JSON String as a Query Parameter throws error

[aldilaff]

• Framework version: 1.1
• Implementations: Jersey

Scenario

I have a GET endpoint that takes in a String query parameter:

 @GET
    @Path("/search")
    @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
    public Response list(@QueryParam("query") String queryStr) throws IOException {
        Map<String, String> response = new HashMap<>();
        response.put("body", queryStr);
        return Response.status(200).entity(response).build();
    }
}

When the endpoint is called with a simple string as a parameter it works as expected. For example .../search?query=helloWorld would work as expected. However, when the function is called with a JSON string as a parameter I am seeing an IllegalArgumentException. Making this call .../search?query={"name":"faisal"} would throw this error:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Illegal character """ at position 7 is not allowed as a start of a name in a path template "query={"name":"faisal"}".

Expected behavior

The JSON string should be parsed as a string.

Actual behavior

The JSON string causes an IllegalArgumentException.

Steps to reproduce

1. Define a GET endpoint that takes in a string as a query parameter
2. Call endpoint with the parameter set to a JSON string.

Full log output

4310 [main] ERROR com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler - Error while handling request
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Illegal character """ at position 7 is not allowed as a start of a name in a path template "query={"name":"faisal"}".
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parseName(UriTemplateParser.java:331)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parse(UriTemplateParser.java:256)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.<init>(UriTemplateParser.java:115)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createUriComponent(UriTemplate.java:1004)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:970)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:906)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURI(UriTemplate.java:871)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder._build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:914)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder.build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:831)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.servletRequestToContainerRequest(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:141)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.doFilter(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:86)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.FilterChainHolder.doFilter(FilterChainHolder.java:84)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.doFilter(AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.java:207)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:171)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:75)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxy(LambdaContainerHandler.java:168)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxyStream(LambdaContainerHandler.java:200)
	at com.lithium.tocoma.reach.handlers.AssetHandler.handleRequest(AssetHandler.java:23)
	at lambdainternal.EventHandlerLoader$2.call(EventHandlerLoader.java:888)
	at lambdainternal.AWSLambda.startRuntime(AWSLambda.java:283)
	at lambdainternal.AWSLambda.<clinit>(AWSLambda.java:64)
	at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
	at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:348)
	at lambdainternal.LambdaRTEntry.main(LambdaRTEntry.java:94)
4316 [main] ERROR com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.AwsProxyExceptionHandler - Called exception handler for:
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Illegal character """ at position 7 is not allowed as a start of a name in a path template "query={"name":"faisal"}".
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parseName(UriTemplateParser.java:331)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parse(UriTemplateParser.java:256)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.<init>(UriTemplateParser.java:115)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createUriComponent(UriTemplate.java:1004)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:970)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:906)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURI(UriTemplate.java:871)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder._build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:914)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder.build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:831)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.servletRequestToContainerRequest(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:141)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.doFilter(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:86)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.FilterChainHolder.doFilter(FilterChainHolder.java:84)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.doFilter(AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.java:207)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:171)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:75)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxy(LambdaContainerHandler.java:168)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxyStream(LambdaContainerHandler.java:200)
	at com.lithium.tocoma.reach.handlers.AssetHandler.handleRequest(AssetHandler.java:23)
	at lambdainternal.EventHandlerLoader$2.call(EventHandlerLoader.java:888)
	at lambdainternal.AWSLambda.startRuntime(AWSLambda.java:283)
	at lambdainternal.AWSLambda.<clinit>(AWSLambda.java:64)
	at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
	at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:348)
	at lambdainternal.LambdaRTEntry.main(LambdaRTEntry.java:94)
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Illegal character """ at position 7 is not allowed as a start of a name in a path template "query={"name":"faisal"}".
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parseName(UriTemplateParser.java:331)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parse(UriTemplateParser.java:256)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.<init>(UriTemplateParser.java:115)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createUriComponent(UriTemplate.java:1004)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:970)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:906)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURI(UriTemplate.java:871)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder._build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:914)
	at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder.build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:831)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.servletRequestToContainerRequest(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:141)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.doFilter(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:86)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.FilterChainHolder.doFilter(FilterChainHolder.java:84)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.doFilter(AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.java:207)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:171)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:75)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxy(LambdaContainerHandler.java:168)
	at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxyStream(LambdaContainerHandler.java:200)
	at com.lithium.tocoma.reach.handlers.AssetHandler.handleRequest(AssetHandler.java:23)
	at lambdainternal.EventHandlerLoader$2.call(EventHandlerLoader.java:888)
	at lambdainternal.AWSLambda.startRuntime(AWSLambda.java:283)
	at lambdainternal.AWSLambda.<clinit>(AWSLambda.java:64)
	at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
	at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:348)
	at lambdainternal.LambdaRTEntry.main(LambdaRTEntry.java:94)

[sapessi]

Hey @aldilaff, you should URLEncode the paraters - this is how a browser would behave.

