Screenshot Skill

Working Screenshot Procedure (TESTED & VERIFIED)

This procedure successfully captures screenshots from the Unity game view.

The Exact Working Steps

Step 1: Ensure Play Mode

code

mcp__unity-mcp__manage_editor action="play"

The game must be running to capture what the player sees.

Step 2: Wait for World to Render

bash

sleep 2-3  # Give time for chunks/objects to generate

Important: If the world uses procedural generation, wait for it to complete.

Step 3: Execute Screenshot Menu Item

code

mcp__unity-mcp__manage_menu_item
  action="execute"
  menu_path="Tools/Capture Screenshot"

This triggers the custom screenshot tool that saves to Assets/Screenshots/.

Step 4: Wait for File to Write

bash

sleep 1-2  # Give Unity time to write the file

Step 5: Find the Latest Screenshot

bash

ls -lt Assets/Screenshots/*.png | head -1

Screenshots are named with timestamps like screenshot_20260116_145528.png.

Step 6: Read and Analyze the Image

code

Read file_path="Assets/Screenshots/screenshot_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.png"

Claude can see the image content and analyze it visually.

Complete Example

code

# 1. Start play mode
mcp__unity-mcp__manage_editor action="play"

# 2. Wait for world to generate
Bash: sleep 3

# 3. Capture screenshot
mcp__unity-mcp__manage_menu_item action="execute" menu_path="Tools/Capture Screenshot"

# 4. Wait and find the file
Bash: sleep 2 && ls -lt Assets/Screenshots/*.png | head -1

# 5. Read the screenshot
Read: Assets/Screenshots/screenshot_20260116_XXXXXX.png

# 6. Analyze what you see and report to user

Why This Works

•
Menu item approach: Using Tools/Capture Screenshot via manage_menu_item is more reliable than trying to call ScreenCapture.CaptureScreenshot() directly.
•
Timestamp naming: Screenshots auto-name with timestamps, so we use ls -lt | head -1 to find the newest one.
•
Read tool sees images: Claude's Read tool can interpret PNG images and describe what it sees.
•
Screenshots folder: Files save to Assets/Screenshots/ which must exist (create with mkdir -p if needed).

Troubleshooting

Screenshot not created

•Ensure Assets/Screenshots/ folder exists
•Make sure game is in play mode
•Try executing the menu item twice
•Check Unity console for errors

Same screenshot appearing

•Check timestamps carefully - new files have newer timestamps
•Wait longer between screenshot attempts
•The file might still be writing

Can't find screenshot

bash

# List all recent screenshots with timestamps
ls -la Assets/Screenshots/*.png

When to Use Screenshots

•After visual changes: Materials, UI, positioning
•During terrain tuning: Verify mountains, water, trees look right
•Before declaring done: Visual quality check
•Debugging: "Does it look right?"
•Iterative design: Show user current state during adjustments

Integration Notes

This skill works well with:

•quality-gate: Visual verification step
•verify-changes: Capture before/after
•scene-awareness: Document visual state

Key Insight

The screenshot menu item (Tools/Capture Screenshot) is a custom Editor script in this project. It's more reliable than Unity's built-in ScreenCapture API because it handles:

•Correct game view targeting
•Proper file path handling
•Timestamp-based naming
•Asset database refresh