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How to Debug Missing Screenshots in an Argos CI Build

Find out whether an Argos screenshot was never captured, skipped during upload, blocked by authentication or file selection, or received without a matching baseline.
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When screenshots are missing from an Argos CI build, first determine which stage failed: the test may not have captured an Argos snapshot, the reporter may not have uploaded it, authentication or file selection may have blocked the upload, or Argos may have received a screenshot that does not match a baseline. Check those stages in order rather than changing configuration at random. The exact cause depends on your framework, workflow, and logs.

Start by locating the break in the pipeline

Separate the problem into three observable states: whether the screenshot file exists in the CI workspace, whether an Argos build received an upload, and whether the uploaded screenshot matches a baseline. A missing file points toward test execution or capture; a file without an Argos upload points toward reporter, authentication, or file-selection configuration; an uploaded image absent from the expected comparison may be an unmatched snapshot or a missing baseline.

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  1. Inspect the CI test command, its exit status, filters, and test output.
  2. Check whether the expected screenshot file exists in the job workspace, and note its exact path and extension.
  3. Open the Argos build for the same commit and branch. Check whether a build was created and whether it shows uploaded screenshots, an upload error, or an unmatched image.

Confirm the test captured an Argos screenshot

For Playwright using Argos’s documented helper, confirm the test calls argosScreenshot(page, "name"). The Playwright quickstart says the helper writes screenshots to ./screenshots by default. Check the configured output directory if your project overrides it. See the Argos Playwright Quickstart for its framework-specific setup.

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Do not confuse Playwright’s failure screenshot option with an Argos visual snapshot. In the quickstart, screenshot: "only-on-failure" and trace: "on-first-retry" are debugging settings; the example separately configures the Argos reporter and calls the Argos screenshot helper. A failure-only Playwright artifact does not by itself establish that an Argos snapshot was captured.

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Check the Argos reporter and CI condition

In the Playwright example, the reporter list includes @argos-ci/playwright/reporter, with options created using createArgosReporterOptions({ uploadToArgos: !!process.env.CI }). Verify the reporter is present alongside any existing reporters and that the process running tests actually receives CI. A project-specific override may also disable upload.

That configuration is a Playwright example, not a universal setting for every Argos integration. Argos’s JavaScript SDK repository lists packages for Playwright, Cypress, Puppeteer, WebdriverIO, Storybook, Vitest, CLI, and core; check the configuration for the package and version your framework uses: Argos JavaScript SDKs. The quickstart describes automatic upload when the reporter detects a CI environment, but do not assume every runner or custom environment is detected identically.

Verify authentication in the job that runs the tests

The Playwright quickstart uses ARGOS_TOKEN, set to the project token shown in Argos under Settings → General → Token. Confirm it is available to the exact CI job and step that runs the tests. Check your repository’s rules for forked pull requests or protected secrets if the variable is missing; secret availability depends on the CI provider and repository settings.

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The quickstart also documents GitHub Actions authentication using OIDC or tokenless authentication as alternatives to storing a secret. Follow Argos’s current instructions for that method rather than copying an assumed configuration: Playwright Quickstart and GitHub Actions example. Never print a token into public logs; record whether it is present without exposing its value.

Match the uploader’s root and file glob to CI output

If screenshots exist in the workspace but do not appear in Argos, compare the actual working directory, output path, extension, and glob with the uploader configuration. The @argos-ci/core example uses root: "./screenshots", files: ["**/*.png"], and defaults to process.env.ARGOS_TOKEN. These are example values: adjust them to the files your job actually produces.

import { upload } from "@argos-ci/core";

await upload({
  root: "./screenshots",
  files: ["**/*.png"],
});

Check whether your screenshots are nested below the root and whether they are PNGs rather than JPEGs or another format. A correct-looking glob can still select nothing if the process starts in a different directory than expected. The core SDK’s example and token behavior are documented at @argos-ci/core — Argos Node.js SDK.

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If you manage uploads directly, avoid treating the old standalone argos-cli repository as the default current route: that repository is marked deprecated and points to the JavaScript SDKs. Start with the current integration or SDK documentation for your framework.

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Distinguish an unmatched screenshot from a missing upload

An uploaded screenshot can appear as added rather than as a visual diff if Argos cannot find a same-name baseline. That means the image reached Argos, but there is no matching earlier image to compare. The fallback-baseline guide documents ordered baseName values: Argos tries the screenshot’s own name first, then a fallback name.

For example, a new variant can use its own name and then the established snapshot name as fallback. Once the variant has a baseline, its own name can match first. For SDK-free metadata uploads, the guide uses transient.baseName; names include extensions and, for Playwright projects, can include a project prefix such as chromium/home.png. Inspect the mapping on the build page when the intended fallback is not being used.

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Also check that a build has completed on the default branch. Argos requires a default-branch build before pull request builds have a baseline; without one, PR builds are marked orphan. This is a baseline issue, not proof that the test failed to capture a screenshot.

Use a focused troubleshooting checklist

  • No file in CI: Check that the intended test ran, was not filtered out, completed the capture call, and wrote to the expected location.
  • File exists, but no Argos build or upload: Check reporter registration, the CI upload condition, authentication availability, and upload logs.
  • Build exists, but expected files are absent: Compare the upload root, working directory, extensions, and glob with the actual workspace contents.
  • Image is present but has no matched diff: Check its snapshot name, project prefix, fallback names, and whether the default branch has established a baseline.

Before changing settings, preserve the evidence that distinguishes those cases. For a useful support or debugging report, record the commit and branch, CI provider and job, test framework and SDK version, test command and exit status, whether files exist and their paths and extensions, reporter and upload settings, token presence without its value, upload logs, and the Argos build link and status.

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For a separate website-screenshot task, ScreenshotNeo offers a one-request API and an MCP server. It is not an Argos CI reporter or a fix for a broken Argos upload. A basic capture looks like this:

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Playwright’s `screenshot: “only-on-failure”` setting upload a screenshot to Argos?

No. The Argos Playwright example uses a separate Argos reporter and `argosScreenshot` call for its visual snapshots.

What information should I include when asking for help with a missing Argos screenshot?

Share the CI job and commit, framework and SDK version, test command and result, file paths and extensions, reporter and upload configuration, token availability without the token itself, upload logs, and Argos build status.

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