How to Generate Reddit Post Screenshots Without Puppeteer in 2025

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

async function generateRedditScreenshot() {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.socialrenders.com/generate', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer sk_live_your_api_key',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      templateId: 'reddit-post',
      fields: {
        displayName: 'programming_user',
        username: 'u/programming_user',
        title: 'How I automated Reddit screenshots without Puppeteer',
        content: 'After struggling with Puppeteer crashes and memory leaks, I discovered a much simpler solution using Social Renders API...',
        upvotes: '2.1K',
        comments: '156',
        enableBackgroundColor: true,
        backgroundColor: '#3e3e42',
        boxShadowAmount: 2
      }
    })
  });

  const data = await response.json();
  console.log('Screenshot URL:', data.imageUrl);
  console.log('Dimensions:', data.width, 'x', data.height);
  
  return data.imageUrl;
}

// Usage
generateRedditScreenshot()
  .then(url => console.log('Generated:', url))
  .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

import requests
import json

def generate_reddit_screenshot():
    url = "https://api.socialrenders.com/generate"
    headers = {
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_live_your_api_key",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }
    
    payload = {
        "templateId": "reddit-post",
        "fields": {
            "displayName": "tech_enthusiast",
            "username": "u/tech_enthusiast",
            "title": "Reddit API vs Puppeteer: My Experience",
            "content": "I tested both approaches for generating Reddit screenshots. Here's what I learned about speed, reliability, and maintenance...",
            "upvotes": "1.8K",
            "comments": "89",
            "enableBackgroundColor": True,
            "backgroundColor": "#3e3e42",
            "boxShadowAmount": 1
        }
    }
    
    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, data=json.dumps(payload))
    
    if response.status_code == 200:
        data = response.json()
        print(f"Screenshot URL: {data['imageUrl']}")
        print(f"Dimensions: {data['width']} x {data['height']}")
        return data['imageUrl']
    else:
        print(f"Error: {response.status_code}")
        return None

# Usage
screenshot_url = generate_reddit_screenshot()
if screenshot_url:
    print(f"Successfully generated: {screenshot_url}")

 "reddit-post",
        "fields" => [
            "displayName" => "webdev_user",
            "username" => "u/webdev_user",
            "title" => "Migrating from Puppeteer to API-based screenshots",
            "content" => "Our team reduced infrastructure costs by 80% after switching from Puppeteer to Social Renders API for Reddit screenshots...",
            "upvotes" => "3.2K",
            "comments" => "234",
            "enableBackgroundColor" => true,
            "backgroundColor" => "#3e3e42",
            "boxShadowAmount" => 2
        ]
    ]);
    
    $headers = [
        "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_your_api_key",
        "Content-Type: application/json",
        "Content-Length: " . strlen($payload)
    ];
    
    $ch = curl_init($url);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $payload);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
    
    $response = curl_exec($ch);
    $httpCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
    curl_close($ch);
    
    if ($httpCode === 200) {
        $data = json_decode($response, true);
        echo "Screenshot URL: " . $data['imageUrl'] . "\n";
        echo "Dimensions: " . $data['width'] . " x " . $data['height'] . "\n";
        return $data['imageUrl'];
    } else {
        echo "Error: " . $httpCode . "\n";
        return null;
    }
}

// Usage
$screenshotUrl = generateRedditScreenshot();
if ($screenshotUrl) {
    echo "Successfully generated: " . $screenshotUrl . "\n";
}
?>

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
const fs = require('fs');

async function screenshotRedditPost(redditUrl) {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
    headless: true,
    args: ['--no-sandbox', '--disable-setuid-sandbox']
  });
  
  try {
    const page = await browser.newPage();
    
    // Set viewport for consistent screenshots
    await page.setViewport({ width: 1200, height: 800 });
    
    // Navigate to Reddit with timeout handling
    await page.goto(redditUrl, { 
      waitUntil: 'networkidle2', 
      timeout: 30000 
    });
    
    // Wait for Reddit's dynamic content to load
    await page.waitForSelector('[data-testid="post-container"]', { timeout: 10000 });
    
    // Handle potential popups and cookie banners
    try {
      await page.click('[data-testid="cookie-banner-close"]');
    } catch (e) {
      // Banner might not exist
    }
    
    // Wait for comments to load if they exist
    await page.waitForTimeout(2000);
    
    // Take screenshot
    const screenshot = await page.screenshot({
      fullPage: true,
      type: 'png'
    });
    
    // Save to file
    fs.writeFileSync('reddit-screenshot.png', screenshot);
    
    return 'reddit-screenshot.png';
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Screenshot failed:', error);
    throw error;
  } finally {
    await browser.close();
  }
}

// Usage (this takes 8-12 seconds)
screenshotRedditPost('https://reddit.com/r/programming/comments/abc123')
  .then(filename => console.log('Saved:', filename))
  .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

async function generateRedditScreenshot(postData) {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.socialrenders.com/generate', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer sk_live_your_api_key',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      templateId: 'reddit-post',
      fields: {
        displayName: postData.author,
        username: `u/${postData.author}`,
        title: postData.title,
        content: postData.content,
        upvotes: postData.upvotes,
        comments: postData.comments,
        enableBackgroundColor: true,
        backgroundColor: '#3e3e42',
        boxShadowAmount: 2
      }
    })
  });
  
  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error(`API error: ${response.status}`);
  }
  
  const data = await response.json();
  return data.imageUrl; // Already hosted for 48 hours
}

// Usage (fast API response)
generateRedditScreenshot({
  author: 'programming_user',
  title: 'How I automated Reddit screenshots without Puppeteer',
  content: 'After struggling with Puppeteer crashes...',
  upvotes: '2.1K',
  comments: '156'
})
  .then(url => console.log('Generated:', url))
  .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

const redis = require('redis');
const client = redis.createClient();

async function getCachedRedditScreenshot(postId, postData) {
  const cacheKey = `reddit:${postId}`;
  
  // Check cache first
  const cached = await client.get(cacheKey);
  if (cached) {
    return JSON.parse(cached);
  }
  
  // Generate new screenshot
  const imageUrl = await generateRedditScreenshot(postData);
  
  // Cache for 24 hours
  await client.setex(cacheKey, 86400, JSON.stringify({ imageUrl }));
  
  return { imageUrl };
}

async function generateWithRetry(postData, maxRetries = 3) {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await generateRedditScreenshot(postData);
    } catch (error) {
      if (error.status === 429 && attempt < maxRetries) {
        // Rate limited - wait and retry
        const waitTime = Math.pow(2, attempt) * 1000; // Exponential backoff
        console.log(`Rate limited, waiting ${waitTime}ms before retry ${attempt + 1}`);
        await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, waitTime));
      } else {
        throw error;
      }
    }
  }
}

async function batchGenerateRedditScreenshots(posts, batchSize = 10) {
  const results = [];
  
  // Process in batches to avoid overwhelming the API
  for (let i = 0; i < posts.length; i += batchSize) {
    const batch = posts.slice(i, i + batchSize);
    
    const batchPromises = batch.map(post => 
      generateWithRetry(post).catch(error => ({
        error: true,
        postId: post.id,
        message: error.message
      }))
    );
    
    const batchResults = await Promise.all(batchPromises);
    results.push(...batchResults);
    
    // Small delay between batches
    if (i + batchSize < posts.length) {
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
    }
  }
  
  return results;
}