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To test a website with screenshot diffs in Percy, add Percy snapshot calls to your existing browser or component tests, run those tests with Percy enabled, and review the resulting build against its baseline. Your test runner captures the page state; Percy’s infrastructure discovers its assets and renders the snapshots across configured browsers and widths. The screenshots are not captured inside the test suite itself.

How Percy screenshot diffs fit into a test workflow

Percy adds visual checks to an existing test suite rather than replacing it. A Percy snapshot represents a named page state at a point in your test: for example, a route’s default view, a responsive layout, a completed form, an error state, or an open modal. Percy processes the captured state, creates screenshots, and shows differences from the selected baseline in a visual build.

  1. Use the current Percy integration guide for your application or component-testing framework to install and configure the matching SDK. Package names, imports, and commands depend on that choice and can change over time; the official Percy integrations page describes supported integration paths.
  2. Add snapshot calls where the test has reached a meaningful, stable user-visible state. Name each snapshot consistently so its route and state are clear during review.
  3. Run the test suite with Percy enabled in local development or CI, following the selected SDK’s current instructions.
  4. Wait for Percy to process the build, then inspect its snapshots and diffs. Approve intended visual changes or investigate unexpected ones.

Keep visual checks alongside the code change that caused them. Percy documents integrations for code review and pull or merge requests, as well as Slack notifications and webhooks; availability and setup depend on the integration you choose.

Choose reliable snapshot points

A screenshot diff is useful only when the captured state is the one you meant to test. Wait for an application-specific readiness condition, such as the target content appearing or a loading indicator disappearing, before calling the snapshot. A fixed delay may work for a particular page, but it is not a universal substitute for checking that the page is ready.

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  • Cover meaningful states: capture the default page and important variations such as a modal, validation result, or responsive layout.
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  • Stabilize changing content: avoid capturing a transient loading state unless that state itself is under test. Where content depends on time, data, or user state, make the test state repeatable.

What Percy captures and renders

When your test calls Percy, the SDK serializes the current DOM state and discovers the assets needed to render it. Documented serialization includes form values, CSSOM, accessible iframes, and canvas elements. Video without a poster is serialized as a still image of its current frame.

Asset discovery renders the captured DOM in Chromium and intercepts network requests. By default, it captures assets served from the same hostname as the tests. Percy’s infrastructure then renders screenshots across the configured browsers and widths. That remote rendering step is separate from the browser running your tests, so a local browser setting does not necessarily determine the final Percy screenshot.

  • DOM capture supports Firefox and Chromium. The workflow documentation identifies Shadow DOM capture as Chrome-only.
  • During remote rendering, JavaScript is disabled by default because page JavaScript has already run before capture; enabling it can cause unexpected behavior when the DOM has already been formed.
  • Percy removes noscript elements and freezes CSS animations during rendering.

These differences matter when diagnosing a screenshot that does not look exactly like the local test browser. Check the captured state and asset availability as well as the remote rendering configuration.

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Review diffs and choose a baseline strategy

A baseline determines which approved build or snapshot set Percy uses for comparison. Percy documents two strategies; choose the one that matches how your team reviews changes.

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Strategy How comparison and approval work When it fits
Git A build compares against a base-branch build found through Git commit history. The team accepts or rejects the whole build. Percy describes this as suited to CI on feature branches and says most teams should use it.
Visual Git Comparisons use the latest approved snapshots on each branch without requiring Git history. The team approves individual snapshots. Useful when snapshots are approved separately or visual tests run outside the development pipeline.

For Percy CLI projects, the documentation also describes setting PERCY_BRANCH to select a base build manually. If a diff appears to compare against the wrong state, verify the baseline strategy and branch selection before treating the difference as a regression.

Troubleshoot missing or unexpected screenshots

External assets are missing

Default asset discovery is limited to the test hostname. If a page depends on images, fonts, or other resources from another hostname, configure additional allowed hostnames using the relevant SDK’s discovery settings.

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Authenticated content or protected assets do not appear

The remote discovery browser may need the same access as the test. Configure the request headers, authorization, or cookies required to retrieve protected resources through the SDK’s discovery settings.

Assets are still loading when the snapshot is processed

Percy’s default asset-discovery network-idle timeout is 100 ms with no new network requests. The official workflow guide notes that this may need to be increased for pages that initiate additional requests. Adjust the discovery timeout for the page’s behavior rather than relying on an arbitrary test delay.

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Form values or canvas drawings are absent

Percy documents serialization for form values and canvas content, including state that may live in page memory rather than being represented in the DOM. Confirm that the snapshot call happens after the test sets the intended values or draws the canvas, and check the applicable SDK’s current capture guidance.

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Shadow DOM differs between browsers

The workflow guide documents Shadow DOM capture as Chrome-only, while DOM capture supports Firefox and Chromium. If a Shadow DOM component is involved, check the browser used for capture before interpreting a cross-browser difference.

You need diagnostics without uploading a build

Percy CLI’s --debug mode runs SDK capture and asset discovery without creating a build or uploading snapshots. Use --verbose when you want detailed logging while still uploading snapshots for inspection in a Percy build.

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Or skip the browser setup

If your immediate need is a screenshot rather than a Percy baseline and diff workflow, ScreenshotNeo can return an image or PDF with one GET request. For example, this cURL command saves a WebP screenshot of Stripe; replace the URL with the page you want to capture. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options and response details.

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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.webp

ScreenshotNeo accepts cookie and consent banners before capture and removes 60+ known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, and response headers identify the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server offers take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf for AI agents. The Free plan includes 1,000 shots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.

Sign up for ScreenshotNeo’s free plan to get 1,000 screenshots a month with no card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Percy capture screenshots inside my test browser?

No. The test-side SDK captures and serializes the page state; Percy’s infrastructure renders the screenshots.

Can Percy compare screenshots at different viewport widths?

Percy’s infrastructure renders snapshots across configured widths. Configure the widths using the current guide for your chosen SDK.

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Can I run Percy from CI?

Yes. Percy is designed to integrate with existing test and CI workflows; use the current integration guide for your framework and setup.

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