microsoft/playwright · error · Error

fullPage cannot be used with element screenshots.

Error message

fullPage cannot be used with element screenshots.

What it means

Thrown by browser_take_screenshot when params.fullPage is truthy AND params.target is set. A full-page screenshot captures the entire scrollable document, which is mutually exclusive with capturing only a single element/target.

Source

Thrown at packages/playwright-core/src/tools/backend/screenshot.ts:64

    case '.jpeg': return 'jpeg';
    case '.webp': return 'webp';
  }
  return undefined;
}

const screenshot = defineTabTool({
  capability: 'core',
  schema: {
    name: 'browser_take_screenshot',
    title: 'Take a screenshot',
    description: `Take a screenshot of the current page. You can't perform actions based on the screenshot, use browser_snapshot for actions.`,
    inputSchema: screenshotSchema,
    type: 'readOnly',
  },

  handle: async (tab, params, response) => {
    if (params.fullPage && params.target)
      throw new Error('fullPage cannot be used with element screenshots.');

    const fileType: ImageFormat = params.type ?? inferTypeFromFilename(params.filename) ?? 'png';
    const options: playwright.PageScreenshotOptions = {
      type: fileType,
      quality: fileType === 'jpeg' ? 90 : undefined,
      scale: params.scale,
      ...tab.actionTimeoutOptions,
      ...(params.fullPage !== undefined && { fullPage: params.fullPage })
    };

    const screenshotTargetLabel = params.target ? params.element || 'element' : (params.fullPage ? 'full page' : 'viewport');
    const target = params.target ? await tab.targetLocator({ element: params.element, target: params.target }) : null;
    const data = target ? await target.locator.screenshot(options) : await tab.page.screenshot(options);

    const resolvedFile = await response.resolveClientFile({ prefix: target ? 'element' : 'page', ext: fileType, suggestedFilename: params.filename }, `Screenshot of ${screenshotTargetLabel}`);

    response.addCode(`// Screenshot ${screenshotTargetLabel} and save it as ${resolvedFile.relativeName}`);
    if (target)

View on GitHub (pinned to c8fc3bf8d3)

Solutions

1. Drop params.target when taking a full-page screenshot.
2. Or drop params.fullPage (or set it false/undefined) when targeting an element.
3. Build the params object via two distinct code paths for 'page' vs 'element' screenshots.

Example fix

// before
await client.callTool('browser_take_screenshot', {
  fullPage: true, target: 'e5', element: 'logo'
}); // throws

// after - pick one
await client.callTool('browser_take_screenshot', { fullPage: true });
// or
await client.callTool('browser_take_screenshot', { target: 'e5', element: 'logo' });

function buildScreenshotParams(p: { fullPage?: boolean; target?: string }) {
  if (p.fullPage && p.target)
    throw new Error('Choose fullPage OR target, not both');
  return p;
}

function isFullPageScreenshot(p: { fullPage?: boolean; target?: string }): boolean {
  return !!p.fullPage && !p.target;
}

// Prefer validation; try/catch here only if params come from an untrusted source.
try {
  await client.callTool('browser_take_screenshot', params);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'fullPage cannot be used with element screenshots.') {
    const { target, ...rest } = params;
    await client.callTool('browser_take_screenshot', rest); // fall back to fullPage
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the screenshot tool with both fullPage:true and a target (element ref or selector) in the same invocation.

Common situations: Agent passing a default options bag that includes fullPage:true and also targeting an element; reusing a params template without clearing conflicting flags.

Related errors

• Invalid location "${params.location}", expected format is <f
• At least one of "paths" or "data" must be provided.
• Tab index is required
• Either time, text or textGone must be provided
• Invalid input image

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/playwright@c8fc3bf8d3 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7e5bf779121c52fb. Report an issue: GitHub.