ASP.NET web api returning XML instead of JSON

Question

I read that by default, Web API will return JSON Data but for some reason when creating an API, it returns XML instead of JSON.

public class CurrencyController : ApiController
{
    private CompanyDatabaseContext db = new CompanyDatabaseContext();

    // GET api/Currency
    public IEnumerable<Currency> GetCurrencies()
    {
        return db.Currencies.AsEnumerable();
    }
}

I haven't modified anything out of the ordinary so I'm stumped

Nevermind, I found out it was actually returning JSON, for some reason Chrome was formatting it into XML >> — clifford.duke, Aug 16 '13 at 07:45
Possible duplication: [link](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9847564/how-do-i-get-asp-net-web-api-to-return-json-instead-of-xml-using-chrome) — Fernando Vezzali, Aug 16 '13 at 09:26

score 64 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 16 '13 at 07:40

64

if you modify your WebApiConfig as follows you'll get JSON by default.

public static class WebApiConfig
{
    public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
    {
        config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "DefaultApi",
            routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
            defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );

        var appXmlType = config.Formatters.XmlFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.FirstOrDefault(t => t.MediaType == "application/xml");
        config.Formatters.XmlFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Remove(appXmlType);
    }
}

answered Aug 16 '13 at 07:40

chamara

12,649
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1

what's the explanation here? the last two lines are removing the xml formatter? – FistOfFury Mar 10 '20 at 17:24
1

Lovely, if you want to remove XML support (even when explicitly requested) and want this on all responses, Seems impossible to find information on how to enforce it on only one endpoint :/ – NiKiZe Oct 01 '20 at 10:42
Exactly what I was lookin' for !! – Venugopal M Apr 08 '22 at 09:07

score 18 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 17 '13 at 06:08

Web Api looks for the headers of the upcoming request to choose the returning data type. For instance, if you set Accept:application/json it will automatically set the returning type to JSON.

Besides that, setting content-type gives a clue to Web-API about upcoming request data type. So if you want to post JSON data to Web API you should have Content-Type:application/json in header.

ASP.NET web api returning XML instead of JSON

2 Answers2

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