[aldilaff]

Hi @sapessi, thank you for the reply.

I tried with .../search/query%3D%7B%22name%22%3A%22faisal%22%7D and i'm getting the same error:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Illegal character """ at position 40 is not allowed as a start of a name in a path template "/hello-name-test-resource/search/query={"name":"faisal"}".
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parseName(UriTemplateParser.java:331)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parse(UriTemplateParser.java:256)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.<init>(UriTemplateParser.java:115)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createUriComponent(UriTemplate.java:1004)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:964)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURIWithStringValues(UriTemplate.java:906)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createURI(UriTemplate.java:871)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder._build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:914)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.JerseyUriBuilder.build(JerseyUriBuilder.java:831)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.servletRequestToContainerRequest(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:141)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyHandlerFilter.doFilter(JerseyHandlerFilter.java:86)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.FilterChainHolder.doFilter(FilterChainHolder.java:84)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.servlet.AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.doFilter(AwsLambdaServletContainerHandler.java:207)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:171)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.jersey.JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.handleRequest(JerseyLambdaContainerHandler.java:75)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxy(LambdaContainerHandler.java:168)
at com.amazonaws.serverless.proxy.internal.LambdaContainerHandler.proxyStream(LambdaContainerHandler.java:200)
at com.example.hello.name.Name.handleRequest(Name.java:34)

I initially saw the issue while using AWS SAM CLI locally. However, I deployed to AWS and I am still seeing the error.

[sapessi]

You cannot have json as part of the path. You'd request should go to /search?query=%7B%22name%22%3A%22faisal%22%7D. Please keep in mind that it is not best practice to send JSON data in a query string parameter - I'd do it only if it's absolutely necessary. It would be much better to send parameters individually. for example: /search?name=faisal.

[aldilaff]

Good catch, sorry about that.
I tried with /search?query=%7B%22name%22%3A%22faisal%22%7D and I am getting the same error:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Illegal character """ at position 7 is not allowed as a start of a name in a path template "query={"name":"faisal"}".
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parseName(UriTemplateParser.java:331)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.parse(UriTemplateParser.java:256)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.internal.UriTemplateParser.<init>(UriTemplateParser.java:115)
at org.glassfish.jersey.uri.UriTemplate.createUriComponent(UriTemplate.java:1004)
...

We are currently working around it by switching the endpoint to a PUT and sending in the JSON data in the body but I was wondering if anyone else had the same issue?

Thank you again @sapessi for the help!

[sapessi]

I suspect it may have something to do with API Gateway/SAM CLI url-decoding the parameters and the library not re-encoding them before passing them to the framework. I'll mark it as a bug and address it with the next release.

[sapessi]

I did some testing on this. I can confirm that API Gateway automatically decodes the query string parameter values. However, it also escapes them to fit in the JSON values. Your parameter %7B%22name%22%3A%22faisal%22%7D appears in the queryStringParameters map as {\"name\":\"faisal\"}. If I just re-encode the content it will come through as %7B%5C%22name%5C%22%3A%5C%22faisal%5C%22%7D, which is not what you'd expect.

[sapessi]

Hey @aldilaff, any chance you can test with the 1.2-SNAPSHOT in the core branch of this repo? Simply download or clone the core branch to your local box then run mvn install. Once that's installed in your local cache you should be able to just change the dependency in your pom to 1.2-SNAPSHOT

[aldilaff]

Hi @sapessi,
Sorry for the late reply. I tested locally with SAM CLI and it seems to be working great with both /search?query={"name":"faisal"} and /search?query=%7B%22name%22%3A%22faisal%22%7D!

Thank you very much for the fast fix!

[sapessi]

release 1.1.1 is going out to maven central