HttpMessageNotReadableException ☕ Java

HttpMessageNotReadableException: JSON parse error / Required request body is missing

Spring couldn’t read the request body into your @RequestBody object.

Seen on: Java

Meaning

Malformed JSON, wrong types for fields, a missing body, or sending form data to a JSON endpoint.

Common causes

  • Invalid JSON
  • Field type mismatch (string vs number, date format)
  • Empty body on @RequestBody
  • Wrong Content-Type

⚡ Quick fix

  1. Validate the JSON payload
  2. Match field types and date formats
  3. Send Content-Type: application/json
  4. Make @RequestBody(required = false) if optional

Detailed fix by platform

Java

  1. Return 400 with the parse message via @ExceptionHandler(HttpMessageNotReadableException.class)

How to diagnose

  1. Body — Is it valid JSON?
  2. Types — Which field fails?

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