C# · Code recipe
Take a screenshot of a website in C#
Save a full-page PNG of any website, in .NET 8+ with HttpClient. Every program on this page runs as it stands — each one was run against a stub of the API before it was published.
By Roger Campos · Last updated: September 2026
TL;DR
To take a screenshot of a website in C#, POST its URL to https://urlpipe.dev/screenshot with sync set to true, decode the Base64 body with Convert.FromBase64String and write the bytes to a .png file. It is a full-page capture from real Chrome for 1 credit; leave sync out and the result goes to your webhook instead.
Free plan, no credit card. 1,000 credits a month.
One POST to /screenshot loads the page in real Chrome, scrolls it top to bottom so lazy images load, and captures the whole document — not just the fold. The image comes back Base64-encoded in a text/plain body, so the C# work is two lines: decode it with Convert.FromBase64String and write the bytes.
The request below also sets page_options.block_cookie_banners, because a consent dialog over the page is the most common reason a screenshot is useless. Every other knob — viewport, device scale, JPEG or WebP, one element by selector, dark mode — goes in screenshot_options.
Setup
Before you start
Nothing to add from NuGet: HttpClient and System.Text.Json are part of .NET. Each program below is a whole Program.cs for a console project.
dotnet new console -o Screenshot && cd Screenshot
export URLPIPE_API_KEY="your_api_key"
# replace Program.cs with a program below, then:
dotnet run
The request
Save a screenshot as a PNG file
sync = true keeps the request open until the result is ready. PostAsJsonAsync serializes the anonymous object, and the property names go out as written, underscores included. HttpClient does not throw on a 4xx or 5xx, so check IsSuccessStatusCode. The body is Base64 text; Convert.FromBase64String gives the bytes back.
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;
// A sync call can take up to 60 s; HttpClient's default gives up at 100.
using var client = new HttpClient { Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(90) };
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("URLPIPE_API_KEY"));
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync("https://urlpipe.dev/screenshot",
new { url = "https://example.com", page_options = new { block_cookie_banners = true }, sync = true });
var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
Console.Error.WriteLine($"URLpipe answered {(int)response.StatusCode}: {body}");
return 1;
}
var png = Convert.FromBase64String(body);
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("screenshot.png", png);
Console.WriteLine($"Saved screenshot.png ({png.Length} bytes)");
return 0;
Run it: dotnet run
Async
The async variant: a token, a webhook and a poll
Leave out sync and the answer is a token, straight away. JsonNode reads one field without declaring a class for the response, and Task.Delay waits between polls without holding a thread.
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Nodes;
const string Api = "https://urlpipe.dev";
using var client = new HttpClient { Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30) };
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("URLPIPE_API_KEY"));
// No sync: the request is accepted at once and the work carries on without you.
var accepted = await client.PostAsJsonAsync($"{Api}/screenshot", new
{
url = "https://example.com",
page_options = new { block_cookie_banners = true },
report_to = "https://your-app.com/webhooks/urlpipe",
labels = new { customer = "acme" },
});
if (!accepted.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
Console.Error.WriteLine($"URLpipe answered {(int)accepted.StatusCode}: {await accepted.Content.ReadAsStringAsync()}");
return 1;
}
var token = JsonNode.Parse(await accepted.Content.ReadAsStringAsync())!["token"]!.GetValue<string>();
Console.WriteLine($"Accepted {token}");
// The result is POSTed to report_to when it is ready. Polling by token is the
// other way to collect it: no endpoint needed, and a backup for the webhook.
