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When TextCortex API failed with “Invalid JSON” on long-form requests and the JSON pre-validation script that prevented failures

Ethan Martinez

Everyone loves when things just work. Especially when you're building cool apps using artificial intelligence. But sometimes, even smart systems hit a snag. This is the story of TextCortex API hiccuping on long-form requests and how a tiny hero script saved the day.

TLDR: When developers used TextCortex for long-form content, some requests failed with a cryptic “Invalid JSON” message. After some head-scratching, the issue was traced back to broken or malformed JSON. A smart pre-validation script was introduced to catch these mistakes before they reached the API. Failures dropped, and life got way easier!

Chapter 1: The Mysterious Failures Begin

It all started with excitement. Teams were using the TextCortex API to generate blog posts, stories, and essays. It was working like magic… until one day, it wasn’t. Some requests started to fail. The error?

{
  "error": "Invalid JSON"
}

Not very helpful, right?

It wasn’t every request. Just some. And it only seemed to happen when developers sent very long-form inputs. The kind with multiple paragraphs, special characters, and lots of curly braces.

Chapter 2: Debugging Mayhem

At first, people blamed the API. “Maybe it’s a bug!” they cried. Logs were checked. Docs were re-read. Coffee was consumed.

But nothing stood out. The API behaved fine with smaller requests. It just choked on the big ones.

So the devs looked closer at the actual JSON being sent. And bam! There it was – improperly escaped characters, trailing commas, even missing quotation marks here and there.

JSON is picky. One wrong symbol and it throws a tantrum.

Chapter 3: What Makes JSON “Invalid” Anyway?

Let’s break it down in plain English. JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is kinda like writing a grocery list with rules:

When requests were auto-generated – especially the long and fancy ones – some sneaky characters slipped in. Bang! JSON invalid. TextCortex, being polite, told you it didn’t like it. But didn’t tell you exactly where it got upset.

Chapter 4: Enter the Hero – JSON Pre-validation Script

A smart developer finally said: “What if we just checked the JSON before sending it?” And thus, the JSON pre-validation script was born.

This little script had one job: Make sure the JSON was perfect before sending it to the API.

Here’s what it did:

  1. Take the JSON payload as a string.
  2. Try converting it using JSON.parse() (in JavaScript) or json.loads() in Python.
  3. If it couldn’t parse it, it threw a detailed error.
  4. If it could parse it, great! Off to TextCortex it went.

Simple? Absolutely. Effective? You bet!

Chapter 5: Small Script, Big Victory

After integrating the script, the game changed. Suddenly, developers were catching problems before hitting the API. They fixed the formatting, cleaned up stuff, and watched their success rate go up.

Here’s how one happy coder shouted on Slack:

“We were seeing nearly 30% failure on long-form requests. Now it’s almost zero!”

Turns out, it wasn’t a problem with the API at all. It was with what people were feeding it.

Chapter 6: How You Can Make Your Own Validator

Wanna build your own? It’s pretty easy. Here’s a Python version of the pre-validation magic:


import json

def validate_json(json_string):
    try:
        json.loads(json_string)
        print("✅ JSON is valid!")
        return True
    except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
        print("❌ Invalid JSON:", e)
        return False

Or in JavaScript:


function validateJSON(jsonString) {
  try {
    JSON.parse(jsonString);
    console.log("✅ JSON is valid!");
    return true;
  } catch (e) {
    console.error("❌ Invalid JSON:", e.message);
    return false;
  }
}

Run it before you make your API request. If the script says everything’s good – then you're golden!

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Chapter 7: Bonus Tips to Keep Your JSON Happy

Even seasoned developers can trip over brackets. So here's a quick checklist:

Chapter 8: The Moral of the Story

Every problem has a cause. And when systems fail, it's often something small hiding in plain sight. The “Invalid JSON” issue looked like a complex API bug, but ended up being a classic formatting slip.

By validating your data before making a request, you save yourself from frustration later. And more importantly – you make your app feel super smooth and reliable.

Final Thoughts

TextCortex API is powerful – no doubt about it. But like any tool, you need to use it the right way. This story is proof that even short scripts can prevent big headaches.

So build your validator, trust your pre-checks, and write JSON like a pro. Your future self (and the API) will thank you!

Remember: Validate early, fail less.

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