topic Re: Empty fields not returned in API endpoint response — inconsistent endpoint response schema behav in Community Chat

Empty fields not returned in API endpoint response — inconsistent endpoint response schema behavior

CETORRES — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 02:06:03 GMT

Hi Community,
I am running into a situation where the HTTP response from a Recipe HTTP Endpoint does not consistently include all the fields defined in the “Return data to caller” step. If a field is not populated at runtime, it is omitted entirely from the final JSON response.

This results in an inconsistent API schema, where the structure varies depending on whether values are present. This inconsistency causes issues for systems consuming the API, as they expect a predictable and stable response structure.

I haven’t found any documentation that confirms whether this is expected behavior or a platform limitation. Could someone from the Workato team please clarify:

Is this omission of empty fields by design?
Is there a way to enforce the full schema in the response, regardless of values?
If not, is there a roadmap to address this kind of response inconsistency?

Re: Empty fields not returned in API endpoint response — inconsistent endpoint response schema behav

shivakumara — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 16:21:09 GMT

Hi @CETORRES ,

To troubleshoot this, I recommend checking whether the fields that are being omitted in the response are marked as optional in your recipe configuration. Workato typically excludes fields that are empty or not populated at runtime — especially if they're optional — which could explain the inconsistency you're seeing in the final API response.

To validate this behavior, I replicated the scenario using Workato’s HTTP trigger and the API Platform. In my test, I intentionally did not assign a value to the "code" field in the “Return data to caller” step. As a result, the "code" field was completely omitted from the response — even though it was defined in the schema — confirming that Workato skips over blank or null fields.

As a Best practice, I recommend:
Using formula mode to assign empty strings ("") or use skip defaults where needed

Thanks and regards,
Shivakumara K A

Re: Empty fields not returned in API endpoint response — inconsistent endpoint response schema behav

sridevib — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 08:35:31 GMT

Hi @CETORRES,

To maintain visibility into missing fields while keeping the recipe stable, I use error handling with alert messages and allow continuous recipe execution. Works well when certain fields are blank at runtime.

Re: Empty fields not returned in API endpoint response — inconsistent endpoint response schema behav

Bhagya_pola — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 01:42:56 GMT

Hi @CETORRES ,

My suggestion is, keep your response schema defined

And handle the empty value with formulas

Below attaching photos for your reference