ErrorJSON · .json
JSON Unquoted Keys — Missing String Delimiters on Property Names
A JSON file where object keys are not wrapped in double quotes. This is valid in JavaScript but invalid in JSON.
Why It Fails
JSON requires all object keys to be double-quoted strings. Unquoted keys are a JavaScript feature that does not carry over to JSON. This is extremely common when hand-writing JSON.
Broken Example
{
name: "Alice",
age: 30,
active: true
}Expected Error Behavior
JSON.parse() throws SyntaxError: Expected property name or }. Server-side parsers return parse errors.
Affected Software
JSON.parse()All strict JSON parsersREST APIsDatabase JSON columns
How to Fix
Wrap all keys in double quotes. Use JSON.stringify() to generate valid JSON from JavaScript objects.