---
title: "Record trace screenshots only when someone reads them"
description: "Keep snapshot traces on every run, save the full trace for evidence runs, and save the snapshot trace for any red test."
url: https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/techniques/trace-screenshots
canonicalUrl: https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/techniques/trace-screenshots
---

# Record trace screenshots only when someone reads them

Keep snapshot traces on every run, save the full trace for evidence runs, and save the snapshot trace for any red test.

## How to choose an approach

This technique currently has one documented company example. Validate its prerequisites, tradeoffs and original CI environment against your repository before adapting it.

- **[DoorDash](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/doordash#trace-screenshots)**: Use it when Passing end-to-end tests spend time recording or uploading traces, videos or screenshots nobody opens. Check before adopting: Teardown runs before the test runner records an in-flight error, so check that assertion, timeout and teardown errors each still save a usable trace.

## Apply this technique

````text
Evaluate and apply this CI technique to my repository: Record trace screenshots only when someone reads them.

Keep snapshot traces on every run, save the full trace for evidence runs, and save the snapshot trace for any red test.

Read the technique and its source-backed company examples: https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/techniques/trace-screenshots.md

Inspect this repository’s CI workflows, build and test commands, dependencies, and recent run timings. Identify where this technique applies and explain the expected benefit using this repository’s evidence.
Measure a baseline from recent comparable runs: elapsed time, queue time, runner minutes and failures where available. If data is unavailable, say what cannot be measured.
Compare relevant company approaches, checking prerequisites, platform differences and tradeoffs. Rank applicable options by evidence, fit and measurable opportunity; do not present company results as predictions for this repo.
Recommend the smallest safe change, show what checks and fallback paths remain, and ASK ME WHICH CHANGE TO APPROVE BEFORE EDITING ANY FILES.
Only after approval, work on a new feature branch, make one reversible change, and open a reviewable pull request. Never merge or push to a default or protected branch.
Keep required checks, test coverage, deployment and release behavior intact. Validate the change and compare equivalent runs where possible; report limitations and what should be monitored after merge.
````

## How DoorDash used this technique

Read what DoorDash changed and follow the original sources.

### DoorDash: Record trace screenshots only when someone reads them

Every journey recorded a full trace with screenshots and DOM snapshots and saved it. The PR records screenshots on evidence runs, keeps snapshots on every run, and saves the trace zip on evidence runs and on failing tests.

Evidence: Source PR/commit evidence

Use it when: Passing end-to-end tests spend time recording or uploading traces, videos or screenshots nobody opens.

Before applying it: Teardown runs before the test runner records an in-flight error, so check that assertion, timeout and teardown errors each still save a usable trace.

[Read more in the DoorDash playbook](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/doordash#trace-screenshots)

[Primary source](https://github.com/doordash-oss/agentic-orchestrator/pull/139)

## CI optimization is continuous work.

Apply this technique yourself, or use StarSling Runners for faster GitHub Actions and optional agent-driven optimization PRs, which teams on eligible paid plans can turn on.

[Get self-improving CI](https://starsling.dev/products/runners)

## Company Playbooks

### [Anthropic](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/anthropic)

Run only affected tests

### [DoorDash](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/doordash)

Run build and test in parallel, sharded across CI agents

### [Linear](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/linear)

Benchmark the same job on faster hardware

### [Mastra](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/mastra)

StarSling runners for the slowest test workflow

### [OpenAI](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/openai)

Rank CI fixes by the minutes they save

### [Ramp](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/ramp)

Move a CPU-bound test suite to a faster CPU

### [Shopify](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/shopify)

Let an agent iterate against one CI metric

### [Spotify](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/spotify)

Build arm64 on native arm64 runners

### [Stripe](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/stripe)

Run only the tests a change can reach

### [Uber](https://starsling.dev/ci-playbooks/uber)

Build the merge-queue speculations most likely to be needed

## Related guides

Implementation guides for this technique.

### [Speed up Playwright tests in GitHub Actions](https://starsling.dev/github-actions/optimizations/optimize-playwright)

Choose Playwright trace and video retention, preserve first-retry diagnostics, and install only the browsers your CI suite uses.