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Call driver.save_screenshot("path.png") while the WebDriver session is still running. The method captures the current browser window, returns True when the PNG is written, and returns False for an I/O failure. In a pytest suite, run that call from a failure hook or fixture teardown before driver.quit(), use a unique writable filename, and publish the output directory as a CI artifact.
The direct Selenium operation
Selenium’s Python WebDriver API saves the current window to a PNG file:
ok = driver.save_screenshot("artifacts/login_test.png")
if not ok:
raise OSError("Screenshot could not be written")The argument should be a complete path ending in .png. This is a viewport screenshot of the current browser window, not an automatic full-page capture. A full-page image requires a separate browser-specific implementation.
A safe helper for failure artifacts
Centralizing directory creation, naming, and error checking keeps the failure path reliable:
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from pathlib import Path
def save_failure_screenshot(driver, test_name: str, output_dir="artifacts") -> Path:
directory = Path(output_dir)
directory.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
path = directory / f"{test_name}.png"
ok = driver.save_screenshot(str(path))
if not ok:
raise OSError(f"Could not write screenshot: {path}")
return pathCall the helper before the test’s driver is closed. The returned Path can be logged or attached to a test report.
Prevent collisions in parallel runs
Two workers writing test_checkout.png can overwrite one another. Include a sanitized test identifier, pytest node ID, worker ID, or another run-specific value in the filename. Keep path components filesystem-safe: replace slashes, brackets, spaces, and other punctuation that your CI worker does not accept. If the same test can retry, add an attempt number so each failure remains available.
Pytest: capture only when a test fails
A fixture can yield the driver, inspect the test outcome during teardown, take the image, and then quit the browser. The crucial ordering is capture first, quit second.
import re
from pathlib import Path
import pytest
from selenium import webdriver
def safe_name(value: str) -> str:
return re.sub(r"[^A-Za-z0-9_.-]+", "_", value)
@pytest.fixture
def driver(request, tmp_path):
browser = webdriver.Chrome()
yield browser
# Teardown runs while the browser session still exists.
outcome = getattr(request.node, "rep_call", None)
if outcome is not None and outcome.failed:
name = safe_name(request.node.nodeid)
directory = Path("artifacts") / "screenshots"
directory.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
path = directory / f"{name}.png"
if not browser.save_screenshot(str(path)):
raise OSError(f"Could not write screenshot: {path}")
browser.quit()
@pytest.hookimpl(hookwrapper=True)
def pytest_runtest_makereport(item, call):
outcome = yield
report = outcome.get_result()
setattr(item, f"rep_{report.when}", report)The pytest_runtest_makereport hook stores the report on the test item. The fixture checks rep_call, so setup and teardown errors are not treated as ordinary call failures by this example. If your suite must also capture setup or teardown errors, choose explicitly which report phases to include and ensure the driver exists for those phases.
Capture from a fixture you already own
If your project has a session, module, or class-scoped driver fixture, put the same outcome check in that fixture’s teardown rather than creating a second browser. Confirm that the fixture scope gives each failed test the correct driver state; a shared driver may have been changed by later steps or reset code.
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Use a pytest plugin instead
The pytest-screenshot-on-failure package documents a yielded Selenium WebDriver fixture. Its command is:
python3 -m pytest /tests --save_screenshotsBy default it writes to a screenshots directory. Set a different directory with:
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python3 -m pytest /tests --save_screenshots --screenshots_dir=ci_screenshotsA plugin is convenient when its fixture and lifecycle conventions match your suite. A custom hook is the better fit when you need a particular filename, metadata, directory layout, or an existing WebDriver fixture. The pytest plugin index also lists pytest-selenium-auto among Selenium-related screenshot plugins; verify a plugin’s current compatibility with your Selenium and pytest versions before adopting it.
Capturing bytes or Base64 instead of a file
When an HTML report or artifact service accepts data in memory, Selenium can return the image without first writing it to disk:
png_bytes = driver.get_screenshot_as_png()
import base64
png_base64 = driver.get_screenshot_as_base64()get_screenshot_as_png() returns PNG bytes. get_screenshot_as_base64() returns Base64 text that can be embedded in an HTML report or sent to an artifact service. You still need to perform the call before the session is quit, and you should handle upload or report errors separately from browser capture errors.
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Make the screenshot useful in CI
Create and publish a deterministic directory
- Create the directory before capture; a missing or unwritable parent directory causes the save operation to fail.
- Keep screenshots under the CI system’s artifact path, such as
artifacts/screenshots, rather than a temporary location that is discarded with the worker. - Log the exact path and the test node ID so a failed report can be matched to its image.
- Configure your CI job to upload that directory even when tests fail. Artifact upload commonly needs an “always run” or equivalent condition.
