json-path/JsonPath · error · PathNotFoundException

No results for path:

Error message

No results for path: 

What it means

PathNotFoundException thrown by PathToken.handleObjectProperty when a property does not resolve during evaluation, neither SUPPRESS_EXCEPTIONS nor REQUIRE_PROPERTIES handling applies to silently skip it, and the token/upstream is considered definite — meaning the path pointed at a value that simply does not exist in the document.

Source

Thrown at json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathToken.java:66

            String property = properties.get(0);
            String evalPath = Utils.concat(currentPath, "['", property, "']");
            Object propertyVal = readObjectProperty(property, model, ctx);
            if(propertyVal == JsonProvider.UNDEFINED){
                // Conditions below heavily depend on current token type (and its logic) and are not "universal",
                // so this code is quite dangerous (I'd rather rewrite it & move to PropertyPathToken and implemented
                // WildcardPathToken as a dynamic multi prop case of PropertyPathToken).
                // Better safe than sorry.
                assert this instanceof PropertyPathToken : "only PropertyPathToken is supported";

                if(isLeaf()) {
                    if(ctx.options().contains(Option.DEFAULT_PATH_LEAF_TO_NULL)){
                        propertyVal =  null;
                    } else {
                        if(ctx.options().contains(Option.SUPPRESS_EXCEPTIONS) ||
                           !ctx.options().contains(Option.REQUIRE_PROPERTIES)){
                            return;
                        } else {
                            throw new PathNotFoundException("No results for path: " + evalPath);
                        }
                    }
                } else {
                    if (! (isUpstreamDefinite() && isTokenDefinite()) &&
                       !ctx.options().contains(Option.REQUIRE_PROPERTIES) ||
                       ctx.options().contains(Option.SUPPRESS_EXCEPTIONS)){
                        // If there is some indefiniteness in the path and properties are not required - we'll ignore
                        // absent property. And also in case of exception suppression - so that other path evaluation
                        // branches could be examined.
                        return;
                    } else {
                        throw new PathNotFoundException("Missing property in path " + evalPath);
                    }
                }
            }
            PathRef pathRef = ctx.forUpdate() ? PathRef.create(model, property) : PathRef.NO_OP;
            if (isLeaf()) {
                String idx = "[" + String.valueOf(upstreamArrayIndex) + "]";

View on GitHub (pinned to 62a4c9f0f6)

Solutions

1. Check the JSON actually contains the property at that path before reading
2. Add Option.REQUIRE_PROPERTIES awareness: configure Option.DEFAULT_PATH_LEAF_TO_NULL to get null instead of an exception
3. Add Option.SUPPRESS_EXCEPTIONS to return an empty result instead of throwing
4. Catch PathNotFoundException and treat it as a missing value in the caller

Example fix

// before
String email = JsonPath.read(json, "$.user.email");
// after
Configuration cfg = Configuration.builder().options(Option.SUPPRESS_EXCEPTIONS).build();
String email = JsonPath.using(cfg).parse(json).read("$.user.email", String.class);

Object v = null;
try { v = JsonPath.parse(json).read(path); } catch (PathNotFoundException ignored) {}
boolean exists = v != null;

try {
    String val = JsonPath.read(json, "$.user.email");
} catch (PathNotFoundException e) {
    String val = null; // treat as absent field
}

When it happens

Trigger: JsonPath.read(json, "$.user.email") where 'email' key is absent from the JSON and no Option.AS_PATH_LIST/DEFAULT_PATH_LEAF_TO_NULL is set; reading a definite path against an incomplete document.

Common situations: API responses missing optional fields, documents from different schema versions, tests expecting a key that the fixture omits.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Missing property in path
• Filter: %s can only be applied to arrays. Current context is
• No results for path:
• The path is null
• Expected to find an object with property %s in path %s but f

AI-assisted analysis of json-path/JsonPath@62a4c9f0f6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bcece28de0eecdbc. Report an issue: GitHub.