---
url: /errors/malformed_json_document.md
---
# `MALFORMED_JSON_DOCUMENT`

`MALFORMED_JSON_DOCUMENT`

## Description

The `document` part of the request is declared as `application/json`, but the context cannot compute its canonical form (RFC 8785). The fingerprint of a JSON document is the SHA-256 of this canonical form: the order of the keys and the white space have no effect.

## HTTP Status

`422 Unprocessable Entity`

## `doc_url` Format

The `doc_url` value is an absolute URL and changes by environment:

`<docs-base-url>/errors/malformed_json_document`

## Typical Causes

* The document does not parse as JSON: for example, it is cut, or it has a trailing comma or a comment.
* The document is not valid UTF-8.
* A string holds a lone surrogate (`"\ud800"`).
* A number is out of the range of a double (`1e400`).

## Example

Request: `POST /v1/certification/certifications` with a `document` part declared `application/json` that holds `{"consent":`.

Response:

```json
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "MALFORMED_JSON_DOCUMENT",
      "message": "The document is declared as application/json, but it is not a valid JSON document",
      "doc_url": "https://docs.example.com/errors/malformed_json_document"
    }
  ]
}
```

## How To Fix

1. Check that the document parses as JSON (RFC 8259) and is encoded in UTF-8.
2. Send the request again with a new idempotency key.
3. If the document is not JSON, send it with the declared type `text/plain`.