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Description

This error indicates that the PostgreSQL database encountered text data that was expected to be valid JSON but failed parsing. It typically occurs during `INSERT` or `UPDATE` operations on JSON or JSONB columns, or when using JSON functions with malformed input.

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Error Message

invalid json text

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Known Causes

4 known causes

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Malformed JSON Syntax

The provided JSON string contains structural errors such as missing quotes, incorrect delimiters, or unescaped special characters.

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Incorrect Data Type Provision

Attempting to insert or update a column expecting JSON with data that is not a valid JSON string, like plain text or a number.

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Character Encoding Mismatch

The JSON text contains characters that are not correctly encoded for the database's character set, leading to parsing failures.

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Incomplete or Truncated JSON

The JSON string is cut off or incomplete, often due to length constraints or improper data handling during transmission from an application.

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Solutions

4 solutions available

1. Validate and Sanitize Input Data easy

Ensure the JSON data being inserted or updated is syntactically correct before it reaches PostgreSQL.

1

Identify the source of the JSON data. This could be an application, an ETL process, or a manual import.

2

Use a JSON validator tool or library in your application code to check for syntax errors before sending the data to PostgreSQL. Common issues include missing commas, unclosed brackets/braces, or invalid characters.

Example using Python's `json` library:
python
import json

json_string = '{"name": "John", "age": 30}' # Potentially invalid JSON
try:
    json_data = json.loads(json_string)
    # If successful, proceed to insert into PostgreSQL
except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
    print(f"Invalid JSON: {e}")
    # Handle the error, e.g., log it, return an error response

3

If the JSON is being generated by the application, ensure proper escaping of special characters within strings.

2. Use PostgreSQL's `jsonb` Type with Casting medium

Leverage the `jsonb` type and explicitly cast incoming text to `jsonb` for stricter validation.

1

If your table column is of type `json` or `text` and you intend to store JSON, consider changing it to `jsonb`. `jsonb` stores data in a decomposed binary format, which is more efficient for querying and also performs validation upon insertion.

ALTER TABLE your_table ALTER COLUMN your_json_column TYPE jsonb USING your_json_column::jsonb;

2

When inserting or updating data, explicitly cast the input string to `jsonb`. This will trigger PostgreSQL's JSON parsing and validation.

INSERT INTO your_table (your_json_column) VALUES ('{"key": "value"}'::jsonb);

3

If you're updating an existing `json` column to `jsonb`, ensure the data in that column is valid JSON. If not, you might need to clean it up first or use a more robust casting approach.

UPDATE your_table SET your_json_column = your_json_column::text::jsonb WHERE your_json_column IS NOT NULL;

3. Inspect and Correct Invalid JSON in Existing Data medium

Identify and fix malformed JSON entries within your PostgreSQL tables.

1

Query your table to find rows that might contain invalid JSON in the relevant column. You can use `json_typeof` or attempt to cast to `jsonb` within a `WHERE` clause to identify problematic rows.

SELECT * FROM your_table WHERE json_typeof(your_json_column::json) IS NULL OR your_json_column::json IS NULL;

2

For identified rows, manually inspect the content of `your_json_column`. You can use `SELECT your_json_column FROM your_table WHERE ...` to retrieve the data.

3

Correct the syntax errors in the JSON string. This might involve adding missing commas, quotes, or brackets. After correction, update the row.

UPDATE your_table SET your_json_column = '{"corrected": "json"}'::jsonb WHERE id = your_row_id;

4

If you have many rows to fix, consider writing a script to parse and re-serialize the JSON, cleaning it up in the process, before updating the table.

4. Handle Data Type Mismatches in Application Logic easy

Ensure that the data being passed to PostgreSQL is treated as a string before attempting JSON parsing.

1

Verify that the application code is correctly passing the JSON data as a string to the PostgreSQL driver or ORM. Sometimes, data might be inadvertently converted to another type before being sent.

2

If you are using an ORM, check its configuration for how it handles JSON data types and ensure it's not performing unexpected conversions.

3

Explicitly cast the data to `text` in your SQL query if the PostgreSQL driver or ORM is not correctly inferring the type.

INSERT INTO your_table (your_json_column) VALUES ($1::text); -- Where $1 is the JSON string

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Related Errors

5 related errors

PostgreSQL Error 22032: Invalid JSON Text