Video Capture API
Website video Capture API
Capture short web page videos for animations, loading states, bug reports, product demos, and release notes. Use the same API and pricing model as screenshots: a successful video uses its requested duration in seconds from the shared usage pool.
Formats
Video captures return MP4, WebM, or animated GIF. Still image captures return PNG, JPEG, or WebP.
Duration
Choose a recording duration up to 60 seconds. Capture is synchronous, so allow additional response time for page loading, encoding, and upload.
Pricing
Each requested video second counts as one usage unit. After free usage, the first 2,000 billable units cost €0.008 each; billable units 2,001+ cost €0.005 each.
Existing output example
Animated GIF Capture
This checked-in 1920 × 1033 animated GIF is an example of the video Capture output already used on the Scrnify homepage. Choose MP4 or WebM for video-file output, or GIF when the destination accepts an inline animated image.
Checked-in output files
Compare three real video encodings
MP4, WebM, and animated GIF files below use the same three-second visual source. Open controls or download a file to inspect its native format.
Gallery media was generated locally for deterministic format proof, not returned by a live customer API request.
Five-second MP4
scrnify capture https://example.com \
--type video \
--format mp4 \
--duration 5Success prints the generated asset URL. Download or pass that URL to the next step in your workflow.
Usage examples
- 5 billable video seconds
- 0.040 EUR
- 10 billable video seconds
- 0.080 EUR
These examples start with your first billable unit. See graduated pricing.
Current limits and workflow boundary
Video Capture supports recording durations up to 60 seconds. Requests return synchronously after page loading, recording, encoding, and upload, so client timeouts must allow more time than the requested recording duration. There is no async video job.
Scrnify records a URL reachable from its hosted browser after the configured page lifecycle wait. It does not perform login steps, scripted clicks, typing, or test assertions. Keep Playwright or Puppeteer for interaction-heavy, authenticated, private-network, and long-running browser workflows.
Response contract
Asset redirect or JSON URL
Default output returns 307 Temporary Redirect with the video asset URL in Location. For a new capture, output=json returns {"request_id":"…","file":"https://…"}. Cache hits always redirect, even when JSON was requested.
Request example
Five-second WebM as JSON
GET /capture?key=YOUR_API_KEY
&url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com
&type=video&format=webm
&duration=5&output=jsonVideo API FAQ
Decision questions
Which video formats are delivered?
The capture implementation encodes MP4 with H.264, WebM with VP9, or animated GIF.
How long can a recording be?
Duration defaults to one second and supports up to 60 seconds. Because Capture is synchronous, allow additional response time for page loading, encoding, and upload.
How is a video billed?
Each requested video second is one unit from the shared screenshot-and-video pool. After free usage, graduated rates are €0.008 for each of the first 2,000 billable units and €0.005 for each billable unit above 2,000. Successful cache hits and failures use no units.
Can it record clicks or a login flow?
No. Scrnify records a reachable URL after its lifecycle wait. Use Playwright or Puppeteer for scripted actions, authentication, assertions, and long-running workflows.