unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line L column C (char N)
This message comes from orjson on CPython 3.12.3. In this registry it is produced by 10 distinct mistakes. Positions in the real message vary with your input; the causes do not.
What produces this message
Bare unquoted word as a JSON document
helloExact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)
Fix: Quote it: `"hello"` is a valid JSON document, `hello` is not.
Double comma in a JSON array
[1,,2]Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 4 (char 3)
Fix: Remove the extra comma, or write `null` if the empty slot is meaningful.
HTML received where JSON was expected
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html><body>500</body></html>Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)
Fix: Check the HTTP status and the Content-Type header before parsing. Log the first 200 characters of the body when parsing fails so the actual page is visible in your logs.
Infinity is not valid JSON
{"a": Infinity}Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 7 (char 6)
Fix: Write `null`, a string, or clamp the value before serialising. Python: `json.dumps(x, allow_nan=False)`.
NaN is not valid JSON
{"a": NaN}Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 7 (char 6)
Fix: Emit `null` instead, or a sentinel your consumer understands. In Python, pass `allow_nan=False` to `json.dumps` so the problem surfaces at write time rather than at read time in someone else's service.
Python True / False / None in JSON
{"a": True, "b": None}Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 7 (char 6)
Fix: Serialise with `json.dumps()` rather than `str()`, `repr()`, or an f-string.
Whole JSON document wrapped in quotes
'{"a": 1}'Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)
Fix: Parse twice, or fix the producer so it sends the object rather than a string containing the object.
undefined is not valid JSON
{"a": undefined}Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 7 (char 6)
Fix: Use `null` for an intentionally empty value, or omit the key entirely.
The literal string 'undefined' as a JSON document
undefinedExact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)
Fix: Guard against undefined before sending, and send `JSON.stringify(value)` rather than a template literal.
Unquoted string value in JSON
{"a": hello}Exact message: unexpected character, expected a JSON value: line 1 column 7 (char 6)
Fix: Wrap the value in double quotes.
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 value: line L column C (char N) |
| Gson | Use JsonReader.setLenient(true) to accept malformed JSON at line L column C path $… |
| Gson JsonParser (lenient off) | Use JsonReader.setLenient(true) to accept malformed JSON at line L column C path $… |
| JSON5 | JSON5: invalid character ',' at 1:4JSON5: invalid character '<' at 1:1JSON5: invalid character 'T' at 1:7JSON5: invalid character 'h' at 1:1JSON5: invalid character 'h' at 1:7JSON5: invalid character 'u' at 1:1JSON5: invalid character 'u' at 1:7 |
| JSON::PP | malformed JSON string, neither array, object, number, string or atom, at character offset N (before "…") |
| Jackson ObjectMapper | Non-standard token 'Infinity': enable `JsonReadFeature.ALLOW_NON_NUMERIC_NUMBERS` to allowNon-standard token 'NaN': enable `JsonReadFeature.ALLOW_NON_NUMERIC_NUMBERS` to allowUnexpected character (''' (code 39)): expected a valid value (JSON String, Number, Array, Object or token 'null', 'true' or 'false')Unexpected character (',' (code 44)): expected a valid value (JSON String, Number, Array, Object or token 'null', 'true' or 'false')Unexpected character ('<' (code 60)): expected a valid value (JSON String, Number, Array, Object or token 'null', 'true' or 'false')Unrecognized token 'True': was expecting (JSON String, Number, Array, Object or token 'null', 'true' or 'false')Unrecognized token 'hello': was expecting (JSON String, Number, Array, Object or token 'null', 'true' or 'false')Unrecognized token 'undefined': was expecting (JSON String, Number, Array, Object or token 'null', 'true' or 'false') |
| JavaScriptCore JSON.parse | JSON Parse error: Single quotes (') are not allowed in JSONJSON Parse error: Unexpected identifier "Infinity"JSON Parse error: Unexpected identifier "NaN"JSON Parse error: Unexpected identifier "True"JSON Parse error: Unexpected identifier "hello"JSON Parse error: Unexpected identifier "undefined"JSON Parse error: Unexpected token ','JSON Parse error: Unrecognized token '<' |
| Newtonsoft.Json JsonConvert | Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: <. Path '', line L, position N.Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: T. Path 'a', line L, position N.Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: h. Path '', line L, position N.Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: h. Path 'a', line L, position N. |
| Newtonsoft.Json JsonTextReader | Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: <. Path '', line L, position N.Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: T. Path 'a', line L, position N.Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: h. Path '', line L, position N.Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: h. Path 'a', line L, position N. |
| Ruby JSON.parse | unexpected token at '…' |
| SpiderMonkey JSON.parse | JSON.parse: unexpected character at line L column C of the JSON data |
| System.Text.Json Deserialize | ''' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.',' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'<' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'I' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'N' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'T' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'h' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'u' is an invalid start of a value. Path: $ | LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C. |
| System.Text.Json JsonDocument | ''' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.',' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'<' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'I' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'N' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'T' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'h' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C.'u' is an invalid start of a value. LineNumber: L | BytePositionInLine: C. |
| V8 JSON.parse | "undefined" is not valid JSONUnexpected token ''', "'{"a": 1}'" is not valid JSONUnexpected token ',', "[1,,2]" is not valid JSONUnexpected token '<', "…"... is not valid JSONUnexpected token 'I', "{"a": Infinity}" is not valid JSONUnexpected token 'N', "{"a": NaN}" is not valid JSONUnexpected token 'T', "{"a": True, "b"…"... is not valid JSONUnexpected token 'h', "hello" is not valid JSONUnexpected token 'h', "{"a": hello}" is not valid JSONUnexpected token 'u', "{"a": undefined}" is not valid JSON |
| encoding/json Unmarshal | invalid character ',' looking for beginning of valueinvalid character '<' looking for beginning of valueinvalid character 'I' looking for beginning of valueinvalid character 'N' looking for beginning of valueinvalid character 'T' looking for beginning of valueinvalid character '\'' looking for beginning of valueinvalid character 'h' looking for beginning of valueinvalid character 'u' looking for beginning of value |
| hjson | End of input while parsing an object (missing '}') at line L,10End of input while parsing an object (missing '}') at line L,12End of input while parsing an object (missing '}') at line L,15End of input while parsing an object (missing '}') at line L,16End of input while parsing an object (missing '}') at line L,22Found EOF while looking for a key name (check your syntax) at line L,30Found a punctuator character ',' when expecting a quoteless string (check your syntax) at line L,3 |
| json-bigint | Unexpected '''Unexpected ','Unexpected '<'Unexpected 'I'Unexpected 'N'Unexpected 'T'Unexpected 'h'Unexpected 'u' |
| json_decode | Syntax error |
| serde_json::from_str | expected value at line L column C |
| ujson | Expected object or value |
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.