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Microlink screenshot timeouts usually come from one of three places: your own HTTP client gives up first, Microlink’s browser work exceeds its request limit, or the target page is slow or blocked. Check the caller’s elapsed time, HTTP status, Microlink response status and error code before changing wait settings. Microlink documents a 30-second request timeout for its free endpoint and 60 seconds for Pro; your client must allow enough time for the request to finish. Microlink’s screenshot parameters describe the timeout limit.
Why is my Microlink screenshot API request timing out?
A timeout is not necessarily a single Microlink error. Separate the request into its layers:
- Your client: its socket or request timeout may expire before Microlink responds.
- Microlink’s browser work: navigation, page rendering, waiting for content, or screenshot work may exceed the plan’s request limit.
- The target page: it may load slowly, keep requests open, require interaction, or block the request from Microlink’s datacenter.
Record how long the call ran and whether an HTTP response arrived. If your client throws a timeout without a response, investigate its deadline first. If Microlink returns an error response, use its status and code to choose a fix rather than treating every failure as a timeout. Microlink documents response status and error details in its API overview and SDK error reference.
How do I tell which layer ended the request?
Capture the caller exception, elapsed time, HTTP status, response body and headers. The Microlink SDK error reference describes fields including status, code, statusCode, description, URL and headers. Its API responses can include a status such as success, fail or error, plus a code and human-readable message when a request fails.
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- No response reached your code: the caller may have hit its own deadline. Raise the client timeout to cover the expected API duration, within your application’s own limits.
- Microlink returned a timeout error: simplify the browser workload, correct the readiness condition, or use a supported request timeout within the plan cap.
- HTTP 429 and ERATE: this indicates quota exhaustion, not a page that needs a longer wait.
- EPROXYNEEDED: the free endpoint may be unable to reach a target protected by antibot measures. This is an access issue, not a timing setting.
Microlink lists EBRWSRTIMEOUT and ETIMEOUT among relevant errors. Avoid automatic retries for every failure: quota and access errors need different handling from transient page-load problems.
How do I make Microlink wait for the right page content?
For a client-rendered page, use a navigation lifecycle milestone that does not wait for unrelated resources, then wait for a stable selector that proves the content you need has appeared. Microlink supports waitUntil values including auto, load, domcontentloaded, networkidle0 and networkidle2, along with waitForSelector, waitForTimeout, scrolling and clicking. See its guide to JavaScript-rendered screenshots.
- Identify one element that appears only when the data or view needed for the screenshot is ready.
- Choose an appropriate navigation milestone, such as
domcontentloaded, if waiting for every resource is unnecessary. - Set
waitForSelectorto that element. If a tab must be opened or a lazy section revealed, perform the interaction and wait for the resulting element. - Check the returned screenshot itself to confirm it contains the intended state.
Example from Microlink’s guide; replace the example host and selector with ones that match your page:
curl 'https://api.microlink.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.example.com%2Freport&screenshot=true&meta=false&waitUntil=domcontentloaded&waitForSelector=.chart+svg'A fixed waitForTimeout is a fallback when no reliable readiness signal exists. It consumes time on every request, even when the page is fast, and cannot extend the overall request budget: Microlink says a wait larger than the plan’s request timeout is ignored. Its guide says, “Waiting for a condition is both faster and more reliable than waiting for a duration.”
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Use networkidle0 or networkidle2 only when the page’s traffic pattern makes network quiet a useful signal. A persistent connection or long-polling request can prevent network silence; in that case, wait for the relevant content instead. If capturing screenshot.element, Microlink says that mode already waits for its selector to be visible, so an extra selector wait may not be necessary.
How do I increase the Microlink screenshot timeout?
Microlink documents request limits of 30 seconds on the free endpoint and 60 seconds on Pro. Those are service-side limits, not a reason to set your client to the same or a shorter duration. Configure your HTTP client to wait long enough for the service request to complete, while respecting your application’s own deadline. Microlink’s cURL example uses a 30-second client timeout as an example; it does not establish a universal client setting for every plan or caller.
A wait setting is not an overall timeout extension. Keep browser waits within Microlink’s documented limit, and avoid spending most of the budget waiting for a condition that may never occur. If the target cannot become ready within the applicable limit, reduce unnecessary work or use a different approach suited to the page.
Why is my screenshot blank or incomplete even though the API returned?
A successful API response does not by itself prove that the desired content rendered before capture. Check the returned screenshot URL and its reported dimensions, type and size, then inspect the image for a spinner, empty app shell, missing chart or cropped content. Microlink documents these screenshot response fields in its screenshot parameter reference.
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- For client-rendered data, wait for a selector that signals the data is present, not merely that navigation began.
- For content behind a tab or below the fold, click or scroll before waiting for the resulting content.
- For lazy-loaded images or sections, make sure the capture process reaches the relevant area and that the desired capture mode includes it.
- For a page that requires JavaScript, do not disable it as a speed optimization.
- If the target shows an antibot challenge or CAPTCHA, treat it as a blocking/access problem rather than a page-readiness problem.
Which settings can reduce avoidable screenshot work?
For requests that need only an image, set meta=false to skip metadata extraction; Microlink describes this as its biggest speed improvement for screenshot-only requests. These options can reduce unnecessary work but cannot fix a blocked target.
javascript=false: consider this only for a page whose required content is complete without script execution. It can break a client-rendered application.- JPEG: choose it when its image characteristics suit the use case; Microlink says the quality setting applies to JPEG, not PNG.
- Lower
deviceScaleFactor: can reduce pixel work if the resulting image fidelity is sufficient.
Keep the capture target in mind: a viewport, full page and selected element have different readiness and workload needs. Remove work that the result does not require, but do not trade away the content or image quality the screenshot is meant to preserve.
How do I handle quota exhaustion and target blocking?
Quota exhaustion
Microlink’s API overview lists 25 requests per day for the free plan. It documents the rate-limit headers x-rate-limit-limit, x-rate-limit-remaining and x-rate-limit-reset; requests beyond the limit return HTTP 429 with ERATE. Check the headers and reset time, then wait for the reset or use an appropriate key or plan. Do not retry continuously during the exhausted period.
Antibot protection
Microlink says a free-plan request to a target behind antibot protection can return EPROXYNEEDED. Its Pro plan has a proxy capability that can use a residential proxy automatically for recognized antibot or CAPTCHA blocking. This is a plan-specific access option, not a guarantee that every protected site will be accessible.
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Microlink documents sending a Pro token in the x-api-key header to pro.microlink.io. Keep that key on a server you control; do not expose it in browser-side code.
When should I use a different capture approach?
Microlink’s overview says its hosted service is not intended for crawling thousands of pages by following links, controlling a live interactive browser session, or retrieving static HTML that needs no rendering. It points to a crawler, local Puppeteer or Playwright, or a plain HTTP client for those different requirements. These are task-fit alternatives, not a claim that one is universally faster.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What do EBRWSRTIMEOUT and ETIMEOUT mean?
They are timeout-related error codes listed in Microlink’s SDK error reference. Check the request’s status, code and timing to determine whether browser work or the caller’s own deadline ended the request.
Does increasing waitForTimeout let Microlink run longer?
No. A fixed wait must fit within the plan request timeout; Microlink says a wait larger than that limit is ignored.
Can networkidle cause a timeout?
It can be a poor readiness condition for a page with a persistent or long-polling request. Wait for a page-specific selector instead.
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