Node.js express.json middleware not parsing request as expected

Question

I have a simple cURL (i think this is right) that posts a small JSON object to my express server: ``` curl -d "{'test': 'this'}" localhost:3000/rest/user/authenticate ``` I have express set up as: ``` // set up body parsing in express to be able to get parse JSON posts server.use(express.json()); server.use(express.urlencoded()); ``` and have handler that accepts the route: ``` JSON = require('JSON') module.exports = { authenticateUser: function create(req, res){ var postedObject = req.body console.log(postedObject) res.send('Handle Post: authenticateUser'); } } ``` the handler is getting called, but it is logging the JSON body unexpectedly: ``` { '{\'test\': \'this\'}': '' } ``` So my entire object looks to be the name side of a JSON Name:Value pair object. no matter what I post it seems to be appending the value side. Unless I do something like this: ``` curl -d "a=a" localhost:3000/rest/user/authenticate ``` which logs: ``` {'a':'a'} ``` so have i not set the right headers? Configu…

Accepted Answer

1) JSON middleware only works if the request has `Content-Type: application/json` header. 2) Valid JSON should contain `"`, not `'`. So it should be `'{"test": "this"}'` instead of `"{'test': 'this'}"`

Try this command:

```
curl -d '{"test": "this"}' -H "Content-Type: application/json" localhost:3000/rest/user/authenticate
```

Node.js express.json middleware not parsing request as expected

Solution

Problem