200 Response with Binary Media Type (image/png) Not Rendered in Right Panel
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Description
When defining a 200 response with a binary media type like image/png, ReDoc does not render the response tab in the right-hand panel. This creates an inconsistent documentation experience compared to JSON responses, especially when all other status codes (e.g., 401, 404, etc.) are shown clearly.
OpenAPI Snippet to Reproduce:
paths:
/image/{id}:
get:
summary: Get image
responses:
'200':
description: Image retrieved successfully
content:
image/png:
schema:
type: string
format: binary
'404':
description: Not found
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
Expected Behavior:
The 200 response should appear in the right-hand panel with at least the description and content-type clearly shown.
Even if the content cannot be rendered (binary), a placeholder or notice would suffice.
Actual Behavior:
The 200 response is visible in the main content (middle panel), but nothing appears in the right-hand response panel unless a second content type (e.g., application/json) is added.
If a dummy content type is added, it triggers a content-type dropdown, which creates confusion for consumers of the documentation.
Workaround Attempted:
Adding a dummy application/json response alongside image/png to make the tab show.
Hiding the content-type dropdown via CSS as a UI patch.
However, this pollutes the OpenAPI spec and isn't ideal.
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Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the OpenAPI snippet in ReDoc and compare the right-hand response panel with JSON and binary-only responses. Trace the response rendering path for a single image/png content type, then verify that the 200 response shows its description and content type without requiring a dummy media type or an unnecessary dropdown.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- openapi, typescript
- Domain
- api, documentation, frontend
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100