How do I get ASP.NET Web API to return JSON instead of XML using Chrome?

Answer 1

Here is the easiest way that I have used in my applications. Add given below 3 lines of code in App_Start\\WebApiConfig.cs in Register function

    var formatters = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters;

    formatters.Remove(formatters.XmlFormatter);

    config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Add(new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/json"));

Asp.net web API will automatically serialize your returning object to JSON and as the application/json is added in the header so the browser or the receiver will understand that you are returning JSON result.

Answer 2

I'm astonished to see so many replies requiring coding to change a single use case (GET) in one API instead of using a proper tool what has to be installed once and can be used for any API (own or 3rd party) and all use cases.

So the good answer is:

1. If you only want to request json or other content type install Requestly or a similar tool and modify the Accept header.
2. If you want to use POST too and have nicely formatted json, xml, etc. use a proper API testing extension like Postman or ARC.

Answer 3

MVC4 Quick Tip #3–Removing the XML Formatter from ASP.Net Web API

In Global.asax add the line:

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.XmlFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Clear();

like so:

protected void Application_Start()
{
    AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

    RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
    RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);

    BundleTable.Bundles.RegisterTemplateBundles();
    GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.XmlFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Clear();
}

Answer 4

Using RequestHeaderMapping works even better, because it also sets the Content-Type = application/json in the response header, which allows Firefox (with JSONView add-on) to format the response as JSON.

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.JsonFormatter.MediaTypeMappings
.Add(new System.Net.Http.Formatting.RequestHeaderMapping("Accept", 
                              "text/html",
                              StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase,
                              true, 
                              "application/json"));

Answer 5

Returning the correct format is done by the media-type formatter. As others mentioned, you can do this in the WebApiConfig class:

public static class WebApiConfig
{
    public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
    {
        ...

        // Configure Web API to return JSON
        config.Formatters.JsonFormatter
        .SupportedMediaTypes.Add(new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeHeaderValue("text/html"));

        ...
    }
}

For more, check:

• Media Formatters in ASP.NET Web API 2.
• Content Negotiation in ASP.NET Web API.

In case your actions are returning XML (which is the case by default) and you need just a specific method to return JSON, you can then use an ActionFilterAttribute and apply it to that specific action.

Filter attribute:

public class JsonOutputAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
    public override void OnActionExecuted(HttpActionExecutedContext actionExecutedContext)
    {
        ObjectContent content = actionExecutedContext.Response.Content as ObjectContent;
        var value = content.Value;
        Type targetType = actionExecutedContext.Response.Content.GetType().GetGenericArguments()[0];

        var httpResponseMsg = new HttpResponseMessage
        {
            StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.OK,
            RequestMessage = actionExecutedContext.Request,
            Content = new ObjectContent(targetType, value, new JsonMediaTypeFormatter(), (string)null)
        };

        actionExecutedContext.Response = httpResponseMsg;
        base.OnActionExecuted(actionExecutedContext);
    }
}

Applying to action:

[JsonOutput]
public IEnumerable<Person> GetPersons()
{
    return _repository.AllPersons(); // the returned output will be in JSON
}

Note that you can omit the word Attribute on the action decoration and use just [JsonOutput] instead of [JsonOutputAttribute].

Answer 6

If you do this in the WebApiConfig you will get JSON by default, but it will still allow you to return XML if you pass text/xml as the request Accept header

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);
    }
}

If you are not using the MVC project type and therefore did not have this class to begin with, see this answer for details on how to incorporate it.