pyautogui.screenshot() fails silently on macOS even with permissions granted

[renambrandao]

pyautogui.screenshot() fails silently on macOS even with permissions granted

Description

I am reporting an issue where the pyautogui.screenshot() function fails to save an image file on macOS. The command runs without raising an exception, but no file is created in the specified directory. This issue persists despite all relevant system permissions being granted.

Environment

• Operating System: macOS Darwin 15.6.1
• Python Version: 3.9.6
• PyAutoGUI Version: 0.9.54
• IDE: VS Code 1.103

Steps to Reproduce

1. Grant Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions to both the Terminal and Visual Studio Code in System Settings > Privacy & Security.
2. Restart the applications.
3. Run the following Python code from the VS Code integrated terminal:

import pyautogui

pyautogui.screenshot('test_screenshot.png')

Observed Behavior

The script executes successfully with no errors or output, but the test_screenshot.png file is not created in the working directory.

Expected Behavior

The pyautogui.screenshot() command should capture a screenshot and save it to the specified file path.

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Diagnostic Tests Performed

To isolate the problem, the following diagnostic tests were performed:

1. System Permissions: Confirmed that both the Terminal and Visual Studio Code have full permissions for Accessibility and Screen Recording in macOS System Settings.
2. File System Write Access: Confirmed that the script has write access to the directory by successfully creating and saving a simple text file (.txt) in the same location.
3. hotkey() Functionality: The pyautogui.hotkey('command', 'space') command did not work initially. It only became functional after an interval=0.5 parameter was added, suggesting a timing-related issue on macOS that affects PyAutoGUI's ability to simulate simultaneous key presses.
4. Reinstallation: PyAutoGUI was uninstalled, cache was purged, and the latest version (0.9.54) was reinstalled. The issue persisted after the clean installation.
5. Pillow Library Test: The same screenshot functionality was tested using the Pillow library directly (from PIL import ImageGrab; ImageGrab.grab().save('test.png')). This code worked flawlessly, successfully saving the screenshot.

Conclusion

Based on the diagnostic tests, the issue appears to be a bug within the pyautogui.screenshot() function itself. It fails silently to interact with macOS's screen capture APIs, even when the required system permissions are in place. The problem is not with the system configuration, file permissions, or other PyAutoGUI functions. The issue with hotkey() also suggests a potential broader timing or OS interaction problem on this specific system environment.

Workaround

The workaround is to use the Pillow library directly for screenshot functionality, which has been proven to work reliably.

[renambrandao]

Hello,

I am the user who filed this bug report.

After further diagnostics, I discovered that the issue is not with PyAutoGUI itself, but with the underlying PyScreeze library that it uses for screenshots. The pyscreeze.screenshot() command fails with the same silent error, while a direct call to Pillow's ImageGrab.grab() works perfectly.

I have since created a new bug report in the PyScreeze repository with a full diagnosis.

You can find the correct repository here: https://github.com/asweigart/pyscreeze

Issue: asweigart/pyscreeze#138

Thank you for your time.

[renambrandao]

Hello again,

I'm updating this report to let everyone know that the root cause of this issue was found in the PyScreeze library, which PyAutoGUI uses for its screenshot functionality.

The bug has been identified and a fix has been proposed in a pull request. If you are also experiencing this issue, please add a comment to the pull request to show your support and help get the fix merged.

Pull Request with the fix:
asweigart/pyscreeze#128

Thank you!