The screenshot tool lets you capture what the Decentraland preview looks like right now. The browser stays open between calls — only the first screenshot takes ~15s (launch + enter scene). After that, screenshots are instant.
Prerequisites: The preview server must be running (/preview). The tool auto-detects the preview URL.
When to Use Screenshots
- After completing code changes — verify the final result looks correct
- When the user asks "how does it look?" — show them and describe what you see
- When debugging visual issues — "the tree is invisible" → screenshot to see what's actually rendering
Do NOT use screenshots to explore or navigate the scene. Make all code changes first, then take 1-2 screenshots to verify.
Basic Usage
Take a screenshot of the current view:
Use the screenshot tool with no actions to capture the current scene view.
The tool returns the image directly — you'll see it and can describe what's visible.
Movement & Camera
The scene camera always faces north in headless mode. Movement is relative to compass direction, not camera:
| Action | Direction | Key |
|---|---|---|
moveForward |
North (toward top of screen) | W |
moveBack |
South (toward bottom) | S |
moveRight |
East (toward right) | D |
moveLeft |
West (toward left) | A |
Movement speed is ~6 meters/second. Default holdMs is 300ms (~1.8 meters).
Camera rotation
Use look actions to rotate the camera view (arrow key holds):
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
lookLeft |
Rotate camera left |
lookRight |
Rotate camera right |
lookUp |
Tilt camera up |
lookDown |
Tilt camera down |
Default rotation hold is 300ms. Use holdMs for more or less rotation.
Interacting Before Capture
Click on objects
screenshot with actions:
1. click (x: 640, y: 400) — click center of viewport
→ captures the result (e.g., object selected, door opened)
Coordinates are in pixels (viewport is 1280×720).
Press keys
screenshot with actions:
1. key (key: "1") — toggle editor camera
2. wait (ms: 500) — let camera settle
→ captures the overhead editor view
Workflow
- Make all code changes (write to
src/index.ts) - Take one screenshot with
wait: 2000to let hot-reload settle - Evaluate — describe honestly: what works, what's wrong
- Fix if needed — then take one more screenshot to confirm
Keep it to 1-2 screenshots per task. Each screenshot consumes significant tokens.
Scene Layout Awareness
- Each parcel is 16×16 meters. A 1×1 scene has coordinates 0-16 in X and Z.
- Y is up. Ground level is Y=0.
- The avatar spawns near the south-west corner (low X, low Z).
- Objects at the center of a 1×1 scene are at roughly (8, 0, 8).
WARNING: If you see empty/gray space, "No scene", or no content — you've walked outside the scene boundaries. STOP moving. Keep movements small (holdMs: 300).
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Screenshot shows welcome screen | The scene hasn't loaded yet — increase wait time |
| Black/empty screenshot | Preview server may have crashed — check /tasks |
| Objects not visible | They may be behind the camera (south of avatar) — use moveBack or lookLeft/lookRight to find them |
| Scene looks different after code change | Hot reload takes ~1-2s — add a wait action of 2000ms |
| "No preview server running" | Start it with /preview first |
| Empty/gray space, no scene content | You've left the scene boundaries — stop moving |
| Z-fighting (flickering surfaces) | Two surfaces at the same position |
| Missing textures (pink/magenta) | Texture file not found or wrong path |
| Objects appear wrong scale | Scale values off or model exported at wrong scale |
| Lighting looks flat | No LightSource components in scene |
| Custom lights look too dim or invisible | Intensity value too low |
What to Look For in Screenshots
When evaluating a screenshot, check these common issues:
- Missing objects — entity exists in code but not visible. Check: wrong position (behind camera, underground, outside parcels), scale of 0, VisibilityComponent set to false
- Z-fighting — flickering or shimmering where two surfaces overlap. Fix: offset one surface by 0.01m
- Texture issues — pink/magenta means missing texture file, black means missing material, white means missing texture coordinates
- Scale problems — objects too large (clipping through ceiling) or too small (invisible dots). Compare against parcel size (16m x 16m)
- Lighting — very flat/uniform usually means no custom lights. Dark scene may need SkyboxTime adjustment
- UI elements — check that HUD elements are positioned correctly and text is readable
Tips
- First screenshot is slow (~15s) because it launches a browser and enters the scene. After that, screenshots are instant.
- The browser persists across all screenshot calls in the session — no repeated logins.
- Keep movements small — use
holdMs: 300(default) to avoid walking out of the scene. - Hot reload — after writing code, wait ~2s before screenshotting to let the scene update.
- Describe honestly — if something looks wrong, say so. The user trusts your visual assessment.