Caching

Note

Screenshots are not cached by default.

Caching is free and available for all plans. However, it is not intended to be used in CDN-like scenarios. It is for you to save costs on rendering.

To use cache, the only option you need to set is cache=true:

https://api.screenshotone.com/screenshot?url=https://example.com&cache=true

Check out more cache options.

And the screenshot will be cached for 4 hours by default or if you specify the cache_ttl option in seconds, you can prolong the cache time up to one month.

Caching is available for all rendering methods.

When to use cache

The best usage of cache is to make rendering less expensive and faster, in case if you plan to render a lot of similar websites.

Cache key

Screenshots are cached by the combination of all specified request options. And the cache_key option allows having different cached versions of the same screenshot.

Impact on rendering quota

Cached screenshots are not counted by quota and are not logged anywhere. They are served directly from the cache. Screenshots are cached in a combination of Cloudflare CDN and R2 storage (like Amazon S3).

However, rarely but cache misses might happen and screenshots might be rendered again and counted towards your quota.

Cache URL

There is a header x-screenshotone-cache-url that provides a direct link to the cached image, PDF or video. The file exist as long as it was defined in the cache_ttl parameter when API request was performed with cache=true.

And if the response_type option is specified as json, you can find a cache URL in the JSON response too:

{
    "cache_url": "https://cache.screenshotone.com/..."
}

What is the benefits of using the cache URL?

1. You don’t share API keys and don’t complicate your code with signed links.
2. You control when to regenerate the cache, but a user with a link to the screenshot can’t regenerate it. Because if you shared a link to an API request, once the cache is expired, it would be regenerated.

Cache TTL

Note

For long-term screenshot or video archival, consider uploading them to any compatible S3-storage.

The cache TTL is 4 hours by default. You can change it by specifying the cache_ttl option in seconds up to one month.

Once the cache TTL is reached, the cached screenshot is deleted and the next request will be rendered again and counted towards your quota.

Cache URL will not be accessible after the cache TTL is reached. It is recommended to avoid using it and always render screenshots and videos with the rendering API request. It will rely on the cache anyway (if specified).

Support

In case if you have any issues with caching or any ideas on how to improve it and make it better, please contact us at support@screenshotone.com.