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extension
Category: Development & EngineeringNo API key required

visual-feedback

Use the screenshot tool to see the running Decentraland preview and verify scene changes visually. Use when the preview is running and you need to check what the scene looks like after making code changes.

personAuthor: jakexiaohubgithub
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Visual Feedback — Seeing Your Scene

The screenshot tool lets you capture what the Decentraland preview looks like right now. The browser stays open between calls — only the first screenshot takes ~15s (launch + enter scene). After that, screenshots are instant.

Prerequisites: The preview server must be running (/preview). The tool auto-detects the preview URL.

When to Use Screenshots

  • After completing code changes — verify the final result looks correct
  • When the user asks "how does it look?" — show them and describe what you see
  • When debugging visual issues — "the tree is invisible" → screenshot to see what's actually rendering

Do NOT use screenshots to explore or navigate the scene. Make all code changes first, then take 1-2 screenshots to verify.

Basic Usage

Take a screenshot of the current view:

Use the screenshot tool with no actions to capture the current scene view.

The tool returns the image directly — you'll see it and can describe what's visible.

Movement & Camera

The scene camera always faces north in headless mode. Movement is relative to compass direction, not camera:

| Action | Direction | Key | |--------|-----------|-----| | moveForward | North (toward top of screen) | W | | moveBack | South (toward bottom) | S | | moveRight | East (toward right) | D | | moveLeft | West (toward left) | A |

Movement speed is ~6 meters/second. Default holdMs is 300ms (~1.8 meters).

Camera rotation

Use look actions to rotate the camera view (arrow key holds):

| Action | Effect | |--------|--------| | lookLeft | Rotate camera left | | lookRight | Rotate camera right | | lookUp | Tilt camera up | | lookDown | Tilt camera down |

Default rotation hold is 300ms. Use holdMs for more or less rotation.

Interacting Before Capture

Click on objects

screenshot with actions:
1. click (x: 640, y: 400) — click center of viewport
→ captures the result (e.g., object selected, door opened)

Coordinates are in pixels (viewport is 1280×720).

Press keys

screenshot with actions:
1. key (key: "1") — toggle editor camera
2. wait (ms: 500) — let camera settle
→ captures the overhead editor view

Workflow

  1. Make all code changes (write to src/index.ts)
  2. Take one screenshot with wait: 2000 to let hot-reload settle
  3. Evaluate — describe honestly: what works, what's wrong
  4. Fix if needed — then take one more screenshot to confirm

Keep it to 1-2 screenshots per task. Each screenshot consumes significant tokens.

Scene Layout Awareness

  • Each parcel is 16×16 meters. A 1×1 scene has coordinates 0-16 in X and Z.
  • Y is up. Ground level is Y=0.
  • The avatar spawns near the south-west corner (low X, low Z).
  • Objects at the center of a 1×1 scene are at roughly (8, 0, 8).

WARNING: If you see empty/gray space, "No scene", or no content — you've walked outside the scene boundaries. STOP moving. Keep movements small (holdMs: 300).

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | Screenshot shows welcome screen | The scene hasn't loaded yet — increase wait time | | Black/empty screenshot | Preview server may have crashed — check /tasks | | Objects not visible | They may be behind the camera (south of avatar) — use moveBack or lookLeft/lookRight to find them | | Scene looks different after code change | Hot reload takes ~1-2s — add a wait action of 2000ms | | "No preview server running" | Start it with /preview first | | Empty/gray space, no scene content | You've left the scene boundaries — stop moving | | Z-fighting (flickering surfaces) | Two surfaces at the same position | Move one surface slightly (0.01m) away from the other | | Missing textures (pink/magenta) | Texture file not found or wrong path | Verify file exists in project and path matches code | | Objects appear wrong scale | Scale values off or model exported at wrong scale | Check Transform.scale values; 1,1,1 is original model size | | Lighting looks flat | No LightSource components in scene | Add point or spot lights — see lighting-environment skill | | Custom lights look too dim or invisible | Intensity value too low | Point/spot lights typically need intensity: 8000–32000 candela. Values below ~1000 are usually invisible |

What to Look For in Screenshots

When evaluating a screenshot, check these common issues:

  • Missing objects — entity exists in code but not visible. Check: wrong position (behind camera, underground, outside parcels), scale of 0, VisibilityComponent set to false
  • Z-fighting — flickering or shimmering where two surfaces overlap. Fix: offset one surface by 0.01m
  • Texture issues — pink/magenta means missing texture file, black means missing material, white means missing texture coordinates
  • Scale problems — objects too large (clipping through ceiling) or too small (invisible dots). Compare against parcel size (16m x 16m)
  • Lighting — very flat/uniform usually means no custom lights. Dark scene may need SkyboxTime adjustment
  • UI elements — check that HUD elements are positioned correctly and text is readable

Tips

  • First screenshot is slow (~15s) because it launches a browser and enters the scene. After that, screenshots are instant.
  • The browser persists across all screenshot calls in the session — no repeated logins.
  • Keep movements small — use holdMs: 300 (default) to avoid walking out of the scene.
  • Hot reload — after writing code, wait ~2s before screenshotting to let the scene update.
  • Describe honestly — if something looks wrong, say so. The user trusts your visual assessment.