To capture a page protected by HTTP Basic Authentication with Urlbox, Base64-encode the complete username:password pair, then pass Authorization=Basic <encoded-value> in Urlbox’s header render option. Separately, authenticate your request to Urlbox with your Urlbox project secret as a Bearer token. These are two different credentials sent to two different places.
Send Basic Authentication credentials to the destination page
Urlbox’s synchronous JSON endpoint is https://api.urlbox.com/v1/render/sync. Its guide demonstrates a render option named header that sets the Authorization header on the request loading the destination URL. For example, the credentials foo:bar encode to Zm9vOmJhcg==, so the render option is Authorization=Basic Zm9vOmJhcg==. Use credentials for a site you are authorized to access, not the guide’s illustrative values.
The header option is documented as requiring a HiFi plan. Confirm the plan on the Urlbox account used for the capture includes it. See Urlbox’s guide to screenshots behind a login and the render-options documentation.
Encode the complete credential pair
- Join the username and password with one colon:
username:password. - Base64-encode that entire string, including the colon.
- Prefix the encoded result with
Basic. - Pass the resulting value as the destination
Authorizationheader through Urlbox’sheaderrender option.
Base64 is an encoding, not encryption. Anyone who obtains the encoded value can decode it, so keep it secret and send requests over HTTPS.
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Keep Urlbox API authentication separate
The API request itself uses your Urlbox project secret as a Bearer token in its HTTP Authorization header. The destination’s Basic credential goes inside the render options. Do not substitute one for the other: the Bearer token authorizes the caller to Urlbox, while the Basic header authorizes Urlbox’s page request to the target site. See Urlbox’s API documentation.
Runnable cURL example
This example requests a full-page capture of Urlbox’s documented illustrative endpoint. Replace the destination and Basic value with your own authorized target and credentials, and replace the API secret with your project secret.
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curl -X POST "https://api.urlbox.com/v1/render/sync"
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_URLBOX_SECRET"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-d '{
"url": "https://httpbin.org/basic-auth/foo/bar",
"header": "Authorization=Basic Zm9vOmJhcg==",
"full_page": true
}'
-o screenshot.pngThe example encodes foo:bar; it is not a credential to use against an unrelated site. The guide’s example specifies full_page as true. For your own capture, use the destination URL and header value appropriate to the target.
If the site uses a login form, use cookies instead
HTTP Basic Authentication usually triggers the browser’s built-in username-and-password prompt. A page with a normal HTML login form is different: the site generally establishes a session after login and identifies it with cookies. In that case, copying the relevant session cookies and passing them with Urlbox’s documented cookie option is generally the appropriate route; the Basic Authorization header will not create a logged-in form session. A target may instead support a token in a URL parameter or an Authorization header, but only use those methods if the site itself accepts them. Urlbox’s guide discusses these alternatives and its cookie option.
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Choose the capture mode for the page
For a full-page screenshot, set full_page: true. Urlbox documents two full-page modes: stitch, the default and accuracy-oriented mode, and native, a faster option that may not work well on every site. Prefer stitch when fidelity across the full page matters; consider native when speed matters and you have confirmed it works for the page. See Urlbox’s screenshot documentation.
Security and reliability checks
- Only capture pages you are authorized to access, and use HTTPS for both the API call and target page.
- Do not expose the Urlbox secret or target credentials in client-side code, source control, logs, or shared command history.
- If you control the destination and can change its accepted credentials, Urlbox’s guide recommends a rotating temporary token in an Authorization header rather than relying on a permanent password. Avoid URL parameters for credentials because URLs may be logged.
- Before building a workflow around the header option, confirm the account plan entitlement and test against an authorized page; Urlbox lists a HiFi plan requirement for this option.
Troubleshooting
- The destination returns an authentication error: Check that you encoded the whole
username:passwordstring, included the colon, used the right case and credentials, and prefixed the encoded value withBasic. - Urlbox rejects or ignores the header option: Confirm that the account used for rendering includes the documented HiFi-plan header option and that the render request uses the documented option format.
- The page still looks logged out: Determine whether it uses a form-based session rather than HTTP Basic Authentication. Log in through the site’s normal flow and provide the relevant session cookies, or use an authentication mechanism the site explicitly supports.
- The image is not a complete or accurate full-page capture: Confirm
full_pageis enabled. If usingnative, try the defaultstitchmode, which Urlbox describes as designed for accuracy. - Credentials appear in logs or history: Treat exposed credentials as compromised, rotate them, and move secret handling to a secure server-side environment. Base64 alone does not protect them.
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Example request (see the ScreenshotNeo API documentation):
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://httpbin.org/basic-auth/foo/bar -o shot.webpScreenshotNeo’s documented request accepts a URL and returns a screenshot or PDF; this example does not configure HTTP Basic Authentication credentials for the target. For a protected destination, confirm the authentication options in its documentation before relying on it for that page. ScreenshotNeo’s free plan includes 1,000 shots per month with no card required; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Base64 encrypt a Basic Authentication password?
No. Base64 is reversible encoding, so anyone who obtains the value can recover the username and password.
Can I use Urlbox’s Basic header for every logged-in website?
No. It applies to sites that accept HTTP Basic Authentication. Form-based logins commonly require session cookies instead.
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