Use BrowserStack Automate’s Visual Logs for screenshots captured automatically during Selenium commands, or call Selenium’s screenshot method when you need an image at a specific point in a test. Visual Logs are viewed in the Automate dashboard; an explicit screenshot is saved on the machine running the test and can be retained as a CI artifact.
Choose the right screenshot method
| What you need | Method | Where the result goes |
|---|---|---|
| See page states while Selenium commands run, especially when debugging a failure | Enable BrowserStack Visual Logs with the debug capability |
Automate dashboard |
| Capture a deliberate checkpoint or publish an image from CI | Call Selenium’s screenshot API in the test | Test runner’s filesystem; CI must preserve or upload the file |
| Replay the broader session | Use video logs | Session evidence in Automate; video is separate from screenshot files |
Visual Logs are convenient for a timeline of page states around commands. An explicit capture gives the test control over when to take a screenshot and creates a file the runner can retain. BrowserStack says video logging is enabled by default and adds a slight execution-time increase; it is not a substitute for a selected screenshot checkpoint. BrowserStack’s debugging-options documentation describes these logging options.
Enable automatic Visual Logs in BrowserStack
Visual Logs are disabled by default. Set debug to the string "true" in the capabilities used to start the Automate session. For W3C capabilities, put it inside bstack:options:
capabilities = {
"browserName": "Chrome",
"bstack:options": {
"debug": "true",
"os": "Windows",
"osVersion": "11"
}
}Use the capability structure your Selenium integration expects. With the legacy capability format, BrowserStack documents browserstack.debug: "true" instead. Do not set both formats blindly; follow the format for the integration in use. See the Visual Logs setup documentation and the capabilities reference.
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View the automatic captures
Open the relevant Automate build or session in the BrowserStack dashboard and inspect its available session evidence. Dashboard labels can change, so identify the session by its build and session details rather than relying on a particular tab name. Visual Logs are dashboard evidence; they are not automatically downloaded to the machine running Selenium.
Check browser and operating-system support
BrowserStack notes that Visual Logs are not supported on its macOS Snow Leopard and Lion computers. More generally, logging support and exceptions can vary by browser and platform. Verify the current capability reference for the exact browser and operating system you test before depending on a log type.
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Save an explicit screenshot with Selenium Python
To capture a specific state, wait until the page is ready and then call the active WebDriver’s screenshot method. This Python example creates the destination directory and saves a PNG in the runner’s working directory:
from pathlib import Path
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
options = Options()
options.browser_version = "latest"
options.set_capability("bstack:options", {
"os": "Windows",
"osVersion": "11",
"debug": "true",
})
driver = webdriver.Remote(
command_executor="https://YOUR_USERNAME:YOUR_ACCESS_KEY@hub-cloud.browserstack.com/wd/hub",
options=options,
)
try:
driver.get("https://example.com")
# Add a condition-based wait here if the page has asynchronous content.
Path("artifacts").mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
saved = driver.save_screenshot("artifacts/page.png")
if not saved:
raise RuntimeError("Selenium did not save the screenshot")
finally:
driver.quit()Replace the BrowserStack credentials with credentials supplied securely by your environment, not hard-coded secrets. The key screenshot call is driver.save_screenshot("artifacts/page.png"); BrowserStack’s Python example uses that Selenium API. The destination is on the machine running the test, not a file downloaded from the Automate dashboard. For other Selenium language bindings, use that binding’s screenshot method; BrowserStack also documents examples for Java, JavaScript, C#, PHP, and Ruby at its screenshot guide.
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Keep the file after a CI run
A remote BrowserStack browser does not make the screenshot file persist in your CI system automatically. The WebDriver command returns the screenshot to the test runner, which writes it at the specified path. Configure your CI job to upload or archive that path after the test, including on failure, and do so before the runner workspace is discarded.
Find screenshots and session evidence
Use the Automate dashboard’s build and session results to inspect available screenshots, logs, and video. BrowserStack also documents REST APIs for accessing build or session data and associated logs; choose the API path if you need to integrate session evidence into your own tooling. The exact dashboard controls may evolve, so use the session/build identity rather than assuming a fixed label. See the Automate REST API reference.
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Keep the evidence types distinct:
- Visual Logs: screenshots associated with Selenium command execution, available in the dashboard when debugging is enabled.
- Explicit screenshot: an image captured at the point selected in test code and saved by the runner.
- Video: a session recording useful for replay, separate from image files.
- Selenium command logs: action-level records; they are not screenshots.
Understand logging settings and their trade-offs
BrowserStack’s capabilities reference lists debug as false by default, video as true, and seleniumLogs as true. It lists networkLogs as false by default. These defaults do not guarantee identical availability for every browser and operating system; consult the current reference for your target configuration.
Enable only the evidence that helps your debugging workflow. Visual Logs add automatic screenshot evidence; video can show the session as it unfolded, with BrowserStack noting a slight execution-time increase. Explicit screenshots are controlled by the test and need artifact handling in CI. Weigh capture timing, retrieval location, artifact retention, and any execution overhead from optional logging.
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Troubleshoot missing or unusable screenshots
No Visual Logs appear in the session
- Confirm that the session capabilities include
debug: "true"in the format required by your integration: nested underbstack:optionsfor W3C, orbrowserstack.debug: "true"for legacy capabilities. - Check the build and session you opened, then verify support for the exact browser and operating system. BrowserStack documents Visual Logs as unsupported on its macOS Snow Leopard and Lion computers.
- Use an explicit screenshot call if you need a guaranteed checkpoint image in the test runner rather than dashboard evidence.
The screenshot file is missing after CI finishes
- Check the runner’s working directory and use an explicit, writable path.
- Create the destination directory before saving, and check the Boolean result returned by Selenium’s
save_screenshot. - Configure the CI artifact step to run for failed tests as well as successful ones, and archive the image before workspace cleanup.
The image shows an incomplete or unexpected page
- Capture only after the relevant navigation and asynchronous page work have completed. Use a condition-based Selenium wait for the page element or state that matters instead of relying on a short fixed delay.
- Check the screenshot against the same browser and platform session whose state you intend to diagnose; browser/platform support can differ.
Video, logs, or screenshots are being confused
Check which evidence you need before changing capabilities: a video is a session replay, command logs describe actions, Visual Logs provide automatic screenshot evidence in the dashboard, and an explicit screenshot call saves an image file from the test. Each has a different retrieval path.
Or skip the browser setup
If you need a website screenshot without starting a Selenium browser session, ScreenshotNeo accepts one GET request for a URL and can return PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. Its clean-shot workflow accepts cookie or consent banners as a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each of those steps can be turned off. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers identify the page verdict and billing status. ScreenshotNeo also provides an MCP server with take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf tools for AI agents.
For example, save a WebP screenshot of a page with cURL:
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use BrowserStack Visual Logs and explicit Selenium screenshots in the same test?
Yes. Visual Logs provide automatic dashboard evidence, while an explicit screenshot call saves a selected checkpoint to the test runner.
Does a screenshot saved with Selenium automatically appear in the BrowserStack dashboard?
It is saved on the machine running the test. Upload or archive it through your CI workflow if you need to retain it outside that runner.
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