':' expected, at character offset N (before "…")
This message comes from JSON::PP on Perl 5.038002. In this registry it is produced by 1 distinct mistake. Positions in the real message vary with your input; the causes do not.
Causes
What produces this message
Missing colon after an object key
Input
{"a" 1}Exact message: ':' expected, at character offset 5 (before "1}")
Fix: Insert a colon between the key and the value.
Same bug, other languages
What other parsers say about the same input
If a colleague reports a different message for what looks like the same file, this is why.
| Parser | Message for the same inputs |
|---|---|
| CPython json.loads | Expecting ':' delimiter: line L column C (char N) |
| Gson | Expected ':' at line L column C path $… |
| Gson JsonParser (lenient off) | Expected ':' at line L column C path $… |
| JSON5 | JSON5: invalid character '1' at 1:6 |
| Jackson ObjectMapper | Unexpected character ('1' (code 49)): was expecting a colon to separate field name and value |
| JavaScriptCore JSON.parse | JSON Parse error: Expected ':' before value in object property definition |
| Newtonsoft.Json JsonConvert | Invalid character after parsing property name. Expected ':' but got: 1. Path '', line L, position N. |
| Newtonsoft.Json JsonTextReader | Invalid character after parsing property name. Expected ':' but got: 1. Path '', line L, position N. |
| Ruby JSON.parse | unexpected token at '…' |
| SpiderMonkey JSON.parse | JSON.parse: expected ':' after property name in object at line L column C of the JSON data |
| System.Text.Json Deserialize | '1' is invalid after a property name. Expected a ':'. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C. |
| System.Text.Json JsonDocument | '1' is invalid after a property name. Expected a ':'. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C. |
| V8 JSON.parse | Expected ':' after property name in JSON at position N (line L column C) |
| encoding/json Unmarshal | invalid character '1' after object key |
| hjson | Expected ':' instead of '1' at line L,5 |
| json-bigint | Expected ':' instead of '1' |
| json_decode | Syntax error |
| orjson | unexpected character, expected ':' after key: line L column C (char N) |
| serde_json::from_str | expected `:` at line L column C |
| ujson | No ':' found when decoding object value |
Sources
Standards this registry is checked against
- RFC 8259 (STD 90) — The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data Interchange Format, T. Bray, Ed., 2017. The IETF Internet Standard for JSON. Obsoletes RFC 7159 and RFC 4627.
- ECMA-404, 2nd edition — The JSON Data Interchange Syntax, Ecma International, 2017. Ecma’s grammar for JSON. A normative reference of RFC 8259; the two define the same syntax.
- The Unicode Standard — The Unicode Standard, Core Specification, The Unicode Consortium, current. Normatively referenced by RFC 8259 for the definition of a character.
- IEEE 754-2019 — IEEE Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic, IEEE, 2019. Referenced by RFC 8259 §6 as the basis for its interoperability guidance on numbers.
Only standards bodies and peer-reviewed venues are cited. Error strings on this site are observed by executing each parser; the standards above define what the parser is reacting to.