Thumbalizr can return an older saved screenshot instead of creating a new one. Check the response headers to see when the image was generated and whether the capture completed; if it is new, the page or its assets may still be coming from an HTTP cache. To request a fresh capture, use a changed timestamp value if your Thumbalizr API and plan support it.
First, find out whether the screenshot itself is old
Inspect the response headers returned with the screenshot. Thumbalizr documents these headers for its Embed API and legacy API:
X-Thumbalizr-Generatedgives the capture generation time.X-Thumbalizr-StatusreportsQUEUED,OK, orFAILED.X-Thumbalizr-Error, if present, explains a failure.
A recent generation time and OK indicate that Thumbalizr completed a recent capture—even if the page content in the image looks old. That points you toward the content served to the renderer, rather than simply an old screenshot being returned. If the status is QUEUED, wait for processing to finish; if it is FAILED, use the error header to diagnose the failed capture. See Thumbalizr’s Embed API documentation and legacy API documentation.
Request a fresh Thumbalizr capture
Thumbalizr uses the timestamp parameter to decide whether to create a new thumbnail or reuse an older one. For a new capture, send a different timestamp value from the one used previously. The API documents the parameter and its availability by tier; the current Embed API table marks it unavailable on the free tier and available on paid tiers. Check your account’s current entitlements before relying on it, since plans can change. Thumbalizr’s 2017 explanation of the timestamp parameter describes its role in choosing between a new screenshot and an existing one.
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Do not copy a historical timestamp example from the documentation as if it were a current value. Generate a fresh value for your request and keep the full request URL correctly encoded. Thumbalizr specifically cautions that URL encoding matters; when signing an Embed API URL, compute the token from the same encoded query string you actually send.
If the capture is new, check the page and its caches
A screenshot renderer captures what it receives from the target page. A recent Thumbalizr generation time does not prove that the renderer received the latest HTML, stylesheet, script, or image. An origin server, CDN, proxy, or other HTTP cache may supply a stored response according to its freshness and validation rules. Check the actual page and the assets it loads, rather than assuming the screenshot service’s cache is responsible. The MDN HTTP caching guide explains how stored responses and validation affect what a client receives.
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- Open the target page in a regular browser and verify that the updated version is actually served there.
- Identify the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image URLs involved in the changed content.
- Check the origin or CDN cache behavior for those responses, including whether stale content is being served or a fresh response is validated.
- Compare the renderer’s result with the page as delivered under the relevant URL, viewport, and location. A browser’s refresh control alone cannot establish what a remote renderer or intermediary received.
Make sure the capture settings match what you expect
Thumbalizr’s documented controls include delay, bwidth, bheight, size, and country. A recent capture can look outdated or incomplete if its settings do not match the page view you are comparing it with.
delaysets how long to wait after page load before capture. The documented range is 1–30 seconds; five seconds is shown as the default for some tiers. Dynamic content may need longer, but the right wait is page-specific.bwidthandbheightset the browser viewport. Responsive layouts can show different content at different dimensions.sizeselects visible-screen or full-page capture. Compare the same capture type when checking an update.countryselects the capture region. A page that varies by location may differ across regions.
Review the current options and defaults in the Embed API documentation or, for an existing legacy integration, the legacy API documentation.
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Troubleshoot in this order
- Read the headers. Record the generation time, status, and any error before changing settings.
- Request a new capture. Change
timestampif your API type and plan allow it. - Check encoding and signing. Make sure the target URL and query parameters are encoded correctly; for a signed URL, sign the exact encoded query string being sent.
- Verify the live page and its assets. Check what the origin and CDN serve for the HTML and resources that look old.
- Compare capture settings. Check delay, viewport, full-page versus screen capture, and country.
- Contact Thumbalizr support if it still fails. Include the target URL, API type and plan, request with secrets removed, response headers, expected update time, and returned image. Never share an API key or Embed API secret publicly.
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If you need a clean screenshot from a GET request, ScreenshotNeo is an alternative. For example, save a WebP capture of a page with cURL:
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets can be removed before capture; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are not billed. An MCP server gives AI agents tools to take screenshots, get page information, and capture PDFs. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for ScreenshotNeo’s free plan.
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