jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Pinterest request returned malformed JSON payload

Error message

Pinterest request returned malformed JSON payload

What it means

The response from the injected in-page fetch was not a usable JSON object (empty, non-object, or flagged __malformed by the script's JSON parse). The library cannot even inspect status codes, so it throws CommandExecutionError about a malformed JSON payload.

Source

Thrown at clis/pinterest/utils.js:229

    // Reads work anonymously, so their 403 is a rejected request, not a login prompt;
    // writes genuinely need login, so treat their 403 as auth too.
    if (status === 401 || (WRITE_ACTIONS.has(action) && status === 403)) {
      // Pinterest also answers 401 for writes it refuses on a logged-in session (e.g. editing the
      // link of a scraped pin), so pass its own message through instead of only saying "log in".
      throw new AuthRequiredError(
        PINTEREST_DOMAIN,
        raw.message
          ? `Pinterest refused this write: ${raw.message}`
          : 'This action requires being logged in to Pinterest in Chrome',
      );
    }
    const hint = status === 403 ? ' (missing or expired CSRF token — reload Pinterest in Chrome)' : '';
    // Surface Pinterest's own error text (from resource_response.error.message) when present.
    const detail = raw.message ? `: ${raw.message}` : '';
    throw new CommandExecutionError(`Pinterest request failed (HTTP ${status})${detail}${hint}`);
  }
  if (!raw || typeof raw !== 'object' || raw.__malformed) {
    throw new CommandExecutionError('Pinterest request returned malformed JSON payload');
  }
  const resourceResponse = raw.resource_response;
  if (!resourceResponse || typeof resourceResponse !== 'object') {
    throw new CommandExecutionError('Pinterest request returned malformed API payload');
  }
  const payload = resourceResponse.data;
  const results = Array.isArray(payload)
    ? payload
    : (payload && Array.isArray(payload.results) ? payload.results : []);
  return { data: payload, results, bookmark: resourceResponse.bookmark || null };
}

/** POST a /create/ mutation; returns the created resource_response.data. */
export async function pinterestResourceCreate(page, resource, options, sourceUrl) {
  const { data } = await pinterestResourceFetch(page, resource, options, sourceUrl, 'create');
  return data;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Reload pinterest.com in Chrome (ensuring you're logged in, no captcha wall) and retry
2. Disable extensions that rewrite page content or block scripts
3. Check whether Pinterest is showing a captcha or consent page in Chrome and complete it
4. Retry — transient HTML error pages usually resolve

null

null

try { const pins = await cmd.boardPins(b); } catch (e) { if (/malformed JSON payload/.test(e.message)) { console.error('Reload pinterest.com in Chrome (check for captcha/login wall) and retry.'); } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: page.evaluate returned undefined/null because the script crashed before returning; the fetch returned HTML (login page, captcha, consent wall) instead of JSON so JSON.parse failed; response body truncated.

Common situations: Pinterest serving a login redirect or bot-detection page; an extension injecting HTML into the response; the Chrome tab was closed mid-evaluate; Pinterest A/B pages that don't expose the resource API the same way.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

• Chess.com API returned malformed JSON for ${url}: ${error?.m
• coingecko returned malformed JSON: ${error?.message || error
• ${label} returned malformed JSON: ${err?.message ?? err}
• Gmail ${operation} returned malformed JSON
• ${label} returned malformed JSON: ${err?.message ?? err}

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9a2cb8cb9fab8407. Report an issue: GitHub.