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

[CETORRES]

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:

1. Is this omission of empty fields by design?

2. Is there a way to enforce the full schema in the response, regardless of values?

3. If not, is there a roadmap to address this kind of response inconsistency?

[shivakumara]

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