RendShotQuickstart — Convert HTML to Image in 5 Minutes
Get your first image from HTML in under 5 minutes. Step-by-step guide to using the RendShot API for HTML-to-image rendering.
This guide takes you from zero to a rendered image in under 5 minutes. You'll need a RendShot account — nothing else.
1. Get an API Key
Sign up at rendshot.ai, then go to Dashboard — API Keys and create a key. Keys start with rs_live_.
Keep this key safe — it cannot be retrieved after creation.
2. Render Your First Image
Send HTML to the API and get back a hosted image URL. Pick whichever method fits your stack:
curl -X POST https://api.rendshot.ai/v1/image \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"html": "<h1 style=\"color:white;padding:40px\">Hello World</h1>", "width": 800, "height": 400}'import { RendshotClient } from '@rendshot/sdk'
const client = new RendshotClient({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' })
const result = await client.renderImage({
html: '<h1 style="color:white;padding:40px">Hello World</h1>',
width: 800,
height: 400,
})
console.log(result.url) // https://assets.rendshot.ai/...from rendshot import RendshotClient, RenderImageOptions
client = RendshotClient(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
result = client.render_image(RenderImageOptions(
html='<h1 style="color:white;padding:40px">Hello World</h1>',
width=800,
height=400,
))
print(result.url) # https://assets.rendshot.ai/...npx rendshot generate --html '<h1 style="color:white;padding:40px">Hello World</h1>' --width 800 --height 400The response includes an id and a url. The URL points to a CDN-hosted image you can embed in HTML, share on social media, or download.
3. Screenshot a URL
Capture a screenshot of any public URL:
curl -X POST https://api.rendshot.ai/v1/screenshot \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "https://example.com", "width": 1280, "height": 800}'const screenshot = await client.screenshotUrl({
url: 'https://example.com',
width: 1280,
height: 800,
})
console.log(screenshot.url)from rendshot import ScreenshotUrlOptions
result = client.screenshot_url(ScreenshotUrlOptions(
url="https://example.com",
width=1280,
height=800,
))
print(result.url)npx rendshot screenshot https://example.com --width 1280 --height 8004. Check Your Usage
See how many requests you've used this month:
curl https://api.rendshot.ai/v1/usage \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"{
"plan": "free",
"month": "2026-03",
"count": 1,
"limit": 100
}What's next?
Now that you have the basics:
- Build something real — See Use Cases for practical examples (OG images, social cards, automated reports)
- Understand the details — Read Concepts to learn about image lifecycle, device scale, and security
- Pick your SDK — JavaScript or Python with full type safety
- Connect to AI — Set up the MCP Server to use RendShot from Claude, Cursor, or VS Code
- See all endpoints — The API Reference has every parameter, error code, and rate limit