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Use Selenium’s await driver.takeScreenshot() to capture a PNG, then write the returned Base64 string to disk with Node’s fs/promises API and the base64 encoding. For test outcomes, use your test runner’s reporter or save a deliberate JSON summary; Selenium captures browser state, but it does not provide a test-results API. This guide covers both artifacts, safe filenames, cleanup, and CI handling.
What you need before you start
The examples use the Selenium JavaScript binding, the selenium-webdriver package, and Node.js. The Selenium JavaScript API documentation currently specifies Node.js 22 or newer; check its current requirements and your installed package before setting up a new environment: Selenium WebDriver JavaScript API. You also need a browser and its compatible WebDriver arrangement for the browser you intend to automate.
Install the binding in your project with npm install selenium-webdriver. The code below uses CommonJS. If your project uses ES modules, import the same APIs with import statements and ensure your project is configured for ESM; the filesystem APIs are available from node:fs/promises in either style.
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driver.takeScreenshot() resolves to a Base64-encoded PNG string. Decode it when writing: passing 'base64' as the write encoding stores image bytes, whereas treating the string as ordinary text creates a file that is not a usable PNG. Selenium’s API describes capture as best effort, preferring the entire page, then the current window, the visible part of the current frame, and finally the display containing the browser. The exact scope depends on browser, driver, and environment; do not assume the generic method always produces a full-page image. See the JavaScript API and Selenium’s window and tab examples.
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Runnable CommonJS example
This small script navigates, saves a screenshot, and quits the driver even if navigation or capture fails. It assumes Chrome is configured for Selenium in your environment.
const { Builder, Browser } = require('selenium-webdriver');
const { writeFile, mkdir } = require('node:fs/promises');
const path = require('node:path');
async function saveScreenshot(driver, filePath) {
const base64Png = await driver.takeScreenshot();
await mkdir(path.dirname(filePath), { recursive: true });
await writeFile(filePath, base64Png, 'base64');
}
(async () => {
const driver = await new Builder().forBrowser(Browser.CHROME).build();
try {
await driver.get('https://example.com');
await saveScreenshot(driver, path.join('artifacts', 'example.png'));
} finally {
await driver.quit();
}
})();The Node filesystem API supports promise-based writes and directory creation. Await each write so errors are observable and later steps do not race the file operation. See Node.js v22 file-system documentation.
Wait for the state you want to capture
Capture after the page has reached the state that matters: navigation completion alone may not mean an asynchronously rendered component or image is ready. Prefer an explicit condition, such as waiting for a known element, using Selenium’s wait support, rather than adding an arbitrary sleep. Selenium’s API documents the driver and wait methods at the JavaScript API reference. Take the screenshot before calling driver.quit().
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For focused evidence—such as a chart or a failing component—Selenium documents element screenshots. For example, after locating the element, call await element.takeScreenshot(true) to obtain its Base64 screenshot data and write it with the same 'base64' encoding. Element capture is useful when the surrounding page is irrelevant, but the resulting image is limited to that element rather than the whole page. Selenium’s examples show this pattern in its window and tab documentation.
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Save screenshots from a test failure
Selenium does not automatically take a screenshot when an assertion fails. Your test framework or runner must provide a hook that can access both the failing test and the active driver. In that hook, create the artifact directory, capture the image, and give it a unique path derived from a sanitized test identifier plus a timestamp or worker identifier. Adapt the hook to your runner; there is no single universal hook API.
A helper can centralize the actual capture and file write:
const { writeFile, mkdir } = require('node:fs/promises');
const path = require('node:path');
async function captureToFile(driver, filePath) {
const base64Png = await driver.takeScreenshot();
await mkdir(path.dirname(filePath), { recursive: true });
await writeFile(filePath, base64Png, 'base64');
return filePath;
}Call the helper in the failure path while the browser session still exists. If capture or writing also fails, report that artifact error separately and preserve the original test exception. Otherwise a secondary screenshot problem can obscure the failure you were trying to diagnose. This behavior is your hook’s responsibility, not an automatic Selenium feature.
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Test titles can contain slashes, punctuation, or characters that are awkward in filenames. Sanitize the title and include a time or worker component; do not let parallel tests overwrite one shared failure.png. For example:
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function safeName(value) {
return value.replace(/[^a-z0-9_-]+/gi, '-').replace(/^-+|-+$/g, '').slice(0, 100) || 'test';
}
const fileName = `${safeName(testTitle)}-${Date.now()}-${workerId}.png`;
const screenshotPath = path.join('artifacts', fileName);
await captureToFile(driver, screenshotPath);Choose an identifier source appropriate to your runner. A timestamp helps distinguish retries; a worker or process identifier helps separate concurrent workers. Avoid storing sensitive page content in artifacts unless your project’s access and retention controls permit it.
