TypeError: response.json is not a function in JavaScript

# TypeError: response.json is not a function in JavaScript

The "response.json is not a function" error occurs when:

• We call the json() method on an object that is not the Response object that resolves from the promise the fetch() method returns.
• We call the json() method on the return value of calling an axios method.

# Call the json() method on a valid Response object

To solve the error, make sure to only call the json() method on the Response object that resolves from a valid call to the fetch() method.

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async function getUser() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://randomuser.me/api/');

    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`Error! status: ${response.status}`);
    }

    // ✅ call response.json() here
    const result = await response.json();
    return result;
  } catch (err) {
    console.log(err);
  }
}

console.log(await getUser())

The code sample shows a complete example of using the fetch() method to make a call to a remote API.

And here is an example of calling the response.json() method if you use the .then() syntax.

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function getUser() {
  return (
    fetch('https://randomuser.me/api/')
      // ✅ call response.json() here
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(data => {
        console.log(data);
      })
      .catch(err => {
        console.log(err);
      })
  );
}

getUser();

The fetch() method returns a Promise that resolves to a Response object.

The Response object contains the json() method that returns a promise that resolves to a JavaScript object.

The json() method parses the JSON from the response to a native JavaScript object.

# Solve the error when using axios

If you use axios, you don't have to call the json() method on the response.

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import axios from 'axios';

async function getUser() {
  try {
    const response = await axios.get(
      'https://randomuser.me/api/',
      {
        headers: {'Accept-Encoding': 'gzip,deflate,compress'},
      },
    );

    return response.data;
  } catch (err) {
    console.log(err);
  }
}

console.log(await getUser());

Axios takes care of parsing the response automatically, so we don't have to call any additional methods.

Access the data property on the object to get the data from the response.

The data property contains the response that was sent from the server.

Here is an example that uses the .then() syntax instead of async/await.

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import axios from 'axios';

async function getUser() {
  return axios
    .get('https://randomuser.me/api/', {
      headers: {'Accept-Encoding': 'gzip,deflate,compress'},
    })
    .then(response => {
      console.log(response.data);
    })
    .catch(err => {
      console.log(err);
    });
}

await getUser();

Other properties on the axios response object include:

• status - the status code of the server response
• statusText - the HTTP status message of the response, e.g. OK
• headers - the HTTP headers the server responded with
• config - the config that was provided to axios for the request
• request - the request that generated this response

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• ReferenceError: fetch is not defined in NodeJs
• Fetch API cannot load localhost. URL scheme is not supported
• Get the Status Code of a Fetch HTTP Response in JavaScript
• How to Make HTTP requests in TypeScript