Wait for the state you want to diagnose
A failure screenshot reflects the instant of the call. If an assertion fails before an animation, redirect, or error message finishes, the image may be misleading. Add an explicit Selenium wait for the relevant state in the test itself; do not add a blind delay to every failure unless the application genuinely needs it. A screenshot cannot show content that was never loaded into the current window.
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Images can contain account names, tokens displayed by a test page, customer data, or internal URLs. Restrict artifact permissions and retention, and mask sensitive content in the test environment where possible. Treat screenshots as test output, not as disposable console text.
Common failures and fixes
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
save_screenshot returns False |
The path is invalid, the parent directory is absent, or the worker cannot write there. | Create the directory, use an absolute or known CI-relative path, check permissions, and fail loudly when the Boolean is false. |
InvalidSessionIdException or a closed-session error |
The capture runs after driver.quit() or after the browser crashed. |
Move capture earlier in teardown. Do not call quit() in a fixture finalizer that runs before your failure hook. |
| No image for an assertion failure | The pytest report was not stored on the item, or the fixture checks the wrong report phase. | Install the pytest_runtest_makereport hook, check rep_call, and decide whether setup and teardown reports also need coverage. |
| Images overwrite one another | Parallel workers or retries use the same filename. | Include the node ID, worker ID, and attempt number after sanitizing them for the filesystem. |
| The file exists locally but not in CI | The directory is outside the artifact configuration or upload runs only on success. | Write beneath the configured artifact directory and make the upload step run on failed jobs too. |
| The screenshot is blank or shows an old page | Capture happened before navigation, rendering, or an expected state transition completed. | Wait for a URL, element, or application state that proves the page is ready, then capture in the failure path. |
| Only the visible viewport is present | The standard Selenium screenshot is a current-window capture. | Use a browser-specific full-page technique if a full document image is a requirement; do not label the ordinary result full-page. |
Performance, reliability, and cost considerations
Taking one PNG only after a failure avoids adding screenshot work to every passing test. The image still consumes disk space and upload time, especially at a high device scale factor or when many workers fail together. Set retention appropriate to your debugging window and monitor artifact-size limits. If you capture Base64 for a report, remember that the encoded representation is larger than the raw PNG and remains in memory until the report is processed.
A screenshot is diagnostic evidence, not proof of the underlying cause. Preserve the exception, stack trace, browser and driver logs, URL, and test node ID alongside it. Those records explain whether the visible state came from an application defect, a synchronization problem, a browser crash, or an environment outage.
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo provides a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers. A single request can capture a URL as PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF without maintaining a Selenium browser in your test job. For API details, see the ScreenshotNeo documentation.
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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.webpimport requests
r = requests.get("https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot", params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"}, timeout=90)
r.raise_for_status()
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);Before capture, ScreenshotNeo accepts the cookie or consent banner like a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each cleanup step can be turned off. Bot checks and CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and every response identifies the page verdict and billing status with X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers. Its MCP server exposes take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf to Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.
The service also supports full-page captures with lazy images loaded, CSS-selector element capture, dark mode, 12 device presets or a custom viewport, retina scale, PDF paper sizes and page ranges, HTML/CSS rendering, custom JavaScript and CSS, pre-capture clicks, selector hiding, waits for a selector, delay, or network idle, request and resource blocking, custom headers, cookies, user agents and Authorization, timezone and geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, chosen-TTL caching, signed links, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call, a usage API, and an OpenAPI specification. Parameter names used by other screenshot APIs also work, which can simplify a migration.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.FAQ
Does Selenium save a screenshot as JPEG?
The Python methods described here write PNG output. Convert the bytes with an image-processing tool afterward if another format is required.
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Only if another valid window in the same session remains and the driver session is still usable. For failure evidence, capture before closing or quitting the browser.
Should every passing test get a screenshot?
Usually not. Failure-only capture limits runtime, storage, and CI upload overhead while preserving the state that needs investigation.
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What if the browser never starts?
There is no WebDriver window to capture when startup fails. Preserve the startup exception and driver or browser logs; use URL-level capture only when the page can be reached independently of that failed browser session.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Selenium save a screenshot as JPEG?
The Python methods described here write PNG output. Convert the bytes with an image-processing tool afterward if another format is required.
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Can I capture a screenshot after calling driver.close()?
Only if another valid window in the same session remains and the driver session is still usable. For failure evidence, capture before closing or quitting the browser.
Should every passing test get a screenshot?
Usually not. Failure-only capture limits runtime, storage, and CI upload overhead while preserving the state that needs investigation.
What if the browser never starts?
There is no WebDriver window to capture when startup fails. Preserve the startup exception and driver or browser logs; use URL-level capture only when the page can be reached independently of that failed browser session.
The Bottom Line
For Python Selenium, save the current window with driver.save_screenshot(path) before quitting the driver, check its Boolean result, use collision-safe names, and publish the directory as a CI artifact. A pytest hook gives precise control; the plugin is simpler when its fixture conventions fit.
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