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JSON content types

JSON content types

David Y.

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The Problem

I’m not sure which content type/MIME type to use when serving a JSON file from my API. There are a lot of different options:

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application/json
application/x-javascript
text/javascript
text/x-javascript
text/x-json

Which of these should I use? Should I use different ones in different contexts?

The Solution

Per the JSON specification, RFC-4627, the MIME type application/json should be used when returning JSON content. Using a different content type may cause browsers or other clients to misinterpret or reject the data received.

If the content is HTML or JavaScript that contains JSON, then its MIME type should be text/html or text/javascript (per RFC-9239).

The other MIME types listed are deprecated and should not be used.

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