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External request - Bad control character in string literal

  • May 6, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 93 views
Anthony.75001

I'm having a problem with my workflow, which retrieves up to 5 messages, merges them and sends a single message to N8n.

But I've noticed an error: when the user sends a short message like “Hi, how are you?”, but if the user sends a long message with line breaks, it hangs. Here's the error returned by the External Request node:

Bad control character in string literal in JSON at position 454 (line 3 column 423).

Do you have a solution for formatting all long texts containing line breaks so that the External request node accepts the content?

 

Best answer by Fabio Gaulke

Hi, ​@Anthony.75001!

 

Try this:

  • Remove the quotation marks from the values.
  • Click on the Custom Field.
  • Select Encode to JSON.

 

 

 

    4 replies

    Fabio Gaulke
    Forum|alt.badge.img+3
    • Fabio Gaulke
    • Manychat Community Moderator
    • 1399 replies
    • Answer
    • May 6, 2025

    Hi, ​@Anthony.75001!

     

    Try this:

    • Remove the quotation marks from the values.
    • Click on the Custom Field.
    • Select Encode to JSON.

     

     

     

    @fabio.gaulke | @monada.ag
    Anthony.75001
    • Anthony.75001
    • Author
    • Up-and-Comer
    • 2 replies
    • May 7, 2025

    Ooooh thank you so much! I've been struggling for hours, asking so many questions at ChatGPT... Thank goodness I thought to ask the question here.

     

    Thank you so much. I'm going to test this solution for a while.

    Fabio Gaulke
    Forum|alt.badge.img+3
    • Fabio Gaulke
    • Manychat Community Moderator
    • 1399 replies
    • May 8, 2025

    Did it work, ​@Anthony.75001? 👀😁

    @fabio.gaulke | @monada.ag
    Anthony.75001
    • Anthony.75001
    • Author
    • Up-and-Comer
    • 2 replies
    • May 8, 2025

    Yes, it worked on the first try hahah Thanks Fabio!  😁


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