json-path/JsonPath · error · InvalidJsonException

InvalidJsonException

Error message

InvalidJsonException

What it means

In JakartaJsonProvider's Reader-based parse, the JSON-P JsonReader.read() throws JsonParsingException when the input is not well-formed JSON; the provider converts that into InvalidJsonException. It signals genuinely malformed JSON content reaching the parser.

Source

Thrown at json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/spi/json/JakartaJsonProvider.java:95

        throws InvalidJsonException {
        return parse(new InputStreamReader(new ByteArrayInputStream(json), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
    }

    @Override
    public Object parse(InputStream jsonStream, String charset) throws InvalidJsonException {
        try {
            return parse(new InputStreamReader(jsonStream, charset));
        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
            throw new JsonPathException(e);
        }
    }

  private Object parse(Reader jsonInput) {
    try (JsonReader jsonReader = defaultJsonProvider.createReader(jsonInput)) {
        JsonStructure jsonStruct = jsonReader.read();
        return mutableJson ? proxyAll(jsonStruct) : jsonStruct;
    } catch (JsonParsingException e) {
        throw new InvalidJsonException(e);
    }
    // not catching a JsonException as it never happens here
  }

    @Override
    public String toJson(Object obj) {
        if (obj instanceof JsonObjectBuilder) {
            obj = ((JsonObjectBuilder) obj).build();
        } else if (obj instanceof JsonArrayBuilder) {
            obj = ((JsonArrayBuilder) obj).build();
        } else if (obj instanceof List) {
            obj = jsonBuilderFactory.createArrayBuilder((Collection<?>) obj).build();
        }
        return obj.toString();
    }

    @Override
    public Object createArray() {

View on GitHub (pinned to 62a4c9f0f6)

Solutions

1. Validate the JSON string with a linter/parser before passing it to JsonPath.
2. Check the upstream source actually returns application/json and not an error body.
3. Catch InvalidJsonException and log the wrapped JsonParsingException which includes line/column of the failure.

Example fix

// before
Object doc = JsonPath.parse(responseBody);
// after
try {
    Object doc = JsonPath.parse(responseBody);
} catch (InvalidJsonException e) {
    LOG.error("Bad JSON at " + e.getCause().getMessage());
}

// Java
try { Json.createReader(new StringReader(payload)).read(); return true; } catch (JsonParsingException e) { return false; }

try { Object doc = JsonPath.parse(payload); } catch (InvalidJsonException e) { JsonParsingException p = (JsonParsingException) e.getCause(); /* p.getLocation() has line/column */ }

When it happens

Trigger: JsonPath.parse(String/Reader) with this provider where the document has syntax errors: missing brackets, unquoted keys, trailing commas, or non-JSON content such as XML or HTML.

Common situations: Consuming an API response that returned an error page, copy-pasted JSON with smart quotes, concatenated JSON documents, or truncated files.

Understand the failure class

Background: JSON parse error: "Unexpected token" / "not valid JSON" / "failed to parse" — what JSON parsers are really complaining about — this error's family across 45 libraries.

Related errors

• e
• InvalidJsonException
• JsonPathException
• JSON-P adapter does not support getLocation()
• Cannot create JSON iterator for " + value

AI-assisted analysis of json-path/JsonPath@62a4c9f0f6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d56da8b82d0837fe. Report an issue: GitHub.