jackwener/OpenCLI · error · Error

CDP screenshot failed: no image data was returned.

Error message

CDP screenshot failed: no image data was returned.

What it means

This error is thrown by the uiverse preview CLI when a Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) screenshot call completes but returns no image payload. The code accepts either a base64 string or an object with a `.data` field; if neither is present it cannot build the PNG file, so it fails fast with this message rather than writing an empty/corrupt file.

Source

Thrown at clis/uiverse/preview.js:47

    const located = await locatePreviewElement(page, payload.html);
    const rect = located.best.rect;
    const padding = Math.max(0, Number(kwargs.padding ?? 8));
    const clip = {
      x: Math.max(0, rect.x - padding),
      y: Math.max(0, rect.y - padding),
      width: Math.max(1, rect.width + padding * 2),
      height: Math.max(1, rect.height + padding * 2),
      scale: 1,
    };

    const shot = await page.cdp('Page.captureScreenshot', {
      format: 'png',
      clip,
      captureBeyondViewport: false,
    });
    const base64 = typeof shot === 'string' ? shot : shot?.data;
    if (!base64) {
      throw new Error('CDP screenshot failed: no image data was returned.');
    }

    const outputPath = kwargs.output || getDefaultOutputPath({
      username: detail.username,
      slug: detail.slug,
      suffix: 'preview',
      extension: 'png',
    });
    const savedPath = await saveBase64File(base64, outputPath);

    return {
      username: detail.username,
      slug: detail.slug,
      url: detail.url,
      output: savedPath,
      width: Math.round(clip.width),
      height: Math.round(clip.height),
      x: Math.round(clip.x),

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Re-run the command; transient tab/crash issues often resolve on retry.
2. Verify the target component renders and has non-zero size (a zero-width/height clip can make CDP return no data).
3. Update Chrome/Chromium and any CDP driver so captureScreenshot returns the expected {data} object.
4. Log the raw `shot` value before the check to see what shape the browser actually returns and adapt extraction.
5. Use a fresh browser instance/profile if the previous tab was in a crashed state.

Example fix

// before
const base64 = typeof shot === 'string' ? shot : shot?.data;
if (!base64) {
  throw new Error('CDP screenshot failed: no image data was returned.');
}
// after
const base64 = typeof shot === 'string' ? shot : shot?.data;
if (!base64) {
  await page.reload();            // recover from a stale/crashed tab
  shot = await client.send('Page.captureScreenshot', { format: 'png', clip, captureBeyondViewport: false });
}
if (!base64) throw new Error('CDP screenshot failed: no image data was returned.');

const clip = { x: el.offsetLeft, y: el.offsetTop, width: el.offsetWidth, height: el.offsetHeight };
if (!(clip.width > 0 && clip.height > 0)) throw new Error('Element has zero size; cannot screenshot');

function hasImageData(shot) {
  return typeof shot === 'string' && shot.length > 0 ||
         (shot && typeof shot === 'object' && typeof shot.data === 'string' && shot.data.length > 0);
}

try {
  let shot = await client.send('Page.captureScreenshot', { format: 'png', clip, captureBeyondViewport: false });
  if (!hasImageData(shot)) throw new Error('transient-empty-screenshot');
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message === 'transient-empty-screenshot') { await page.reload(); /* retry once */ }
  else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the uiverse preview command: Page.captureScreenshot (via CDP with format 'png', a clip rect, and captureBeyondViewport:false) resolves to null/undefined or an object lacking `.data` — typically when the target page/tab crashed or was closed mid-capture, the clip rect is invalid (zero/negative size or off-screen), or the browser returned an empty response.

Common situations: Headless browser tab navigated away or crashed during capture; clip computed from an element with zero dimensions because the component failed to render; older Chrome/CDP versions returning a different response shape; CDP session detached right before the screenshot call.

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AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e13e1115ea2d2ba3. Report an issue: GitHub.