Caching

Enable caching to serve repeated screenshots instantly from our CDN, reducing latency and costs.

Enable Caching

Add cache=true to your request:

https://api.lambdashot.com/take?url=https://example.com&cache=true&access_key=YOUR_KEY

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
`cache`	Enable caching	`false`
`cache_ttl`	Cache duration in seconds (14,400 to 2,592,000)	`14400` (4 hours)
`cache_key`	Custom cache key for variants	—

How It Works

First request renders the screenshot and stores it in our CDN
Subsequent requests with the same parameters return the cached version
Cache expires after the TTL period
Only API requests can refresh the cache

Cache Key

Screenshots are cached based on all request parameters. Changing any parameter results in a new cache entry.

Use the cache_key parameter to create multiple cached versions of the same screenshot:

// Version A
?url=https://example.com&cache=true&cache_key=version-a

// Version B (same URL, different cache)
?url=https://example.com&cache=true&cache_key=version-b

Cache URL

When using response_type=json, the response includes a cache_url that links directly to the cached image:

{
  "screenshot_url": "...",
  "cache_url": "https://cdn.lambdashot.com/cache/abc123.png"
}
    
      You can share this URL without exposing your API key. The URL remains
      valid for the cache TTL duration.
    

    Benefits
    
      Faster responses — Cached screenshots are served from Cloudflare's global CDN
      Lower costs — Cached requests don't count against your usage
      Share safely — Cache URLs don't expose your API key
      Reduced load — Target websites aren't hit on cached requests
    

    Example: Cache for 24 Hours
    https://api.lambdashot.com/take?url=https://example.com&cache=true&cache_ttl=86400&access_key=YOUR_KEY

    Important Notes
    
      Minimum TTL: 4 hours (14,400 seconds)
      Maximum TTL: 30 days (2,592,000 seconds)
      Cache is not intended for CDN-like high-traffic scenarios
      Expired cache URLs return 404
      To force a cache refresh, change the cache_key or wait for expiration