> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://gaffa.dev/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://gaffa.dev/docs/features/browser-requests/actions/capture-element.md).

# Capture Element

**Type**: `capture_element`

Returns the [innerHTML](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Element/innerHTML), essentially the contents, of a particular element on the page. This can be used when you are only interested in the contents of a particular element.

### Parameters

<table data-full-width="false"><thead><tr><th width="212">Name</th><th width="130">Type</th><th width="108" data-type="checkbox">Required</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>selector</code></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>true</td><td>The <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css_selectors.php">selector </a>that defines the element whose contents you want to capture.</td></tr><tr><td><code>timeout</code></td><td><code>integer</code></td><td>false</td><td>The maximum amount of time the browser should wait for the element defined by the selector to appear. <strong>Default: 5000 (5s)</strong></td></tr></tbody></table>

See [universal parameters](/docs/features/browser-requests/actions.md#universal-parameters).

### Usage

#### Click an element on the page

The following code will wait 1 second for the `.page_contents` element to appear and return an HTML file containing the div's innerHTML.

```json
"actions": [
    {
      "type": "capture_element",
      "selector": ".page_contents",
      "timeout": 1000
    }
]
```


---

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