prestodb/presto · error · IllegalStateException

Response does not contain a JSON value

Error message

Response does not contain a JSON value

What it means

JsonResponse.getValue() returns the parsed JSON body, but only if the HTTP response successfully deserialized (hasValue == true). When the response could not be parsed or an exception occurred during fetch, the library stores the exception instead, and calling getValue() throws this IllegalStateException wrapping the underlying cause.

Source

Thrown at presto-client/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/client/JsonResponse.java:98

    public String getStatusMessage()
    {
        return statusMessage;
    }

    public Headers getHeaders()
    {
        return headers;
    }

    public boolean hasValue()
    {
        return hasValue;
    }

    public T getValue()
    {
        if (!hasValue) {
            throw new IllegalStateException("Response does not contain a JSON value", exception);
        }
        return value;
    }

    public String getResponseBody()
    {
        return responseBody;
    }

    @Nullable
    public IllegalArgumentException getException()
    {
        return exception;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString()
    {

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

1. Always check hasValue() before calling getValue(), and inspect getException()/getResponseBody() when it is false.
2. Inspect getResponseBody() to see what the server actually returned (HTML error page, empty body, etc.).
3. Verify the coordinator URI, port, and any proxy in front of Presto are correct and healthy.
4. Wrap the call in try-catch and use the cause (getException) to distinguish network failures from JSON parse failures.

Example fix

// before
QueryResults results = response.getValue(); // IllegalStateException when parse failed
// after
if (!response.hasValue()) {
    throw new PrestoException("Non-JSON response: " + response.getResponseBody(), response.getException());
}
QueryResults results = response.getValue();

if (!response.hasValue()) {
    // do not call getValue(); inspect response.getException() and response.getResponseBody()
}

boolean hasJson = response != null && response.hasValue();

try { T value = response.getValue(); } catch (IllegalStateException e) { /* e.getCause() holds the parse/IO exception; fall back to response.getResponseBody() for diagnostics */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getValue() on a JsonResponse created from a failed/failed-to-parse HTTP response — e.g. calling it after hasValue() returns false, or from StatementClientV1.advance/executePoll, getServerInfo, or testTransactionSupport paths when the coordinator returned non-JSON (HTML error page, empty body) or the request failed.

Common situations: Presto coordinator returning 502/503 gateway pages from a load balancer; hitting the wrong port (UI port vs coordinator port); proxy or auth redirects returning HTML; server crashes mid-query leaving an empty body.

Related errors

• Illegal character ':' found in username
• Bad Content-Type from remote Presto server:${contentType}
• Invalid day-time interval:
• Invalid year-month interval:
• Error setting up SSL:

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a4f6ea249b3fbc17. Report an issue: GitHub.