Next.js Screenshot API: Capture Pages from API Routes and Server Actions

Next.js Screenshot API: Capture Pages from API Routes and Server Actions Next.js dominates modern web development. But if you need to generate screenshots, PDFs, or dynamic OG images from your app, you hit a wall: Puppeteer — doesn't work on Vercel Edge Runtime Sharp — only handles static images, not rendering HTML html2canvas — client-side only, can't render from the server wkhtmltopdf — requires system binary, not serverless-friendly You need a solution that works in your API routes and Server Actions, on any Node.js runtime — including serverless and Edge. That's an API. The Next.js Problem: Server-Side Screenshots Next.js is great for building full-stack apps. But screenshot generation requires either: Heavy dependencies — Puppeteer in your bundle (bloats your function) Platform limitations — solutions that don't work on Edge Runtime Architecture mismatches — tools designed for different use cases Here's what doesn't work in Next.js serverless: // ❌ This doesn't work on Vercel Edge