The Tool Desk
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1. Add a manual screenshot to a Cypress test
Call cy.screenshot() after the page has reached the state you need to document. The command can stand alone or be chained from a command that yields an element.
describe('Account page', () => {
it('captures the signed-in view', () => {
cy.visit('/account')
cy.get('[data-cy=account-title]').should('be.visible')
cy.screenshot('account-page')
})
})The optional string is the screenshot name. Without it, Cypress derives a name from the spec, suite, and test. A slash in the name creates a directory beneath the screenshots folder, so cy.screenshot('account/profile') is useful for organizing artifacts.
Capture is asynchronous and takes roughly 100 ms according to the Cypress screenshot API documentation. The DOM can therefore change between issuing the command and the actual image. Treat a screenshot as evidence of the captured state, not an exact instant replay of the command log.
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2. Choose what Cypress captures
Viewport: the visible application area
capture: 'viewport' (the default for a manual screenshot) records the application inside the current browser viewport.
cy.screenshot('checkout-viewport', { capture: 'viewport' })Use this for a focused UI state such as an open menu, validation message, or modal. Set a consistent viewport before capture when images will be compared later:
cy.viewport(1440, 900)
cy.visit('/checkout')
cy.get('[data-cy=payment-form]').should('be.visible')
cy.screenshot('checkout-desktop')Full page: scroll and stitch the application
capture: 'fullPage' scrolls through the page and stitches the resulting captures from top to bottom.
cy.visit('/docs/getting-started')
cy.screenshot('getting-started-full', { capture: 'fullPage' })Long pages can contain sticky headers, lazy content, or animations that change while Cypress scrolls. Wait for important content before invoking the command, and use the same viewport and data each run.
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Runner: application plus Cypress Command Log
capture: 'runner' includes the browser viewport and the Cypress runner interface. It is useful when debugging command history, but it is not a clean application image. Automatic failure screenshots are coerced to runner captures.
cy.screenshot('runner-context', { capture: 'runner' })One element
Chain screenshot() from a command that yields a DOM element to capture that element rather than the whole viewport.
cy.get('.post').first().screenshot('first-post')Element captures support padding to add space around the element and clip for pixel-based cropping. A clip object uses x, y, width, and height coordinates.
cy.get('[data-cy=invoice]').screenshot('invoice-crop', {
padding: 16,
clip: { x: 0, y: 0, width: 900, height: 500 }
})3. Control names, folders, and duplicate files
Cypress writes screenshots under cypress/screenshots by default. A supplied name replaces the generated test-based name; duplicate names are numbered unless you set overwrite: true.
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cy.screenshot('smoke/home', { overwrite: true })Use overwrite only when replacing an artifact is intentional. Otherwise, numbered files preserve every capture from a run. Cypress clears screenshots, videos, and downloads before cypress run by default because trashAssetsBeforeRuns is true. Set it to false in your Cypress configuration when a pipeline must retain assets from earlier runs.
// cypress.config.js
const { defineConfig } = require('cypress')
module.exports = defineConfig({
trashAssetsBeforeRuns: false,
e2e: {
baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000'
}
})Cypress’s example project excludes generated cypress/screenshots/, cypress/videos/, and cypress/downloads/ from source control. Keep them ignored unless your team deliberately stores visual baselines or approved evidence.
4. Capture failed tests automatically
When you run tests with cypress run, Cypress automatically takes a screenshot after a test fails. screenshotOnRunFailure defaults to true; failure files append (failed) to the normal test-based name. This behavior does not occur automatically in cypress open.
npx cypress runDisable failure screenshots in configuration when they are unnecessary:
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const { defineConfig } = require('cypress')
module.exports = defineConfig({
screenshotOnRunFailure: false
})You can also change the Screenshot API default at runtime:
Cypress.Screenshot.defaults({ screenshotOnRunFailure: false })Failure captures use runner mode, so the image includes Cypress debugging context rather than only your application.
5. Stabilize captures and protect sensitive data
Wait for the intended state
Assertions are preferable to arbitrary sleeps:
cy.visit('/orders')
cy.get('[data-cy=orders-loaded]').should('be.visible')
cy.get('[data-cy=order-row]').should('have.length', 3)
cy.screenshot('orders-ready')For content loaded after scrolling, force the page into a deterministic state before a full-page capture. Fix test data, viewport dimensions, locale, and timezone in CI so layout changes do not create unrelated differences.
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Disable motion during capture
Cypress disables timers and CSS animations by default while taking a screenshot. You can set the option explicitly:
cy.screenshot('stable-modal', {
disableTimersAndAnimations: true
})Hide secrets with blackout
Use blackout selectors to cover matching elements, such as account numbers or tokens:
cy.screenshot('redacted-profile', {
blackout: ['[data-sensitive]', '.api-key']
})Blackout does not apply to runner captures. Review the resulting image and avoid logging secrets in test output as well.
