For a page protected by HTTP Basic Authentication, set httpCredentials on a Playwright browser context before navigating. Create the page from that context, go to the protected URL, then call page.screenshot(). This is different from signing in through a website’s HTML login form.
Take a screenshot with HTTP Basic Authentication
This TypeScript example uses Playwright’s Chromium browser. It reads the username and password from environment variables, limits the credentials to the target origin, captures the full page, and closes the browser even if navigation or capture fails.
import { chromium } from 'playwright';
async function main() {
const username = process.env.BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME;
const password = process.env.BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD;
if (!username || !password) {
throw new Error('Set BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME and BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD.');
}
const browser = await chromium.launch();
try {
const context = await browser.newContext({
httpCredentials: {
username,
password,
origin: 'https://example.com',
},
});
try {
const page = await context.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com/protected-page');
await page.screenshot({ path: 'protected-page.png', fullPage: true });
} finally {
await context.close();
}
} finally {
await browser.close();
}
}
main().catch((error) => {
console.error(error);
process.exitCode = 1;
});Save the file as screenshot.ts. With Playwright and TypeScript tooling installed, run it after setting the two environment variables. For example, in a POSIX shell: BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME='your-user' BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD='your-password' npx tsx screenshot.ts. Install the browser binary for Chromium if needed with npx playwright install chromium. The output is protected-page.png in the current directory.
Replace both occurrences of https://example.com with the site’s actual origin and protected path. The optional origin should match the scheme, host, and port for which the credentials are intended. The fullPage: true option captures the full scrollable page; omit it to capture only the viewport. See the BrowserContext API for credential configuration and the Page API for screenshot options.
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Configure credentials for a Playwright Test suite
If the screenshot is part of a Playwright Test suite, configure credentials in the test setup’s use options rather than creating a separate context inside each test. The documented Network guide shows httpCredentials in test configuration as well as in a standalone browser context: Playwright Network guide. That page is on the next documentation path, so check the documentation matching your installed Playwright version.
import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';
const username = process.env.BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME;
const password = process.env.BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD;
if (!username || !password) {
throw new Error('Set BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME and BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD.');
}
export default defineConfig({
use: {
httpCredentials: {
username,
password,
origin: 'https://example.com',
},
},
});Then write a test that navigates to the protected page and captures it:
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('capture protected page', async ({ page }) => {
await page.goto('https://example.com/protected-page');
await page.screenshot({ path: 'protected-page.png', fullPage: true });
});The credentials belong to the configured browser context used by the test. Keep test configuration consistent with the origin being visited; do not assume API-request credentials configure browser navigation.
HTTP Basic Authentication is not a login form
httpCredentials handles the browser’s HTTP authentication challenge. It does not fill in a username and password on a page’s HTML form or establish a cookie-based application session. For those flows, automate the site’s login process or use Playwright’s authentication storage state approach. Playwright warns that saved state can contain sensitive cookies and headers, so protect it like a secret and keep it out of source control: Playwright authentication guide.
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Credential scope and caching
The context option’s origin scopes credentials to a scheme, host, and port. Use it when the protected page is on a known origin, and make it match the actual target. Browser authentication can be cached per origin after a successful authentication; consequently, changing credentials for an origin already authenticated in that context may not take effect as expected. Create a fresh context when testing different credentials for the same origin. See the BrowserContext API documentation for the scope and caching behavior.
Security practices for screenshot scripts
- Read credentials from environment variables or a secret store; do not commit literal credentials in the script.
- Restrict credentials with
originwhen practical, and avoid reusing a context for unrelated protected origins. - Protect screenshot files and any saved authentication state: captures may contain private page content, and storage state may contain sensitive cookies or headers.
- Do not print credentials in logs or error output. Playwright’s codegen guidance cautions against exposing credentials in generated code.
Troubleshooting
The screenshot shows an authentication challenge or an unauthorized page
Confirm that the credentials are configured on the browser context before the page is created and navigation begins. Check for misspelled or empty environment variables, and verify that the credential pair is valid for that exact protected resource. If origin is set, confirm its scheme, host, and port match the page’s origin.
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Changing the credentials appears to have no effect
Successful authentication may be cached per origin in the browser context. Try a new context with the updated credentials rather than reusing an already authenticated one.
The site has a sign-in form instead of a browser authentication challenge
httpCredentials is for HTTP Basic Authentication, not form submission or cookie-based login. Use the site’s actual login flow or Playwright storage state for that case; handle any saved state as sensitive data.
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API credentials work, but the browser page is still unauthenticated
Do not rely on a BrowserType send setting for this. The BrowserType documentation says that option concerns associated API requests and does not affect requests sent from the browser. Configure httpCredentials on the browser context instead: BrowserType API.
The screenshot contains only the visible viewport
Set fullPage: true in page.screenshot() when you want the full scrollable page. Without it, the screenshot is a viewport capture. The Page API documents additional capture options.
Or skip the browser setup
For a one-request screenshot workflow, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server. Here is its cURL call, adapted to a protected-page URL:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com/protected-page -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. ScreenshotNeo removes cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed. Its MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card, and paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use this method with Firefox or WebKit?
Yes. The example’s context-level `httpCredentials` configuration is the part that supplies HTTP Basic Authentication; launch the browser engine you need instead of Chromium.
Does `fullPage: true` create a PDF?
No. It changes the screenshot capture to include the full scrollable page. The example writes a PNG file.
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