SyntaxError: JSON.parse: bad parsing

The JavaScript exceptions thrown by JSON.parse() occur when string failed to be parsed as JSON.

Message

SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unterminated string literal
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: bad control character in string literal
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: bad character in string literal
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: bad Unicode escape
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: bad escape character
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unterminated string
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: no number after minus sign
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected non-digit
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: missing digits after decimal point
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unterminated fractional number
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: missing digits after exponent indicator
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: missing digits after exponent sign
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: exponent part is missing a number
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected end of data
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected keyword
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected character
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: end of data while reading object contents
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected property name or '}'
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: end of data when ',' or ']' was expected
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected ',' or ']' after array element
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: end of data when property name was expected
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected double-quoted property name
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: end of data after property name when ':' was expected
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected ':' after property name in object
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: end of data after property value in object
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected ',' or '}' after property value in object
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected ',' or '}' after property-value pair in object literal
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: property names must be double-quoted strings
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected property name or '}'
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected character
SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected non-whitespace character after JSON data

Error type

SyntaxError

What went wrong?

JSON.parse() parses a string as JSON. This string has to be valid JSON and will throw this error if incorrect syntax was encountered.

Examples

JSON.parse() does not allow trailing commas

Both lines will throw a SyntaxError:

js

JSON.parse("[1, 2, 3, 4,]");
JSON.parse('{"foo": 1,}');
// SyntaxError JSON.parse: unexpected character
// at line 1 column 14 of the JSON data

Omit the trailing commas to parse the JSON correctly:

js

JSON.parse("[1, 2, 3, 4]");
JSON.parse('{"foo": 1}');

Property names must be double-quoted strings

You cannot use single-quotes around properties, like 'foo'.

js

JSON.parse("{'foo': 1}");
// SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected property name or '}'
// at line 1 column 2 of the JSON data

Instead write "foo":

js

JSON.parse('{"foo": 1}');

Leading zeros and decimal points

You cannot use leading zeros, like 01, and decimal points must be followed by at least one digit.

js

JSON.parse('{"foo": 01}');
// SyntaxError: JSON.parse: expected ',' or '}' after property value
// in object at line 1 column 2 of the JSON data

JSON.parse('{"foo": 1.}');
// SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unterminated fractional number
// at line 1 column 2 of the JSON data

Instead write just 1 without a zero and use at least one digit after a decimal point:

js

JSON.parse('{"foo": 1}');
JSON.parse('{"foo": 1.0}');

See also