airbnb/lottie-android · error · JsonDataException

Expected BEGIN_OBJECT but was {} at path {}

Error message

Expected BEGIN_OBJECT but was {} at path {}

What it means

JsonUtf8Reader.beginObject() peeks the next token and expects PEEKED_BEGIN_OBJECT ('{'). If the token is anything else, it throws JsonDataException. This occurs when the Lottie parser expects a JSON object at a specific path but finds a different type — e.g., a layer definition that should be an object is instead an array or primitive.

Source

Thrown at lottie/src/main/java/com/airbnb/lottie/parser/moshi/JsonUtf8Reader.java:150

      stackSize--;
      pathIndices[stackSize - 1]++;
      peeked = PEEKED_NONE;
    } else {
      throw new JsonDataException("Expected END_ARRAY but was " + peek()
          + " at path " + getPath());
    }
  }

  @Override public void beginObject() throws IOException {
    int p = peeked;
    if (p == PEEKED_NONE) {
      p = doPeek();
    }
    if (p == PEEKED_BEGIN_OBJECT) {
      pushScope(JsonScope.EMPTY_OBJECT);
      peeked = PEEKED_NONE;
    } else {
      throw new JsonDataException("Expected BEGIN_OBJECT but was " + peek()
          + " at path " + getPath());
    }
  }

  @Override public void endObject() throws IOException {
    int p = peeked;
    if (p == PEEKED_NONE) {
      p = doPeek();
    }
    if (p == PEEKED_END_OBJECT) {
      stackSize--;
      pathNames[stackSize] = null; // Free the last path name so that it can be garbage collected!
      pathIndices[stackSize - 1]++;
      peeked = PEEKED_NONE;
    } else {
      throw new JsonDataException("Expected END_OBJECT but was " + peek()
          + " at path " + getPath());
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 05ea92e903)

Solutions

1. Use the path from the exception to locate the offending field and verify it is a JSON object as expected.
2. Validate with LottieFiles validator and a JSON schema checker.
3. Re-export the animation from a compatible tool version.

LottieTask<LottieComposition> task = LottieCompositionFactory.fromAsset(context, name);
task.addListener(result -> { /* success */ })
     .addFailureListener(e -> { /* JSON object structure error */ });

When it happens

Trigger: A field expected to be a JSON object (layer, keyframe, transform, etc.) is instead an array, string, number, or null. This means the JSON structure does not match the Lottie schema at that location.

Common situations: Non-standard Lottie JSON export; corrupted or hand-edited file where object braces were removed; version incompatibility between the animation format and the library.

Related errors

• Expected END_OBJECT but was {} at path {}
• Expected BEGIN_ARRAY but was {} at path {}
• Expected END_ARRAY but was {} at path {}
• Expected a name but was {} at path {}
• Expected a string but was {} at path {}

AI-assisted analysis of airbnb/lottie-android@05ea92e903 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2ef9967f3c8e2a82. Report an issue: GitHub.