Selector not found

How to recognize it

The API answers with status 422 and a JSON body with the message and the error.code selector_not_found, for example:

HTTP/1.1 422
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "error": {
    "code": "selector_not_found",
    "message": "No element of the page matches the selector."
  },
  "message": "No element of the page matches the selector."
}

Common causes

• A typo in the selector, or a class name or id that the site changed.
• An element that appears only after a click, a scroll, a consent dialog or a login.
• An element inside shadow DOM, which plain CSS selectors do not reach.

How to fix it

1. Check the selector in the browser’s console on the same page: document.querySelector("...").
2. For shadow DOM, use >>> (#app >>> .chart) or pierce/ (pierce/.chart).
3. Wait for late content with wait_for_selector, or bring it up with actions (a click, a scroll) before the capture.
4. Without error_on_selector_not_found, a missing element captures the viewport instead.

Billing

The first 25 failure conditions a day are free for each account (selector_not_found, content_condition_failed, request_failed and action_failed together, per UTC day). After that, each counts as one request, like a render. One exception: when an evaluate step of actions or the scripts ran in the page before the render failed, it is billed as one request, because that code could read the page, unless the failure is ours.

Related parameters

selector, error_on_selector_not_found, wait_for_selector, actions. Each is described in the take endpoint reference.

Every response carries an X-Request-Id header. If this page does not explain the error, write to support@screenshotbase.com with that id. All statuses: status codes.