Persist test results separately from screenshots
A screenshot is an image artifact, not a test result. Let the selected test runner report pass/fail outcomes, titles, durations, and errors in the format its consumers need. Alternatively, write an intentional JSON summary from your hook or test harness. Mocha, for example, documents a JSON reporter; reporter availability and configuration should be checked for the Mocha version in your project: Mocha JSON reporter documentation.
Write a deliberate JSON summary
For a small custom summary, decide which fields downstream users need, then serialize those fields rather than trying to dump a driver or framework object. The following is an illustrative pattern, not a format Selenium guarantees:
const { writeFile, mkdir } = require('node:fs/promises');
const path = require('node:path');
async function saveResultSummary(resultPath, resultSummary) {
await mkdir(path.dirname(resultPath), { recursive: true });
await writeFile(resultPath, JSON.stringify(resultSummary, null, 2), 'utf8');
}
const resultSummary = {
runId,
testTitle,
status: 'failed',
error: error.message,
stack: error.stack,
screenshotPath,
timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
};
await saveResultSummary(path.join('artifacts', 'test-result.json'), resultSummary);Populate values such as duration, browser capabilities, build identifier, or retry number only when your runner or harness actually supplies them. For a suite, a runner reporter is usually more suitable than having every parallel test overwrite a shared JSON file.
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Choose a file layout that matches how results are consumed
- One file per test: Keeps screenshots and summaries easy to associate and avoids concurrent writes to one path, at the cost of more artifact files.
- Runner-generated report: Uses the runner’s supported format and metadata; configure it for the runner version and CI consumer.
- One aggregated JSON file: Convenient for downstream processing, but collect records safely and write the aggregate once, or use deliberate coordination. Do not issue overlapping writes to the same destination.
Node warns that repeated writeFile operations on the same file are unsafe unless a prior promise has settled. Use separate paths for parallel tests, await writes, or aggregate in memory and write once. The warning and API details are in the Node.js file-system documentation.
Make artifacts useful in local and CI runs
Create a known artifact directory before saving files, as the examples do with recursive mkdir. Keep screenshots and summaries under a path your test process can write to, and make the location available to your reporter or CI job. Local runs can inspect these files directly; a CI job generally needs a separate platform-specific artifact upload step for the directory.
Artifact upload and retention are CI configuration, not Selenium behavior. Configure your CI provider to upload the directory even when tests fail if you need failure evidence, and set retention according to that provider’s controls and your project’s data policy. There is no universal CI directory convention or retention period established by Selenium or Node.
Common problems and fixes
- The .png file contains unreadable text or cannot be opened: The Base64 string was probably written without decoding. Pass
'base64'towriteFile, as in the examples. - The screenshot path does not exist: Create its parent directory first with
mkdir(path.dirname(filePath), { recursive: true }); verify the process has permission to write there. - The screenshot is blank or shows an earlier state: Wait for the specific page condition or element that should be visible before capture. An arbitrary delay can be unreliable; use Selenium’s explicit wait facilities.
- The result is not a full-page image: The generic screenshot method makes a best effort across possible scopes and does not universally promise full-page capture. Verify the behavior with the target browser and driver if full-page output is required.
- A screenshot failure hides the assertion failure: Catch and report artifact errors separately while retaining the original exception and stack.
- Parallel tests overwrite one another’s artifacts: Include sanitized test identity and a timestamp or worker identifier in paths; avoid shared filenames.
- JSON is missing tests or is malformed: Do not let concurrent tests replace or append to a shared file without coordination. Use the runner’s reporter or collect results and write one completed summary.
- No artifact appears in CI: A local file write does not upload a file. Check the CI job’s artifact collection path, failure behavior, and retention settings for that specific platform.
- The browser remains open after a failure: Put
await driver.quit()in afinallyblock so cleanup runs on both success and error paths.
Or skip the browser setup
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can Selenium save a screenshot directly as a file?
The JavaScript binding returns Base64 PNG data; write that data to a file with Base64 decoding, as shown above.
Does Selenium save test results along with screenshots?
No. The selected test runner or your own harness owns result reporting; Selenium’s screenshot API captures browser imagery.
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