Snapmcp

The visual documentation MCP server.

Terminal · Code · Browser · Markdown · Diff · HTML · PDF · GIF

For documentation workflows — when structured snapshots aren't enough.

Real terminal colors, Shiki-highlighted code, visual diffs, PDFs and GIFs — one MCP server, 13 tools. Renders with your system Chrome, or auto-installs Chromium at first setup. SSRF protection on by default. Built for agents that write documentation, not just drive browsers.

Quick Start

Three steps, under two minutes:

1. Install

npm install -g snapmcp

or run without installing: npx -y snapmcp

2. Add to Claude Code (~/.claude/claude.json)

{

"mcpServers": { "snapmcp": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "snapmcp"], "env": { "SNAPMCP_DIR": "./captures", "SNAPMCP_THEME": "nord" } } } }

3. Capture

Ask your agent in natural language:

"Capture a terminal screenshot of git log --oneline -5 and a syntax-highlighted PNG of src/index.ts."

The agent calls capture_terminal and capture_file — images land in ./captures/ with your real terminal theme and the chosen syntax theme applied.

Other clients: OpenCode, VS Code / Cline, Docker

OpenCode (opencode.json):

{

"mcpServers": { "snapmcp": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "snapmcp"], "env": { "SNAPMCP_DIR": "./captures", "SNAPMCP_FORMAT": "jpeg", "SNAPMCP_QUALITY": "95" } } } }

VS Code / Cline / Roo-Cline (settings.json → cline.mcpServers):

{

"mcpServers": { "snapmcp": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "snapmcp"], "env": { "SNAPMCP_DIR": "./captures", "SNAPMCP_FORMAT": "jpeg" } } } }

Docker:

docker run -i --rm \

-e SNAPMCP_DIR=/captures \ -e SNAPMCP_THEME=nord \ -v /path/to/output:/captures \ ghcr.io/reeinharddd/snapmcp

</details>

What it looks like

Why snapmcp vs Playwright MCP

Different tools for different jobs. Playwright MCP drives a browser through token-efficient accessibility snapshots; snapmcp renders pixel-faithful images for humans to read. If your agent needs to *click*, use Playwright. If it needs to *show*, use snapmcp.

Most documentation pipelines pair them: Playwright MCP to *interact*, snapmcp to *document*.

Tools

Use cases

Automated documentation — an agent writes a setup guide and embeds real captures: the terminal output of the install command (with your actual theme), the config file syntax-highlighted, the diff of the migration. One prompt, three capture_* calls, images saved next to the markdown.

Visual QA — after a UI change, the agent captures the affected pages with capture_browser, batches before/after with capture_batch, and assembles an animated comparison with capture_gif for the PR description.

Terminal guides — CLI tutorials where the screenshots must match what readers will see: capture_terminal reproduces the real prompt colors instead of a generic dark rectangle.

Security

SSRF protection is on by default — no opt-in required.

Configuration

Environment variables for the MCP server:

27 built-in Shiki themes: dracula, one-dark-pro, nord, tokyo-night, catppuccin-mocha, catppuccin-latte, ayu-dark, ayu-light, vitesse-dark, vitesse-light, min-dark, min-light, poimandres, rose-pine, rose-pine-moon, rose-pine-dawn, slack-dark, slack-ochin, snazzy-light, github-dark-dimmed, github-light, one-light, solarized-light, solarized-dark, material-theme, material-theme-lighter, material-theme-ocean

CLI

SnapMCP ships with a full CLI beyond the MCP server:

snapmcp        — Start the MCP server

snapmcp init — Interactive setup wizard (detects Chrome, terminal theme, output dir) snapmcp doctor — Health check: 7 checks across Node, Chromium, paths, env snapmcp test — Generate test captures (terminal + code) to verify the setup

Documentation

Development

git clone https://github.com/reeinharddd/snapmcp

cd snapmcp bun install bun run build # tsc → dist/ bun test # 317 tests

Requirements: Node.js ≥ 20 or Bun ≥ 1.2. CI runs on ubuntu / macOS / windows via GitHub Actions.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.