# Output Formats Source: https://docs.evomi.com/scraping-products-instructions/scraper-api/parameters/output-formats/ The Scraper API offers flexible output formats to match your use case—from raw HTML for downstream processing to clean Markdown for AI applications, or full-page screenshots for visual analysis. ## Content Formats Control the output format with the `content` parameter: ### HTML (Default) Raw HTML with absolute URLs, perfect for parsing or archival. **Value:** `html` ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://example.com&content=html&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" ``` **Characteristics:** - Complete HTML document with ``, ``, etc. - All relative URLs converted to absolute - Includes meta tags, scripts, and styles - Original page structure preserved **Best for:** - HTML parsing with BeautifulSoup, Cheerio, etc. - Archiving complete pages - Custom processing pipelines - Extracting structured data with CSS selectors ### Markdown Clean, readable text format ideal for AI processing and content analysis. **Value:** `markdown` ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://blog.example.com/post&content=markdown&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" ``` **Characteristics:** - Removes boilerplate (headers, footers, navigation) - Preserves structure (headings, lists, tables) - Converts links to markdown format: `[text](url)` - Strips scripts, styles, and unnecessary elements - Makes URLs absolute - Lightweight and token-efficient **Best for:** - LLM/AI input (GPT, Claude, etc.) - Content summarization - Text analysis and NLP - Knowledge base extraction - Article archival **Example output:** ```markdown # Blog Post Title Published on January 15, 2025 This is the main content with preserved **formatting** and [links](https://example.com). ## Section Heading - Bullet point one - Bullet point two More content here... ``` ### Screenshot Full-page PNG image capture. **Value:** `screenshot` ```bash curl -X POST "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime" \ -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "https://example.com", "mode": "browser", "content": "screenshot" }' \ -o screenshot.png ``` **Characteristics:** - PNG format - Full page (not just viewport) - Captures everything a user would see - Stored in CDN for 30 days - Available as URI and base64 data **Requirements:** - Must use `mode=browser` or `mode=auto` - Automatically sets `screenshot=true` **Cost:** +1 credit (additive) **Best for:** - Visual documentation - UI/UX testing - Page monitoring and change detection - Visual AI processing - Compliance and archival ### PDF Full-page PDF document. **Value:** `pdf` ```bash curl -X POST "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime" \ -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "https://example.com", "mode": "browser", "content": "pdf" }' \ -o document.pdf ``` **Characteristics:** - PDF format (vector, searchable, scalable) - Full page document - Stored in CDN for 30 days - Available as URI and base64 data **Requirements:** - Must use `mode=browser` or `mode=auto` - Automatically sets `pdf=true` **Cost:** +1 credit (additive) **Best for:** - Document archiving - Print-ready formats - Legal/compliance documentation - Content preservation ## Delivery Modes Control how the response is delivered with the `delivery` parameter: ### Raw Delivery (Default) Returns content directly with appropriate Content-Type header. **Value:** `raw` ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://example.com&delivery=raw&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" ``` **Response:** ``` Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 X-Credits-Used: 1.0 X-Credits-Remaining: 99.0 ... ``` **Content-Type mapping:** | Content Format | Content-Type | |----------------|--------------| | `html` | `text/html; charset=utf-8` | | `markdown` | `text/markdown; charset=utf-8` | | `screenshot` | `image/png` | | `pdf` | `application/pdf` | **Best for:** - Direct file saving - Piping to other tools - Minimal overhead - Browser viewing ### JSON Delivery Returns structured JSON with metadata and optional content. **Value:** `json` ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://example.com&delivery=json&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" ``` **Default response (without content):** ```json { "success": true, "id": "task_abc123", "url": "https://example.com", "domain": "example.com", "title": "Example Domain", "meta": { "description": "Example page description", "keywords": "example, demo" }, "status_code": 200, "credits_used": 1.0, "credits_remaining": 99.0, "mode_used": "auto (request)", "hints": ["Content omitted by default. Set include_content=true to include it."] } ``` By default, JSON delivery omits the full content to save bandwidth and reduce response size. Add `include_content=true` to include it. **With content included:** ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://example.com&delivery=json&include_content=true&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" ``` ```json { "success": true, "url": "https://example.com", "domain": "example.com", "title": "Example Domain", "content": "...", "status_code": 200, "credits_used": 1.0, "credits_remaining": 99.0, "mode_used": "auto (request)" } ``` **Best for:** - Structured API responses - Metadata extraction - Credit tracking - Status code checking - Multi-field responses ## Format Combinations | Content | Delivery | Result | |---------|----------|--------| | `html` | `raw` | Raw HTML with `text/html` Content-Type | | `html` | `json` | JSON with HTML in `content` field (if `include_content=true`) | | `markdown` | `raw` | Raw Markdown with `text/markdown` Content-Type | | `markdown` | `json` | JSON with Markdown in `content` field (if `include_content=true`) | | `screenshot` | `raw` | PNG binary with `image/png` Content-Type | | `screenshot` | `json` | JSON with `screenshot_uri` field | | `pdf` | `raw` | PDF binary with `application/pdf` Content-Type | | `pdf` | `json` | JSON with `pdf_uri` field | ## Use Case Examples ### 1. Save HTML to File ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://example.com&content=html&delivery=raw&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" \ -o page.html ``` ### 2. Get Metadata Only (No Content) Perfect for checking pages before full scraping: ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://example.com&delivery=json&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" ``` Returns title, status code, credits used, but no content—saves bandwidth and money. ### 3. Extract Clean Text for AI ```bash curl "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime?url=https://blog.example.com/post&content=markdown&delivery=raw&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" \ | python process_with_ai.py ``` ### 4. Get Screenshot with Metadata ```bash curl -X POST "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime" \ -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "https://example.com", "mode": "browser", "screenshot": true, "delivery": "json" }' ``` **Response:** ```json { "success": true, "url": "https://example.com", "screenshot_uri": "https://scraper-results.evomi.com/screenshots/task_abc123.png", "credits_used": 6.0, "credits_remaining": 94.0 } ``` ### 5. Markdown with Full JSON Response ```bash curl -X POST "https://scrape.evomi.com/api/v1/scraper/realtime" \ -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "https://blog.example.com/post", "content": "markdown", "delivery": "json", "include_content": true }' ``` **Response:** ```json { "success": true, "url": "https://blog.example.com/post", "title": "How to Build Scalable APIs", "content": "# How to Build Scalable APIs\n\nPublished...", "meta": { "description": "Learn best practices...", "author": "John Doe" }, "credits_used": 1.0 } ``` ## Special Response Fields ### With Extract_scheme `extract_scheme` returns data in the specified scheme ```json { "extraction": [ { "title": "Example Page Title", "description": "This is a sample description text", "contact_email": "info@example.com" }, { "phone_numbers": ["555-0123", "555-0456"], "social_links": { "twitter": "https://twitter.com/example", "facebook": "https://facebook.com/example" } }, [] //No data found ] } ``` ### With Screenshots When screenshots are captured: ```json { "screenshot_uri": "https://scraper-results.evomi.com/screenshots/task_abc123.png", "screenshot_data": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAA..." // base64 encoded } ``` - **`screenshot_uri`:** Public CDN URL (available for 30 days) - **`screenshot_data`:** Base64 encoded PNG data (in JSON responses) ### With PDFs When PDFs are captured: ```json { "pdf_uri": "https://scraper-results.evomi.com/pdfs/task_abc123.png", "pdf_data": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAA..." // base64 encoded } ``` - **`pdf_uri`:** Public CDN URL (available for 30 days) - **`pdf_data`:** Base64 encoded PDF data (in JSON responses) ### With AI Enhancement When AI processing is enabled: ```json { "ai_response": { "summary": "This article explains...", "key_points": ["Point 1", "Point 2"], "headline": "Main Title" } } ``` See [AI Enhancement](/scraping-products-instructions/scraper-api/parameters/ai-enhancement/) for details. ### With JavaScript Execution When JavaScript is executed: ```json { "js_result": "Return value from execute_js", "js_instructions_result": [ {"action": "click", "selector": "#button", "status": "success"} ] } ``` ## Best Practices ### Choose the Right Format **Use HTML when:** - Parsing with DOM libraries (BeautifulSoup, Cheerio) - Need exact page structure - Building web archives - Custom processing required **Use Markdown when:** - Feeding content to AI/LLMs - Text analysis or NLP - Content summarization - Human-readable archives **Use Screenshots when:** - Visual documentation needed - UI/UX testing - Compliance requirements - Visual AI processing **Use PDFs when:** - Document archiving needed - Print-quality preservation - Legal compliance requirements - Searchable text preservation ### Optimize Bandwidth **For metadata checks:** ```json {"delivery": "json"} ``` Omits content, returns only metadata. **For full responses:** ```json {"delivery": "json", "include_content": true} ``` Includes everything. **For direct content:** ```json {"delivery": "raw"} ``` No JSON wrapper, just content. ### Save Files Correctly **HTML:** ```bash curl "..." -o page.html ``` **Markdown:** ```bash curl "..." -o article.md ``` **Screenshot:** ```bash curl "..." -o screenshot.png ``` **PDF:** ```bash curl "..." -o document.pdf ``` PDFs and Screenshots are stored for 30 days. Download and store them locally if you need longer retention.