---
title: Get started · Cloudflare Browser Rendering docs
description: Cloudflare Browser Rendering allows you to programmatically control
  a headless browser, enabling you to do things like take screenshots, generate
  PDFs, and perform automated browser tasks.
lastUpdated: 2025-09-23T16:44:41.000Z
chatbotDeprioritize: false
source_url:
  html: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/get-started/
  md: https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/get-started/index.md
---

Cloudflare Browser Rendering allows you to programmatically control a headless browser, enabling you to do things like take screenshots, generate PDFs, and perform automated browser tasks.

There are two ways to use Browser Rendering:

* [REST API](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/rest-api/) for simple, one-off actions, like taking a screenshot, fetching HTML, or generating a PDF.
* [Workers Bindings](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/workers-bindings/) for more complex, multi-step browser automation using [Puppeteer](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/puppeteer/) and [Playwright](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/playwright/).

This guide will help you choose the right path for your needs and get you started with your first Browser Rendering project.

## REST API

The REST API is best for situations where you have an existing application and want to perform simple, stateless browser actions.

### Prerequisites

* Sign up for a [Cloudflare account](https://dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up/workers-and-pages).
* Create a [Cloudflare API Token](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/get-started/create-token/) with `Browser Rendering - Edit` permissions.

### Example: Take a screenshot of the Cloudflare homepage

```bash
curl -X POST 'https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/<accountId>/browser-rendering/screenshot' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <apiToken>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "html": "Hello World!",
    "screenshotOptions": {
      "omitBackground": true
    }
  }' \
  --output "screenshot.png"
```

The REST API can also be used to:

* [Fetch HTML](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/rest-api/content-endpoint/)
* [Generate a PDF](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/rest-api/pdf-endpoint/)
* [and more...](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/rest-api/)

## Workers Bindings

Workers Bindings are best for situations where you need to build more complex, multi-step browser automation workflows. You can use familiar tools like [Puppeteer](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/puppeteer/) and [Playwright](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/playwright/).

### Prerequisites

1. Sign up for a [Cloudflare account](https://dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up/workers-and-pages).
2. Install [`Node.js`](https://docs.npmjs.com/downloading-and-installing-node-js-and-npm).

Node.js version manager

Use a Node version manager like [Volta](https://volta.sh/) or [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) to avoid permission issues and change Node.js versions. [Wrangler](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/wrangler/install-and-update/), discussed later in this guide, requires a Node version of `16.17.0` or later.

### Example: Navigate to a URL, take a screenshot, and store in KV

#### 1. Create a Worker project

[Cloudflare Workers](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/) provides a serverless execution environment that allows you to create new applications or augment existing ones without configuring or maintaining infrastructure. Your Worker application is a container to interact with a headless browser to do actions, such as taking screenshots.

Create a new Worker project named `browser-worker` by running:

* npm

  ```sh
  npm create cloudflare@latest -- browser-worker
  ```

* yarn

  ```sh
  yarn create cloudflare browser-worker
  ```

* pnpm

  ```sh
  pnpm create cloudflare@latest browser-worker
  ```

For setup, select the following options:

* For *What would you like to start with?*, choose `Hello World example`.
* For *Which template would you like to use?*, choose `Worker only`.
* For *Which language do you want to use?*, choose `JavaScript / TypeScript`.
* For *Do you want to use git for version control?*, choose `Yes`.
* For *Do you want to deploy your application?*, choose `No` (we will be making some changes before deploying).

#### 2. Install Puppeteer

In your `browser-worker` directory, install Cloudflare’s [fork of Puppeteer](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/puppeteer/):

* npm

  ```sh
  npm i -D @cloudflare/puppeteer
  ```

* yarn

  ```sh
  yarn add -D @cloudflare/puppeteer
  ```

* pnpm

  ```sh
  pnpm add -D @cloudflare/puppeteer
  ```

#### 3. Create a KV namespace

Browser Rendering can be used with other developer products. You might need a [relational database](https://developers.cloudflare.com/d1/), an [R2 bucket](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/) to archive your crawled pages and assets, a [Durable Object](https://developers.cloudflare.com/durable-objects/) to keep your browser instance alive and share it with multiple requests, or [Queues](https://developers.cloudflare.com/queues/) to handle your jobs asynchronously.

For the purpose of this example, we will use a [KV store](https://developers.cloudflare.com/kv/concepts/kv-namespaces/) to cache your screenshots.

Create two namespaces, one for production and one for development.

```sh
npx wrangler kv namespace create BROWSER_KV_DEMO
npx wrangler kv namespace create BROWSER_KV_DEMO --preview
```

Take note of the IDs for the next step.

#### 4. Configure the Wrangler configuration file

Configure your `browser-worker` project's [Wrangler configuration file](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/wrangler/configuration/) by adding a browser [binding](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/bindings/) and a [Node.js compatibility flag](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/configuration/compatibility-flags/#nodejs-compatibility-flag). Bindings allow your Workers to interact with resources on the Cloudflare developer platform. Your browser `binding` name is set by you, this guide uses the name `MYBROWSER`. Browser bindings allow for communication between a Worker and a headless browser which allows you to do actions such as taking a screenshot, generating a PDF, and more.

