HTTP response JSON contains another JSON string inside message (double-encoded?)

[Gerald_Varon]

I’m calling a REST API using an HTTP Request activity and deserializing the response into a JSON object (outerJSON).

Normally, based on tutorials and examples online, once I deserialize the HTTP response once, the JSON is already usable and I can directly access fields.

However, in my case, the response behaves differently.

When I print/log responseContent.TextContent (the raw output of the HTTP Request), the actual data I need is not a JSON object, but a JSON string stored inside a property called message.

Example of the deserialized output (outerJSON):

{
“message”: “{ "id": "922991", "key": "NP-20857", "fields": { "summary": "Sample text" } }”,
“level”: “Information”,
“timeStamp”: “14:19:47”
}

So the message field itself contains escaped JSON as a string, instead of being a nested JSON object.

This is what confuses me, because most tutorials show that after:

• HTTP Request
• Deserialize JSON

…the result is already a usable JSON structure.
In my case, the actual Jira response seems double-encoded / encapsulated inside the message field.

What I’ve Tried

I extract the message field safely like this:

innerJSONString = If(
outerJSON IsNot Nothing AndAlso
outerJSON.ContainsKey(“message”) AndAlso
outerJSON(“message”) IsNot Nothing,
outerJSON(“message”).ToString,
“”
)

However:

• innerJSONString looks empty or cannot be deserialized
• Trying to deserialize it again sometimes throws
  Value cannot be null (Parameter 'JSON string')
  or
  Object reference not set to an instance of an object

Is this a case where the API response is double-encoded JSON? Do I need to deserialize the message field separately? What is the correct way to convert the message string into a usable JSON object so I can access fields like:

• id
• key
• fields.summary

[arjun.shiroya]

hi @Gerald_Varon,

Yes — this is double-encoded JSON.

Your API is returning a wrapper object, and the actual Jira payload is stored as a string inside the message property. So you need to deserialize twice.

Steps in UiPath:

1. Deserialize the HTTP response:

  outerJSON = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of JObject)(responseString)

2. Extract the message value:

innerJSONString = outerJSON?("message")?.ToString

3. If not null/empty, deserialize again:

If Not String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(innerJSONString) Then
    innerJSON = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of JObject)(innerJSONString)
End If

Then you can access:

innerJSON("id").ToString
innerJSON("key").ToString
innerJSON("fields")("summary").ToString

If innerJSONString is empty, log the raw responseString to confirm the actual structure returned by the API.

[Gerald_Varon]

Thank you for replying,

I’ve deserialized it once and then assigned it to a string variable. named “innerJSONString” with this Set value

If(outerJSON IsNot Nothing AndAlso outerJSON.Item(“message”) IsNot Nothing, outerJSON.Item(“message”).ToString(), Nothing)

but when I log message or message box, it’s empty. so when I deserialize it the 2nd time it errors.

the outerJSON is not empty because I print it out and this is the output (sample):

{
“message”: “{\r\n "expand": "SAMPLE",\r\n "id": "SAMPLE",\r\n "self": "SAMPLE",\r\n "key": "SAMPLE",\r\n "fields": {\r\n "summary": "SAMPLE"\r\n }\r\n}”,
“level”: “SAMPLE”,
“logType”: “SAMPLE”,
“timeStamp”: “SAMPLE”,
“fileName”: “SAMPLE”,
“jobId”: “SAMPLE”,
“robotName”: “SAMPLE”,
“machineId”: “SAMPLE”,
“userKey”: “SAMPLE”,
“processVersion”: “SAMPLE”,
“organizationUnitId”: “SAMPLE”,
“businessOperationId”: “SAMPLE”
}

[Gerald_Varon]

@arjun.shiroya

outerJSON?("message")?.ToString

I also tried this

outerJSON?(“message”)?.ToString

also returns nothing,

My Apologies, I’m a beginner in UiPath. I appreciate all the help I can get

[arjun.shiroya]

@Gerald_Varon

• Ensure type = JObject
• Access using outerJSON(“message”)
• Log property names to verify the key
• Log raw response to confirm structure

If it still returns Nothing, share: The type of outerJSON and also How you are deserializing (activity or code)

[Gerald_Varon]

My Variables

Here’s what I have set up:

• innerJSONString - String
• innerJSON - JObject
• issueJSON - JObject
• outerJSON - JObject
• responseContent - HttpResponseSummary

HTTP Request Response

The HTTP request returns something like this:

