ruby-grape / ruby-grape/grape-swagger
Bug Report: `default` for array params (`type: [String]`) is incorrectly placed inside `items`
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Ruby
- Stars
- 1.1k
- Forks
- 479
- Avg merge
- 2d 14h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 6
Description
Summary
When using the following parameter declaration in Grape:
optional :dns_servers, type: [String], desc: 'DNS servers', allow_blank: false, default: ["8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4"]
grape-swagger generates an OpenAPI schema where the default value is incorrectly placed inside items, instead of being set at the array level. This causes the field to be interpreted as a nested array ([[value]]) in Swagger tools and breaks the expected structure.
🔍 Current Behavior (Incorrect)
Generated OpenAPI snippet:
dns_servers:
type: array
items:
type: string
default: ["8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4"] # ❌ incorrect placement — default on items must be a single value, not an array
⚠️ Swagger Editor interprets this as:
"dns_servers": [
["8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4"]
]
Which is not the intended behavior, and breaks compatibility with clients, documentation, and tools.
✅ Expected Behavior
The correct OpenAPI output should look like this:
dns_servers:
type: array
items:
type: string
default:
- "8.8.8.8"
- "8.8.4.4"
This correctly documents a default array of strings, not a nested array of arrays.
🧪 Minimal Reproducible Example (Swagger Editor — OpenAPI 2.0 - https://editor.swagger.io)
swagger: "2.0"
info:
title: DNS Servers Example
version: "1.0"
paths:
/example:
post:
parameters:
- in: body
name: postV1Organization
required: true
schema:
type: object
properties:
dns_servers:
type: array
items:
type: string
default: ["8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4"] # ❌ incorrect — invalid type, causes nested array
responses:
200:
description: OK
✅ Correct version for comparison:
dns_servers:
type: array
items:
type: string
default:
- "8.8.8.8"
- "8.8.4.4"
📚 Specification Insights (OpenAPI & JSON Schema)
-
The
defaultvalue represents what would be assumed by the consumer of the input if one is not provided. It MUST conform to the defined type for the schema object. -
The value MUST conform to the defined type for the data type.
-
The instance MUST be equal to one of the values in the array.
-
It is RECOMMENDED that a default value be valid against the associated schema.
🔎 Why this matters
- Placing
defaultinsideitemsimplies a per-item default, which is not meaningful for array parameters. - Putting an array value as the
defaultinsideitems(which expects a scalar) leads to nested arrays and invalid schemas. - This issue causes confusion in docs, misbehavior in tools, and breaks conformity with OpenAPI semantics.
🔗 Related
- Related incorrect behavior: Pull Request #651
- Prior issue (broader context): Issue #650
📦 Version Info
ruby:3.3.4grape:2.3.0grape-swagger:2.1.2
💡 Suggestion: when generating schemas from type: [String] with a default, grape-swagger should ensure the default is set at the array level — not inside items, and that its type conforms to OpenAPI expectations.
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 array parameter declaration from the issue and inspect the schema-generation path that places defaults on array items. Compare the generated OpenAPI output with the expected array-level default, then verify the corrected schema against the Swagger Editor example and related behavior in PR #651.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- openapi, ruby
- Domain
- api, documentation
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100