Update your [Wrangler configuration file](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/wrangler/configuration/) with the Browser Rendering API binding and the KV namespaces you created:

* wrangler.jsonc

  ```jsonc
  {
    "name": "browser-worker",
    "main": "src/index.js",
    "compatibility_date": "2023-03-14",
    "compatibility_flags": [
      "nodejs_compat"
    ],
    "browser": {
      "binding": "MYBROWSER"
    },
    "kv_namespaces": [
      {
        "binding": "BROWSER_KV_DEMO",
        "id": "22cf855786094a88a6906f8edac425cd",
        "preview_id": "e1f8b68b68d24381b57071445f96e623"
      }
    ]
  }
  ```

* wrangler.toml

  ```toml
  name = "browser-worker"
  main = "src/index.js"
  compatibility_date = "2023-03-14"
  compatibility_flags = [ "nodejs_compat" ]


  browser = { binding = "MYBROWSER" }
  kv_namespaces = [
    { binding = "BROWSER_KV_DEMO", id = "22cf855786094a88a6906f8edac425cd", preview_id = "e1f8b68b68d24381b57071445f96e623" }
  ]
  ```

#### 5. Code

* JavaScript

  Update `src/index.js` with your Worker code:

  ```js
  import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";


  export default {
    async fetch(request, env) {
      const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url);
      let url = searchParams.get("url");
      let img;
      if (url) {
        url = new URL(url).toString(); // normalize
        img = await env.BROWSER_KV_DEMO.get(url, { type: "arrayBuffer" });
        if (img === null) {
          const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
          const page = await browser.newPage();
          await page.goto(url);
          img = await page.screenshot();
          await env.BROWSER_KV_DEMO.put(url, img, {
            expirationTtl: 60 * 60 * 24,
          });
          await browser.close();
        }
        return new Response(img, {
          headers: {
            "content-type": "image/jpeg",
          },
        });
      } else {
        return new Response("Please add an ?url=https://example.com/ parameter");
      }
    },
  };
  ```

* TypeScript

  Update `src/index.ts` with your Worker code:

  ```ts
  import puppeteer from "@cloudflare/puppeteer";


  interface Env {
    MYBROWSER: Fetcher;
    BROWSER_KV_DEMO: KVNamespace;
  }


  export default {
    async fetch(request, env): Promise<Response> {
      const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url);
      let url = searchParams.get("url");
      let img: Buffer;
      if (url) {
        url = new URL(url).toString(); // normalize
        img = await env.BROWSER_KV_DEMO.get(url, { type: "arrayBuffer" });
        if (img === null) {
          const browser = await puppeteer.launch(env.MYBROWSER);
          const page = await browser.newPage();
          await page.goto(url);
          img = (await page.screenshot()) as Buffer;
          await env.BROWSER_KV_DEMO.put(url, img, {
            expirationTtl: 60 * 60 * 24,
          });
          await browser.close();
        }
        return new Response(img, {
          headers: {
            "content-type": "image/jpeg",
          },
        });
      } else {
        return new Response("Please add an ?url=https://example.com/ parameter");
      }
    },
  } satisfies ExportedHandler<Env>;
  ```

This Worker instantiates a browser using Puppeteer, opens a new page, navigates to the location of the 'url' parameter, takes a screenshot of the page, stores the screenshot in KV, closes the browser, and responds with the JPEG image of the screenshot.

If your Worker is running in production, it will store the screenshot to the production KV namespace. If you are running `wrangler dev`, it will store the screenshot to the dev KV namespace.

If the same `url` is requested again, it will use the cached version in KV instead, unless it expired.

#### 6. Test

Run `npx wrangler dev` to test your Worker locally.

Use real headless browser during local development

To interact with a real headless browser during local development, set `"remote" : true` in the Browser binding configuration. Learn more in our [remote bindings documentation](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/development-testing/#remote-bindings).

To test taking your first screenshot, go to the following URL:

`<LOCAL_HOST_URL>/?url=https://example.com`

#### 7. Deploy

Run `npx wrangler deploy` to deploy your Worker to the Cloudflare global network.

To take your first screenshot, go to the following URL:

`<YOUR_WORKER>.<YOUR_SUBDOMAIN>.workers.dev/?url=https://example.com`

## Next Steps

If you have any feature requests or notice any bugs, share your feedback directly with the Cloudflare team by joining the [Cloudflare Developers community on Discord](https://discord.cloudflare.com/).

* Check out all the [REST API endpoints](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/rest-api/)
* Try out the [Playwright MCP](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/playwright-mcp/)
* Learn more about Browser Rendering [limits](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/limits/) and [pricing](https://developers.cloudflare.com/browser-rendering/platform/pricing/).