{
  "message": "{\"expand\":\"renderedFields,names,schema,operations,editmeta,changelog,versionedRepresentations\",\"id\":\"720160\",\"self\":\"https://SAMPLE.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/720160\",\"key\":\"NP-1234\",\"fields\":{\"summary\":\"TEST ONLY\"}}",
  "level": "Information",
  "logType": "User",
  "timeStamp": "12:34:56",
  "fileName": "Main",
  "jobId": "12340fee-1234-1234-8794-12341a0d1234",
  "robotName": "name@sample.com-attended",
  "machineId": 1234158,
  "userKey": "1234cb12-1234-4da6-b2cb-1b2f2572b1d0",
  "processVersion": "1.0.0",
  "organizationUnitId": 1234467,
  "businessOperationId": "12349b2ff454481123481112340a4fbe-36dbb21234e9442ca1234bd5fc111234"
}

Deserialize JSON

I deserialize the response content into a variable called outerJSON.

When I log it, it looks like this:

{
  "message": "{\r\n  \"expand\": \"renderedFields,names,schema,operations,editmeta,changelog,versionedRepresentations\",\r\n  \"id\": \"123460\",\r\n  \"self\": \"https://SAMPLE.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/123460\",\r\n  \"key\": \"NP-1234\",\r\n  \"fields\": {\r\n    \"summary\": \"TEST ONLY\"\r\n  }\r\n}",
  "level": "Information",
  "logType": "User",
  "timeStamp": "12:34:56",
  "fileName": "Main",
  "jobId": "12345ec7-1234-4e7c-86de-1234859a1234",
  "robotName": "name@sample.com-attended",
  "machineId": 1234158,
  "userKey": "1234cb12-4153-4da6-b2cb-12342572b1d0",
  "processVersion": "1.0.0",
  "organizationUnitId": 1234467,
  "businessOperationId": "c5e91234ca991234a5607c718d8b1242-126e3ea1234e4307837cea1831234e7f"
}

[Gerald_Varon]

Extract the Inner Message

I want to get only the value of the message property into a variable innerJSONString.

Here’s what I’ve tried:

If(outerJSON IsNot Nothing AndAlso outerJSON.Item(“message”) IsNot Nothing, outerJSON.Item(“message”).ToString(), Nothing)

or the shorter version:

outerJSON?("message")?.ToString

Problem

Both methods give me an empty string. When I try to deserialize innerJSONString again, it returns null.

I feel like I’m missing a step or doing something wrong in handling this nested JSON string.

so when I deserialize it once again it’s null

Thank You!

I really appreciate anyone who can help me understand what I’m missing. Thanks in advance!

[efelantti]

@Gerald_Varon

{
  "message": "{\r\n  \"expand\": \"renderedFields,names,schema,operations,editmeta,changelog,versionedRepresentations\",\r\n  \"id\": \"123460\",\r\n  \"self\": \"https://SAMPLE.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/123460\",\r\n  \"key\": \"NP-1234\",\r\n  \"fields\": {\r\n    \"summary\": \"TEST ONLY\"\r\n  }\r\n}",
  "level": "Information",
  "logType": "User",
  "timeStamp": "12:34:56",
  "fileName": "Main",
  "jobId": "12345ec7-1234-4e7c-86de-1234859a1234",
  "robotName": "name@sample.com-attended",
  "machineId": 1234158,
  "userKey": "1234cb12-4153-4da6-b2cb-12342572b1d0",
  "processVersion": "1.0.0",
  "organizationUnitId": 1234467,
  "businessOperationId": "c5e91234ca991234a5607c718d8b1242-126e3ea1234e4307837cea1831234e7f"
}

This looks like json for a UiPath log message. Perhaps you have clicked on a log message in the output panel and this has appeared?

So most likely there is not a double encoded json after all.

[Gerald_Varon]

Uhm no, It did not show up like that

[efelantti]

Based on that image one deserialization is enough. Did you already try and if so, did you get any error?

[Gerald_Varon]

Yes I’m receiving this error, the previous output I’ve sent was the outerJSON

I’ve tried this outerJSON?("message")?.ToString

it’s not allowing me to

[Gerald_Varon]

Thank you, it would seems like I just have to use

outerJSON(“fields”)(“customfield_1234”).ToString

or

outerJSON(“fields”)(“summary”).ToString

I appreciate you all for commenting for a beginner like me.

Thanks everyone!