Github API error "Problems parsing JSON" when using curl but works fine with Postman

Question

I am trying to create a release using Github's API.

My request works fine in Postman but no matter what I've tried it always fails with curl, including if I just translate my Postman request into curl using Postman.

This is the body of my Postman POST request:

{
    "tag_name": "4.2.0",
    "target_commitish": "master",
    "name": "4.2.0",
    "body": "test"
}

I've included an authorization header of type "Basic", where I input my username and a token I have created for this purpose.
I am executing the request against https://api.github.com/repos/<myUsername>/<myRepo>/releases.

As I said - it works fine, but when I translate it into curl I get the error "Problems parsing JSON".

The translated curl command is:

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.github.com/repos/<myUsername>/<myRepo>/releases' \
--header 'Authorization: Basic <someHashOrSomething>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "tag_name": "4.2.0",
    "target_commitish": "master",
    "name": "4.2.0",
    "body": "test"
}'

which I reformat into curl --location --request POST 'https://api.github.com/repos/<myUsername>/<myRepo>/releases' --header 'Authorization: Basic <someHashOrSomething>' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-raw '{ "tag_name": "4.2.0", "target_commitish": "master", "name": "4.2.0", "body": "test"}' to be on one line.

I also tried (since only the "tag_name" parameter is required):
curl -i -H 'Authorization: token <myToken>' -d '{"tag_name":"4.2.0"}' https://api.github.com/repos/<myUsername>/<myRepo>/releases
curl -i -H 'Authorization: token <myToken>' -d '{"tag_name":"4.2.0"}' https://api.github.com/repos/<myUsername>/<myRepo>/releases --header Content-Type:application/json
curl -d '{"tag_name":"4.2.0"}' -u <myUsername>:<myToken> https://api.github.com/repos/<myUsername>/<myRepo>/releases --header "Content-Type:application/json"
curl -d "tag_name=4.2.0" -u <myUsername>:<myToken> https://api.github.com/repos/<myUsername>/<myRepo>/releases --header "Content-Type:application/json"

Every curl request fails with the "Problems parsing JSON" error.

Im curious why you use --data-raw here rather than just --data, as seen here stackoverflow.com/a/7173011/1363815 — Brendan Forster
– Brendan Forster, Commented Apr 11, 2020 at 16:48
There may also be some issues with correctly escaping the quotes in the JSON, depending on which OS and shell you are using (see comments) — Brendan Forster
– Brendan Forster, Commented Apr 11, 2020 at 17:29

Benjamin Loison · Accepted Answer · 2025-09-30 22:59:59Z

8

If you are doing this from the windows cmd prompt, you need to change

--data-raw '{   "tag_name": "4.2.0",    "target_commitish": "master",   "name": "4.2.0",    "body": "test"}'

to

--data-raw "{   \"tag_name\": \"4.2.0\",    \"target_commitish\": \"master\",   \"name\": \"4.2.0\",    \"body\": \"test\"}"

cmd prompt appears to not like single quotes for the data.

edited Sep 30 at 22:59

Benjamin Loison

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answered Jul 2, 2020 at 8:26

Jon

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1 Comment

CodeSmile Over a year ago

Confirmed, use regular quotation for the json string and escape quotation within. Bummer because this prevents easy copy&paste.

b.m · Accepted Answer · 2022-02-18 10:54:53Z

1

How to debug:

Add "-v --trace-ascii -" to the curl command to see log for command.
Use echo or write-host for your data in cmd or PowerShell

Remember that It is so important to make sure that curl receives valid JSON data.

See an example of Powershell here:

edited Feb 18, 2022 at 10:54

answered Feb 16, 2022 at 15:32

b.m

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Comments

user13288253 · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-11 16:36:33Z

-5

The problem could be your API key.

Check if it has the sufficient permissions or try and create a new one.

answered Apr 11, 2020 at 16:36

user13288253

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2 Comments

Swatantra Kumar Over a year ago

This is not an answer. Use the comment section for such message.

user13288253 Over a year ago

@SwatantraKumar it is so an answer, I had the same problem some time ago and that's how I fixed it.

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