---
name: phoenix-pr-screenshot
description: Screenshot a running Phoenix feature and attach images to a GitHub PR. Builds the frontend, starts Phoenix with env vars, uses agent-browser to capture screenshots, uploads to GCS, and updates the PR body.
user-invocable: true
metadata:
  internal: true
---

# Phoenix PR Screenshot

Capture screenshots of the Phoenix UI to visually document a feature in a pull request. This skill handles the end-to-end workflow: build, launch, screenshot, upload, and attach to PR.

## Prerequisites

- `agent-browser` CLI installed and available
- `gsutil` authenticated with access to `gs://arize-phoenix-assets/`
- `gh` CLI authenticated with the Arize-ai/phoenix repo
- `pnpm` and `uv` available for building and running Phoenix

## Workflow

### Step 1: Build the frontend

The Phoenix backend serves the built frontend from `src/phoenix/server/static/`. Build it from the `app/` directory:

```bash
cd <repo-root>/app
pnpm install   # only if node_modules is missing
pnpm run build
```

This compiles the React app and copies static assets into the Python server's static directory. Without this step, page routes like `/playground` return 404.

### Step 2: Start Phoenix

Start the Phoenix backend with any env vars the feature requires. Always use a fresh working directory to avoid DB migration conflicts in worktrees:

```bash
PHOENIX_PORT=6007 PHOENIX_WORKING_DIR=/tmp/phoenix-screenshot-demo <OTHER_ENV_VARS> uv run phoenix serve &
```

Key points:
- Use `PHOENIX_PORT` (not `--port`) to set the port — the CLI doesn't accept a port flag
- Use a temp `PHOENIX_WORKING_DIR` so you don't collide with an existing DB that may have newer migrations
- Wait for the server to be ready: `sleep 10 && curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost:6007/playground` should return 200
- Check `/tmp/phoenix-*.log` if it fails — common issues are migration errors (use a fresh working dir) or port conflicts

### Step 3: Screenshot with agent-browser

Navigate to the relevant page, interact with UI elements to show the feature, and capture screenshots:

```bash
# Open the page
agent-browser open http://localhost:6007/playground

# Wait for React to fully render
agent-browser wait --load networkidle
agent-browser wait 3000

# Get interactive element refs
agent-browser snapshot -i
# Output shows refs like: button "OpenAI gpt-4o" [ref=e33]

# Interact to reveal the feature (e.g., open a dropdown)
agent-browser click @e33
agent-browser wait 1000

# Capture the screenshot
agent-browser screenshot
# Output: Screenshot saved to /Users/.../.agent-browser/tmp/screenshots/screenshot-<timestamp>.png
```

Tips:
- Always `wait --load networkidle` then `wait 2000-3000` after navigation — React apps need time to hydrate
- Re-snapshot after any click that changes the DOM (refs get invalidated)
- Take multiple screenshots to tell a story (before/after, dropdown open, etc.)
- View screenshots with the `Read` tool to verify they captured what you intended

### Step 4: Upload to GCS

Upload screenshots to the shared PR assets bucket, prefixed with the PR number for organization:

```bash
gsutil cp /path/to/screenshot.png gs://arize-phoenix-assets/pull-requests/<PR_NUMBER>-<descriptive-name>.png
```

Naming convention: `<PR_NUMBER>-<descriptive-name>.png` (e.g., `11986-playground-loaded.png`, `11986-provider-dropdown.png`)

### Step 5: Update the PR body

Add the GCS-hosted images to the PR description using `gh pr edit`:

```bash
gh pr edit <PR_NUMBER> --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
<existing summary>

## Screenshots
<description of what's shown>

![descriptive-alt-text](https://storage.googleapis.com/arize-phoenix-assets/pull-requests/<PR_NUMBER>-<name>.png)

## Test plan
<existing test plan>
EOF
)"
```

Always preserve the existing PR body content — read it first with `gh pr view <PR_NUMBER> --json body -q .body`, then add the Screenshots section.

### Step 6: Cleanup

```bash
# Kill the Phoenix server
kill <PID>

# Close the browser
agent-browser close
```

## Removing screenshots

To remove previously uploaded screenshots:

```bash
# Delete from GCS
gsutil rm gs://arize-phoenix-assets/pull-requests/<PR_NUMBER>-<name>.png

# Update PR body to remove the image references
gh pr edit <PR_NUMBER> --body "<updated body without screenshot section>"
```