Use callbacks for temporary DOM changes
onBeforeScreenshot and onAfterScreenshot callbacks can synchronously modify and restore the DOM for non-failure captures.
cy.get('[data-cy=dashboard]').screenshot('dashboard-clean', {
onBeforeScreenshot($el) {
$el.find('.live-clock').hide()
},
onAfterScreenshot($el) {
$el.find('.live-clock').show()
}
})Keep callbacks synchronous and limit changes to elements that genuinely make the image deterministic.
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- Choose the artifact. Use viewport for a focused state, fullPage for a document-like page, element for a component, and runner for failure diagnostics.
- Set the environment. Fix viewport size, seed data, authentication, locale, and relevant feature flags.
- Wait on application signals. Assert visible headings, network-driven content, and stable element counts instead of relying only on delays.
- Mask or remove volatile content. Apply blackout selectors or a synchronous callback for clocks, avatars, and personal data.
- Name predictably. Include the feature and state, such as
billing/validation-error. - Run in the same mode in CI. Manual captures and automatic failures are produced by
cypress run; interactivecypress openis useful for development but does not create automatic failure images.
cy.screenshot() only creates an image. It does not compare that image with a baseline. Cypress’s visual-testing guidance recommends a separate visual-testing approach when you need pixel or perceptual comparisons.
7. Screenshots versus Cypress video
A screenshot is a single image at one point in a test. Video is a separate artifact that supplies temporal context. Video recording is disabled by default; enable it with video: true. Cypress records one video per spec during cypress run, not during cypress open.
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// cypress.config.js
const { defineConfig } = require('cypress')
module.exports = defineConfig({
video: true
})Use screenshots for stable evidence or a compact failure attachment; use video when the order and timing of interactions matter.
8. Troubleshooting common screenshot problems
No image appears after a test fails
Confirm you ran npx cypress run, not only cypress open, and check that screenshotOnRunFailure was not disabled. Look under cypress/screenshots in the workspace used by CI.
The screenshot shows the wrong state
The command may have run before asynchronous content settled, or the capture’s roughly 100-ms operation allowed the UI to change. Add assertions for the final state, stop animations where appropriate, and remove clocks or random data.
Full-page output is incomplete
Ensure the page has finished loading lazy content before capture. Assert the final content, then call capture: 'fullPage'. Sticky elements and scroll-triggered behavior can produce different results as Cypress stitches sections; redesign the page state or capture a stable element when exact output is required.
Element capture fails or is clipped
Assert that the element is visible and attached, then capture the yielded element directly. Check that custom clip coordinates are in pixels and large enough for the intended region. Use padding instead of an overly tight clip when you only need breathing room.
Files disappear between runs
This is usually the default cleanup behavior. Set trashAssetsBeforeRuns: false if retaining prior assets is required, and verify that your CI job uploads the folder before the workspace is discarded.
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Sensitive values are visible
Add matching selectors to blackout for application captures, or remove the data before capture. Because blackout is not applied to runner images, avoid runner mode for artifacts that might expose secrets.
9. Or skip the browser setup
If you need a URL screenshot from a script, build job, or AI workflow rather than from a Cypress test, ScreenshotNeo provides a website screenshot API and MCP server. It accepts consent banners before capture and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each step can be turned off. Only clean shots are billed: bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, and response headers report the page verdict and billing status.
One request returns PNG, JPEG, WebP, or a PDF. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for all options.
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cURL
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpPython
import requests
r = requests.get("https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot", params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"}, timeout=90)
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)Node.js
const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);ScreenshotNeo also supports full-page captures with lazy images loaded, CSS-selector element captures, dark mode, device presets and custom viewports, retina scale, PDF paper and page-range controls, custom CSS and JavaScript, clicks, selector or network-idle waits, ad/tracker/request blocking, headers, cookies, user agents, Authorization, timezone, geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, chosen cache TTLs, signed image links, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call, a usage API, and an OpenAPI specification. An MCP server exposes take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf to Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.
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10. Quick reference
| Need | Code or setting | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Current app view | cy.screenshot('name') |
Viewport image |
| Entire page | { capture: 'fullPage' } |
Scrolled and stitched page |
| Cypress debugging context | { capture: 'runner' } |
Viewport plus Command Log |
| One component | cy.get(selector).screenshot() |
Element image |
| Automatic failure evidence | cypress run |
Runner screenshot when a test fails |
| Keep previous run assets | trashAssetsBeforeRuns: false |
Do not clear screenshot, video, and download folders first |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Cypress take a screenshot without a test failure?
Yes. Call cy.screenshot() anywhere after the required UI state is ready; automatic failure capture is a separate cypress run feature.
Does Cypress screenshot capture perform visual regression testing?
No. It creates image files. Baseline comparison requires a separate visual-testing solution.
Where are Cypress screenshots saved in a project?
The default directory is cypress/screenshots, unless your project configuration or CI process changes the asset location.
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Why is my failure screenshot different from a manual screenshot?
Automatic failure images are coerced to runner mode and include Cypress’s Command Log, while a manual capture may target the viewport, full page, or an element.
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