jsonazure-devopsazure-pipelines

Azure Devops Pipeline: a JSON string variable loses all its doublequotes

I am starting a pipeline using an external webhook that invokes the Runs endpoint.

The webhook is providing a JSON string which I want to parse and use inside the pipeline:

webhook POST payload

I am collecting the JSON string inside a pipeline variable that allows overwrite at runtime:

pipeline variable definition

I mean to use the variable inside a Bash@3 task:

setting the variable inside the Bash3 task

If I try to parse and use the variable value with jq, I get errors like "Invalid numeric literal at line 1, column 5", which makes me think there must be a problem with the JSON syntax.

And indeed, if I just log it out, it appears that all the doublequotes have been stripped away:

logging out variable value

Is this really the case? Why?

How could I ensure that the string enters the pipeline with all its doublequotes?

Solution

  • Consider using an environment variable in the task, instead of assigning a local script variable. It might help to avoid issues such as special characters escaping.

    Example:

    trigger: none

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
  - task: Bash@3
    inputs:
      targetType: 'inline'
      script: |
        echo "Payload: ${jsonPayload}"
        echo "${jsonPayload}" | jq
    displayName: Echo payload
    env:
      jsonPayload: $(payload) # <--------------------- set environment variable

    Running the pipeline with the following JSON string, which contains single-quotes ' and double-quotes ":

    {"name": "Patrick O'Brien", "age": 30, "value": "{\"key1\": \"value1\", \"key2\": \"value2\"}"}

    Output:

    Pipeline output