screenshot
Captures desktop, window, or region with configurable detail levels and background modes to ground click coordinates, verify state changes, and inspect UIA-blind or hidden windows.
Instructions
Purpose: Capture desktop, window, or region across detail levels (meta / text / image / som / ocr) and capture modes (normal / background). Details: detail='meta' (default) returns window titles+positions only (~20 tok/window, no image). detail='text' returns UIA actionable elements with clickAt coords, no image (~100-300 tok). detail='som' returns OCR-detected elements with IDs plus a Set-of-Marks annotated image delivered by-ref by default (bypasses UIA entirely). detail='ocr' returns Windows OCR words with screen-pixel clickAt coords (Phase 4: absorbs former screenshot_ocr — use when UIA is sparse and you want to force OCR unconditionally). detail='image' and detail='som' both return a cheap by-ref resource_link by default (no inline base64); pass confirmImage=true to also embed the inline image (the annotated bitmap for som). mode='background' captures the window itself, hidden/minimised/occluded too — from its composition surface (WGC) when it can, else via PrintWindow (Phase 4: absorbs former screenshot_background) — pair with windowTitle/hwnd. dotByDot=true returns 1:1 pixel WebP; compute screen coords: screen_x = origin_x + image_x (or screen_x = origin_x + image_x / scale when dotByDotMaxDimension is set — scale printed in response); a WGC frame's origin is the window's visible frame, and when that cannot be read it prints none. diffMode=true returns only changed windows after the first call (~160 tok). region={x,y,width,height} captures a sub-rectangle (Phase 4: absorbs former scope_element when paired with windowTitle/hwnd — discover element bounds via desktop_discover, then pass region here). Data reduction: grayscale=true (−50%), dotByDotMaxDimension=1280 (caps longest edge), windowTitle+region (sub-crop to exclude browser chrome — e.g. region={x:0, y:120, width:1920, height:900}). Prefer: Use meta to orient, text before clicking, dotByDot only when precise pixel coords are needed. Use detail='som' for native apps or games that do not expose UIA elements (UIA-Blind). Use detail='ocr' for OCR-only (skip UIA entirely). Use mode='background' when the target window must stay hidden or cannot be brought to foreground. Prefer browser_* tools for Chrome. Use diffMode after actions to confirm state changed. Only use image+confirmImage when text returned 0 actionable elements and visual inspection is genuinely required. Caveats: Default mode scales to maxDimension=768 — image pixels ≠ screen pixels; apply the scale formula before passing to mouse_click. Foreground detail='image' returns a by-ref resource_link by default; pass confirmImage=true to also receive inline pixels. diffMode requires a prior full-capture baseline (non-diff call or workspace_snapshot) — calling diffMode cold returns a full frame, not a diff. mode='background' requires windowTitle or hwnd, and only composes with detail in {'image','meta'} — detail='text'/'som'/'ocr' run only against foreground capture (the dispatcher rejects the conflicting combination). Passing mode='background' is itself the acknowledgement that image pixels are wanted, so confirmImage is NOT required for it (matches the former screenshot_background contract). fullContent=false enables legacy mode (faster but GPU windows may be black). detail='ocr' requires windowTitle or hwnd; first call may take ~1s (WinRT cold-start) and the matching OCR language pack must be installed. Examples: screenshot() → meta orientation of all windows screenshot({detail:'text', windowTitle:'Notepad'}) → clickable elements with coords screenshot({detail:'ocr', windowTitle:'PDF', ocrLanguage:'ja'}) → OCR words with screen-pixel coords screenshot({mode:'background', windowTitle:'Chrome', dotByDot:true, dotByDotMaxDimension:1280, grayscale:true}) → background-capture pixel-accurate Chrome screenshot({windowTitle:'Notepad', region:{x:0,y:120,width:600,height:400}}) → cropped sub-region (zoom into element after desktop_discover)
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| hwnd | No | Direct window handle ID (takes precedence over windowTitle). Obtain from desktop_discover (windows[].hwnd). String type to avoid 64-bit precision issues. | |
| mode | No | Capture mode. 'normal' — default. Window-targeted captures (windowTitle / hwnd) use Win32 PrintWindow; when it returns no data or an all-black frame, the window's composition surface (WGC) is tried next if the window is visible on the current desktop (not minimised or cloaked), and BitBlt last. The route used is reported in hints.captureSource ('printwindow' | 'wgc' | 'bitblt-fallback'). Fullscreen / displayId captures use BitBlt. 'background' — a capture of the window itself, not of the screen: its composition surface (WGC) when it can be for a window visible on the current desktop (not minimised or cloaked) with fullContent, else Win32 PrintWindow. Requires windowTitle (or hwnd). Pair with fullContent for GPU-rendered apps. | normal |
