Shot-Scraper 1.12 Introduces WebP Screenshot Support

Independent developer Simon Willison has officially released version 1.12 of shot-scraper, his popular command-line interface utility designed for automated website screenshots, video demo recording, and JavaScript-based web scraping. The headline feature of this update is the introduction of native WebP format support, allowing users to output their automated screenshots directly into the modern image format.

Practitioners can now invoke the tool with a standard command to output a WebP file, using the syntax shot-scraper followed by the target URL, the output flag, and a webp extension. The update also introduces a new quality option, which can be configured using the quality flag followed by a numerical value, such as 80. If a user chooses to omit this quality option, the utility defaults to generating a lossless WebP file instead. This gives developers granular control over the compression level of their automated visual assets.

According to Willison, utilizing WebP for automated screenshots yields file sizes that are almost always significantly smaller than their traditional JPEG or PNG equivalents. This reduction in file size is highly beneficial for developers managing automated documentation, automated testing pipelines, or portfolio generation, as it reduces storage overhead and speeds up web page loading times. Willison developed and shipped this specific feature to streamline his own workflow, specifically to generate the promotional screenshot for his newly released commit-rewriter tool.

For practitioners who rely on shot-scraper for automated workflows, this update represents a major optimization. The tool already serves as a versatile asset for taking screenshots, recording video demos, and scraping sites using JavaScript. By adding WebP support, the utility helps developers maintain high-quality visual records while minimizing the bandwidth and storage costs associated with hosting large quantities of PNG or JPEG images on their servers.