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A Browshot 403 does not point to one confirmed cause. Browshot’s general API documentation says malformed requests receive HTTP 403, but its Simple API response section describes HTTP 400 for invalid requests and says an invalid key may be one cause. Check which endpoint you called, then inspect the response body and headers—especially X-Error—before changing your request. Browshot’s API documentation is version 1.31; it does not state a publication date.

Why Browshot’s 403 is ambiguous

Browshot’s API documentation says, “If the request is malformed, the server replies with a 403 error.” Yet the same documentation’s Simple API response section says invalid requests return HTTP 400 and notes that an invalid key may be a cause. It also shows screenshot-creation errors such as “Invalid key” and “Not enough credits” in JSON examples, without establishing that either always produces a 403.

That means a status code alone is not enough to identify the problem. The endpoint, response body, and headers matter. Do not assume every 403 means the API key is wrong, or that insufficient credits necessarily explain it.

How to diagnose the request

  1. Identify the endpoint

    Record the exact path you called. The documentation distinguishes the Simple API endpoint, /api/v1/simple, from screenshot creation through /api/v1/screenshot/create. Its descriptions of invalid-request statuses differ by context.

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  2. Verify the API key

    Browshot requires an API key, which its documentation says is available in the dashboard. Confirm that the request includes the intended key, that it is copied accurately, and that you have replaced any example placeholder. The screenshot-create examples include an “Invalid key” error, but the documentation does not establish that this error always uses HTTP 403.

  3. Check required parameters and values

    For /api/v1/screenshot/create, Browshot lists url and instance_id as required. Check their spelling, presence, URL encoding, and values against the endpoint documentation. Browshot associates malformed requests with 403 but does not provide a complete status-code mapping for every invalid parameter.

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  4. Read and preserve the full response

    Capture the HTTP status, response headers, and body. For Simple API responses, Browshot identifies X-Error as a place to find the error description. Screenshot-create examples also show JSON error bodies. These details may distinguish an authentication or parameter issue from another reported error.

  5. Check the balance for private or shared instances

    Browshot says requests to private or shared instances require a positive balance, and its examples include a “Not enough credits” error. Treat this as a separate account check: the documentation does not say that insufficient credits necessarily returns 403.

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  6. Separate redirects from the 403

    A 302 can mean a screenshot is still in progress. Browshot’s curl instructions use -L to follow redirects. Redirect handling is worth checking when retrieving a screenshot, but Browshot does not document a missing redirect as a cause of HTTP 403.

What to send Browshot support

If those checks do not explain the response, provide Browshot support with the endpoint, sanitized request parameters, status, response body, and relevant response headers. Remove or redact the API key first; do not include it in logs or support messages.

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Or skip the browser setup: use ScreenshotNeo

If you would rather use a screenshot API with a one-request workflow, ScreenshotNeo accepts a URL and returns a screenshot or PDF. For example, this cURL request saves a WebP screenshot:

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

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See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets are removed before capture; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are not billed. An MCP server provides screenshot tools for AI agents, and the free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up free for ScreenshotNeo.

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