Cache keying
Results are cached for ~15 minutes, keyed on the URL together with every capture option (format, width, height, full_page, quality). Two
requests for the same URL with different options are different cache
entries — changing format from png to webp will not return a stale
cached PNG.
Every request counts against quota
Cache hits and misses are billed the same way: a request that returns a cached image still incrementsused in your usage
totals. The cache exists to make repeated captures fast and cheap to serve
on scrnshot’s end, not to give you free requests.
The response tells you which case you hit:
Forcing a fresh render
Pro plans can setfresh: true to skip the cache entirely and force a new
render, useful for pages that change frequently (dashboards, live data,
anything time-sensitive). Free plans cannot bypass the cache — fresh: true
on Free returns 400.
Retention vs. caching
Don’t confuse the ~15-minute result cache with image retention — they’re different windows. Retention is how long the stored image stays available at itsimage_url after capture (7 days on Free, 30 days on Pro); caching
is how long a request can be served without re-rendering. See
Plans & limits for retention details.