| detail | No | Response detail level (omit to let the server pick a smart default): omitted — auto: 'image' when dotByDot/region/displayId is specified, else 'meta' 'meta' — window title + screen region only (~20 tok/window, cheapest) 'text' — UIA element tree as JSON with text values (~100-300 tok/window, no image) 'image' — actual screenshot pixels. Returns a cheap by-ref resource_link by default (no inline base64); pass confirmImage=true to ALSO embed the inline image. 'som' — Set-of-Marks elements + annotated image (bypasses UIA entirely). Returns the OCR elements[] plus a cheap by-ref resource_link by default (no inline base64); pass confirmImage=true to ALSO embed the annotated bitmap. 'ocr' — Windows OCR words with screen-pixel clickAt coords (Phase 4: absorbs former screenshot_ocr). Use when UIA returns no actionable elements (WinUI3 custom-drawn UIs, game overlays, PDF viewers). Note: detail='text' auto-falls back to OCR via ocrFallback='auto'; choose detail='ocr' only when forcing OCR unconditionally. | |
| region | No | Capture only this sub-region. Without windowTitle: virtual screen coordinates. With windowTitle: window-local coordinates — useful to exclude browser chrome (tabs/address bar). Example: windowTitle='Chrome', region={x:0, y:120, width:1920, height:900} skips the 120px browser chrome. | |
| include | No | Optional response-shape opt-in. `['envelope']` returns the self-documenting envelope (`_version` / `data` / `as_of` / `confidence`). `['raw']` forces raw shape (overrides DESKTOP_TOUCH_ENVELOPE=1 server default). Default behaviour is raw shape (compat with existing clients). | |
| diffMode | No | Layer diff mode — compares each window against the buffered previous frame. First call = full I-frame (all windows). Subsequent calls = only changed windows (P-frame). Implicitly enables dotByDot. Best used with windowTitle=undefined to snapshot all windows. | |
| dotByDot | No | 1:1 pixel mode — no scaling, WebP compression. Window captures include 'origin: (x,y)' so you can compute screen position: screen_x = origin_x + image_x. A frame from the window's composition surface (WGC: mode='background' with fullContent on a window visible on the current desktop — not minimised or cloaked — when it can be, or normal mode's rescue) starts at the window's visible frame, and its origin is that frame's corner; when the visible frame cannot be read, no origin is given — the text says so; use desktop_discover for coordinates. When dotByDotMaxDimension is also set, scale factor is included: screen_x = origin_x + image_x / scale. | |
| displayId | No | Capture a specific monitor (0 = primary). Use desktop_state({includeScreen:true}) to list displays. | |
| grayscale | No | Convert to grayscale before encoding. Reduces file size ~50% for text-heavy content (e.g. AWS console, code editors). Avoid when color is meaningful (charts, status indicators). | |
| fullContent | No | When mode='background', use PW_RENDERFULLCONTENT to capture GPU-rendered windows (Chrome, Electron, WinUI3). Default true. Set false for legacy mode (faster but GPU windows may appear black). Ignored unless mode='background'. | |
| ocrFallback | No | OCR fallback behaviour when detail='text'. 'auto' (default): fire Windows OCR if UIA returns 0 actionable elements OR hints.uiaSparse=true (UIA returned <5 elements, typical for Chrome). 'always': always augment actionable[] with OCR words. 'never': disable OCR entirely. | auto |
| ocrLanguage | No | BCP-47 language tag for the OCR engine (e.g. 'ja', 'en-US'). Auto-detects from system locale when omitted. Used when detail='text' (OCR fallback) or detail='ocr' (direct OCR). | |
| webpQuality | No | WebP quality when dotByDot=true or diffMode=true. 40=layout only, 60=general (default), 80=fine text. | |
| windowTitle | No | Capture only the window whose title contains this string. Use '@active' for the current foreground window. Prefer over full-screen when target window is known. | |
| confirmImage | No | Embed inline image pixels in the response. detail='image' now returns a cheap by-ref resource_link WITHOUT this flag (it is no longer blocked); confirmImage=true ADDITIONALLY embeds the inline image for immediate vision. detail='som' likewise returns its elements[] + a by-ref resource_link by default; confirmImage=true ADDITIONALLY inlines the annotated SoM bitmap. Prefer detail='text' / diffMode=true / dotByDot=true first — set confirmImage=true only when inline visual inspection is genuinely required. | |
| maxDimension | No | Max width or height in pixels (default 768). Use 1280 to read small text, code, or fine UI details. Ignored when dotByDot=true. | |
| preprocessPolicy | No | OCR preprocessing scale policy for detail='som' and OCR fallback paths. 'auto' (default): clamp scale to 1 on OOM (>8MP) or high-DPI (≥150%). 'aggressive': relaxes DPI clamp to 175%, preserving upscale on 150%-DPI monitors (e.g. Outlook PWA). Also auto-enables adaptive binarization. 'minimal': always scale=1 regardless of DPI/resolution. | auto |
| preprocessAdaptive | No | When true, apply Sauvola adaptive binarization after contrast stretch. Improves recognition of thin text on low-contrast or gradient backgrounds. Automatically enabled when preprocessPolicy='aggressive'. Requires Rust native engine; silently skipped otherwise. | |
| dotByDotMaxDimension | No | Cap the longest edge (pixels) when dotByDot=true. Reduces payload while preserving coordinate math. Example: 1280 on a 1920×1080 screen → scale≈0.667. Response includes scale factor: screen_x = origin_x + image_x / scale. Recommended for Chrome: dotByDot=true, dotByDotMaxDimension=1280, grayscale=true. |