Attach the screenshot in a Cucumber After hook, after checking that the scenario failed, and await both Playwright’s screenshot promise and Cucumber’s attach call. Keep the Playwright page on the Cucumber World and run the built-in HTML formatter. This produces a report that displays the PNG beside the failed scenario.
Working implementation
The following CommonJS example assumes your World exposes this.page and uses the default Cucumber attachment method, this.attach.
const { After, Status } = require('@cucumber/cucumber');
After(async function (scenario) {
if (scenario.result?.status !== Status.FAILED) {
return;
}
// Capture before any teardown closes the page or browser context.
const screenshot = await this.page.screenshot({ type: 'png' });
await this.attach(screenshot, {
mediaType: 'image/png',
fileName: 'screenshot.png'
});
});Playwright returns PNG bytes. Cucumber receives those bytes through this.attach, and the formatter renders the attachment. The image/png media type is important: without an image MIME type, an HTML formatter may treat the payload as generic text or fail to render it.
Make the page available on World
Your step definitions and hooks must use the same World instance. A minimal custom World can create the browser and page in a Before hook, then close them after the screenshot hook has run.
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const { Before, AfterAll } = require('@cucumber/cucumber');
const { chromium } = require('playwright');
Before(async function () {
this.browser = await chromium.launch();
this.context = await this.browser.newContext();
this.page = await this.context.newPage();
});
AfterAll(async function () {
// Close the browser after all scenario After hooks have completed.
// Put per-scenario teardown in an After hook only if its order is safe.
});If you use a custom World constructor, preserve the attachment function supplied by Cucumber or explicitly expose it. The default World provides this.attach; a custom implementation that omits it can let the hook run without creating a report attachment.
Run the built-in Cucumber HTML formatter
Generate the report with cucumber-js’s built-in formatter:
npx cucumber-js --format html:cucumber-report.htmlOpen cucumber-report.html in a browser after the run. Attachments are embedded by default, so the report is normally a standalone file that can be copied to another machine or CI artifact store.
Externalize images when reports are large
Many high-resolution screenshots can make an embedded report large. Configure external attachments in cucumber.js:
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formatOptions: {
html: {
externalAttachments: ['image/*']
}
}
};The image/* pattern writes image files beside the HTML report instead of embedding them. Set externalAttachments: true to externalize all attachment types. Publish the generated image directory together with the HTML file and preserve relative paths; otherwise the report will open with broken images.
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Capture only failures, or capture evidence at a step
Failure-only screenshots
Checking scenario.result?.status === Status.FAILED keeps successful reports small and focuses screenshots on diagnostic evidence. The optional chaining guard also avoids an exception if a result object is unavailable in an unusual hook invocation.
Step-level screenshots
For a scenario with several important states, attach in a step definition immediately after the action you want to document:
const { When } = require('@cucumber/cucumber');
When('I submit the form', async function () {
await this.page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).click();
const image = await this.page.screenshot({ type: 'png' });
await this.attach(image, {
mediaType: 'image/png',
fileName: 'after-submit.png'
});
});The formatter places that attachment after the step, which makes it easier to associate an image with a particular transition. You can use both step-level evidence and a failure hook, but avoid creating redundant, full-page images on every step.
Hook order and browser teardown
A screenshot cannot be taken after the page, context, or browser has been closed. If your suite has multiple After hooks, ensure the capture hook runs before teardown. The exact ordering mechanism depends on your cucumber-js version and hook configuration; the practical requirement is that the page remains usable until the attachment promise resolves.
Protect the original test failure if diagnostics fail. A screenshot attempt should not hide the assertion that caused the scenario to fail:
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After(async function (scenario) {
if (scenario.result?.status !== Status.FAILED || !this.page) {
return;
}
try {
const image = await this.page.screenshot({ type: 'png' });
await this.attach(image, {
mediaType: 'image/png',
fileName: 'failure.png'
});
} catch (error) {
// Log the diagnostic error, but do not replace the scenario's failure.
console.error('Could not attach failure screenshot:', error.message);
}
});Awaiting both operations matters. Letting the hook finish while either promise is pending can produce an empty or missing attachment, particularly when Cucumber is writing asynchronous formatter streams.
Accepted attachment formats and naming
- Buffer: the normal result of
page.screenshot(); pass it directly tothis.attach. - Readable stream: supported when another API produces a stream.
- Base64: mark the media type as
base64:image/pngwhen passing a base64 payload. - Filename: optional, but
fileName: 'screenshot.png'gives downloads and report readers a useful name.
Use a matching extension and MIME type. A JPEG payload labelled image/png, for example, can be displayed incorrectly by a formatter or image viewer.
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Parallel runs and artifact naming
Cucumber-managed buffers avoid most filename collisions because the formatter associates each attachment with its scenario. If you write files yourself, do not use one shared path such as screenshots/latest.png in parallel workers. Include a scenario identifier, worker identifier, or timestamp in the filename, and make sure the CI artifact collector includes every worker’s directory.
Externalized attachments also require deterministic artifact collection. Merge worker output directories without overwriting files, then publish the resulting directory and its report together.
Troubleshooting missing screenshots
No image appears in the HTML
- Confirm the hook file is loaded by cucumber-js and that the scenario actually reaches the hook.
- Verify
this.pageis the live Playwright page andthis.attachexists on the World. - Check that the formatter command points to the HTML file you opened.
- Use
mediaType: 'image/png'and awaitthis.attach.
The image is empty or corrupt
Await page.screenshot() before attaching it, and do not close the context until the attachment has completed. If the page is already torn down because another hook ran first, reorder teardown or move it to a later lifecycle hook.
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The report opens but images are broken
This usually indicates external attachments. Copy the generated image files beside the report, preserve the formatter’s relative directory structure, and avoid opening only the HTML file after moving it.
The terminal shows output but the HTML does not
Progress output is not the HTML report. Check that the run includes --format html:cucumber-report.html (or the equivalent cucumber.js entry), then inspect the report generated by that same run. An attachment event must be present in the scenario output.
A custom World reports that attach is undefined
The default World supplies attach. When replacing it with a custom constructor, expose the function or use Cucumber’s supported World setup so hooks and steps retain the attachment API.
Built-in formatter or cucumber-html-reporter?
The built-in cucumber-js HTML formatter is the simplest choice when your tests already run through cucumber-js: it consumes attachment events directly, embeds images by default, and can externalize them with externalAttachments. The third-party cucumber-html-reporter package documents a different JSON-to-HTML workflow with options such as storeScreenshots, screenshotsDirectory, and noInlineScreenshots.
Choose the third-party workflow only when your project intentionally generates JSON and then converts it. Before switching, verify compatibility with your cucumber-js version, how each reporter handles parallel artifact names, whether the report is standalone, and how your CI retains external files. Do not mix configuration options from one reporter with the other.
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Practical checklist
- Store the Playwright page on the Cucumber World.
- Load the hook file in cucumber-js.
- Check
Status.FAILEDfor failure-only evidence. - Capture before teardown closes the page.
- Await both screenshot and attachment promises.
- Use
image/pngand an optional filename. - Keep external image files beside the HTML report.
- Use unique paths or Cucumber-managed buffers in parallel runs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I attach a screenshot for a passing scenario?
Yes. Call the same awaited page.screenshot() and this.attach() sequence without the failure-status condition, preferably at the specific step that needs visual evidence.
Does the HTML formatter require a separate image folder?
No. Its default is embedded attachments. A folder is required only when you enable external attachments.
Can the hook attach JPEG or WebP instead of PNG?
Yes, if Playwright produces that format and the attachment uses the matching MIME type, such as image/jpeg or image/webp.
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