var response = await client.GetAsync($"{Api}/result/{token}");
for (var attempt = 1; attempt < 60 && (int)response.StatusCode == 202; attempt++) // 202: still processing
{
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
response = await client.GetAsync($"{Api}/result/{token}");
}
var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
switch ((int)response.StatusCode)
{
case 200:
break;
case 202:
Console.Error.WriteLine("Still processing after two minutes; try the token again later.");
return 1;
case 422:
Console.Error.WriteLine($"The analysis failed: {JsonNode.Parse(body)?["error"]?.GetValue<string>()}");
return 1;
case 410:
Console.Error.WriteLine("The result is past the 30-day window; send the request again.");
return 1;
default:
Console.Error.WriteLine($"URLpipe answered {(int)response.StatusCode}: {body}");
return 1;
}
var png = Convert.FromBase64String(body);
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("screenshot.png", png);
Console.WriteLine($"Saved screenshot.png ({png.Length} bytes)");
return 0;
Run it: dotnet run
Errors
Handle errors and retries
A local function keeps the retry rules next to the call, and the exception type is declared after the top-level statements, where C# requires it. RetryAfter.Delta is the parsed Retry-After header, and a body that is not JSON (a 401 answers in plain text) leaves every field null.
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Nodes;
using var client = new HttpClient { Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(90) };
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("URLPIPE_API_KEY"));
string body;
try
{
body = await Urlpipe("/screenshot", new { url = "https://example.com", page_options = new { block_cookie_banners = true }, sync = true });
}
catch (URLpipeException e)
{
Console.Error.WriteLine($"URLpipe: {e.Message}");
return 1;
}
var png = Convert.FromBase64String(body);
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("screenshot.png", png);
Console.WriteLine($"Saved screenshot.png ({png.Length} bytes)");
return 0;
// POST a sync request and return the result body; retry the two 429s that clear by themselves.
async Task<string> Urlpipe(string path, object payload, int attempts = 5)
{
for (var attempt = 0; attempt < attempts; attempt++)
{
using var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync($"https://urlpipe.dev{path}", payload);
var text = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var status = (int)response.StatusCode;
if (status == 200) return text;
if (status == 401) throw new URLpipeException("401: the API key is missing or wrong. Check URLPIPE_API_KEY.");
JsonNode? error = null;
try { error = JsonNode.Parse(text); } catch (JsonException) { } // not JSON: no fields
var code = error?["error"]?.GetValue<string>() ?? "";
var message = error?["message"]?.GetValue<string>();
var detail = message is null ? code : $"{code}: {message}";
if (status == 429 && code == "rate_limited")
// Sending too fast: Retry-After says how long the window has left.
await Task.Delay(response.Headers.RetryAfter?.Delta ?? TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
else if (status == 429 && code == "concurrency_limit")
// Every parallel slot on your plan is busy with your own requests.
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(Math.Pow(2, attempt)));
else if (status == 504)
// Still running on our side; the token collects it from GET /result/:token.
throw new URLpipeException($"504 processing_timeout: collect it later with token {error?["token"]?.GetValue<string>()}");
else
// 403 email_unverified, 422 (a bad parameter, or a page that would not load),
// 429 quota_exceeded: sending the same request again gets the same answer.
throw new URLpipeException($"{status}: {detail}");
}
throw new URLpipeException($"429: still refused after {attempts} attempts");
}
class URLpipeException(string message) : Exception(message) { }
Run it: dotnet run
Details
What to know about /screenshot
- The default viewport is 1350 × 797 and the capture follows the page down to 16,384 px; a taller page is cut there.
- Every response carries an
X-Result-Urlheader: a link to the same image that needs no API key and stays valid for 30 days. Often you can store that link instead of the file. - PNG is the default;
"format": "jpeg"or"webp"inscreenshot_optionsmakes a long page far smaller. - It captures images, not PDFs, and it does not record video.
- A screenshot of the same URL with the same options is served from the cache for 7 days by default, free. Set
max_ageto refresh sooner.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Why is the screenshot response Base64 and not an image?
How do I take a mobile screenshot?
Can I screenshot one element instead of the whole page?
Do I need an SDK to call URLpipe from C#?
Get a key and run it.
Free plan, no card. Paste your key into URLPIPE_API_KEY and every program on this page runs as it is.