How to Capture Screenshots with an API in Node.js, Python, and Go

Prerequisites

You'll need two things:

1. A PageBolt API key — sign up free (takes 10 seconds, no credit card)
2. An HTTP client in your language of choice (we'll use fetch, requests, and net/http)

Step 1: Your First Screenshot (cURL)

The fastest way to test is with cURL. This captures example.com as a PNG:

curl -X POST https://pagebolt.dev/api/v1/screenshot \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}' \
  -o screenshot.png

That's it. You now have a pixel-perfect screenshot of example.com. The default format is PNG at 1280×720 viewport.

Step 2: Node.js Example

import { writeFile } from 'fs/promises';

const res = await fetch('https://pagebolt.dev/api/v1/screenshot', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'x-api-key': process.env.PAGEBOLT_KEY,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: 'https://your-site.com',
    format: 'webp',
    viewportDevice: 'macbook_pro_14',
    darkMode: true,
    blockBanners: true,
    blockAds: true,
  }),
});

const buffer = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer());
await writeFile('screenshot.webp', buffer);
console.log(`Screenshot saved: ${buffer.length} bytes`);

Step 3: Python Example

import requests
import os

response = requests.post(
    'https://pagebolt.dev/api/v1/screenshot',
    headers={
        'x-api-key': os.environ['PAGEBOLT_KEY'],
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'url': 'https://your-site.com',
        'format': 'webp',
        'viewportDevice': 'macbook_pro_14',
        'darkMode': True,
        'blockBanners': True,
        'blockAds': True,
    },
)

with open('screenshot.webp', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)
print(f'Screenshot saved: {len(response.content)} bytes')

Step 4: Go Example

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "encoding/json"
    "io"
    "net/http"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    body, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{
        "url":            "https://your-site.com",
        "format":         "webp",
        "viewportDevice": "macbook_pro_14",
        "darkMode":       true,
        "blockBanners":   true,
    })

    req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST",
        "https://pagebolt.dev/api/v1/screenshot",
        bytes.NewReader(body))
    req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("PAGEBOLT_KEY"))
    req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

    resp, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    out, _ := os.Create("screenshot.webp")
    defer out.Close()
    io.Copy(out, resp.Body)
}

Step 5: Add Screenshot Styling

PageBolt can wrap your screenshot in beautiful style themes — macOS window frames, gradient backgrounds, shadows — in the same API call. Just add a style object:

{
  "url": "https://your-site.com",
  "format": "webp",
  "style": {
    "theme": "ocean"
  }
}

// Or customize individually:
{
  "url": "https://your-site.com",
  "style": {
    "frame": "macos",
    "background": "lavender",
    "shadow": "xl",
    "padding": 48,
    "borderRadius": 16
  }
}

There are 18 built-in themes to choose from. Preview them all in our interactive playground.

Advanced Options

The screenshot API supports 30+ parameters. Here are the most useful ones:

• viewportDevice — 25+ presets: "iphone_15_pro", "macbook_pro_16", "galaxy_s24", etc.
• selector — Capture a specific element: "#hero", ".pricing-table"
• fullPage: true — Capture the entire scrollable page
• darkMode: true — Force prefers-color-scheme: dark
• blockBanners: true — Remove cookie consent popups
• blockAds: true — Remove ads from the page
• blockChats: true — Remove Intercom, Drift, etc.
• delay: 2000 — Wait 2 seconds before capturing (for animations)
• injectCss — Inject custom CSS before capture
• extractMetadata: true — Get page title, OG tags, etc. alongside the screenshot

See the full API reference for all options.