)

with ScreenshotScoutClient(os.environ["SCREENSHOTSCOUT_ACCESS_KEY"]) as client:
    response = client.capture("https://example.com", options)

if not isinstance(response, JsonCaptureResponse):
    raise RuntimeError("Expected a JSON capture response")

print(response.result.screenshot_url)

Async client

Use AsyncScreenshotScoutClient in applications that use asyncio. await capture() waits for and returns the completed capture; it does not create a background job.

import asyncio
import os

from screenshotscout import AsyncScreenshotScoutClient, BinaryCaptureResponse, CaptureOptions


async def main() -> None:
    async with AsyncScreenshotScoutClient(os.environ["SCREENSHOTSCOUT_ACCESS_KEY"]) as client:
        response = await client.capture(
            "https://example.com",
            CaptureOptions(full_page=True),
        )

    if isinstance(response, BinaryCaptureResponse):
        print(len(response.bytes))


asyncio.run(main())

Use GET

POST is the default. Pass CaptureHTTPMethod.GET when you need a GET request:

from screenshotscout import CaptureHTTPMethod

response = client.capture(
    "https://example.com",
    method=CaptureHTTPMethod.GET,
)

Build a capture URL

Use build_capture_url() when a browser, an HTML <img> element, or another application needs to load the screenshot directly. Building the URL does not make a request.

from screenshotscout import CaptureOptions

capture_url = client.build_capture_url(
    "https://example.com",
    CaptureOptions(full_page=True, block_ads=True),
)

The generated URL contains your access key. If the client has a secret key, the URL is signed automatically; otherwise, it is unsigned. Treat generated URLs as sensitive. Before exposing one to a browser or user, add your secret key to the client and enable Require signed requests on the API Keys page.

Signed requests

Pass your secret key to sign GET and POST requests and generated capture URLs automatically. The secret key stays in your application and is never transmitted.

import os

from screenshotscout import ScreenshotScoutClient

with ScreenshotScoutClient(
    os.environ["SCREENSHOTSCOUT_ACCESS_KEY"],
    secret_key=os.environ["SCREENSHOTSCOUT_SECRET_KEY"],
) as client:
    response = client.capture("https://example.com")

See the signed requests guide for details.

Capture options

The target URL is the first argument to capture(). Use CaptureOptions keyword arguments to customize the screenshot:

Area	CaptureOptions fields
Output	format, response_type
Network and location	country, proxy, geolocation_latitude, geolocation_longitude, geolocation_accuracy
Cookies and headers	cookies, headers
Navigation and timing	timeout, wait_until, navigation_timeout, delay
Device emulation	device, device_viewport_width, device_viewport_height, device_scale_factor, device_is_mobile, device_has_touch, device_user_agent
Page preferences	timezone, media_type, color_scheme, reduced_motion
Full page	full_page, full_page_pre_scroll, full_page_pre_scroll_step, full_page_pre_scroll_step_delay, full_page_max_height
Blocking	block_cookie_banners, block_ads, block_chat_widgets
Interactions and injection	hide_selectors, click_selectors, click_all_selectors, inject_css, inject_js, bypass_csp
Selection and clipping	selector, clip_x, clip_y, clip_width, clip_height
Image output	image_width, image_height, image_mode, image_anchor, image_allow_upscale, image_background, image_quality
PDF output	pdf_paper_format, pdf_landscape, pdf_print_background, pdf_margin, pdf_margin_top, pdf_margin_right, pdf_margin_bottom, pdf_margin_left, pdf_scale, pdf_page_ranges
Caching	cache, cache_ttl, cache_key
Storage	storage_mode, storage_endpoint, storage_bucket, storage_region, storage_object_key

Use the provided constants for autocomplete, or pass a string:

from screenshotscout import CaptureFormat, CaptureOptions, CaptureWaitUntil

options = CaptureOptions(
    format=CaptureFormat.WEBP,
    wait_until=CaptureWaitUntil.LOAD,
)
response = client.capture("https://example.com", options)

See the screenshot option reference for available values and examples.

Timeouts

import os

from screenshotscout import CaptureOptions, ScreenshotScoutClient

with ScreenshotScoutClient(
    os.environ["SCREENSHOTSCOUT_ACCESS_KEY"],
) as client:
    response = client.capture(
        "https://example.com",
        CaptureOptions(timeout=180),
    )

CaptureOptions.timeout controls how long Screenshot Scout may spend capturing the page. If your application needs network timeouts, configure them on an injected httpx.Client or httpx.AsyncClient; async callers can also set a total deadline with asyncio.timeout().

Responses

• BinaryCaptureResponse provides the screenshot as bytes, along with URL, expiry, and cache information when available.
• JsonCaptureResponse provides screenshot metadata in result.

Both response types include raw_response for access to the HTTP status, headers, content type, and body.

Error handling

import os

from screenshotscout import (
    ScreenshotScoutAPIError,
    ScreenshotScoutClient,
    ScreenshotScoutError,
    ScreenshotScoutTransportError,
)

try:
    with ScreenshotScoutClient(os.environ["SCREENSHOTSCOUT_ACCESS_KEY"]) as client:
        response = client.capture("https://example.com")
except ScreenshotScoutAPIError as error:
    print(error.status, error.error_code, error.error_message)
except ScreenshotScoutTransportError as error:
    print(error.cause)
except ScreenshotScoutError as error:
    print(error)

The SDK does not automatically retry failed requests.

Examples

Runnable programs are available in examples:

• binary_capture.py
• json_capture.py
• async_client.py
• capture_url.py

Development

Create a virtual environment and install the package with its development tools:

python -m venv .venv
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run the local checks:

python -m ruff format --check .
python -m ruff check .
python -m mypy
python -m pytest
python -m build

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.