Component Shot

Capture, inspect, and iterate React component scenarios from the command line, a live gallery, or MCP tools.

Component Shot is built for design review and agent workflows. You write small scenario files that render important UI states, then Component Shot bundles them, serves them locally, renders them in Playwright, and captures or previews the result.

Features

• One-command screenshots for React scenario modules.
• A live scenario gallery with search, column layout controls, pinning, delete, clear, and detail views.
• Screenshot history for saved captures.
• App-level setup providers for themes, routers, data clients, or other wrappers.
• MCP tools that return screenshots as image content.
• A repo-local Codex skill installer for repeatable Component Shot workflows.
• Built-in Rspack bundling with a build-command escape hatch.

Requirements

• Node.js >=20.11
• React and React DOM in the app using Component Shot
• A Playwright browser, or an installed Chrome/Edge channel

Install Chromium for Playwright when needed:

pnpm exec playwright install chromium

If you already have Google Chrome installed, pass --browser-channel chrome to the capture command instead.

Install

pnpm add -D @lioneltay/component-shot react react-dom

The package exposes two binaries:

component-shot
component-shot-mcp

Quick Start

Create a scenario:

// component-shot/scenarios/product-card.tsx
import type { ComponentShotScenarioObject } from '@lioneltay/component-shot'
import { ProductCard } from '../../src/components/ProductCard'

const scenario: ComponentShotScenarioObject = {
  render: () => (
    <ProductCard
      badge="Popular"
      ctaLabel="Add kit"
      description="Reusable capture defaults, tuned for design review."
      name="Shot Runner"
      price="$49"
    />
  ),
  rootStyle: {
    display: 'block',
    width: 380,
  },
}

export default scenario

Capture it:

pnpm exec component-shot \
  --scenario component-shot/scenarios/product-card.tsx \
  --output /tmp/product-card.png

Save latest and historical screenshots:

pnpm exec component-shot \
  --scenario component-shot/scenarios/product-card.tsx \
  --save \
  --json

This writes:

component-shot/screenshots/product-card/latest.png
component-shot/screenshots/product-card/history/<timestamp>.png

App Setup

Add component-shot/setup.tsx when scenarios need app providers:

import type { ComponentShotAppSetup } from '@lioneltay/component-shot'
import { ThemeProvider } from '../src/theme'

const setup: ComponentShotAppSetup = {
  Provider: ({ children }) => <ThemeProvider>{children}</ThemeProvider>,
  rootStyle: {
    display: 'inline-block',
  },
}

export default setup

Scenario objects can opt out of the setup provider with providerOptions: false, or pass options to the provider with providerOptions.

Scenario API

A scenario can export:

• a React node
• a function returning a React node
• a ComponentShotScenarioObject

import type { ComponentShotScenarioObject } from '@lioneltay/component-shot'

const scenario: ComponentShotScenarioObject = {
  setup: async () => {
    localStorage.clear()
  },
  render: () => <button>Save</button>,
  beforeScreenshot: async () => {
    await new Promise((resolve) => window.setTimeout(resolve, 100))
  },
  rootStyle: {
    display: 'inline-block',
    width: 240,
  },
}

export default scenario

Use deterministic props, mocked data, fixed dates, and stable dimensions. If the gallery clips or scales a component unexpectedly, set an explicit rootStyle.width.

CLI

component-shot --scenario <file.tsx> [options]

Common options:

Option	Description
--scenario <path>	Scenario module to render.
--output <path>	PNG output path. Defaults to a temp PNG.
--save	Write latest.png and a timestamped history image.
--save-name <name>	Screenshot folder name. Defaults to scenario filename.
--screenshots-dir <path>	Screenshot root. Defaults to component-shot/screenshots.
--selector <selector>	Element to capture. Defaults to [data-component-shot-root].
--full-page	Capture the whole page instead of the component root.
--viewport <WxH>	Browser viewport. Defaults to 1440x900.
--wait-for <selector>	Wait for an additional selector before capture.
--browser-channel <id>	Use a system browser channel, for example chrome.
--setup <path>	Override setup module discovery.
--build-command <cmd>	Escape hatch for custom build pipelines.
--json	Print machine-readable output.

Write a scenario and capture it in one command:

component-shot \
  --source "export default { render: () => <button>Save</button> }" \
  --name save-button \
  --save

Gallery

Open the live gallery:

component-shot gallery

The gallery scans component-shot/scenarios, bundles scenarios on demand, and renders each one in a live iframe preview. It watches the active component-shot directory and reloads when scenarios, setup, or screenshot history changes.

Gallery features:

• Search by scenario name or path.
• Switch between auto layout and fixed two-, three-, or four-column grids.
• Pin scenarios to keep them at the top.
• Delete one scenario source file.
• Clear all discovered scenario source files.
• Open a scenario detail page with the live render first and screenshot history below it.

Use a custom scenario directory:

component-shot gallery \
  --scenario-dir packages/client/component-shot/scenarios

Use --screenshots-dir when screenshot history is not beside the scenario directory. Use --no-open to print the local URL without opening a browser.

MCP Server

Run component-shot-mcp from an MCP client to capture scenarios directly from an agent.

Example config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "component-shot": {
      "command": "component-shot-mcp",
      "env": {
        "COMPONENT_SHOT_PROJECT_ROOT": "/path/to/app",
        "COMPONENT_SHOT_SCENARIO_DIR": "component-shot/scenarios"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools:

• capture_component_shot: capture an existing scenario file.
• capture_component_source: write scenario source, capture it, and return the image.

For worktrees that share dependencies from another checkout, set COMPONENT_SHOT_DEPENDENCY_ROOT to that installed checkout.

Codex Skill

Install a repo-local Component Shot skill:

component-shot skill

This writes:

.codex/skills/component-shot/SKILL.md

Use --output-dir or --path to choose a different skill parent directory, and --overwrite to replace an existing generated skill.

Programmatic API

Apps can create thin wrappers when they need project-specific defaults:

#!/usr/bin/env node
import { runComponentShotCli } from '@lioneltay/component-shot'

await runComponentShotCli({
  argv: process.argv.slice(2),
  setup: 'component-shot/setup.tsx',
})

The package also exports the scenario/setup types and createRspackBuild for custom wrappers.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm browsers
pnpm build
pnpm check
pnpm --dir demo build

Run the demo gallery:

pnpm --dir demo gallery

Run the full verification command:

pnpm verify

Publishing

The intended release path is the npm package with Node.js binaries:

pnpm release:dry-run
pnpm release:publish

Before publishing:

• Confirm CHANGELOG.md is current.
• Confirm the version in package.json.
• Inspect the npm pack --dry-run output.
• Confirm the package name and publishConfig.access are correct for a public scoped package.

Bun Binary

A Bun-compiled single executable is not the primary release target yet. Component Shot bundles user scenario files at runtime and depends on Playwright browser installation, so the npm binary is the lower-risk first public release. Revisit a Bun binary once the npm package API and gallery workflow stabilize.

License

MIT