# Let an AI agent see a web page

> Let an AI agent look at any web page. An MCP server with a take_screenshot tool, an OpenAPI description and llms.txt, or one plain HTTP request.

To let an AI agent see a web page, connect it to the CurlShot MCP server. The agent gets a take_screenshot tool: it passes the address of a page and receives a screenshot of it, which a model that reads images can look at. Agents without MCP use the same thing as one HTTP request, described in an OpenAPI file and in llms.txt.

Page for people: https://curlshot.com/tools/screenshot-tool-for-ai-agents

## Steps

1. Create a free account and copy your access key.
2. Add the MCP server to your agent, or give it the screenshot request.
3. Ask the agent to look at a page. It takes the screenshot itself.

## What people use it for

- A coding agent that checks how the page it just changed looks
- Research agents that read pages which need a real browser to load
- Visual checks: is the banner there, did the layout break
- Reports with screenshots, written by an assistant

## The same thing with the API

```bash
curl "https://curlshot.com/api/v1/screenshot?access_key=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY&url=https://example.com&response_type=json&image_width=1200" \
  --output screenshot.json
```

An access key is free: https://curlshot.com/register. Read more:

- [For AI agents](https://curlshot.com/docs/guides/ai-agents.md)
- [Getting started](https://curlshot.com/docs/getting-started.md)

## Questions

### How can an AI agent take a screenshot of a website?

Through the CurlShot MCP server, which gives the agent a take_screenshot tool, or with one HTTP request that returns the image.

### What does the agent get back?

The image itself, or with response_type=json a short JSON answer with a link to the file, which is easier for a tool call to pass on.

### Can the agent read the page as text too?

The service returns images and PDFs. A PDF of a page has text that can be selected and extracted, and a model that reads images can read a screenshot directly.

### How do I keep the cost of an agent under control?

Each plan is a fixed number of screenshots a month, and an access key can be revoked at any time. Repeat requests for the same page can come from the cache at no cost.

## Related

- [Full-page screenshot](https://curlshot.com/tools/full-page-screenshot.md): Take a screenshot of a whole web page, from the top to the very bottom, as one image. Paste the address, nothing to install. Also available as an API.
- [Screenshot API](https://curlshot.com/tools/screenshot-api.md): A screenshot API for developers. One HTTP request turns a URL, HTML or Markdown into a PNG, JPEG, WebP or PDF. Full page, devices, blocking, cache, MCP.
- [HTML to image](https://curlshot.com/tools/html-to-image.md): Render your own HTML, CSS or Markdown into an image or a PDF with one API request. For social cards, certificates, receipts and reports.