ScreenCapture

A FiveM resource for capturing screenshots and recording videos from a player's game view, built as a modern replacement for screenshot-basic.

---

Screenshots

serverCapture — server-side export

Captures a screenshot for a player and returns the image data to your callback.

Parameter	Type	Description
source	number	Player source to capture
options	object	Capture options (see below)
callback	function	Called with the captured image data
dataType	'base64' | 'blob'	Format of the data passed to the callback. Default: 'base64'

Options

Field	Type	Default	Description
encoding	string	'webp'	Image encoding format: 'webp', 'jpg', or 'png'
maxWidth	number	1920	Maximum capture width in pixels
maxHeight	number	1080	Maximum capture height in pixels

exports.screencapture:serverCapture(source, { encoding = 'webp' }, function(data)
    -- data is a base64 data URI string
    print(data)
end)

exports.screencapture.serverCapture(
  source,
  { encoding: 'webp' },
  (data: Buffer) => {
    fs.writeFileSync('./screenshot.webp', data);
  },
  'blob',
);

---

remoteUpload — server-side export

Captures a screenshot and uploads it directly to a remote URL. The callback receives the remote API's JSON response.

Parameter	Type	Description
source	number	Player source to capture
url	string	Remote upload URL
options	object	Capture options (see below)
callback	function	Called with the remote API's JSON response
dataType	'base64' | 'blob'	Upload format. Default: 'base64'

Options

Field	Type	Default	Description
encoding	string	'webp'	Image encoding format: 'webp', 'jpg', or 'png'
headers	object	{}	HTTP headers included in the upload request
formField	string	'file'	FormData field name for the uploaded file
filename	string		File name used in the FormData (without extension)
maxWidth	number	1920	Maximum capture width in pixels
maxHeight	number	1080	Maximum capture height in pixels

exports.screencapture:remoteUpload(source, 'https://api.fivemanage.com/api/v3/file', {
    encoding = 'webp',
    headers = { ['Authorization'] = 'your-api-key' },
}, function(response)
    print(response.data.url)
end, 'blob')

exports.screencapture.remoteUpload(
  source,
  'https://api.fivemanage.com/api/v3/file',
  {
    encoding: 'webp',
    headers: { Authorization: 'your-api-key' },
  },
  (response: any) => {
    console.log(response.data.url);
  },
  'blob',
);

---

Video capture

Experimental. Video capture is functional but has not been extensively tested across different hardware, FiveM builds, or CEF versions. The API may change. VP9 encoding relies on the WebCodecs API being available in FiveM's bundled Chromium — if encoding silently produces no frames, the resulting file will contain only the container header. Please report any issues.

Video is recorded as WebM (VP9) via the player's NUI. Chunks are streamed to the server as they are produced, assembled on disk, and the callback is fired when the recording is finalized.

Every video capture returns a public captureId. Use it to stop the recording, check whether it is active, and correlate callback results. Internal upload tokens are not part of the public API.

---

startVideoCapture — server-side export

Starts a video recording for a player and returns a captureId. If duration is provided, the recording stops automatically after that many seconds. The callback receives a structured result object when the WebM file is finalized. The file lives in screencapture/tmp/ and the caller is responsible for it.

Parameter	Type	Description
source	number	Player source to record
options	object	Capture options (see below)
callback	function	Called with the finalized capture result

Options

Field	Type	Default	Description
duration	number		Optional recording duration in seconds
maxWidth	number	1920	Maximum capture width in pixels
maxHeight	number	1080	Maximum capture height in pixels

local captureId = exports.screencapture:startVideoCapture(source, {
    duration = 10,
    maxWidth = 1280,
    maxHeight = 720,
}, function(result)
    if result.status ~= 'success' then
        print(('Video capture failed: %s'):format(result.error or 'unknown error'))
        return
    end

    print(('Capture %s saved to %s'):format(result.captureId, result.filePath))
    print(('Bytes received: %d'):format(result.bytesReceived or 0))
end)

print(('Started video capture: %s'):format(captureId))

const captureId = exports.screencapture.startVideoCapture(
  source,
  { duration: 10, maxWidth: 1280, maxHeight: 720 },
  (result: any) => {
    if (result.status !== 'success') {
      console.error('Video capture failed:', result.error);
      return;
    }

    console.log(`Capture ${result.captureId} saved to ${result.filePath}`);
  },
);

---

stopVideoCapture — server-side export

Stops an active recording by captureId. This triggers output.finalize() in the NUI, flushes remaining encoded frames, and fires the callback registered by startVideoCapture or startVideoCaptureUpload.

Parameter	Type	Description
captureId	string	Capture ID to stop

local captureId = exports.screencapture:startVideoCapture(source, {}, function(result)
    print(result.filePath)
end)

-- Stop later.
exports.screencapture:stopVideoCapture(captureId)

---

startVideoCaptureUpload — server-side export

Starts a video recording for a player, uploads the resulting WebM to a remote URL when finalized, deletes the temp file, and returns a captureId. The callback receives a structured result object with the remote response.

Parameter	Type	Description
source	number	Player source to record
url	string	Remote upload URL
options	object	Upload and capture options
callback	function	Called with the finalized capture result

Options

Field	Type	Default	Description
duration	number		Optional recording duration in seconds
headers	object	{}	HTTP headers included in the upload request
formField	string	'file'	FormData field name for the uploaded file
filename	string	'recording'	File name in the FormData (.webm is appended)
maxWidth	number	1920	Maximum capture width in pixels
maxHeight	number	1080	Maximum capture height in pixels

local captureId = exports.screencapture:startVideoCaptureUpload(source, 'https://api.fivemanage.com/api/v3/file', {
    duration = 15,
    headers = { ['Authorization'] = 'your-api-key' },
    filename = 'gameplay',
}, function(result)
    if result.status ~= 'success' then
        print(('Upload failed: %s'):format(result.error or 'unknown error'))
        return
    end

    print(('Uploaded capture %s'):format(result.captureId))
    print(result.response.data.url)
end)

---

isVideoCaptureActive — server-side export

Returns whether a capture ID is currently active.

if exports.screencapture:isVideoCaptureActive(captureId) then
    exports.screencapture:stopVideoCapture(captureId)
end

---

Compatibility exports

serverCaptureStream, remoteUploadStream, INTERNAL_stopServerCaptureStream, and stopStream are still available for existing callers. The stream start exports now return a captureId, but their callbacks keep the old payloads: local captures receive the WebM file path, and remote captures receive the remote API response.

local captureId = exports.screencapture:serverCaptureStream(source, { duration = 10 }, function(filePath)
    print(filePath)
end)

exports.screencapture:INTERNAL_stopServerCaptureStream(source)

---

Screenshot-basic compatibility

requestScreenshotUpload — client-side export

Not recommended. Upload tokens are exposed to the client.

exports['screencapture']:requestScreenshotUpload('https://api.fivemanage.com/api/v3/file', 'file', {
    headers = { ['Authorization'] = 'your-api-key' },
    encoding = 'webp',
}, function(data)
    local resp = json.decode(data)
    print(resp.url)
end)

requestScreenshot — client-side export

Returns a base64 data URI of the screenshot directly to the callback without uploading.

exports['screencapture']:requestScreenshot({ encoding = 'jpg' }, function(data)
    -- data is a base64-encoded image data URI
    print(data)
end)