Target is a file, not a page

How to recognize it

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

HTTP/1.1 422
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "error": {
    "code": "target_not_renderable",
    "message": "The target URL answered with a file (application/pdf), not a web page, so it cannot be rendered."
  },
  "message": "The target URL answered with a file (application/pdf), not a web page, so it cannot be rendered."
}

Common causes

• A link straight to a PDF document (Content-Type: application/pdf), such as https://example.com/report.pdf.
• A download: a file sent with Content-Disposition: attachment, or a type the browser does not display, such as application/zip or text/csv.
• A page that redirects to such a file.

How to fix it

1. Render the web page that links the file, not the file itself.
2. Download a PDF or other file directly: the API renders web pages, not files.
3. Only the answer to the URL itself counts: a page that starts a download while it loads (“Your download will start …”) is captured as usual.

Billing

Not billed: a request answered with this error does not count against your quota.

Related parameters

url. 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.