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How to Schedule a Website Screenshot Every Week with Playwright

A practical JavaScript and GitHub Actions guide to capturing a full-page website screenshot every week, keeping it as an artifact, and handling scheduling and browser failures.
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Use a Playwright script to capture the page, then schedule it with a CI runner such as GitHub Actions. The workflow below runs every Monday at 07:30 UTC, saves a full-page PNG, and uploads it as a downloadable artifact. The same script can run on another CI provider with that provider’s scheduler.

What the weekly workflow does

Playwright opens a URL in Chromium and writes a screenshot to a file. GitHub Actions runs that script on a cron schedule and stores the image as a workflow artifact. This is a practical way to keep a dated sequence of captures without leaving a browser running on your own computer.

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The example uses JavaScript and Node.js. It assumes the target page does not require login and that its content is ready when network activity settles. If the site has long-running requests or dynamic content, replace that wait with a site-specific readiness condition.

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1. Add a Playwright screenshot script

In your repository, create scripts/screenshot.mjs:

// scripts/screenshot.mjs
import { chromium } from 'playwright';

const targetUrl = process.env.TARGET_URL;
if (!targetUrl) {
  throw new Error('TARGET_URL environment variable is required');
}

const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
try {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto(targetUrl, { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
  await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshots/site.png', fullPage: true });
} finally {
  await browser.close();
}

fullPage: true captures the page beyond the visible viewport. Remove it if you want only the initial viewport. The finally block closes Chromium even if navigation or capture fails, and the explicit URL check turns a missing configuration into a clear error.

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Choose a readiness condition that fits the page

networkidle is a useful starting point, not a universal definition of “ready.” A page with polling, analytics, or other ongoing requests may never reach network idle. If the page has a meaningful element that appears when the content is ready, wait for it instead—for example, after navigation use await page.locator('[data-ready="true"]').waitFor(), substituting a selector that actually exists on your target site.

2. Schedule the capture in GitHub Actions

Create .github/workflows/weekly-screenshot.yml:

name: Weekly website screenshot

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '30 7 * * 1' # Mondays at 07:30 UTC
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  screenshot:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: lts/*
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx playwright install --with-deps chromium
      - run: mkdir -p screenshots
      - run: node scripts/screenshot.mjs
        env:
          TARGET_URL: ${{ vars.TARGET_URL }}
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v5
        with:
          name: weekly-website-screenshot
          path: screenshots/site.png
          retention-days: 30

The cron expression uses POSIX cron syntax: minute 30, hour 7, every Monday. GitHub Actions uses UTC by default; its workflow syntax also supports an IANA timezone when you need a local schedule. workflow_dispatch adds a manual run option so you can check the setup before waiting for Monday.

The example uses the action versions shown here, but review and pin action versions in line with your repository’s security policy. Install the Chromium binary that matches the Playwright dependency in your project; Playwright browser binaries are tied to Playwright releases.

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Set the target URL

  1. Open the repository’s Settings.
  2. Under Secrets and variables, select Actions, then open the Variables tab.
  3. Select New repository variable, set the name to TARGET_URL, and enter the page URL as its value.
  4. Save the variable. The workflow passes it to the script as an environment variable.

A non-sensitive public URL can be a repository variable. If the URL contains sensitive information, or the capture needs credentials, use a protected secret and avoid printing it in workflow logs.

3. Run it and retrieve the image

  1. Commit the script and workflow file to the repository’s default branch. Scheduled workflows run the latest commit on that branch.
  2. In GitHub, open the repository’s Actions tab and select Weekly website screenshot.
  3. Select Run workflow to test it manually.
  4. When the run completes, open that run and download the weekly-website-screenshot artifact. It contains screenshots/site.png.

The YAML sets artifact retention to 30 days. If you remove that setting, GitHub documents a default retention period of 90 days, though repository or organization settings can override the default.

Authentication and private pages

For a page behind login, Playwright can reuse saved browser authentication state. That state may contain cookies and headers that allow someone to impersonate the account. Treat it like a credential: do not commit it to a public or private repository, and protect any copy stored for CI access. Authentication state can also expire, so a workflow may need a secure refresh process.

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Keep credentials in GitHub Actions secrets rather than in the script or workflow text. Restrict who can change workflows and access secrets according to your repository’s access policy.

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Scheduling, reliability, and cost considerations

  • It is not an exact-time alert. GitHub warns that scheduled runs can be delayed during periods of high workflow load. Use the schedule for a recurring capture, not a deadline-sensitive notification.
  • Public repositories need activity. GitHub disables scheduled workflows in public repositories after 60 days without repository activity. Check that a quiet repository’s schedule remains enabled.
  • Keep one screenshot job simple. A single capture does not benefit from test-suite parallelism. Playwright’s CI guidance recommends one worker in CI for stability and reproducibility.
  • Expect runner and artifact usage. The capture consumes a GitHub Actions job, and each retained artifact uses storage. Keep the artifact path limited to the image you need and choose a retention period appropriate to your review history.
  • Browser setup matters. A mismatch between the installed Playwright package and browser binaries can cause launch failures. Install Chromium with the project’s Playwright version in the workflow.
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Troubleshooting common failures

The workflow runs, but no screenshot artifact appears

Check the log for a failed capture step and confirm the script wrote screenshots/site.png. The workflow creates the directory before running the script and uploads that exact path; a different filename or directory means the artifact action has nothing to upload.

Navigation times out or waits forever

A page with continuous background requests may not become idle. Use a shorter navigation wait such as domcontentloaded followed by a wait for a meaningful selector, or choose another readiness condition appropriate to the site. For slow pages, set an explicit timeout based on the site rather than assuming network idle will occur.

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Chromium fails to launch in CI

Make sure the workflow installs the browser and operating-system dependencies with npx playwright install --with-deps chromium. Also confirm that the installed browser matches the Playwright version in the lockfile; update the dependency and browser installation together.

The screenshot is incomplete or mostly blank

The page may render important content after the chosen readiness event, or lazy-loaded images may appear only after scrolling. Wait for the relevant content or selector before capture. If the page requires consent, authentication, or interaction to reveal content, handle that state explicitly in the script.

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The Monday run did not happen

Confirm the workflow is on the repository’s default branch, check the cron expression and timezone, and inspect the Actions history for delayed or disabled runs. For public repositories, also consider GitHub’s 60-day inactivity disablement. Use the manual Run workflow option to verify the workflow independently of its schedule.

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Or skip the browser setup

If you do not want to maintain a browser installation and CI capture script, ScreenshotNeo provides a website screenshot API and MCP server. One GET request can return an image or PDF; the example below saves a WebP screenshot of a page. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options.

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 or consent banners like a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each cleanup step can be turned off. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers indicate the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server gives AI agents tools for taking screenshots, getting page information, and capturing PDFs. Plans include 1,000 shots a month free with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.

Sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month, with no card required.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I run the same Playwright capture on another CI provider?

Yes. Keep the Playwright script and replace the GitHub Actions workflow with that provider’s scheduler and artifact-storage configuration.

Can I schedule more than one weekly screenshot?

Yes. Add additional cron entries or separate workflows, and use distinct artifact names and output paths if you need to distinguish captures.

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